A selection of English ESL errors printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

Past simple/continuous error correction exercise

This is an comparative and superlative error correction activity using a paragraph on the topic of Paris, France as a tourist destination. Students must find and correct nine errors; an example correction is done for them.

Comparative and Superlative Error Correction Paragraph

a worksheet to measure the students' comprehension on simple present tense. They analyze the sentences and find the mistakes then correct it.

Error Analysis on Simple Present Tense

This is a very easy exercise to test students´ grammar. They will have to find one error in four underlined parts of each sentence. Answers are provided with explanations of how to correct the mistakes.

Error Correction 1 - Multiple Choice Questions

Another worksheet related to error correction with multiple choice questions. Answers are provided with explanations of how to correct the mistakes. Hope it will be useful.

Error Correction 2 - Multiple Choice Questions

Error correction exercise with answers. Perfect for differentiation. Let students do past simple if they're finished quickly or find it easy. Sometimes more than one error in a sentence!

Present and Past Simple Error Correction

Instructions on page 2.
Designed as a competitive game for learners to work in pairs.  They practice present simple, including some negatives and questions.
11 sentences need to be rewritten correctly, one at a time, then shown to the teacher.
Place name will need to be changed from Huddersfield and you may want to change the type of home for question 5 if your learners don't live in shared houses.  

Error correction - present simple - topic home

Gringlish cards are back in a new form- all in English! 75 cards in all. This time the error is shown in red on the top of each card with the incorrect word underlined and italicized. The correct English form is written in black below. The correct replacement words are underlined and italicized. 





These errors are so common and so difficult to eradicate- because even some teachers make them. It's important to correct these errors as they give the false impression that the speaker doesn't know English very well. 





SET 1:GREEK SPEAKER errors- Greek/English cards:


Found here:





  https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/gringlishcommon_errors_for_greek_speakers/adverbs-of-time/72031




Role Play - English Errors - 75 Cards - Greek Speakers

Students correct the mistakes in the sentences. Answers included.

Present simple/continuous error correction with answers

Betting game

Ss notice the grammatical errors by themselves.

Ss got them wrong when they did the WB, instead of teaching them how to correct the WB and telling them the answers, and Ss often get bored, I want to them to learn it through a fun game and apply the learnt knowledge when they do the correction.



Ss work in groups of four

Invite one student to do the demonstration with T

Demonstrate 2 questions so Ss will be familiar with the procedures



Instructions:

Your group has 100 points. You have to decide which of the following sentences are correct and which ones are wrong

Bet the points on whether the sentences are correct or not (if you are not sure about the answers, bet less points on that question). The mistakes can either be found in the questions or the answers. 

1.	Underline the wrong word and write the correct word above the wrong word.

2.	Cross out the extra word.

3.	Add missing word with／＼ and write the correct word above the ／＼

Discuss with your group members and make wise decisions. 



Rules:

Do not open any books.

Do not shout.



Rewards:

The fastest group gets extra 5 points.

Group with the highest points get 5 stars, group with second highest gets 4 stars and 



Search for error (future tense - touring around)

48 cards that illustrate common errors made by Greek speakers. The Greek is correctly translated into English at the bottom on the card. Cover the English with your thumb and see if the student can correctly translate the Greek into English. 



The errors occur because students literally translate from one language into the other. Gringlish supreme!



Use your own language instead. 



SET 2: Greek Speaker error cards all in English 



Found here:



  https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/gringlish_cards_for_greek_speakers/phrasal-verbs-errors/75245

Common English Errors for Greeks Classroom Poster +  48 Cards

Practice using "I wish.." and "If only .. "with the past perfect.  Useful for Trinity GESE grade 8.

115 Errors English ESL worksheets pdf & doc