In this post we are discussing five common mistakes made by language learners and helping you avoid them. Let’s roll up our sleeves and start!
1. i.e. vs. e.g.
Both abbreviations stand for Latin words, i.e. for id est, and e.g. for exempli gratia, making it hard for language learners to remember their meanings. Id est means that is, and is used to provide clarification. Exempli gratia means for example, and is used accordingly.
Be prepared to bring enough water for the trip, i.e. at least 2 liters.
There are many activities to choose from, e.g. hiking, running, cycling.
2. its vs. it’s
Its is a possessive pronoun, expressing that something belongs to something else. It’s is the contracted form of it is or it has, for example:
The house is very old. Its windows are ancient. (the windows belong to the house)
It’s very late, we should go. (the contracted form of it is)
It’s become impossible to stay here. (the contracted form of it has)
3. than vs. then
The difference between these two is fairly simple, but they sound the same so we need to pay attention to their spelling. Than is used in comparisons, whereas then is used to refer to a time in the past or future. For example:
She is older than my sister.
Meetings were different then because we usually met in person.
4. there vs. their
The confusion between these two can also arise from the similarity in their pronunciation. While there serves to show that something exists or is positioned somewhere, their is used to express that something belongs to them.
There is an issue and we need to solve it. (an issue exists)
The house is there, you can see it, just go straight on. (the position of the house)
This is their house, they bought it two years ago. (it belongs to them)
Their car keeps breaking so they are considering a new one. (it belongs to them)
5. lie vs. lay
These two verbs are not pronounced the same: lie is pronounced /laɪ/, whereas lay is pronounced /leɪ/. Lie means to position oneself in a horizontal position or remain in such a position. Lay, on the other hand, means to position somethingin a particular position. Accordingly, while lie does not require an object (I need to lie down), lay is a transitive verb and requires one (She laid her purse on the table).
Their other forms make them even harder to differentiate:
lie – lay – lain, lying
lay – laid – laid, laying
We know, it’s easy to lose hope and say you will never get the difference between them, but we have a trick you can use to check if you are using the correct verb. If you can answer the question “Lay what?” you need the verb lay, and if you cannot, lie is the way to go. For example:
I need to lay (what?) my stuff on the floor and lie (what? -nothing) down.
The documents were lying (what? -nothing) all over his desk.
She laid (what?) the documents on the table and left.
It is important to note that we are discussing only some of their meanings and usages, so if you are interested in the other ones, you can take a look at their definitions in a dictionary 🙂
We hope this post will help you avoid these mistakes or at least make you more aware of them in the future.
