I spent many years working as an English teacher in Japan, during which time I taught many hundreds of students. After a while, I started noticing that different students often made the same types of mistakes, and I would hear the same mistake repeated in different classes. Therefore, I thought it would be useful to point out some English mistakes that are very common among Japanese students. Of course, they can also happen with students from other countries, but Japanese students will find these tips particularly useful. So here are five sentences, each containing a common mistake. Before reading the explanations, why not try to find and fix the errors yourself?

1. I have ever been to Scotland
2. Swimming is very interesting
3. It costs £25 to borrow a car for a day
4. I love music
5. My son bought some sweets with his own money

Can you see the mistakes? If not, here are the explanations:

1. I have ever been to Scotland

Error: We don’t use ‘ever’ in this way. We normally use it like this:

has. in questions, for example, ‘Have you ever eaten sushi?’
b. after ‘If’, for example, ‘If you ever go to Rome, you should visit the Vatican’
against with superlatives, e.g. ‘Natto is the strangest food I’ve ever eaten’

Correct version: I have been to Scotland
Note: You may be getting confused because you are trying to use ‘ever’ in the same way as ‘never’. The sentence ‘I have never been to Scotland’ is grammatically correct.

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2. Swimming is very interesting

Mistake: We use ‘interesting’ to describe things that we find mentally pleasing or challenging, not things that give us physical pleasure or simpler forms. So it’s okay to say ‘I read an interesting book’ or ‘My friend has an interesting job’. For sports, activities, vacations, etc. we use ‘nice’ or ‘fun’.

Correct version: Swimming is very fun/very pleasant
Note: You may be confused when translating the Japanese word ‘omoshiroi’, which can have both types of meaning in Japanese.

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3. It costs £25 to borrow a car for a day

Error: ‘Borrowing’ means that someone temporarily lends us something, as a favor, and we don’t have to repay. For example, “I borrowed my brother’s pen.” If we pay for the temporary use of something, we use ‘rent’ or ‘hire’.

Correct version: It costs £25 to hire/hire a car for a day

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4. I love music

Error: ‘Music’ is an uncountable noun. We don’t use ‘the’ with uncountable nouns when they have a general meaning, as in this case.

Correct version: I love music.
Note: It is possible to use ‘the’ if you are speaking more specifically, eg ‘I love the music you are playing’

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5. I took a beautiful photo with my new camera.

Error: We use ‘with’ to describe a physical thing (such as an object or a tool) that we use to do something.

Correct version: I took a beautiful photo with my new camera
Note: you can use ‘by’ with the ‘ing’ form of a verb, eg I got a great photo of a bird climbing a tree.

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How did you do it? If you found the errors, well done! If not, don’t worry because these are common mistakes that are hard to spot. In fact, because they occur so frequently, many Japanese students think that they actually represent correct English. So always question what you hear when you study English and don’t assume that the language other students use is correct, even if it sounds good. I hope you found these examples interesting and useful. Keep an eye out for more in later articles.