Common English Mistakes in Instagram Captions by German Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native German speakers from Germany when writing a Instagram Caption in English.

Mistake Example #1

Incorrect word order in subordinate clauses

Exploring the city today, I found a café where they serve the best coffee they serve. The weather was so nice, that I decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun while I readmy bookread. CI can't wait to come back here when I againm in town amgain! 🌞☕📚 #BerlinAdventures #CoffeeLover

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"Sounds great! I just made some small changes to the word order."

Exploring the city today, I found a café where they serve the best coffee. The weather was so nice that I decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun while I read my book. I can't wait to come back here when I am in town again! 🌞☕📚 #BerlinAdventures #CoffeeLover

Exploring the city today, I found a café where the best coffee they serve. The weather was so nice, that I decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun while I my book read. Can't wait to come back here when I again in town am! 🌞☕📚 #BerlinAdventures #CoffeeLover

Mistake Example #2

Overuse of passive voice

SunsWet was enjoyed bythe sunset at the beach today! The waves werWe watchedthe waves as they crashed against the shore, and hada picnicwas had with friends. Such a perfect evening was experienced, and memories were made that will last forever. 🌅 #BeachVibes #SunsetLovers

Text corrected by:
Miss E., Cyprus, Europe

"Please be mindful of your overuse of passive voice. For example, "Sunset was enjoyed by us at the beach today!" should be "We enjoyed the sunset at the beach today!" and "The waves were watched" should be "We watched the waves"."

We enjoyed the sunset at the beach today! We watched the waves as they crashed against the shore, and had a picnic with friends. Such a perfect evening was experienced, and memories were made that will last forever. 🌅 #BeachVibes #SunsetLovers

Sunset was enjoyed by us at the beach today! The waves were watched as they crashed against the shore, and a picnic was had with friends. Such a perfect evening was experienced, and memories were made that will last forever. 🌅 #BeachVibes #SunsetLovers

Mistake Example #3

Capitalizing all nouns (following German grammar rules)

Exploring the Bbeautiful Ccity of Berlin Ttoday! The Aarchitecture and Hhistory are truly Aamazing. Can't wait to visitthe Brandenburg Gate and enjoy some Ddelicious German Ffood. Feeling Ggrateful for this Aadventure and the Wwonderful Ppeople I have met along the Wway! #Travel #Berlin #Adventure

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"This was very well-written – I just made a few minor changes to remove capital letters from common nouns :)"

Exploring the beautiful city of Berlin today! The architecture and history are truly amazing. Can't wait to visit Brandenburg Gate and enjoy some delicious German food. Feeling grateful for this adventure and the wonderful people I have met along the way! #Travel #Berlin #Adventure

Exploring the Beautiful City of Berlin Today! The Architecture and History are truly Amazing. Can't wait to visit the Brandenburg Gate and enjoy some Delicious German Food. Feeling Grateful for this Adventure and the Wonderful People I have met along the Way! #Travel #Berlin #Adventure