Secretary Today has collected the 10 most common business English mistakes
secretaries and personal assistants make. Do you recognise some of your own? Look at them carefully and make sure you avoid them next time you speak or write English.
Secretary Today - Professionelles Business English für Sekretärinnen und Assistentinnen
| Mistake | This is wrong | This is correct | |
| 1 | Using a comma before ‘that’ | Please note, that there is no comma before that. | Please note that there is no comma before that. |
| 2 | Forgetting that some nouns are not countable | We need more informations. I will give you some good advices. The news are good. | We need more information. I will give you some good advice. The news is very good. |
| 3 | Using ´an own´ instead of using a personal pronoun + own | I have an own office. She has an own car. My boss has an own private plane. | I have my own office. She has her own car. My boss has his own private plane. |
| 4 | Using ´a´ and ´an´ wrongly | I have a old computer. I work in an new office block. I live near an university. | I have an old computer. I work in a new office block. I live near a university. |
| 5 | Writing adjectives with proper names with a small letter | I work for a german company. We do an english-language version of the newsletter. | I work for a German company. We do an English-language version of the newsletter. |
| 6 | Confusing ´for´ and ´since´ | I have worked here since ten years. | I have worked here for ten years. |
| 7 | Saying ´in the near of´ instead of ´near´ | Our office is in the near of the station. | Our office is near the station. |
| 8 | Forgetting to put an ´s´ on nouns that are the same in German | We are sending email out to all our user. We have excellent trainer at all our seminar. | We are sending emails out to all our users. We have excellent trainers at all our seminars. |
| 9 | Confusing ´fun´ and ´funny´ | It’s always funny (lustig) to see you. Learning English is very funny. (sehr lustig) | It’s always fun (ein Vergnügen) to see you. Learning English is great fun. (es macht Spaß) |
| 10 | Putting an ´s´ on irregular plural nouns. | I have four childrens. These are made especially for womens. The wool we use is from Australian sheeps. | I have four children. |