Error Correction 3

Idioma Modern II

2014

1. Affirmative / Negative

• When you have a baby you don’t have time for nothing.

• When you have a baby you don’t have time for anything.

• Note: you could also say ‘You have no time’ or ‘You have time for nothing’ (less common).

2. Word Order

• I like so much your ideas.• I like your ideas so much / I really like your ideas.• Note: this was very common in the forum and

Langblog. It is not a huge mistake but the second sentences sound more natural.

3. Vocabulary

• When we were younger we didn’t appreciate our fathers.

• When we were younger we didn’t appreciate our parents.

• Note: in English ‘father’ only refers to the male parent

4. Vocabulary

• Communication with your couple is the most important thing.

• Communication with your partner is the most important thing.

• Note: ‘couple’ means two people and ‘partner’ means one i.e. ‘boy/girlfriend’ / ‘husband’ / ‘wife’

5. Vocabulary

• I decided to study the history career.• I decided to study a course / a degree in history.• Note: ‘career’ means work (from Macmillan

Dictionary: ‘a job or series of related jobs that you do, especially a profession that you spend a lot of your working life in’). It sounds like ‘carrera’ but does not refer to study.

6. Infinitive forms

• It’s difficult adapt to a new situation at first.• It’s difficult to adapt to a new situation at first.• Note: ‘it’s + adjective + to infinitive’

7. Word choice

• Some people buy a puppy for caprice.• Some people buy a puppy on a whim. • Note: the expression ‘do something on a whim’

means to make a quick decision (often to buy something or do something fun). ‘Caprice’ sounds a little antiquated in English.

8. Countable / Uncountable

• I have found two information about this place.• I have found two pieces of information about this

place.• Note: information is uncountable. Lots of people

are still making this mistake with advice too – check your writing for this.

9. Word form

• Study was very bored when I was a student.• Study was very boring when I was a student. • Note: bored is a feeling, boring describes the

thing that gives you this feeling. It is the same for other –ed / –ing adjectives e.g. excited / exciting, tired / tiring, worried / worrying

10. Word choice

• I stayed two months of unemployment.• I was unemployed for two months. • Note: stay does not always translate directly into

English. In Spanish ‘me quedé (en situación X)’ would usually be ‘I was (adjective)’

11. Prepositions / Verb Forms

• The matches could be useful for light a fire.• The matches could be useful to light a fire.• The matches could be useful for lighting a fire.• be + adjective + to (verb)• be + adjective + for (verb –ing)

12. Articles

• I am very interested in the history. • I am very interested in history. • Note: history (general) takes no article• a specific period can take an article e.g. The

history of ancient Egypt is fascinating.

13. False friends / Vocabulary

• The sheet of plastic would be interesting.• The sheet of plastic would be useful.• interesting refers to something you want to

study / learn about / watch / listen to e.g. ‘That’s an interesting movie, I highly recommend it’.

• useful refers to something practical e.g. ‘The sheet of plastic would be useful to protect us from the rain’.

14. Collocation / false friends

• Insect bites could be an important problem.• Insect bites could be a major problem.• important = something positive / necessary e.g.

‘Penicillen was an important discovery’. / ‘It’s important to eat healthily’.

• problem = something negative. You can say a big problem / a major problem / a significant problem

15. Vocabulary / False Friends

• What do you think about my election?• What do you think about my choice?• election is a political event

• Thanks for the ideas here. It's great to see how other people do error correction. I don't have anything to share from Proelt (yet!) but this is one way I have done correction in my other online job. 

• I send students a PPT with common errors and have them suggest corrections in the forum and a few days later send the same PPT with answers and a quick explanation. They can then compare and ask more questions in the forum if they need to. 

• Do you think something like this would work here too? I've attached an example of a PPT with answers so you can see what I mean.