Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid for Studying Overseas

Studying overseas is a big and exciting chance for many Indian students, but talking clearly in English is very important. If your English grammar is correct, you can do better in your studies and also adjust faster in a new country. This blog explains some common grammar mistakes that Indian students make when learning English.

When you get ready to study abroad, you start a new journey that is not only about classes. Maybe you are going to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. No matter where you go, your English skills will affect your full experience. If you communicate in simple and correct English, studying and living there becomes a lot easier.

Many Indian students already know basic English because they learn it in school and use it with friends. Still, some small grammar points create confusion. These mistakes can affect your academic writing and sometimes even your daily talk in another country.
This article is made to help Indian students understand these common grammar errors before they travel to study abroad. Here, we will talk about the mistakes students usually make, give easy examples, and share simple tips so you can avoid these grammar problems.

Why Grammar Matters?

Many Indian students already know good basic English, but learning small grammar points is still important. Good English grammar helps you in many ways, like:

• Academic success: You can share your ideas more clear in your assignments, papers, and presentations.
• Social integration: It becomes easier to make friends and talk with students from many places.
• Professional growth: Good grammar helps when you plan your future job in an English-speaking place.

Some common grammar mistakes happen because English has a different structure than many Indian languages. Also, in schools, sometimes some grammar parts are not taught deeply, so students get confused later. Language experts say that grammar mistakes are not random. Students make the same type of mistakes again and again. When you understand these mistake patterns, you can start fixing them step by step.

Common Grammatical Mistakes Made by Indian Students Abroad

Many Indian students abroad do small grammar mistakes without knowing it, and you also maybe do the same sometimes. English rules look easy, but they act different when you try using them in real life writing.

1. Verb Tenses

Some students gets confused with English verb tenses, because English tells time in many ways. You might use present tense even when the action already finished. Other times, your hand writes present simple when your mind wanted present continuous. Past forms also mix up because they look similar.

Wrong: She said, “I go to the store.”

Right: She said that she went to the store.

2. Articles (a, an, the)

Because many Indian languages not using articles, students forget them or use the wrong one. Sometimes you say a word with “a” when really the sound starts like a vowel, so an is needed. And choosing the is tricky because it is only for something already known.

Wrong: I have a umbrella.

Right: I have an umbrella.

3. Prepositions

Small prepositions makes big confusion. You use in when actually on is correct, or sometimes add extra “about” after a verb that don’t need it. English prepositions don’t always follow one rule, so mistakes happen more often.

Wrong: Eagles fly on the sky.

Right: Eagles fly in the sky.

4. Subject-Verb Agreement

When the subject and verb not matching, the full sentence feels a little wrong. Collective nouns confuse you because they look plural but they behave like one thing. Long phrases between the subject push you to use a different verb without noticing.

Wrong: The team are playing well.

Right: The team is playing well.

Other Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid

Some mistakes keep repeating with many Indian students studying abroad, and you might see yourself doing them too:

• using reflexive pronouns wrong like “Myself I am Rahul”
• writing “revert back” even though revert itself means return
• using “pass out” instead of saying graduate
• saying “doing a mistake” instead of making a mistake
• wrong plural forms like son-in-laws
• mixing homophones like there, their, and they’re

These small errors look tiny but fixing them slowly will make your English grammar better for your study life and daily talk.

Regional Variations in English

While moving abroad, Indian students must adapt to the locally defined version of the English language. The most common and major difference that comes into consideration is in the use of British and American English. Both these forms of English have different spellings, meanings, slangs, and common day-to-day terms (colloquial terms) which are not accepted interchangeably in their concerned countries. Hence, understanding the regional differences in the language will help you adapt to your new environment. Below, we have highlighted a few regional differences in the usage of specific words:

Note: In India, UK English is generally used. So, Indian students are often used to British English. When making a shift abroad for higher education, they must either go to a nation that has a likewise English trend or if going to USA - make sure to accalmatize yourself with the common terms and vocabulary of the local region.

Understanding Language Register

Knowing when to use formal versus informal language is crucial. Here are a few cases where and how the formal and informal English languages are used:

If you have any doubts, feel free to drop your queries in the comments box below.