There are many aspects to learning a foreign or second language, including English, but perhaps one of the most important is learning vocabulary, an area of ​​language that often seems to not receive the attention it deserves. By the time a native English speaker reaches the age of 5, he has usually collected a word bank of about 5000 words and will add to this word bank daily. But a non-English speaking person may even be fluent in more than 5,000 words in their native language, but now they are faced with the challenge of learning a new language and must bridge this vocabulary gap. Vocabulary mistakes occur when you do not have a clear understanding of certain words. Even if you are an expert in grammar or grammar rules, not having enough words in your vocabulary bank, or not having a clear understanding of a term, can prevent you from understanding it properly.

One of the tactics that you can use when you do not know the correct form of a word or are in doubt about it, is the technique of circumlocution or describing the word in detail using words that you have in mind and are sure of their correct meaning. you are But in any case, the best way to avoid vocabulary mistakes is to study more vocabulary and increase vocabulary. Sometimes the question may arise, why should the learner still learn new words even though he is not yet master of the vocabulary he has already learned? The answer is that having a wide circle of vocabulary leaves one’s hands open in explaining what he wants to express (circumlocution technique), and on the other hand, he must be equipped with more tools to correct lexical mistakes. There are different ways to learn vocabulary effectively, and each learner can choose the appropriate method according to their level and capabilities.

But is making mistakes necessarily bad? Let me be honest about one thing and that is that mistakes are bad in themselves and no teacher encourages students for their mistakes! But the reason why they say that mistakes should not be avoided is that mistakes are an integral part of the learning process. Therefore, the only way to avoid language mistakes is to avoid speaking and writing in a foreign language! Second, making mistakes and correcting them is one of the best ways to learn English. When your mistake is corrected by the instructor, it will be recorded in your long-term memory and the possibility of repeating that mistake is much lower.

Now, with this introduction, based on the experiences that we have acquired during the years of dealing with different language learners at the Iran-Europe Language Institute, we will examine some of the common lexical mistakes in English.

1- Know or Meet

English learners, especially at the beginner level, usually confuse these two words. Meet is used when you are introduced to someone for the first time, for example: “Nice to meet you”, while Know is used when we are talking about something or someone we already know. Pay attention to the following examples:

Even though Justin and I went to the University of Colorado, we didn’t know each other before; we met in Brazil.
Even though Justin and I went to the University of Colorado, we didn’t know each other beforehand; We met in Brazil.
I met my wife in Madrid. I already knew her brother for several years, and he introduced us.
I met my wife in Madrid. I had known his brother for several years and he introduced us.

tip! It might be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the phrase “get to know”, which means that you are getting to know someone or something, or to put it better, you are spending time getting to know that thing or person. For example:

Belo Horizonte is a huge city, but I got to know the ways around the city after living there for a few weeks.
Although Belo Horizonte is a big city, I got to know the roads after living there for a few weeks.
I met my girlfriend in high school, but we didn’t get to know each other and start dating until college.
I had met my girlfriend in high school (meeting her for the first time), but we didn’t meet and start dating until college.