Common English mistakes Chinese speakers make, and how to fix them

If your first language is Mandarin (or another Chinese language), your English mistakes follow Chinese grammar and sounds — no verb endings, no articles, no plural marking, one word for he/she, and tones instead of stress. They're transfer, not carelessness, and each has a clear fix.

The big ones. 1) No tense change: "yesterday I go" → "went"; "I ever went to Japan" (曾经) → "I've been to Japan". 2) Missing articles and plurals: "I bought book" → "a book" / "books"; and uncountables stay singular: "furnitures" → "furniture". 3) He/she mixed up in speech (他/她 sound the same) — slow down on "she". 4) "I very like it" (很喜欢) → "I really like it". 5) Double conjunctions: "Although it's cold, but I went" → drop "but"; "Because… so…" → one or the other. 6) "Open/close the TV, the light" (开/关) → "turn on/off". 7) "Play with my friends" (玩) → adults say "hang out with"; "How to say…?" → "How do you say…?". 8) Yes/no reversed on negative questions: "You don't like it?" — "Yes" (meaning no) → "No, I don't". 9) Sounds: final consonants dropped ("ca" for "cat"), "th" as /s/ ("sink" for "think"), /v/ as /w/ ("wery"), clusters cut ("firs"). 10) Stress: English needs one loud, long syllable per word — "comPUter", "imPORtant" — instead of even, tone-like syllables.

A list won't fix these; making them out loud and being corrected in the moment will. Airi is built for that: she hears the pattern, fixes the one mistake that matters in her reply, and keeps the conversation going. Speak with her daily and these stop being habits within a few weeks. Free to start, no card.

A quick example with Airi

Although my sister very like Shanghai, but he want to move, because the rent is high so he can't save money.

Very Chinese-to-English! Try: "Although my sister really likes Shanghai, she wants to move — the rent is so high that she can't save money."

Although my sister really likes Shanghai, she wants to move, because the rent is so high she can't save money.

Excellent — 'she', 'really', and no double 'but'. Where is she thinking of moving to?

How to get the most from it

Change the verb, not just the time word

'Yesterday' needs 'went', not 'go'.

One conjunction is enough

Although… (no 'but'). Because… (no 'so').

Finish the word

Cat, five, market — the last consonant must be heard.

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Frequently asked questions

Why do Chinese speakers say 'I very like'?

Because 很 sits before verbs in Chinese. In English 'very' can't modify a verb — use 'really'. It's transfer, and daily out-loud practice fixes it.

Why is he/she confused?

他 and 她 sound identical, so the choice was never made in speech. Slowing down for a week usually fixes it.

Is Airi available in China?

Airi runs on Google's Gemini, which is not reachable from mainland China without a VPN. It works normally in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and worldwide.

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