This page explains some of the mistakes in word usage that I often see in Japanese students' written work. I've given some explanations that I hope will help you to understand and use these troublesome words and phrases correctly. Some of these explanations include definitions draawn from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. For some words, I have also included additional examples taken from the Bank of English corpus created by COBUILD at Birmingham University.
As you can see by the number of words below that are still in black font, I am still working on this page. When I find time, I want to add more explanations, examples, and even some quizzes so you can test your knowledge (see the quiz on admit, recognize, and accept, for example).
Another very good source of information about English mistakes is the book "121 Common Mistakes of Japanese Students of English" (Japanese title:「日本人に共通する英語のミス121」) by James H.M. Webb, published by The Japan Times. I ahave sometimes used this book in my English classes at Waseda.
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| Often misused words |
almost * besides challenge * consist happening * meet * mention * much should * so * too |
| Mistakes with singular and plural, articles, and prepositions |
both, both ofdiscuss discriminate against one of (plural noun) |
| Different English words with the same Japanese translation |
accident and incident (事件)
admit, recognize, and accept (認める)
let in contrast to make（ーさせる） |
| Words and phrases that are often confused |
after all and in the end and in contrast to or care for in contrast to take care (of) and be careful could in contrast to be able to how in contrast to what know in contrast to find out, discover, and realize learn in contrast to studylisten in contrast to hearmale and female in contrast to man and woman persons in contrast to people
realize in contrast to notice say, tell, speak, and talk see in contrast to look at and glance at it in contrast to there wish in contrast to hope |
| Awkward or unnatural sounding sentences |
using there is and there are redundancy it was/is the first time for me to ...
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