35 Basic Mistakes to Avoid

35 Basic Mistakes to Avoid mungkin diartikan sebagai 35 Kesalahan Sepele berbahasa Inggris yang Harus dihindari. Benar tidak kawan-kawan? Kalo salah benerin ya.. Nah kali ini saya akan berbagi tentang 35 kesalahan sepele yang diterangkan oleh Michael Swan (2005:xxvi) dalam Bukunya yang sangat populer yaitu Practical English Usage edisi ketiga tentang berbahasa Inggris. Dalam terbitan edisi kedua, Swan sendiri sebenarnya sudah menjelaskan banyak sekali kesalahan dalam berbahasa Inggris, baik dalam percakapan maupun penulisan. Akan tetapi, ia belum sempat merinci kesalahan-kesalahan Bahasa Inggris tersebut. Nah, di edisi ketiga bukunya ini, ia pun akhirnya merinci kesalahan-kesalahan tersebut menjadi 130 Kesalahan Umum berbahasa Inggris (Don’t Say it! 130 common mistakes) yang diawali dengan penjelasan tentang 35 kesalahan paling sepele dalam berbahasa Inggris. Pernahkah kita melakukan kesalahan-kesalahan dalam berbahasa Inggris? baik dalam speaking ataupun writing... Hayo pernah tidak? Untuk lebih memperjelasnya, langsung saja mari kita renungi dan pelajari bersama-sama catatan yang diberikan Michael Swan tentang 35 kesalahan dasar berbahasa Inggris yang wajib dihindari berikut ini:

No	Jangan berkata/menulis	Katakan/tulis
1	Look – It rains	Look – It is raining
2	It’s often raining here	It often rains here
3	When I was 20 I was smoking	When I was 20 I smoked
4	I have seen Louis yesterday	I saw Louis yesterday
5	We’re living here since April	We’ve been living here since April
6	I’ll phone you when I will arrive	I’ll phone you when I arrive
7	I’m not believing him	I don’t believe him
8	I am born in Chicago	I was born in Chicago
9	My sister has 15 years	My sister is 15 (years old)
10	I have cold in this house	I am cold in this house
11	I can to swim	I can swim
12	I must see the dentist yesterday	I had to see the dentist yesterday
13	I want go home	I want to go home
14	I come here for study English	I come here to study English
15	I drove there without to stop	I drove there without stopping
16	Where I can buy stamps?	Where can I buy stamps?
17	Is ready my new office?	Is my new office ready?
18	I’m no asleep	I’m not asleep
19	She looked, but she didn’t see nothing	...she didn’t see anything/….she saw nothing
20	Where is station?	Where is the station?
21	My sister is photographer	My sister is a photographer
22	You speak a very good English	You speak very good English
23	The life is difficult	Life is difficult
24	I haven’t got some free time today	I haven’t got any free time today
25	Everybody were late	Everybody was late
26	It is more cold today	It is colder today
27	It is too much hot in this house	It is too hot in this house
28	The man which lives here is from Greece	The man who lives here is from Greece
29	The people in this town is very friendly	The people in this town are very friendly
30	She never listens me	She never listen to me
31	We went at the seaside on Sunday	We went to the seaside on Sunday
32	I like very much skiing	I like skiing very much / I very much like skiing
33	This soup is not enough hot	This soup is not hot enough
34	I gave to her my address	I gave her my address
35	I have done a mistake	I have made a mistake

Nah kan, jika sobat merasa mempunyai kemampuan berbahasa Inggris yang baik, coba tutup kotak tabel sebelah kanannya, dan pikirkan mengapa kalimat di kotak sebelah kiri salah? Jika jawabannya sama seperti tabel sebelah kanan, maka berarti sobat-sobit sudah melewati 35 Kesalahan Dasar dalam Berbahasa Inggris.

Akhir kata, sekian saja referensi yang saya kemukakan tentang “35 Basic Mistakes to Avoid” ini, semoga kita tidak terjebak dengan kesalahan-kesalahan sepele seperti diatas sehingga kita tidak tercatat sebagai orang yang mempunyai banyak kesalahan. Hehehe.. So long and Good bye… ups, see u later!!!

Referensi

Swan, Michael. 2005. Practical English Usage:3^rd edition. Oxford University Press.