Most grammar mistakes Arabic speakers make in English are not random. They follow a pattern, and that pattern comes from how Arabic itself is built. Once you spot the pattern, the mistakes become easy to catch and easy to fix.
Here is a list of the ten mistakes we hear most often at Wall Street English UAE, with the rule behind each one and a quick drill. Print this list. Stick it on your laptop. And cross them off one by one.
1. "He is engineer" should be "He is an engineer"
Arabic does not use the indefinite article "a / an". Jobs and roles in Arabic are stated bare: huwa muhandis. In English, singular countable nouns almost always need an article.
Rule: When you introduce a job, a role, or a category in the singular, add a (or an before a vowel sound).
- ✅ She's a doctor.
- ✅ He's an architect.
- ❌ She's doctor.
2. "I have 25 years" should be "I am 25 years old"
A literal translation of 3andi 25 sana. In English, age is a state of being, not possession.
Rule: Use the verb to be with age. The verb to have does not work here.
- ✅ I am 28 years old.
- ❌ I have 28 years.
3. "I am living in Dubai since 2022"
Arabic does not have a present perfect continuous tense. So students reach for the present continuous because the action is still going on.
Rule: For an action that started in the past and is still going on, use the present perfect (or present perfect continuous): have lived / have been living.
- ✅ I have lived in Dubai since 2022.
- ✅ I have been living in Dubai since 2022.
- ❌ I am living in Dubai since 2022.
<Callout type="info" title="Two ways to say the same thing">
Both have lived and have been living are correct in this context. The first is neutral; the second emphasises the ongoing nature of the action. In Dubai workplace English, both are accepted: pick whichever feels more natural.
</Callout>
4. "I went to the Marina yesterday with my friends and we ate in the restaurant"
Arabic uses al- (the definite article) very generously. English does not. We use the only when both the speaker and the listener know exactly which one is meant.
Rule: Use the only when the noun is specific or has already been mentioned. New or general things take a, or take no article at all if they are plural.
- ✅ We ate in a restaurant near the Marina.
- ✅ We ate in the restaurant we love near the Marina. (we both know which one)
- ❌ We ate in the restaurant. (general: sounds odd)
5. "I have informations about the visa" should be "I have information about the visa"
Some English nouns feel countable in Arabic but are uncountable in English. Words like information, advice, furniture, equipment, news, traffic, research are all uncountable.
Rule: These nouns never take s and are not used with a / an. Use some or a piece of, or no article at all.
- ✅ I need some information.
- ✅ Can you give me a piece of advice?
- ❌ I need an information.
6. "Make / Do": the common mix-up
Arabic uses a single verb (ya3mal) where English distinguishes between make and do. So students mix them up constantly.
A practical rule: make is used for creating or producing a result. do is used for performing an action or a task.
- ✅ I'll make dinner.
- ✅ I'll do my homework.
- ✅ Don't make a decision yet.
- ❌ Don't do a decision.
There is no strict logic: there are simply common collocations you need to memorise. Make a mistake. Do a job. Make money. Do business. Make sense. Do well.
7. "I will to call you tomorrow" should be "I will call you tomorrow"
Modal verbs (will, can, must, should, may, might) are followed directly by the bare infinitive, without to.
Rule: Do not use to after a modal verb.
- ✅ I will call you tomorrow.
- ✅ You should see the new mall.
- ❌ I will to call you tomorrow.
- ❌ You should to see the new mall.
8. Dropping the verb "to be"
Arabic does not use to be in present-tense sentences (huwa mu3allim = "he is a teacher" without a verb). English, however, requires it.
Rule: Almost every English sentence needs a verb. If your sentence describes a state, you almost certainly need to be.
- ✅ She is at home.
- ✅ The food is delicious.
- ❌ She at home.
- ❌ The food delicious.
9. "Yesterday I have been to Dubai Mall" should be "Yesterday I went to Dubai Mall"
The present perfect (I have been) is used for unfinished time periods or an unspecified past. But the moment you say yesterday or last week or in 2022, you have specified the time, and you must then use the simple past.
Rule: Any specific time reference in the past equals simple past. Always.
- ✅ Yesterday I went to Dubai Mall.
- ✅ I have been to Dubai Mall many times.
- ❌ Yesterday I have been to Dubai Mall.
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title="Lock these rules in as automatic reflexes with a real teacher."
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Most of these mistakes vanish in the first month of intensive study, because a Cambridge-certified trainer catches them on the spot, not in an article.
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10. Adjective order: "white big car" should be "big white car"
In English, adjectives come in a strict order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose. In Arabic, adjective order is usually flexible.
Rule: Native speakers do not know the rule consciously, but they will feel that "white big car" is wrong. Memorise the order: OSASCOMP.
- ✅ A big white car. (size, then colour)
- ✅ A lovely old French villa. (opinion, age, origin)
- ❌ A white big car.
You rarely need more than three adjectives at once. When in doubt, fall back on this order: opinion, size, colour.
How to use this list
Do not try to fix all ten mistakes at once. Pick the one you make most this week. Catch yourself doing it. Correct yourself out loud. Then move on to the next mistake in week two.
Most students at Wall Street English UAE move past all ten mistakes within three months of structured study, not because they memorise the rules, but because the right input, at the right pace, makes the wrong patterns sound wrong to your ear. That is the goal. Not knowing the rule, but hearing the mistake automatically.
Short. Every Friday.
Method, mistakes, breakthroughs, written by our teachers.