Common ESL Verb Mistakes: A Practical Guide with Examples for Learners — Series Part 3

Second language learners often struggle with everyday communication. To help you avoid common ESL verb mistakes, we’ve listed the most frequent errors along with clear explanations and examples. This guide is designed to strengthen your English grammar. It also provide hands-on ESL grammar practice to help you start speaking English with confidence.

1. ESL Grammar Practice: “Break” vs. “Break Down” →“Break” = Quebrar; “Break Down” = Parar de Funcionar

✅ Break = separate into pieces

• I broke my phone screen.

✅ Break down = stop working

• My car broke down.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum

❌My car broke yesterday.
✅ My car broke down yesterday.

Practice

Write 2 sentences with break and 2 with break down.

2. ESL Grammar Practice: “Hold” vs. “Carry” →“Hold” = Segurar; “Carry” = Mover Algo de Um Lugar Para Outro

✅ Hold = keep something in your hands

• Hold my hand.

✅ Carry = move something from one place to another

• I carried the boxes upstairs.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum:

❌Can you hold my bag to the car?
✅ Can you carry my bag to the car?

Practice

Write 3 sentences using carry.

3. ESL grammar practice: “Move Out” vs. “Move In” →“Move Out” = Deixar a Moradia; “Move in” = Ir para Nova Moradia

These three English verbs can create confusions. Here is what they stand for:

• Move your chair.

Move out = leave a home

• I moved out last year.

move in = start living in a new home

• We moved in last week.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum:

❌ I moved to my new house yesterday. (unclear)
✅ I moved in yesterday.

Practice

Write 3 sentences using these verbs.

4. Common ESL Verb Mistakes: “Pass” vs.“Spend” –Time →“Pass” = Passar; “Spend” = Dedicar-se a Uma Actividade

Pass = time goes by

• Two hours passed quickly.

Spend = you use time

• I spent two hours studying.

Mistake to avoid → Error comum:

❌ I passed two hours studying.
✅ I spent two hours studying.

Practice

Write 2 sentences with pass and 2 with spend as a way of fixing this common English verb confusions. To know about verbs visit: Essential English verbs.

5. ESL Grammar Practice: “Fix” vs.“Repair” →“Fix” = “Consertar”; “Repair” = Reparar

Both mean the same thing.

Fix = everyday English

• Can you fix my phone?

Repair = more formal

• The mechanic repaired the engine.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum:

❌ I need to repair my hair.
✅ I need to fix my hair.

Practice

Write 3 sentences using fix.

6. ESL Grammar Practice: “Turn On” vs.“Switch On” — Same Meaning,→Mesmo Significado  “Ligar” ou “Acender”

Turn on (everyday English)

• Turn on the lights.

Switch on (slightly more formal)

• Please switch on the projector.

Mistake to avoid → Erro commum:

❌ Switch on the TV (not wrong, just less common)
✅ Turn on the TV.

Practice

Practice using turn on in 2 sentences. Common English verb confusions is fixed by practicing.

7. ESL Grammar Practice: “Let” vs. “Allow” — One Is More Natural →”Let” = Deixar; “Allow” = Permitir

Let = informal, everyday

• Let me help you.

Allow (formal)

• Smoking is not allowed here.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum:

❌ Allow me go home.
✅ Let me go home.
✅ Allow me to come with you.

Practice

Write 2 sentences with let and 2 with allow.

Click here to know other essential English verbs.

8. Common English Verb Confusions: “Call” vs.“Call Back” — Don’t Confuse Them →“Call” = Ligar; “Call back” = Retornar a Ligação

Call = phone someone

• I called my sister.

Call back = return a call

• I’ll call you back later.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comum:

❌ I will call you later back.
✅ I will call you back later.

Practice

Write 2 sentences using call back.

9. ESL Grammar Practice: “Look After” vs.“Take Care Of” — Same Meaning, Different Style

Look after = British English

• Can you look after my dog?

Take care of = more general

• I take care of my little brother.

Mistake to avoid → Erro comun:

❌ I look after of my brother.
✅ I look after my brother.

Practice

Write 2 sentences using each phrase.

For actual practicing of English vocabulary visit the article “English for Daily Tasks and English for Everyday Situations.

Most Common ESL Verb Errors Other than Already Discussed:

1. Subject–Verb Agreement →Concordância entre sujeito e o verbo

How to avoid subject–verb agreement mistakes in English. To avoid it you need to know that:

• Learners often forget to add -s for third person singular in present tense.
  • ❌ He go to school every day.
  • ✅ He goes to school every day.
• Overgeneralizing plural forms with verbs.

