Fix Your English Grammar Mistakes: Talking about People

Should you say "most of people" or "most people"? "Brazilian people" or "Brazilians"? "Every people" or "everybody"? If you're not 100% sure, this lesson is for you. In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about people correctly in English. This is an important subject because, in conversation, we often talk about things people do. I'll teach you the grammar behind common sentences and statements. You'll learn to use these sentence structures correctly and to avoid mistakes that many English learners make. Then take the quiz here:

TRANSCRIPT

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you about some mistakes a lot of students make. So, I've been teaching English for about five years now, and the mistakes I'm going to teach you today, I've seen students make many times in both their speaking, as well as their writing. Okay? So these mistakes are mistakes students make when they're talking about people. So, I'm going to give you some examples of some of these mistakes.

The first one I want to show you: "Some Canadian people hate winter." It's true, I'm one of those people; I hate winter. So, "Some Canadian people hate winter." There's a mistake, here. I want you to take a moment to look, and think: What could the mistake be? "Some Canadian people hate winter." I'll give you a hint: The mistake is somewhere here. If you thought "people" is the mistake, you're correct. "Canadian people", it's redundant. We don't need the word "people", because "Canadian"... If we add an "s" here, this means "Canadian people". Okay? So, instead of saying "Canadian people", we would say "Canadians". "Some Canadians hate winter." It's the same if we wanted to talk about Americans. We would not say: "Some American people hate winter." We would prefer to say: "Some Americans"-with an "s"-"hate winter".

So, let's look at another example. "Many Brazilian people are learning English." So, there's a mistake, here. What's the mistake? "Many Brazilian people are learning English." If you said the mistake was "people", you're correct. When we're talking about nationalities, we do not use the word "people". So, what can we do to fix this? We can get rid of the word "people", and what can we do to the word "Brazilian", because there's more than one? We can add an "s". So, now it's: "Many Brazilians are learning English." Okay?

So, I'm going to give you another example, this time not on the board, but I'm just going to say it. "Many Asian people like spicy food.", "Many Asian people like spicy food." Now, how would you fix this sentence? If you said: "Many Asians like spicy food." you'd be correct. So, when we talk about nationalities, we do not need this word; this word is a waste of space. We just need the nationality with an "s".

So, I have another common mistake students make over here: "Muslim people". So, Muslim is a religion. Okay? "Muslim people fast"-"fast" means they don't eat-"during Ramadan". "Muslim people fast during Ramadan." It means Muslim people do not eat during their holy month, their religious month of Ramadan. So, there's a mistake, here. What do you think the mistake is? If you said, just like this, "people" is the mistake - you're correct. When we talk about religion and we're talking about Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus - you don't need the word "people". We could just change this to: "Muslims". So, "Muslim" here means a whole... All Muslims, it's like Muslim people, but we don't need the word "people".

Here's another example: "Christian people celebrate Easter.", "Christian people celebrate Easter." How can we fix this sentence? We can get rid of the word "people", and just add an "s". We can do the same thing for Hindus. "Hindus are often vegetarian", we could say. "Many Jews live in Israel.", "Many Buddhists live in Asia." Okay? So, instead of saying: "Jewish people", "Hindu people", it's easier just to say "Hindu" with an "s" or "Jews" with an "s". All right, so let's look at some other common mistakes students make.

Okay, so another mistake I often see students make in their writing especially, and also sometimes in their speaking is with "most", "some", and "a lot" when they're using these words with "people". Okay? So, the first example: "Most of people have cell phones these days." I see students use: "Most of people" a lot in their essays. So, what's the mistake, here? I'll give you a minute to think about it. "Most of people". The problem here is "of". Okay? We don't need "of"; "of" is incorrect here. We would just say: "Most people". "Most people have cell phones these days." Okay? "Most people love Chinese food.", "Most people like to play sports." You don't need "of". If you had: "Most of the people", that would be okay, but you need "the" here, although that's not as common.

[josephujoestar]

I hate my english teacher, instead of telling me where I'm wrong she'd rather insult me in front of the whole class for the mistakes I make. Your videos are the only source I'm relying on lol

[MrMark-wdtu]

This is amazing. She is simply trying to do everyone a service by giving free English lessons and yet there are always those who look for something to criticize. I can appreciate what she's doing....education is the key.

[rubenmatosgonzalez]

I LOVE her pronunciation, her intonation and her rhythm. She's perfect to me...

[johnfranklin]

Thanks. You are doing a great service by helping non-native speakers to master the English language.

[SloppyShotz]

Thank you. Through out my highschool year I was illiterate. My parents are not from this country. I’ve notice my friends correct my English and laugh. Can’t be like this anymore. I shall master the art of literature

[joytodraco]

she never says
"if you say... Then you're wrong." she would always say the right one straight away. I love her lessons

[marcelolitim]

I'm not formally educated, but how you emphasize in a clearer accent, and you true beaty in it, thank you mam emma.

[englishbyteswithsiribon]

Thank you very much mam for this lesson. I learned something new in english in this topic. This is a great video. Very clear.

[wagnercastellanos]

I love the way she teaches, and I love her, she´s beautiful and a good teacher.. shame I am not Canadian..

[lebanamela]

Hi Emma, your English grammar lessons are very good even for those whose English is their first language. Thank you for teaching us how to communicate with others properly.

[ramkarki]

I can consider that your teaching method has a god gifted power . I appreciate your clear pronunciation , patience and no hesitation while teaching any lessons. May the god bless you, Ms.

[kamesenin]

You are doing a great job doing these educational videos. "The hero we need but not the hero we deserve."

[MarcioCapuera]

Thank you for the lesson Emma !! I love your lessons

[elrockamaster]

I like the repetitive examples, help us remember the error. Love this!

[xylenternousha]

Funfact: you need to learn English to understand this video

[Tezzyhuncho]

This is amazing!!! Thank you for teaching us to get better in english😊

[xihuichen]

she spend a lots of time and patient to teach student to learning english forFREE. i really like her.

[gunterhermann]

I like these lessons very much, just the items you need in conversation!

[nadineee_]

I just discovered your video yesterday, and I wished I found you sooner. You’re so good at teaching english. I always learn something from your videos. 💗

[FrancisCastiglione]

Despite being Indonesian, my first language was actually English due to that the first program i literally binge-watched on was flippin' Disney Junior