> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.outtalent.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.outtalent.com/guides/learning-english/common-english-language-mistakes.md).

# Common English mistakes

For now, we mainly work with engineers for whom English the second or third language. Here are common mistakes we see among them, including real-world examples.

**I. Easy**

These mistakes are usually made due to a lack of attention to detail rather than a lack of knowledge. These mistakes are usually easy to catch and learn to prevent.

1. Attention > Typos
   * "Leetcode" -> "LeetCode"
   * "Systems Design Primer" -> "System Design Primer"
2. Attention > Singular vs plural
   * "3 LeetCode problem" -> "3 LeetCode problems"
3. Attention > Spelling
   * "recomendations" -> "recommendations"
4. Attention > Extra spacing
   * "Solve the Wild Card Matching  problem" -> "Solve the Wild Card Matching problem"

**II. Medium.**

These mistakes usually point to a lack of knowledge of "medium complexity" rules in English.

1. Grammar > Missing words
   * "Record a video and share on Telegram" -> "Record a video and share it on Telegram"
2. Grammar > Tenses
   * "I founded one mistake" -> "I found one mistake"
3. Grammar > Word order
   * "Read the Grokking the System Design 1 lecture" -> "Read 1 lecture of the Grokking the System Design" or "Read the Grokking the System Design (1 lecture)"
4. Punctuation > Ending of a bullet point
   * Long phrases in bullet points don’t need a dot at the end, but if it’s a sentence without a bullet point use a dot.
5. Punctuation > General separation
   * Some people write a list of phrases in their resume without using dashes or bullet points.
6. Punctuation > Casing instead of quotes in titles
   * "Read 'Queue and BFS' chapter on LeetCode" -> "Read the Queue and BFS chapter on LeetCode"

\
**II. Larger problems**

These mistakes usually point to a lack of knowledge of complex rules in English.

1. Grammar > Articles
   * "Solve problem Reverse Nodes in k-Group" ->  "Solve the Reverse Nodes in the k-Group problem"
   * "Conduct interviewing.io coding interview" -> "Conduct an interviewing.io coding interview" or "Conduct one interviewing.io coding interview"
2. Grammar > Prepositions
   * "Read through 3 chapters via the CCI book" -> "Read through 3 chapters of the CCI book"
3. Casing > Capitalizing the first letter of bullet points
4. Casing > Job titles
   * \[Usage context: a job title in a resume] "software engineer" -> "Software Engineer"
   * \[Usage context: a job title in a resume] "Senior Software engineer" -> "Senior Software Engineer"

In general, we strongly encourage using the most modern spell-checker. As of 2022-06-20, we believe the best is [Grammarly](https://www.grammarly.com/).


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