The Grammar Trap: Stories Behind Frequently Made Grammar Mistakes

June 20, 2025 Post a Comment

It started with a job interview.

Emily, fresh out of university and full of ambition, sat across from the recruiter with her resume neatly printed and her smile perfectly rehearsed. Everything was going well—until she said, “I have went to many leadership seminars.”

There was a pause. Subtle. Almost invisible.

The recruiter smiled politely, continued the interview, but the energy shifted ever so slightly.

You might think it’s just a small mistake. But in the professional world, grammar speaks louder than words. It tells people how seriously you take communication, how precise you are, and sometimes—even how they should perceive your intelligence.

And guess what?

You are not alone.
Emily made a mistake that many people—even native speakers—make every day.

Let’s walk through these real-life grammar slip-ups, not to shame, but to learn, laugh, and level up.

1. “I have went” vs “I have gone”

When Emily said, “I have went,” she combined two different grammar rules without realizing it.

Here’s the fix: “Have” needs a past participle.
And the correct past participle of “go” is “gone.”

❌ I have went
✅ I have gone

Think of it like this: the helper verb “have” is your GPS, but it can’t drive the car alone—it needs the right partner to arrive at the destination.

2. “Your welcome” vs “You’re welcome”

Then there’s James. He had just received praise for helping organize a school fundraiser. He texted back politely: “Your welcome 😊”

His heart was in the right place, but his apostrophe? Not so much.

“Your” is possessive: your book, your phone
“You’re” is a contraction: you are

So unless someone owns a welcome (which would be very odd), you want:

✅ “You’re welcome”

It’s a tiny apostrophe, but it tells a huge story about clarity.

3. “Me and my friends” vs “My friends and I”

Now let’s talk about Sofia, the social butterfly. She once wrote a blog post about her summer trip and proudly began with:

“Me and my friends went to Bali.”

The photos were stunning. The memories unforgettable. But the sentence? Off balance.

Here’s the trick: Would you say “Me went to Bali”? Of course not.

So, flip the order and test the sentence without the other person:

❌ Me and my friends went to Bali
✅ My friends and I went to Bali

It’s more than grammar—it’s grace. It flows better, and it sounds polished.

4. “Its” vs “It’s”

You’re editing a post. You write:

“The dog wagged it’s tail happily.”

Seems fine, right? But wait—“it’s” means “it is.”

So what you actually said was:

“The dog wagged it is tail.”

Oops.

This one is a classic. And easy to fix once you remember:

It’s = It is
Its = Possession, like his, her, their

So, the correct version is:

✅ The dog wagged its tail

This one’s small but mighty—like a pebble in your shoe. You don’t notice it until it trips you up.

5. “There,” “Their,” and “They’re”

Now here come the triplets of confusion: there, their, and they’re.

Let’s imagine three roommates arguing about who forgot to lock the door.

There – location: “The keys are over there!”
Their – possession: “It was their responsibility!”
They’re – they are: “They’re always forgetting something!”

They sound the same, but live completely different lives. Confusing them is like mixing up your friends’ names in a group chat—harmless, but awkward.

Why We Make These Mistakes

Because English is weird.

Seriously. The rules often make exceptions. The words sound the same but act differently. And sometimes, we learn from what we hear—not what we read. That’s how habits are formed.

But the moment you become aware of these frequently made grammar mistakes, they lose their power over you.

You’re Not Just a Reader—You’re the Hero

This article isn’t just about Emily, James, Sofia, or you. It’s about all of us—trying to communicate better in a world full of noise, abbreviations, autocorrect fails, and fast messages.

We make mistakes. We learn.
We trip, we laugh, we improve.

So the next time you catch yourself writing “your welcome” or saying “me and my friends”, smile.

Because you’re not failing.
You’re growing.
And every sentence you correct makes your voice clearer, stronger, and more unforgettable.

Now it’s your turn.
Which of these have you seen—or made—before?
And which one will you never make again?

Keep learning. Keep laughing.
And always aim for fewer mistakes, not less. 😉

SIRHARI