Catching Your Own Mistakes in English
The errors upper-intermediate learners repeat most — and a practical method for spotting them yourself.
At B2 you have the knowledge to be accurate. The gap is noticing — errors slip out under time pressure and you don't hear them. Self-correction is a trainable skill.
The repeat offenders
1. Third-person -s Under pressure, this is the first thing to disappear.
- ❌ He work in Berlin. → ✅ He works in Berlin.
2. Articles Especially with abstract or general nouns.
- ❌ I'm interested in the technology. (if you mean technology generally)
- ✅ I'm interested in technology.
3. Present perfect vs. past simple
- ❌ I have seen him yesterday. → ✅ I saw him yesterday. A finished time means past simple, always.
4. Countable vs. uncountable
- ❌ I have many informations. → ✅ a lot of information Uncountable in English: information, advice, news, research, equipment, furniture, luggage, progress.
5. Preposition slips
- ❌ depend of → ✅ depend on
- ❌ discuss about → ✅ discuss
6. Word order with adverbs
- ❌ I speak fluently English. → ✅ I speak English fluently. Don't put an adverb between the verb and its object.
7. "People" and other hidden plurals
- ❌ People is waiting. → ✅ People are waiting. People, police, staff take plural verbs; news, advice, information take singular ones.
8. "I am agree" and friends
- ❌ I am agree. → ✅ I agree.
- ❌ I have 30 years. → ✅ I am 30.
- ❌ I have a headache since Monday. → ✅ I've had a headache since Monday.
9. Double marking
- ❌ more easier → ✅ easier
- ❌ didn't went → ✅ didn't go One marker per job — the same principle in both cases.
A method for self-correction
1. Know your own top three. Everyone has a personal pattern. Find yours — record yourself speaking for two minutes and transcribe it. Your errors will repeat.
2. Check backwards after writing. Read your last sentence looking for one specific thing — say, third-person -s. Checking for everything at once catches nothing.
3. Slow down at complexity. Errors cluster where sentences get complicated. When you start a long sentence, slow slightly.
4. Self-correct out loud, briefly.
- He work— he works in Berlin. This is completely normal in speech and shows control rather than weakness. Don't apologise or restart the whole sentence.
Speaking and writing need different tactics
They fail for opposite reasons, so the same strategy can't fix both.
| Why errors happen | What to do | |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking | no time to monitor | pick one target per conversation; let the rest go |
| Writing | you read what you meant | leave it, then re-read for one error type at a time |
You cannot monitor everything at once. Attention is the scarce resource, not knowledge. Checking for a single error type actually catches it; scanning for "mistakes" in general catches almost nothing.
An error log beats an error list
Keep a running note with three columns — what you said, the correction, and why. The third column is what turns a list into learning:
| I said | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I have seen him yesterday | I saw him yesterday | finished time → past simple |
| informations | information | uncountable in English |
| depend of | depend on | fixed pairing |
Reread it before you speak English, not after. Five minutes beforehand primes the exact things you are about to get wrong.
The mindset
The goal isn't zero errors — even native speakers self-correct constantly. The goal is noticing, because an error you can hear is an error you will eventually stop making.
Self-correction sounding completely normal
A: So she work— sorry, she works in the Prague office now.
B: Since when?
A: Since March. I mean, I have seen her — I saw her last month, and she seemed happy.
B: Good. Send her my regards.
Two corrections, no apologising, no restarting. The conversation doesn't even slow down.
Try it yourself
The quiz below contains the six patterns above. Find the error.