Common mistakes

silly errors

!

spelling

than > thenuntill > until

tipical > typical

use the spellcheck

capitalisation

i go to University

capitalised in English not capitalised in Italian

1st person singular pronoun

I io

national adjectives English, Italian inglese, italiano

days of the week Monday, Friday lunedì, venerdì

months March, June marzo, giugno

I spoke to a man.

I spoke to Andrea.

I go to university.I spoke to a man.

I go to Roma Tre University.I spoke to Andrea.

bad punctuation

when I come back ,I have dinner

I finish lessons.I go back…

silly errors send the message

“I don’t care!”

other small points

no article before meals

I have breakfast / lunch / dinner.…a breakfast etc.

no ‘to’ before ‘home’

I go / come / drive home.…to home.

‘a’ / ‘the’ / ‘no article’before places

I go to …

a restauranta museuma partythe barthe pubthe bankthe theatrethe cinema

generic ‘the’

prisonschoolchurchhospital

university

My sister’s a student. She studies maths at university.

Her friend is an electrician. He’s working in the university this

week.

telling the time with- am/pm- o’clock

o’clock is only used on the hour

three o’clockhalf past three o’clock

don’t use am/pm with o’clock

three pm3.00 pm

three o’clockthree pm o’clock

you don’t have to say am/pm if the time is obvious

compare:

I get up at 8.30.I get up at 8.30 pm

‘usually’ translating ‘uso fare’

I usually get up early.I use…

I used…I’m used…

infinitive of purpose

I go to the shop for some bread.I go to the shop to buy some bread.

…for buy……for to buy…

prepositions following ‘go for’

I go to a restaurant for a mealI go for a meal at a restaurant

…meal to a…

I go for a drink in a pubI go for a walk in the park

I go for a walk on the beach