Would you please check my work?

1. Here is a piece of written homework from a lower-intermediate student from . It is a short descriptive passage and it contains some errors.

a) Go through the work and indicate all the errors using an appropriate marking scheme in the margin of the text.

b) A the end of the text, write a short explanation to suggest reasons why you think each of these particular errors might have been made in terms of language learning difficulties.



My brother is more old than me. He is now 20 year old. He live in with our aunt. He studied to be electrical engineer. I like my brother he is funny and he have got a beautiful girlfriend. She is also a student. She is also wanting to be an engineer. Last year he has gone to to study English for one month. My father borrowed him a suitcase to carry his things. My mother gave him some money to take with him. He buyed much things when he is there. I was very happy when he came back. Now I am study in England and he is in again.

The correct text:

My brother is older than me. He is now 20 years old. He lives in with our aunt. He studied to be electrical engineer. I like my brother he is funny and he has got a beautiful girlfriend. She is also a student. She also wants to be an engineer. Last year he has gone to to study English for one month. My father borrowed him a suitcase to carry his things. My mother gave him some money to take with him. He bought many things when he was there. I was very happy when he came back. Now I am study in England and he is in again.



Explanation:

The first error in the text is more old. Here is comparative use, when comparing with a one-syllable adjective, add “er” or “est” to the end of the adjective. Do not use “more” or “most”. When comparing with a two-syllable adjective, add “er” or “est” or use the word “more” or “most” in addition to the adjective. Do not use both options at the same time.

For example:

Instead of: this star is more bright.

Consider: this star is brighter.

Instead of: she has the most good grades in the class.

Consider: she has the best grades in the class.



The second error in the text is he live in . Here is subjective –verb agreement. The verb of a sentence must agree with the subject in number and in person.

For example:

Instead of: Leila watch the snowy egret stab at the fish.

Consider: Leila watches the snowy egret stab at the fish.

Instead of: What was Stephen and Laura like as schoolchildren?

Consider: What were Stephen and Laura like as schoolchildren?



The third error in the text is “he have got a beautiful girlfriend.” Students should notice that “Has’ is a singular verb. ‘Have’ is plural and ‘Have’ is more commonly used, because it can still be used suitably in singular forms. ‘Has’, on the other hand, is only used for the singular third person.

For example:

Singular form in the third person: “He has the most beautiful smile.”
Plural form in the first person: “We have all that we need.”

Plural form in the second person: “You have the budget.”

Plural form in the third person: “They have the most suitable approach.”



The forth error in the text is: She is also wanting to be an engineer. Here is verb use; certain verbs cannot be paired with forms of the verb “to be”. Use the simplest form of these verbs (without the “ing”) when you write about present or past action.

For example:

Instead of: Ali was preferring the opera to rock music.

Consider: Ali preferred the opera to rock music.

Instead of: Sara is needing a break in his studies.

Consider: Sara needs a break in his studies.



The fifth error in the text is “He buyed much things”. Buy is irregular verb therefore the past form of buy is bought and instead of much you should use many because the main difference between many and much is that you use much with uncountable nouns and you use many with countable, plural nouns.





The sixth error in the text is “when he is there” and the correct form is when he was there. When we talk about past tense we should use past tense of verb.