100 English Mistakes Students Make

#2: They + doesn’t (Wrong negative form with plural subjects) Problem: “They doesn’t like…” is wrong because they is plural. Plural subjects take don’t, not doesn’t. This mistake often appears in everyday speech and can lose easy marks. Solution: 1. Check the subject: they = plural. 2. Use don’t + base verb. 3. Practice switching: “They don’t like noise.” Result: Your negative statements will match the subject and stay exam-safe.

#3: I/You/We + doesn’t (Wrong negative form with plural/first/second person) Problem: Sentences like “I doesn’t know” or “We doesn’t go” sound incorrect because I, you, we are not singular “he/she/it.” When you use doesn’t, the verb agreement becomes mismatched. Solution: 1. Remember: I/you/we = don’t in negatives. 2. Use don’t + base verb. 3. Correct: “I don’t know.” “We don’t go to school on Sundays.” Result: You’ll stop losing marks on basic agreement questions.

#4: He don’t / She don’t + verb (Present simple agreement) Problem: This is the classic WAEC/NECO trap: present simple needs -s for singular positives (“he likes”), but no -s for plural (“they like”). When learners forget, sentences like “He don’t play” show up. Solution: 1. For positive present simple: - he/she/it → verb + -s (“plays, likes, goes”) - I/you/we/they → verb without -s (“play, like, go”) 2. For negative present simple: use doesn’t/don’t correctly. 3. Fix: “He doesn’t play football.” Result: Your tense and agreement will match, and your writing will look stronger.

#5: They is / They was (Wrong verb form with plural subjects) Problem: Plural subjects usually take are (present) and were (past). Saying “They is” or “They was” makes your grammar feel broken, even if the meaning is clear. Solution: 1. Plural subject → are (present) / were (past). 2. Practice: “They are late.” “They were late.” 3. Quick memory: They = are, They = were. Result: Your sentences will sound correct in both exams and daily talk.

#6: There is + plural noun / There are + singular noun (Agreement with “there”) Problem: Learners often ignore the noun after “there.” - “There is three books” is wrong because books = plural. - “There are a book” is wrong because book = singular. Solution: 1. Look for the noun after there is/there are. 2. Singular noun → there is 3. Plural noun → there are 4. Examples: “There is a chair.” / “There are three chairs.” Result: You’ll stop making a very common agreement mistake in both writing and speaking.

#7: Each/Every + plural verb (Wrong agreement with “each/every”) Problem: “Each of the boys are…” is wrong because each/every makes the idea singular. Even if the sentence mentions many people, the grammar treats it as one “unit.” Solution: 1. Spot each or every. 2. Treat it as singular. 3. Use singular verb: “Each of the boys is here.” Result: Your sentences become clear, and WAEC markers see correct concord.

#8: Everyone/Somebody + plural verb (Wrong agreement with indefinite pronouns) Problem: “Everybody are coming” is a common mistake. Words like everyone, somebody, anybody are singular in meaning, so they take is/does. Solution: 1. Treat: everyone/somebody/anybody/nobody as singular. 2. Use is / does. 3. Correct: “Everybody is ready.” “Nobody does the work.” Result: Your indefinite pronouns will agree properly with verbs.

#9: People/Police/Cattle + singular verb (Wrong agreement with plural-looking nouns) Problem: Some nouns look special. - police and people are usually treated as plural: “The police are coming.” - But learners sometimes write “The police is coming,” which sounds wrong. Solution: 1. Know common plural-using nouns: police, people (usually plural). 2. Use plural verbs: are, were, have. 3. Example: “The police are searching the area.” Result: Your agreement will match common English usage and improve WAEC style.

#10: Family/Team + plural verb (Wrong agreement with “family/team”) Problem: “My family are…” can be wrong depending on meaning. If you mean the group as one, use singular. If you mean members, plural can be acceptable-but exams usually want the safer option. Solution: 1. Decide the meaning: - As one unit: “My family is big.” - Members acting: “My family are arguing.” 2. For WAEC/NECO, choose the form that matches your sentence meaning clearly. 3. Practice writing both, then pick one that fits. Result: Your grammar will sound accurate, not confusing.

#11: One of the + plural noun + plural verb (Agreement with “one of…”) Problem: “One of the boys are…” is wrong. The structure one of + plural noun makes the subject one (singular). So the verb should be singular. Solution: 1. Identify the head: one. 2. Use singular verb: is / was / has. 3. Fix: “One of the boys is late.” Result: You’ll handle a common exam structure correctly.

