Small improvements in your English can significantly increase the effectiveness of your communication. There are a few common mistakes that German speakers regularly make. Correct these and put yourself on the road to sounding more like an English native speaker.

Here are the top five errors observed by our English teachers:

1. One of the most important differences between German and English is in the use of the present perfect tense.

For example, “I have worked for the company for ten years”.  This means you still work for the company. The action started in the past, and is still true in the present.

If you translated this sentence directly word for word into German, it would read: “ich habe für die Firma für zehn Jahren gearbeitet”. This would mean that you no longer work for the company.

Do you see the difference? If not, send an e-mail with your question to our grammar expert, who will explain further. 
 

2. The difference between “for” and “since”.

Since is used with points in time. For example, since yesterday, since 4pm, since Tuesday, since 2013.

For is used with periods of time. For example, for ten minutes, for two hours, for three days, for six weeks.
 

3. The four conditionals:

Zero conditional: If it rains, I use an umbrella.

First conditional: If it rains this afternoon, I will use an umbrella.

Second conditional: If it rained this afternoon, I would use an umbrella.

Third conditional: If it had rained, I would have used an umbrella.

 

4. Every tense in English has two forms – simple and continuous.

For example:

Present simple                  Present continuous

 I talk                                      I am talking

Past simple                       Past continuous 

I talked                                 I was talking

 

5.     Adverbs in English are usually formed by adding –ly to adjectives. For example, quick – quickly.  Slow – slowly.

Adjectives modify nouns.

For example: It is a clear explanation.

 

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

For example: She speaks clearly.

Today was extremely hot.

He walks extremely quickly. 

 

If it took you longer than 5 minutes to understand this, you could consider booking English lessons with us!