Look at the following sentences and type how the sentence should read.
On a separate piece of paper, jot down what you think the error is and what you might tell the student who made it.
These examples are taken from The Grammar Book by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman
*Nora wills read the book.
*He has bought it last Saturday.
*I not understand that.
*The song was sang several times by the choir.
*What happens if I pushed this button.
*I enjoy to study English
*February is the most coldest month in my country.
1. *Nora wills read the book. Nora will read the book. Maybe an overgeneralization of the third person s rule. We don't conjugate (need to put an s on) will.
2. *He has bought it last Saturday. He bought it last Saturday or He has already bought it. Probably the first one. If we use present perfect we do not mention a specific time.
3. *I not understand that. I do not understand that. The student has not quite gotten how we negate affirmative sentences in English. We need a form of do. I understand. I do not understand.
4. *The song was sang several times by the choir. The song was sung several times by the choir. Probably just using the wrong form&past instead of past participle.
5. *What happens if I pushed this button. What will happen if I push this button? Wrong use of the conditional (note, this is not a good explanation for the students--this will need to be explained in more detail).
6. *I enjoy to study English I enjoy studying English. Certain verbs take a gerund and others take the infinitive. Students can memorize the lists or think in terms of gerunds are use for things that are completed and infinitives are used when things are occurring in the future—not an ideal explanation, but look at I hope to study English.
7. *February is the most coldest month in my country. February is the coldest month in my country. We do not need most and -est. Over application of superlative.