#12: Each of the + plural noun + plural verb (Agreement with “each of…”) Problem: “Each of the students are…” is wrong because each makes the sentence singular. Even though “students” is plural, the verb must still agree with each. Solution: 1. Spot each of. 2. Use singular verb: is/was/does. 3. Correct: “Each of the students is present.” Result: Your sentences will follow the agreement pattern WAEC expects.

#13: Nobody/No one + plural verb (Wrong agreement with negative pronouns) Problem: “No one are ready” is wrong. No one/nobody are singular pronouns, so they take singular verbs like is. Solution: 1. Treat no one/nobody as singular. 2. Use is and does. 3. Correct: “No one is allowed inside.” Result: You’ll avoid a mistake that looks small but repeats a lot.

#14: Tenses after “since” (Concord of tense: since + present perfect) Problem: “I have worked here since 2019” is correct, but “I worked here since 2019” is usually wrong in standard English because since links a past point to the present. This is a tenses-agreement issue (time relationship), not just vocabulary. Solution: 1. Use present perfect with since + year/date. 2. Pattern: have/has + past participle + since + 2019/Monday/January. 3. Fix: “I have worked here since 2019.” Result: Your timeline will be clear, and your English will sound correct.

#15: Tenses after “for” (For + present perfect) Problem: “She is in this school for 5 years” is a common confusion. With for + duration, standard English often uses present perfect: “has been.” Solution: 1. Use: have/has + been + for + duration. 2. Example: “She has been in this school for 5 years.” 3. Avoid mixing with simple present like “She is here for 5 years” (unless you truly mean a temporary situation). Result: Your time expression will match standard exam English.

#16: Question tags with wrong auxiliary (is/are/does/did) Problem: Question tags must match the main verb and tense. Saying “You are coming, aren’t you?” is fine, but “You are coming, doesn’t you?” is wrong. Learners forget that tags need the correct auxiliary verb (helping verb). Solution: 1. Find the main verb in your statement. 2. Use the correct auxiliary in the tag: - “You are…” → “aren’t you?” - “He doesn’t…” → “does he?” - “They went…” → “didn’t they?” 3. Practice with 3 patterns until it becomes automatic. Result: Your question tags will look natural and correct.

#17: Question tag with singular/plural mismatch (“they, isn’t it?”) Problem: “They are late, isn’t it?” is wrong because they is plural, so the tag must use aren’t they?. This mistake is easy to spot once you check pronouns. Solution: 1. Match the pronoun in the tag to the subject: - they → they - he/she/it → he/she/it 2. Example corrections: - “They are late, aren’t they?” - “He is late, isn’t he?” Result: Your tags will stop sounding confusing to examiners.

#18: Each of them have / Each of them has (Agreement with “each of” + pronoun) Problem: “Each of them have” mixes each (singular) with have (plural). Even though “them” sounds plural, grammar still follows each. Solution: 1. Always check each or every first. 2. Use singular verb: has / is / does. 3. Correct: “Each of them has a phone.” Result: Your sentence becomes grammatically stable.

#19: Subject + verb agreement with plural subjects in “there” sentences (There are… + countable nouns) Problem: Learners sometimes write: “There are water in the bottle” or “There is many students.” - “water” is usually uncountable, so it needs some/any and correct structure. - “many students” is countable plural, so it should take there are. Solution: Use this quick table:

| After “there” | Countable? | Use | |---|---|---| | a chair / three chairs | Countable | there is / there are | | water / rice / sand | Uncountable | there is some / there isn’t any | | many students / a few students | Countable plural | there are |

Examples: - “There is some water in the bottle.” - “There are many students in the hall.” Result: Your agreement and noun type will both be correct.

#20: “A number of” vs “the number of” (Agreement with quantity phrases) Problem: “A number of students is…” is wrong because a number of + plural noun usually takes a plural verb (“are”). But the number of (one specific count) takes a singular verb (“is”). WAEC often tests this exact contrast. Solution: 1. Remember the meaning: - a number of = many people/things → plural verb (are) - the number of = the exact count → singular verb (is) 2. Examples: - “A number of students are present.” - “The number of students is increasing.” Result: You’ll handle quantity questions confidently and avoid tricky marks.

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What Comes Next Now that you can fix the most common concord and subject-verb agreement problems, the next chapter will help you spot the mistakes you make when you’re trying to connect ideas-especially with tenses, connectors, and sentence structure. Get ready: after this, your English will start looking cleaner sentence by sentence.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters in the full book.