Whether you’re writing or speaking, remember to add an “s” for third person singular. This fixes subject–verb agreement errors.

2. ESL grammar practice: Tense Consistency

• Switching tenses within the same sentence or paragraph.
  • ❌ Yesterday I go to the store and buy milk.
  • ✅ Yesterday I went to the store and bought milk.

3. ESL Grammar Practice: Irregular Verb Forms

• Using regular endings for irregular verbs.
  • ❌ She goed home.
  • ✅ She went home.

Avoid using regular endings for irregular verbs, Instead use simple past forms of the irregular verb. The following ESL grammar practice for regular vs. irregular verbs can help you better understand this.

Have a look on the tables below to avoid making common ESL mistakes:

ESL Grammar Practice: Regular Verbs

ESL Grammar Practice: Irregular verbs

Using list of irregular verbs like this, can greatly help you fix irregular verb mistakes in English.

4. Common ESL Verb Mistakes: Gerunds vs. Infinitives

How to use gerunds and infinitives correctly in English? The gerund and infinitive errors are caused by the confusion about which verbs take -ing or to + verb.

• ❌ I enjoy to swim.
• ✅ I enjoy swimming.

To help you decide which verbs take -ing or to + verb, we’ve made two lists. Verbs followed by -ing (Gerund) and Verbs followed by to + verb (Infinitive) including what they are about.

Verbs Followed by -ing (Gerund)

These verbs are usually about enjoyment, avoidance, or minding activities.

• enjoy → I enjoy reading books.
• avoid → She avoids eating junk food.
• dislike → He dislikes waiting in long lines.
• finish → We finished cleaning the house.
• suggest → They suggested going to the park.
• consider → I’m considering moving to another city.
• admit → She admitted cheating on the test.
• deny → He denied stealing the money.
• mind → Do you mind opening the window?

Verbs Followed by to + verb (Infinitive)

These verbs often express plans, decisions, or desires.

• want → I want to learn English.
• need → You need to study harder.
• decide → She decided to travel abroad.
• plan → We plan to visit Paris.
• hope → They hope to pass the exam.
• agree → He agreed to help me.
• promise → She promised to call back.
• refuse → He refused to pay the bill.
• learn → I’m learning to drive.

This gerunds vs infinitives verbs examples provided can help you better understand and avoid common ESL mistakes.

5. ESL grammar practice: Conditional Sentences

• Incorrect verb forms in “if” clauses.
  • ❌ If I will be late, I’ll call you.
  • ✅ If I am late, I’ll call you.

In English the if-clause expresses the condition (present tense), and the main clause expresses the result (future tense)

Example of common conditional sentence errors in ESL writing:

• ❌ If I will be late, I’ll call you.
• ✅ If I am late, I’ll call you.

Here is how it works:

• If-clause = Present tense
• Main clause = Future tense (will + verb)
• Formula: If + Present Simple, … will + Verb
• Example: If it rains tomorrow, we will stay home.

You can avoid conditional sentence errors in English by following these simple helpful rules.

6. ESL Grammar Practice: Passive Voice Errors

• Misplacing auxiliary verbs.
  • ❌ The cake ate by children.
  • ✅ The cake was eaten by children.

Passive Voice Formula: Subject + be (am/is/are/was/were) + Past Participle (+ by + agent)

Example:

• Active: Children ate the cake.
• Passive: The cake was eaten by children.

You can avoid passive voice mistakes even as ESL learner. Just follow the the rules

7. Auxiliary & Modal Verbs

• Forgetting to use auxiliaries in questions/negatives.
  • ❌ She not like pizza.
  • ✅ She does not like pizza.
• Misusing modals like can, should, must.

Rule for Auxiliaries (Do/Does/Did)

• Present Simple (negative/question) → use do/does + base verb.
• Past Simple (negative/question) → use did + base verb.

Examples:

• ❌ She not like pizza.
• ✅ She does not like pizza.
• ❌ He not go to school yesterday.
• ✅ He did not go to school yesterday.

Questions:

• ❌ She like pizza?
• ✅ Does she like pizza?

To learn English verb tenses visit: 5 most English verb tenses

ESL Grammar Practice: Comparison Table

To know common English errors click here.

Use everyday these English grammar tips whenever you feel stuck on your English journey to confidence building. And remember: the practical exercise to fix common ESL verb mistakes is by practicing and seeking for help from fluent speakers

By doing so you’ll even boost your confidence. Learning a language is a journey, we build vocabulary — one step at a time .