English learner mistakes cluster predictably around a handful of specific features. Knowing them in advance makes them easier to catch.
Speakers of article-less languages often omit them entirely or use them inconsistently, since there's no equivalent grammatical category to map onto.
Assuming "give up" can be decoded from "give" plus "up" leads to real misunderstanding — see English Verbs.
Trying to phonetically sound out every word, including irregular sight words, rather than recognizing common ones directly by sight.
Not recognizing "gonna," "wanna," and similar forms, leading to listening comprehension gaps despite solid vocabulary knowledge.
Applying the regular "-ed" ending to irregular verbs ("goed" instead of "went") — a very common, very natural learner mistake.
Giving equal weight to every syllable rather than compressing unstressed syllables, producing speech that sounds correct but rhythmically unnatural.
Some cognates have shifted meaning over time between English and Romance languages, causing occasional false-friend confusion in the opposite direction from French speakers' false friends.
Always saying "I am not" instead of "I'm not" in casual contexts can sound unnaturally formal.
Trying to derive a rule for silent letters rather than simply memorizing the specific words that have them.
Avoiding conversation until every rule feels certain delays real fluency more than the mistakes made along the way would.
See also the reference page: English Grammar.
Speakers of languages without an equivalent grammatical category to articles often omit them entirely or use them inconsistently, since there's no direct native-language pattern to map onto.
Translating them literally from their individual parts — assuming "give up" can be decoded from "give" plus "up" leads to real misunderstanding.
Overgeneralizing the regular "-ed" past-tense ending onto irregular verbs, producing forms like "goed" instead of "went" — a very common, very natural learner mistake.
It can sound unnaturally formal — always saying "I am not" instead of "I'm not" in casual contexts stands out compared to how native speakers actually talk.