Mistakes we make while speaking English Part-3

Terrible grammar and error-riddled speech is frequently a problem for young adults.

Poor English makes you sound unprofessional and can lead to laughs at your expense! If you need to touch up on your English, or just want a few giggles, read on!

Continuing our user-driven series on common English bloopers, let's highlight a few mistakes overhead by Rediff.com users.

Shilpa Archaya sent several bloopers she encounters frequently.

~ Please return my book back.

~ Could you repeat that last line again?

In both cases, the final word is redundant. When you return a book, you give it back to the owner. When you repeat a line, you're saying it again. They should read:

~ Please return my book.

~ Could you repeat that last line?

Shilpa also noted the following common mistake.

~ I, my sister and Deepa went to the mall

'I' and 'me' are always placed at the end of a list of names/ pronouns. The correct usage is:

~ My sister, Deepa and I went to the mall.

SM Hussein from Andhra Pradesh notes the prevalence of other redundancies:

~ The fish aquarium is very large.

~ The dance ballet was lovely.

In both cases, the descriptive word is unnecessary. An aquarium houses fish and a ballet is always a dance! The correct usage is simply:

~ The aquarium is very large.

~ The ballet was lovely.

Another mistake Hussein hears frequently:

~ I could not able to do it, sir.

In this case, either able should be removed or could should be replaced with was. Here are the two correct possibilities:

~ I could not do it, sir.

~ I was not able to do it, sir.