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6 Common English Errors to Review for National Grammar Day

March 1, 2023

This post is in our For Students category and was written for English learners. If you are an English teacher, you can share a link and invite students to take Ellii's Grammar Day challenge.

National Grammar Day is on March 4 (pronounced March fourth). Ellii's (formerly ESL Library's) writers and editors have been celebrating National Grammar Day for several years! 

On Grammar Day, we honor English learners like you who work hard to improve your communication skills, one grammar target at a time! Understanding the rules of grammar will help you speak and write more clearly and effectively.

“Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!”

—National Grammar Day website

6 Common English Errors

March 4* was chosen for National Grammar Day because the words "forth" (forward) and "fourth" (the number four in a series) are often confused.

March forth on the fourth (4th) of March.

*When using ordinal numbers (e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) as part of a date in a sentence, most grammar gurus recommend leaving the short forms out and just writing the number after the calendar month. For example: March 4, National Grammar Day, is on Saturday

To celebrate National Grammar Day this year, we've collected six more sets of words that are often confused (even writers and speakers whose first language is English confuse these). Do you know the difference between the words in this list? Click on the links for Tanya's tips on getting these right.

Speaking of grammar...Did you know that Ellii's YouTube channel has free grammar videos for English learners to review the most common grammar targets? Here is just one example of a video from this playlist. 

Grammar Day Challenge: Choose one of the word pairs above and write an example sentence that contains both words. Or, if you really want a challenge, write a paragraph or dialogue using all 12 words! As a bonus, try using "forth" and "fourth" too.

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