Common mistakes · Slavic background

Mistakes Polish speakers make

Polish has no articles, no auxiliary "do" for questions, and only one past tense. Polish speakers often drop English words their native language doesn't use.

Pick one to practise

Dropping articles (a / an / the)

✗I went to shop yesterday.
✓I went to the shop yesterday.

Polish has no articles, so your brain hasn't been trained to add them. English uses "a/an" for first mention of a singular noun, and "the" for known specific things.

Question form without "do / does / did"

✗Where you went yesterday?
✓Where did you go yesterday?

Polish forms questions by intonation. English usually needs "do/does/did" + the base verb to make a question.

Past simple vs present perfect

✗I lived here for five years.
✓I have lived here for five years.

Polish has only one past tense, so "I lived" and "I have lived" sound the same. English uses present perfect (have/has + past participle) for actions starting in the past and continuing to now.

"Make" vs "do"

✗I need to make my homework.
✓I need to do my homework.

Polish uses one verb (robić) for both. English splits them: "do" for tasks and duties (homework, work, dishes), "make" for creating (a cake, a decision, a noise).