ERRORS NATIVE SPEAKERS MAKE REGULARLY
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AS A PHILOSOPHER, A SOCIAL SCIENTIST AND AN ENGLISH PROFESSORS, I FIND SOME OF THE ERRORS IN ENGLISH THAT NATIVE SPEAKERS MAKE APPALLING.
The error that bothers me most is: "The reason is because..."
The speaker does not realize that the word reason and the word because are the same; in essence, the speaker is repeating himself. What bothers me most is speakers arguments with me that "the reason is because" is correct.
Another error that is bothersome is the use of reported speech. For example: A native speaker might say "He said his name is sabri." This is wrong. Once we say "he said," the verb must change from present to past and from past to past perfect. It should be: "He said his name WAS Sabri."
One error used unwittingly is using double negative. One might say "I do not know nothing." The speaker does not realize that "nothing is negative, and "do not" is negative. This should be "I do not know anything."
An irritating error made by many native speakers in the United States is the use of the past participle of the verb. It appears that many speakers do not know that we must use the past participle, not the past tense, after verb "to have." One might say: "I have ate" instead of "I have eaten." Another might say: "I have drove" instead of "I have driven." This particular error shows lack of education.
Use of "oxymoron" is another common error. A "oxymoron" is a combination of 
contradictory or incongruous words (such as cruel kindness). Richard Nordquist wrote a great. article on that at https://www.thoughtco.com/awfully-good-examples-of-oxymorons-1691814 He wrote: "The word oxymoron is itself oxymoronic, which is to say, contradictory." Examples: "awful good," "definite maybe," "exact estimate," "found missing," "good grief," "ill health," "living dead," "loyal opposition," "old news,"pretty ugly," "seriously funny," "unbiased opinion," "virtual reality," and "working vacation. Politicians, specially Donald Trump, use oxymorons excessively.
Many others do not know the rule of "wish" and say: I wish I was..." Sadly, they do not understand that "wish" is a conditional word and unreal dream. One has to say: "I wish I were...."
Another rather comical error is many native speaker’s misunderstanding of verbs “lay” and “lie." The verbs "lay" and "lie" often confuse people because they sound similar and their meanings overlap somewhat. Here's a straightforward way to explain the difference:
Lay:
Meaning: To put something down or place it somewhere.
Requires a Direct Object: You lay something (object) down.
Past: laid (Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.)
Past participle: laid (I have laid the book on the table.)
Present participle: laying (I am laying the book on the table.)
Requires a Direct Object: You lay something (object) down.
- Conjugation:
Past: laid (Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.)
Past participle: laid (I have laid the book on the table.)
Present participle: laying (I am laying the book on the table.)
Lie:
Meaning: To recline or be in a horizontal position.No Direct Object: You lie (yourself) down; there's no object being placed.Conjugation:
- Present: lie (I lie down on the bed.)
- Past: lay (Yesterday, I lay down on the bed.)
- Past participle: lain (I have lain down on the bed.)
- Present participle: lying (I am lying down on the bed.)
Examples:
Lay: "Please lay the keys on the counter." (You are placing the keys down.)
Lie: "I need to lie down for a while." (You are reclining or resting.)
Lie: "I need to lie down for a while." (You are reclining or resting.)
A common trick to remember:
Lay requires an object (you lay something down).
Lie involves no object (you lie down yourself).
This writer will never forget how funny it was when Rosanne Bar was being interviewed and asked “What do you do in your free time?” She Replied “I just lay around.” This has a sexual connotation.
Lie involves no object (you lie down yourself).
This writer will never forget how funny it was when Rosanne Bar was being interviewed and asked “What do you do in your free time?” She Replied “I just lay around.” This has a sexual connotation.