Five Common English Mistakes Made by Japanese Speakers

I spent many years working as an English teacher in Japan, and during that time I taught many hundreds of students. After a while, I started noticing that different students often made the same types of mistakes, and I would hear the same mistake repeated in different classes. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to point out some English mistakes that are very common among Japanese students. Of course, they can also happen with students from other countries, but Japanese students will find these tips particularly useful. So here are five sentences, each containing a common mistake. Before reading the explanations, why don’t you try to find and fix the errors yourself?

1. I have ever been to Scotland
2. Swimming is very interesting
3. It costs £25 to borrow a car for a day
4. I love music
5. My son bought some sweets with his own money

Can you see the errors? If not, here are the explanations:

1. I have ever been to Scotland

Error: We don’t use ‘ever’ in this way. We usually use it like this:

has. in questions, for example, ‘Have you ever had sushi?’
b. after ‘If’, for example, ‘If you ever go to Rome, you should visit the Vatican’
against with superlatives, for example, ‘Natto is the strangest food I’ve ever eaten’

Correct version: I have been to Scotland
Note: you may be getting confused because you are trying to use ‘ever’ in the same way as ‘never’. The sentence ‘I have never been to Scotland’ is grammatically correct.

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2. Swimming is very interesting

Mistake: We use ‘interesting’ to describe things we find mentally pleasing or challenging, not things that give us physical pleasure or simpler forms. So it’s okay to say ‘I read an interesting book’ or ‘My friend has an interesting job’. For sports, activities, vacations, etc. we use ‘nice’ or ‘fun’.

Correct version: Swimming is very fun/very enjoyable
Note: You may get confused when translating the Japanese word ‘omoshiroi’, which can have both types of meaning in Japanese.

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3. It costs £25 to borrow a car for a day

Mistake: ‘Borrow’ means someone lends us something temporarily, as a favor, and we don’t have to repay. For example, “I borrowed my brother’s pen.” If we pay for the temporary use of something, we use ‘rent’ or ‘hire’.

Correct version: It costs £25 to hire/hire a car for a day

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4. I love music

Error: ‘Music’ is an uncountable noun. We don’t use ‘the’ with uncountable nouns when they have a general meaning, as in this case.

Correct version: I love music.
Note: it is possible to use ‘the’ if you are speaking more specifically, for example, ‘I love the music you are playing’

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5. I took a beautiful photo with my new camera.

Error: We use ‘with’ to describe a physical thing (such as an object or a tool) that we use to do something.

Correct version: I took a beautiful photo with my new camera
Note: you can use ‘by’ with the ‘ing’ form of a verb, for example I got a great picture of a bird climbing a tree.

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How did you do it? If you found the bugs, well done! If not, don’t worry because these are common errors that are hard to catch. In fact, because they occur so frequently, many Japanese students think that they actually represent correct English. So always question what you hear when you study English and don’t assume that the language other students are using is correct, even if it sounds good. I hope you found these examples interesting and useful. Stay tuned for more in later articles.