Common English Mistakes in Memo by Slovak Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Slovak speakers from Slovakia when writing a Memos in English.

Mistake Example #1

Struggles with perfect tenses ('I am here since three years')

Subject: Update on Project Timeline Dear Team,I hamve been working on the project sincefor two months and I am seemaking good progress. We have completed the initial phase and are moving to the next stage. I am confident that we will meet the deadline, as I am closely coordinating with the teamclosely. Please let me know if you have any questions or need further information.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"I made some changes to the verb tense and polished up the text."

Subject: Update on Project Timeline Dear Team, I have been working on the project for two months and I am making good progress. We have completed the initial phase and are moving to the next stage. I am confident that we will meet the deadline, as I am closely coordinating with the team. Please let me know if you have any questions or need further information.

Subject: Update on Project Timeline Dear Team, I am working on the project since two months and I am seeing good progress. We have completed the initial phase and are moving to the next stage. I am confident that we will meet the deadline, as I am coordinating with the team closely. Please let me know if you have any questions or need further information.

Mistake Example #2

Omitting 'it' as a subject in dummy subject sentences ('Is raining' instead of 'It is raining')

Subject: Meeting Schedule Update Dear Team, It is important to inform you about the change in ourmeeting schedule. MThe meeting will now take place on Thursday at 3:00 PMp.m. instead of Wednesday. Please make sure to adjust your calendars accordingly. Thank you for your understanding.

Text corrected by:
Michele A., Boston, Massachusetts; United States

"I added the dummy subject "it" and the pronoun "our," as well as one or two other small changes."

Subject: Meeting Schedule Update Dear Team, It is important to inform you about the change in our meeting schedule. The meeting will now take place on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. instead of Wednesday. Please make sure to adjust your calendars accordingly. Thank you for your understanding.

Subject: Meeting Schedule Update Dear Team, Is important to inform you about the change in meeting schedule. Meeting will now take place on Thursday at 3 PM instead of Wednesday. Please make sure to adjust your calendars accordingly. Thank you for your understanding.

Mistake Example #3

Incorrect placement of adjectives ('The car red' instead of 'The red car')

To: All Staff Subject: UImpdortante Project ImUpordatante Dear Team, I want to inform you about the recentchanges recentino theproject scheduleproject. Thenew deadline newfor the firstphasefirst is now set for 15thNovember15th. Please ensure that the tasksnecessarytasks are completed by then. If you have any questions or need additionalclarificationadditional, do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your continuous cooperationcontinuous.

Text corrected by:
Miss E., Cyprus, Europe

"Most of the edits I made were to correct the word order: for example, "Update Project Important" should be "Important Project Update" and "changes recent" should be "recent changes"."

To: All Staff Subject: Important Project Update Dear Team, I want to inform you about the recent changes to the project schedule. The new deadline for the first phase is now set for November 15th. Please ensure that the necessary tasks are completed by then. If you have any questions or need additional clarification, do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your continuous cooperation.

To: All Staff Subject: Update Project Important Dear Team, I want to inform you about the changes recent in the schedule project. The deadline new for the phase first is now set for 15th November. Please ensure that the tasks necessary are completed by then. If you have any questions or need clarification additional, do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your cooperation continuous.