7 things native English speakers DON'T say

Welcome to a new class! I know you come from different backgrounds and different cultures and what we, non-native speakers, do is we take a phrase from our own language, we translate it into English, and it stops making any sense. I picked up the most common phrases that native speakers never say but we do because we're translating from our own language in our heads. Let's look at those phrases and stop using them.

1. I don't know nothing. This phrase is actually implying that you know something. Instead, you should say: "I don’t know anything". Double negatives are things that some native speakers get wrong too!

2. Say me. Many non-native English speakers make this mistake and use 'say me' instead of 'tell me'. This is just because 'say' and 'tell' have similar meanings, but they are used in different ways. A good way to know when to use each is to remember that somebody says something, but somebody tells someone something.

3. I study in USA. As 'USA' is short for United States of America, it needs a ‘the’ in front of it because there is only one United States of America.

4. I have 25 years. Some non-native English speakers, particularly those from a French, Italian or Spanish background, make this mistake. Even though "I have 25 years" makes more sense than “I am 25”, follow the grammar rule.

5. Can you explain me this? What you think you’re saying: "I do not understand this, and I will need an explanation". What you’re really saying: "I am this. I need to be explained".
Correct construction: "Can you explain the rules to me?"

6. Hope it helps! Native English speakers understand that the writer is referring to their response as the thing they hope helps, but they haven’t actually mentioned it, so ‘it’ sounds kind of mysterious. “Hope this helps,” with ‘this’ referring to the advice just mentioned, is more ‘complete’.

7. How do you call [word] in English? What you think you’re saying: "I do not know the word for this [thing] in English, please tell me". What you’re really saying: "In what way do you cry out this [thing] in English". Correct construction: "How do you say [word] in English?" or "What do you call [word] in English?"

Time codes:
0:59 I don’t know nothing
1:41 Say me
2:41 I study in UK/USA/UAE
4:01 I have 25 years
4:41 Can you explain me…?
5:37 Hope it helps
6:38 How do you call [word] in English?

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[linguamarina]

What are some phrases used in your language that don’t sound correct or make no sense at all when translated into English? 😃

Time codes:
0:59 I don’t know nothing
1:41 Say me
2:41 I study in UK/USA/UAE
4:01 I have 25 years
4:41 Can you explain me?
5:37 Hope it helps
6:38 How do you call [word] in English?

[ivettegonzalez]

As a native speaker, I've been saying hope it helps my whole life.

[roo]

As an American I’d like to add that nobody calls it the USA, colloquially almost everyone would refer to the country as just the US/United States. The “of America” gets left off almost all of the time.

[berenice]

English-speaking people say, “hope it helps, ” all the time.

[buzzsburner.]

Everybody either says "the US, the United States, " or just "America". And if you're a veteran, it's most definitely, "the states"

[R_dacted]

"I don't know nothing" is a double negative, but native English speakers still use it. It seems like the concept of a double negative doesn't register logically to a lot of people off the top of their head.

Also, "I hope it helps" is also something that you can say in a practical sense and still get away with it as long as you are referring to a subject that the listener understands and recognizes.

[leviduarte]

Why am I even watching this I am from California

[mwgood]

"Hope it helps" can be used when "it" clearly refers to something in a given context. It's a common phrase.

[marinacrocker]

no american is gonna think that your saying “i know everything” if u say “i don’t know nothing” lol

[karinisvetcool]

A common mistake I see is "I will learn you" when they mean "I will teach you", because in some countries 'learn' is the same as 'teach'

[Absydion]

The literal implication of "I don't know nothing" isn't "I know everything"; it's "I know something." (Edit: yes, I know it’s a common, grammatically incorrect sentence; I’m responding to the video’s statement that it literally means I know everything.)

[jacobkimble]

I am from the USA and there is no problem with saying "I hope it helps" as long as it has a specified context. In fact, a lot of people drop the "I" and just say "Hope it helps." Dropping the "I" is not grammatically correct but it sounds perfectly natural in this case.

[polar]

"I hope it helps." and "I hope this helps." Are both grammatically correct.

[philberto]

Logically, "I don't know nothing" means "I know something." It doesn't mean "I know everything."

[harkharring]

Saying “I have 25 years” sounds weird because you would normally say “I have 25 years of experience in this field” so when someone says “I have 25 years” the question arises “you have 25 years of what?”

[Raptor]

In the US, you could probably get away with "I don't know nothing" and blend right in.😜

[oganesoganyan]

1)Actualy!!Double negative is widely used in the US! 2)hope it helps" - is absolutely fine as well!

[masad.]

It's important to make a clear distinction between "prescriptive grammar" and "descriptive grammar." Some of the things talked about in this video are "prescriptively ungrammatical, " meaning that you are not SUPPOSED to say them (e.g., "I don't know nothing"), but native speakers DO say (i.e., descriptively. grammatical).

[AmericanRoads]

When people say "hope it helps", they usually do it after doing something helpful to other people. So, I am certain that everybody who hears "hope it helps" actually knows the context and what "it" is specifically referring to.

[obsidiansea]

As an American and native English speaker, one that I always notice is "how does this look like?" You can say "how does this look?" or "what does this look like?" but you cannot mix them. It sounds very strange. ... Also, as a side note, there is a slight difference in meaning between the two. For example, you might hold a shirt in front of you and ask your friend, "how does this look?" Your friend will say good/bad, etc. If you had an odd strawberry shaped like a heart, you could ask your friend, "what does this look like?" and your friend would say "a heart!"