What are the most common errors at C1 Advanced?
There are many common errors at C1 Advanced (CAE). However, there are some mistakes which are more common than others. There are also errors are particular to speakers from certain countries. For example, many Spanish and Italian learners forget to put an 's' at the end of third person verbs.
The articles on this page cover some of the most common errors that CAE students make. There are also many mistakes which were made during my live lessons. I write down the mistakes and then show you the solutions to the problems. There are often quick tips and tricks along the way. Finally, there are some common mistakes particular to Spanish, Italians and Russians below too.
C1 Advanced Error Correction Exercises | CAE
CAE Error Correction Exercises 14
C1 Advanced Error Correction Exercises 13
C1 Advanced Error Correction Exercises 12
CAE Error Correction Exercises 11
CAE Errors 10
C1 Advanced Errors 9
C1 Advanced Error Correction Exercises 8
C1 Advanced Error Corrections 7
C1 Advanced Error Correction Exercises 6
CAE Error Correction Exercises 5
CAE Error Correction Exercises 4
CAE Error Correction Exercises 3
CAE Error Correction Exercises 2
CAE Error Correction Exercises 1
Here are some of the most common mistakes Italians make when learning English
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 4
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 3
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 2
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 1
Common English Errors Italians Make – 9
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 8
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 7
Common English Mistakes Italians Make 6
Common English Mistakes Italians Make – 5
Here are some more common errors at C1 Advanced (the solutions are below)
Mistakes
The people who is working for me
What I loved to do in my youthness
I was telling to you
We are friends since university
He found a good work in Turin
I watched to them
Yesterday we broken the system for watering
I losed the train
I get home at 9 last night
It has been a long day yesterday
When I was student I was in Bologna
I sleeped outside Bologna
A lot of time ago
I did just a few work with my hands
I say things more complicated with you in English than with people in Italian
Solutions
The people who work for me or the people who are working for me
What I loved to do in my youth
I was telling you
We have been friends since university
Use the present perfect to connect the past with the present
He (has) found good work in Turin or he found a good job in Turin
Work = uncountable. Job = countable.
I watched them
Yesterday the watering system broke or yesterday the watering system was broken or Yesterday we broke the watering system = we broke the system.
Break, broke, broken
I missed the train
I got home at 9 last night
It was a long day yesterday - if you say when, e.g. ‘yesterday, last week, two days ago’ = use the past simple
When I was a student I was in Bologna
I used to sleep outside Bologna or I slept outside Bologna
A long time ago
I did just a little work with my hands
I say more complicated things with you in English than with people in Italian
Mistakes
Maggie sent a couple of days ago the agenda
Into the agenda there were arguments that I didn't think...
They are composed by scientists...
They seems very friendly but they not are very friendly
I don't like the people in the tv that speaks Roman
Solutions
A couple of days ago Maggie sent the agenda
In the agenda there were arguments that I didn't think...
They are composed of scientists…
Composed by + musician
They seem very friendly but they aren’t very friendly
I don't like the people on tv that/who speak Roman
Mistakes
Some people is not so stressed the situation
They have to go home because some problem with children
There were fog
I prefer to avoid a lot of people into the house
I was really impressed - positive
The animals breeded
It’s a sauce really spicy
They stole me my sunglasses into the car
It takes 40 minutes to get Paris.
The most known of the beach in this coast
A lot of people is still on holidays
They grow into the Adriatic sea. This is supposed to be a passive sentence.
Solutions
Some people are not so stressed about/in this situation. Here's an old video I made about this topic:
They have to go home because of some problems with their children
There was fog. Fog is an uncountable noun.
I prefer to avoid a lot of people in the house.
Bred. 'Bred' is the past simple and past participle of the word 'breed'.
It’s a really spicy sauce. We put the adjective before the noun in English, this is a very common mistake, especially for Latin based languages.
They stole my sunglasses from the car. We normally say 'to steal something from somewhere/someone' in English. Another example could be, 'the cat stole the bird from the cage'.
It takes 40 minutes to get to Paris.
The most well-known/notorious city with a beach on/along this coast. 'Most well-known' is a common expression in English.
A lot of people are still on holiday.
Mussels are grown in the Adriatic sea.
Mistakes
To prevent the light go inside
19:30 in the afternoon
They start beaking each other and someone died
The wound increase and the animal die
This is the new from Italy
The imagin of my friends was not clear
We were 7 people
Solutions
To prevent the light (from) going inside
We normally say 'Prevent + someone/something from + verbing'…
18:00-21:59 is normally classified as 'evening' in English
7:30 in the evening
They start to peck each other and someone die
'Beak' is a noun. The verb that you want to use is 'peck' /pek/
The wound increases and the animal dies
This is the news from Italy
'News' is uncountable and finishes with an 's'.
The image of my friends was not clear
There were We were 7 of us people
In English, we normally say ‘there were 7 of us’
Mistakes
I have been refunded for a travel I booked on...
Less cases of people that is ill
I call her a couple of days ago
The certification covers animals and into the lab
He mixed with the hands the bread
Solutions
I have been refunded for a trip I booked on…
In English ‘travel’ is a verb and ‘trip’ is a noun.
Fewer cases of people that are ill
‘People’ is plural, so it should conjugate with the verb ‘are’.
The next problem, even English people get confused with. When we say a smaller quantity of a plural word, we use ‘fewer’ and not ‘less’ in English.
I called her a couple of days ago
The certification covers animals and the lab
He mixed the bread by hand
Say what he mixes before how he mixes.
Mistakes
In the next future
For me was really stress
The sponsor usually come to see some activity
It’s also an help
I’m just arrived home
Modena is not famous as Florence
Always there are visitor
It was before I graduate
I ever used the bus
Solutions
In the next near future
For me it was really stressful
The sponsor usually comes to see some activity
It’s also of/a help
The word before ‘help’ depends on the meaning, but if you use an article, use ‘a’ because the ‘h’ in ‘help’ is not silent.
- I have just arrived home
Modena is not as famous as Florence
There are always visitors
Adverbs of frequency, if they are 1 word, normally go before the main verb, but after ‘be’ or an auxiliary verb.
It was before I graduated
I always took the bus
'Keys Corner' provides some really useful information when preparing for this exam. There is a useful web page with some more common mistakes students make in the exam.