Common English Mistakes in Grammar Exercisess by Cantonese Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong when writing a Grammar Exercises in English.

Mistake Example #1

Overuse of 'very' to emphasize adjectives

The weather inHong Kong is very hot today, and the sun is vrerally bright. I went to the market, and it was vquitery crowded with people buyingvery fresh vegetables. The city isvery busy, and everyone seems to be in a verybig hurry.

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"Just a few minor tweaks to improve readability :) Nice work! "

Hong Kong is very hot today, and the sun is really bright. I went to the market, and it was quite crowded with people buying fresh vegetables. The city is busy, and everyone seems to be in a big hurry.

The weather in Hong Kong is very hot today, and the sun is very bright. I went to the market, and it was very crowded with people buying very fresh vegetables. The city is very busy, and everyone seems to be in a very big hurry.

Mistake Example #2

Overuse of direct translations from Cantonese

Please complete the following sentences with the correct grammar. I go to school every day by foot. Yesterday, I eat breakfast at 8 AM and then go to work. My friend say that he will come to my house tomorrow, but I think he already come today.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"The errors are intentional, since it's an exercise for a lesson."

Please complete the following sentences with the correct grammar. I go to school every day by foot. Yesterday, I eat breakfast at 8 AM and then go to work. My friend say that he will come to my house tomorrow, but I think he already come today.

Please complete the following sentences with the correct grammar. I go to school every day by foot. Yesterday, I eat breakfast at 8 AM and then go to work. My friend say that he will come to my house tomorrow, but I think he already come today.

Mistake Example #3

Confusion with countable vs. uncountable nouns ('She has much friends')

Please complete the following sentences with the correct form of the noun in parentheses. Remember to consider whether the noun is countable or uncountable. 1. She has muchany (friend) who help her with her homework. 2. There areis manyuch (information) available on the internet about this topic. 3. He bought someveral (furniture) for his new apartment. Try to identify the errors and correct them to improve your understanding of countable and uncountable nouns.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed corrections for proper use of countable and uncountable nouns."

Please complete the following sentences with the correct form of the noun in parentheses. Remember to consider whether the noun is countable or uncountable. 1. She has many (friend) who help her with her homework. 2. There is much (information) available on the internet about this topic. 3. He bought some (furniture) for his new apartment. Try to identify the errors and correct them to improve your understanding of countable and uncountable nouns.

Please complete the following sentences with the correct form of the noun in parentheses. Remember to consider whether the noun is countable or uncountable. 1. She has much (friend) who help her with homework. 2. There are many (information) available on the internet about this topic. 3. He bought several (furniture) for his new apartment. Try to identify the errors and correct them to improve your understanding of countable and uncountable nouns.