Frequent mistakes 2010

by Eva María Suárez Guillén

NEAR +NO PREPOSITION   

The preposition "near" is

never followed by another
prepostion: "He's near the
window"
ARRIVE IN/AT

To arrive in (big place)

To arrive at (small place)
"He arrived in Seville/Africa"
"I arrived at the party at... 8
o'clock"
PREPOSITION + ING

After prepositions, verbs always take “-

ing”:
I’m tired of working.
I’m used to sharing.
I’m looking forward to seeing you.
I’ll go after finishing my work.
to dream of/about

I was dreaming of you.

I was dreaming about going to Alaska.
 TELL AND SAY
If you know when to use them,
visit our blog:

http://englishinguiaintermedio.wordpress.com
/2009/11/08/tell-and-say/
for /since

Please check your

grammar book. This was
seen in básico 2.
for /since

When did it start raining? (past simple)

An hour ago.
How long has it been raining? (present p.)
It’s been raining for an hour/since 1
o’clock.
for /since

We use both for and since to say

how long something has been
happening with present perfect.
for /since

For: It is used with periods of time:

For 20 minutes, for an hour, for
two years, etc. (with present
perfect)
for /since

We do not use for + all:

We’ve been here all day.
for /since

We can say: It’s a long time

since...(something happened).
How long is it since...
(something happened)?
for /since

Since: It is used to talk when

something started: since last year,
since 2002, etc. (with present
perfect).
For present simple we use ago.
Would you like to...?

Would you like to go to the cinema?

Never use ING with this expression

ago / before

When telling what happened in the past, or

using indirect speech, ago is substituted by
before.

In that moment, I had been working for the

same company since 5 years before / for 5
years.
"People" is always plural

People usually go to the

beach in summer. 
 
realise / notice
Realise: become fully aware of
(something) as a fact; understand clearly
: he realised his mistake at once | they
realised that something was wrong | she
had not realised how hungry she was.
You realise something using your brain,
connecting ideas.x
realise / notice
Notice: become aware of : he noticed
the youths behaving suspiciously |I
noticed that she was looking tired
they were too drunk to notice.

You notice something with your

senses.