7 English Grammar Mistakes Professionals Often Make—and How to Fix Them

You’ve studied English for years.

You write emails, attend meetings, and communicate at work.

But sometimes—even at a high level—small grammar mistakes slip through… and they can affect how professional or fluent you sound.

In this post, I’ll show you 7 of the most common grammar mistakes I see professionals make—and give you simple, practical tips to fix them right away.

🚫 Mistake 1: Mixing Up “Say” and “Tell”

❌ “He told that he was busy.”
✅ “He said that he was busy.”
✅ “He told me he was busy.”

🧠 Rule:

• Tell someone something

• Say something (no object)

🚫 Mistake 2: Forgetting the ‘s’ in the 3rd Person Present

❌ “She work hard.”
✅ “She works hard.”

🧠 Tip: If the subject is he, she, or it, verbs in the present simple get -s.

🚫 Mistake 3: Wrong Word Order in Questions

❌ “You are coming to the meeting?”
✅ “Are you coming to the meeting?”

🧠 Rule: In questions with be, do, can, will, the verb comes before the subject.

🚫 Mistake 4: Using the Wrong Preposition

❌ “Let’s discuss about the project.”
✅ “Let’s discuss the project.”

🧠 Fix:
Some verbs don’t need prepositions (e.g., discuss, consider, enter). Learn them in chunks, not just as single words.

🚫 Mistake 5: Overusing Present Perfect

❌ “I have seen him yesterday.”
✅ “I saw him yesterday.”

🧠 Tip: Use past simple with specific times.
Use present perfect with general past experience (no time reference).

“I’ve seen that movie before.”
“I saw that movie last night.”

🚫 Mistake 6: Too Many Passive Sentences

❌ “The file was sent by me.”
✅ “I sent the file.”

🧠 Use active voice in business English to sound more direct and confident.

Passive: “The report was completed by the team.”
Active: “The team completed the report.”

🚫 Mistake 7: Missing Articles (a, an, the)

❌ “I had meeting with client.”
✅ “I had a meeting with the client.”

🧠 Tip: Articles are small but powerful. They affect clarity and fluency.
Start noticing them when you read and listen!

✍️ Practice Task

Correct these sentences:

• “She go to office every day.”

• “I didn’t went to the training.”

• “They discussed about the results.”

• “He has finished the task yesterday.”

✅ Your corrected versions:

• ___________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________

🎯 Final Tip: Don’t Let Grammar Fear Stop You

Even native speakers make grammar mistakes.

The key is to notice, correct, and keep speaking.

Confidence + consistency = progress!

© Henry English Hub | henryenglishhub.com
Clear grammar. Confident communication.