Common English Mistakes in Short Stories by Slovak Speakers

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

Mistake Example #1

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

In the quiet village of Liptov, a young girl named Zuzana has lived in the same house since she iwas born. She loves the old oak tree in the garden, where she ihasbeen climbing since she was five. Her grandmother, who istellings her stories about the magical creatures of the forest, has visited every summer since she iwas a child.

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"Just a few minor tweaks to correct the sentences :) Nice work! "

In the quiet village of Liptov, a young girl named Zuzana has lived in the same house since she was born. She loves the old oak tree in the garden, where she has been climbing since she was five. Her grandmother, who tells her stories about the magical creatures of the forest, has visited every summer since she was a child.

In the quiet village of Liptov, a young girl named Zuzana has lived in the same house since she is born. She loves the old oak tree in the garden, where she is climbing since she was five. Her grandmother, who is telling her stories about the magical creatures of the forest, has visited every summer since she is a child.

Mistake Example #2

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

In the small village where I grew up,there was always something magical about the forest behind our house. Every morning, wasthe mistwas hanging low among the trees, and the air felt alive with whispers of ancient stories. One day, as I wandered deeper than ever before, Idiscovered a hidden clearing where sunlight danced on the leaves, and in that moment, knew Ihad found a place where dreams could come true.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed some tweaks to add sentence subjects, among other changes."

In the small village where I grew up, there was always something magical about the forest behind our house. Every morning, the mist was hanging low among the trees, and the air felt alive with whispers of ancient stories. One day, as I wandered deeper than ever before, I discovered a hidden clearing where sunlight danced on the leaves, and in that moment, knew I had found a place where dreams could come true.

In the small village where I grew up, was always something magical about the forest behind our house. Every morning, was mist hanging low among the trees, and the air felt alive with whispers of ancient stories. One day, as I wandered deeper than ever before, discovered a hidden clearing where sunlight danced on the leaves, and in that moment, knew had found a place where dreams could come true.

Mistake Example #3

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

In thesmall villagesmall, there was a girlyounggirl named Anna who loved the greenforest green. Every day, she would wander through the tall treestall, listening to the birds singing sweetly. One morning, she found a blueflowerblue that seemed to glow in the warmsunlight warm, and she knew it was a sign of magic hidden deepin the woodsdeep.

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

"I adjusted the word order in some of the phrases. Otherwise, the ideas in this text are clearly expressed."

In the small village, there was a young girl named Anna who loved the green forest . Every day, she would wander through the tall trees listening to the birds singing sweetly. One morning, she found a blue flower that seemed to glow in the warm sunlight , and she knew it was a sign of magic hidden deep in the woods.

In the village small, there was a girl young named Anna who loved the forest green. Every day, she would wander through the trees tall, listening to the birds singing sweet. One morning, she found a flower blue that seemed to glow in the sunlight warm, and she knew it was a sign of magic hidden in the woods deep.