| name | common-non-native-mistakes |
| description | Recurring error patterns from non-native English speakers in developer contexts: article misuse, preposition confusion, tense mismatch, 'I am agree'-style anti-patterns, and other frequent L2 slips. Use when scanning for patterns a reader can map back to familiar mistakes rather than rediscover from first principles. |
| version | 0.1.0 |
Common Non-Native Mistakes
These patterns come from the legacy writing-guide plus widely-documented L2-English error categories (no invented rules). They concentrate on slips that slip past spellcheck and automated grammar checkers because every individual word is a real English word.
Article Slips
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|
| "Fix bug in authentication" | "Fix the bug in authentication" | Specific bug → definite article |
| "Create a new the file" | "Create a new file" | Two determiners on the same noun |
| "I use the React" | "I use React" | Framework names take no article |
| "An useful tool" | "A useful tool" | u here is pronounced y, so a not an |
| "I have question" | "I have a question" | Countable singular noun needs a determiner |
Test for a vs an: does the following word START with a vowel SOUND? If yes, an. Otherwise a. (a URL, not an URL, because URL starts with the consonant sound "y".)
Preposition Confusion
Non-native speakers often transfer prepositions from their first language.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "depend of" | "depend on" |
| "consist in" | "consist of" |
| "different of" | "different from" |
| "search a solution" | "search for a solution" |
| "discuss about it" | "discuss it" (no preposition after discuss) |
| "married with" | "married to" |
| "capable to" | "capable of" |
| "afraid from" | "afraid of" |
Prepositions are memorised per verb. There is no general rule.
"I Am Agree" and Copula Stacking
A large family of errors doubles a state verb where only one is needed.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "I am agree with you." | "I agree with you." |
| "I am disagree." | "I disagree." |
| "He is depend on that." | "He depends on that." |
| "She is work at Google." | "She works at Google." |
Rule: agree, disagree, depend, work, like, want, need are verbs, not adjectives. They do not take be.
Subject-Verb Agreement
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|
| "There is many issues." | "There are many issues." | Plural subject |
| "The data show that …" | "The data shows that …" | data is singular in modern tech usage |
| "None of the tests pass." | "None of the tests passes." | None is singular in formal writing |
| "Everyone have their tokens." | "Everyone has their tokens." | everyone is singular |
Its vs It's
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|
it's | contraction of it is / it has | "It's broken" |
its | possessive | "The module and its tests" |
Test: try expanding to "it is". If the sentence still works, use it's.
Tense Mismatch
Switching tense mid-paragraph is a frequent L2 slip.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "The hook reads stdin and wrote the log." | "The hook reads stdin and writes the log." |
| "Yesterday I fix the bug and push it." | "Yesterday I fixed the bug and pushed it." |
Pick one tense per paragraph and hold it.
Redundant Double Negatives or Double Comparatives
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "more faster" | "faster" |
| "the most simplest" | "the simplest" |
| "I don't know nothing." | "I don't know anything." |
| "There isn't no bug." | "There isn't a bug." / "There is no bug." |
Plural / Uncountable Confusion
Uncountable nouns that look like they should be pluralizable:
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "informations" | "information" (or "pieces of information") |
| "advices" | "advice" (or "pieces of advice") |
| "softwares" | "software" |
| "equipments" | "equipment" |
| "feedbacks" | "feedback" (or "pieces of feedback") |
| "researches" | "research" (as noun; "researches" is the verb third-person) |
Word-Order Inversion
English expects strict Subject–Verb–Object. Moving pieces around (as is natural in some languages) reads as broken.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|
| "Always I run the tests." | "I always run the tests." |
| "Yesterday came the release." | "The release came yesterday." |
| "Is working the server?" | "Is the server working?" |
Placement of frequency adverbs (always, often, rarely): between subject and verb, or after be.
False Cognates ("Faux Amis")
Watch for words that exist in both languages with different meanings.
| Word | Native speaker may mean | English actually means |
|---|
| "actual" | current / real | real (NOT current; that is current) |
| "eventual" | possible, perhaps | final, certain-but-later |
| "library" | book-lending place | collection of reusable code (in tech) |
| "sensible" | sensitive | practical, reasonable |
| "sympathetic" | nice / friendly | feeling pity toward |
| "assist" | attend (a meeting) | help |
Commit-Message-Specific Slips
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|
| "Fixed bug" | "Fix bug" | Imperative, not past tense |
| "Updated code" | "Refactor auth module" | Imperative + specific |
| "Changes" | "Add rate limiting to API endpoints" | State what changed |
| "Fix the bug." | "Fix parser crash on empty input" | No leading article, no trailing period |
Scope
This skill catalogues recurring L2 slip patterns so a reviewer can label a mistake by pattern rather than reinvent the rule. Related concerns live in sibling skills:
- grammar-fundamentals — the underlying grammar rules these patterns violate
- punctuation-rules — punctuation slips
- tone-calibration — tone and formality per context
- technical-writing — API doc and README conventions
- writing-guide — meta-skill routing to the four above
