In response to my second list of common English mistakes made by Czech speakers, several other native English speakers in the Czech Republic reached out to share additional errors they’ve observed. The list below includes their most frequent suggestions.

Mistake No. 1

Czechs tend to use articles before country names. For example, “Tomorrow we are going to the Slovakia.” This may be because there are no articles in Czech, so after the ‘never-using-articles’ phase of English learning, Czechs follow this up by over-compensating. Regardless of the reason, Czechs have my sympathy when it comes to using articles with country names because it can be complicated.

Mistake No.2

Czechs often forget the English word order is subject > verb > object. So we get sentences like: “These drops recommended me my friend”. (Correct version: “My friend recommended these drops to me.)” This reminds me of a kid I taught in China who had chosen the English name Yoda. I used to joke about teaching him the wrong word order: “Hello! Yoda I am. English I learn. Succeed I will.” I recently told a Hungarian friend about this and she claimed Yoda talked the way he did by imitating Hungarian word order translated to English…

Mistake No.3

A common pronunciation error is failing to use the schwa (ə) in words such as focus (fəʊkəs), about (əˈbaʊt), taken (teɪkən), and memory (mɛməri). This English mistake is particularly common in Czechs because they are used to pronouncing each word as it is written.

Mistake No.4

Another pronunciation error is emphasising the first syllable of every word. For example, “TO-day I will go to the HO-tel.” English sentence stress varies from word to word, getting it wrong can impact the rhythm of your sentences.

Mistake No.5

One of the most frequent English mistakes is using ‘make’ rather than ‘do’ and vice versa. For example, “I do lots of English mistakes.” We generally use ‘make’ when we’re creating or building something (e.g., make dinner), and ‘do’ for when someone performs an action, activity, or task (do some shopping). However, there are many fixed expressions with ‘do’ and ‘make’ which don’t follow any rules, so you’ll have to learn them by heart (sorry).

Mistake No.6

Another frequent mistake is related to the word ‘sense.’ For example, “It has no sense to work late.” In this context ‘sense’ is not possessed. (Correct version: “It makes no sense to work late,” or “There is no point in working late.”)

Mistake No.7

Czechs confuse ‘early’ and ‘soon’. For example, ‘part-time students get home soon in the afternoon.’ ‘Early’ and ‘soon’ have distinct definitions. Early means ‘before the appointed or usual time’, while soon means ‘in a short time from now’.

Mistake No.8

Czechs confuse ‘custom’ and ‘habit’. For example, “He has a custom of picking his nose.” A habit is something a person does on a regular basis, while a custom is the long-established tradition of a society. (“He has a habit of waking up early,” or, “It’s a Czech custom to remove your shoes when you enter the home.”)

Mistake No.9

Czechs unnecessarily combine ‘only’ with ‘one.’ For example, “This is the only one reason,” or “I am the only one child.” ‘Only’ already means ‘one’, so the repetition is strange. But in certain instances they can be used together to emphasise that there is only one of something. For example, “I was the only one there,” or “This cake is the only one.”

Mistake No.10

This final suggestion may or may not be useful; my only one motivation for including it is that it made me laugh when I received it: “My Czech wife might say her biggest English mistake was saying “I do” when we got married.”

*Click here to read the first and second list.