Common English Mistakes Arabic Speakers Make (And How to Fix Them)
Arabic and English are dramatically different languages — different scripts, different grammatical structures, different sounds, and different reading directions. This means Arabic speakers face a broader range of English challenges than speakers of, say, European languages. But it also means the errors are predictable and highly targetable.
Understanding the specific interference patterns that Arabic creates in English learners is the first step to correcting them permanently.
1. The Definite Article "the": Overuse and Underuse
Arabic has a definite article (al-) but no indefinite article (a/an). Arabic uses al- in many contexts where English uses no article at all — or uses a/an instead.
Overuse of "the": ❌ "The life is beautiful." ✅ "Life is beautiful." (abstract generalisations take no article)
❌ "I love the music." (in general) ✅ "I love music."
❌ "I went to the school yesterday." (general institution reference) ✅ "I went to school yesterday."
Underuse of "a/an": Arabic has no equivalent of "a/an," so Arabic speakers sometimes omit it:
❌ "She is teacher." ✅ "She is a teacher."
❌ "I need pen." ✅ "I need a pen."
2. Verb "To Be": Omission in the Present Tense
Arabic does not use a present-tense equivalent of "is/are" in simple statements. The phrase "al-kitabu jamiilun" (the book beautiful) is grammatically complete in Arabic. In English, the verb "to be" is mandatory.
❌ "She very intelligent." ✅ "She is very intelligent."
❌ "The problem difficult." ✅ "The problem is difficult."
❌ "They ready." ✅ "They are ready."
The fix: In every English sentence, ask: where is the verb? If you can't identify one, you need to add "is," "are," or "was/were."
3. Subject Pronoun Repetition
In Arabic, the verb ending carries information about the subject, so the subject pronoun is often optional. This sometimes leads Arabic speakers to omit English subject pronouns.
❌ "Went to the market." ✅ "I went to the market."
Conversely, some Arabic speakers over-compensate by repeating the subject twice:
❌ "My brother, he went to university." ✅ "My brother went to university."
English doesn't need the pronoun when the noun subject has already been named.
4. Plural Formation and Irregular Plurals
Arabic forms plurals in many complex ways. English plurals follow simpler rules (usually just adding -s/-es), but irregular plurals cause confusion.
Common irregular plural mistakes:
| Word | Wrong plural | Correct plural |
|---|---|---|
| child | childs | children |
| person | persons (usually) | people |
| tooth | tooths | teeth |
| foot | foots | feet |
| woman | womans | women |
| man | mans | men |
Also: uncountable nouns that Arabic may treat as countable:
❌ "She gave me some informations." ✅ "She gave me some information."
❌ "I have many knowledges." ✅ "I have a lot of knowledge." (uncountable)
5. Preposition Errors
Prepositions in Arabic don't map onto English ones. This creates persistent errors:
❌ "I am interesting in this topic." ✅ "I am interested in this topic."
❌ "He arrived to London." ✅ "He arrived in London." (arrive in for cities)
❌ "She is married from him." ✅ "She is married to him."
❌ "We discussed about the problem." ✅ "We discussed the problem." (discuss takes a direct object, no preposition)
❌ "I agree with your idea." ✅ (this one is correct) ❌ "I agree on your idea." ✗
6. "There is/are" — Existential Sentences
Arabic uses a different structure for existential sentences. This causes confusion with English "there is/there are."
❌ "Exists a problem here." ✅ "There is a problem here."
❌ "Have many students in the class." ✅ "There are many students in the class."
The rule: When expressing existence or presence of something, English uses "there + to be." This "there" has no physical meaning — it's purely grammatical.
7. Pronunciation: Sounds That Don't Exist in Arabic
Arabic lacks several English sounds, which leads to substitution:
/p/ vs /b/
Arabic has /b/ but not /p/. Many Arabic speakers substitute /b/ for /p/.
❌ "I take a bus to work" when they mean "bus" ✓ — but: ❌ "baper" for "paper" ✅ "paper" — /p/ is made with lips pressed together, then a small puff of air
Minimal pairs to practise: pen/ben, park/bark, cap/cab, nap/nab
Short vowel sounds
Arabic has long and short vowels but the English short vowel set (/ɪ/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/) is different. This causes confusion between words like:
- ship vs sheep (/ɪ/ vs /iː/)
- had vs hard (/æ/ vs /ɑː/)
- bed vs bad (/e/ vs /æ/)
The /ŋ/ sound (as in "sing, running, long")
Arabic doesn't have this sound. Practise ending words with /ŋ/ clearly without adding an extra /g/ sound.
❌ "running-g" ✅ "running" — the /ŋ/ is a nasal sound, no /g/ added
8. Adjective Position: Before the Noun (Not After)
Arabic places adjectives after the noun: "the book the beautiful." English places them before: "the beautiful book."
❌ "I saw a film interesting." ✅ "I saw an interesting film."
❌ "She has hair long and beautiful." ✅ "She has long, beautiful hair."
Exception: predicative adjectives come after the verb: "The film is interesting." ✅
9. "Make" vs "Do" Confusion
Arabic uses a single verb ('amala) for many actions English splits between "make" and "do":
❌ "I will make my homework." ✅ "I will do my homework."
❌ "She did a mistake." ✅ "She made a mistake."
Key "do" expressions: do homework, do the dishes, do exercise, do business Key "make" expressions: make a decision, make a mistake, make dinner, make a noise, make an effort
10. False Friends: Arabic Words That Sound Like English
Some Arabic words sound similar to English words but mean something different — these create confusion in both directions.
Also: English words borrowed into Arabic (interview, computer, internet) may carry slightly different connotations or be used differently in sentences. Be aware when using these borrowed words in English that the grammar rules are fully English.
The Most Effective Fix
Identifying which of these errors you make most frequently is step one. Then target those specific patterns with deliberate spoken practice.
A targeted correction method:
- Write five sentences using the pattern you struggle with.
- Speak them aloud, five times each.
- Practise in a real conversation, consciously applying the correction.
- After one week, move to the next pattern.
Talk to Gemma provides the real-time spoken practice that turns these corrections from conscious rules into automatic habits — the only way these patterns truly change.
Quick Reference Checklist for Arabic Speakers
Before any important English communication:
- Does every sentence have a verb ("is/are/was")?
- Do all singular count nouns have an article (a/an/the)?
- Are all subject pronouns present (not omitted, not doubled)?
- Are adjectives placed before the noun?
- Is "there is/there are" used for existential sentences?
Start practising with Talk to Gemma today — and accelerate the process of making correct English automatic.