10 Common English Grammar Mistakes Indians Make (and Fixes)
From "he do" to "I am knowing", these are the grammar errors most Indian speakers make — and the simple rules to fix them.
7 min read · Published 2026-07-16
Hindi and Marathi grammar is different from English. That is why some errors repeat across India. Here are the top 10 with fixes.
1. Subject-verb agreement
Wrong: "He do his work." Right: "He does his work." Use "does" with he/she/it.
2. Using "know" in continuous
Wrong: "I am knowing." Right: "I know." Some verbs (know, like, want) are not used in -ing form for states.
3. "Myself" instead of "me"
Wrong: "Please give it to myself." Right: "Please give it to me."
4. Double negative
Wrong: "I don't know nothing." Right: "I don't know anything."
5. Article with general nouns
Wrong: "I love the music." Right: "I love music." No article for general things.
6. "Since" vs "for"
Use "since" with a point: "since Monday." Use "for" with a length: "for two days."
7. Prepositions
Wrong: "on phone." Right: "on the phone." Wrong: "discuss about." Right: "discuss" (no about).
8. "Advice" vs "advise"
"Advice" is a noun. "Advise" is a verb. "He gave me advice." "He advised me."
9. Word order in questions
Wrong: "What you are doing?" Right: "What are you doing?"
10. Tense mixing
Pick a time frame and stay in it. Don't jump from past to present in one story without reason.
How to fix them
Record yourself speaking for one minute daily. Listen back. You will hear your own mistakes. The SpeakNow app highlights tense and agreement errors automatically.
Small corrections, done daily, remove these habits in a month.