The difficulty non-natives face while listening to the natives is that they’re able to understand only 60 percent of what they say. It mainly happens for two reasons; they speak fast or you’re not familiar with grammar.
Since most non-native speakers live where they can’t interact with natives, they don’t practice English because of shyness. Therefore, it takes more time to master the language.
The good news is that now learning grammar is no longer a tough grind as there are several games, forums, and blogs that specifically help improve your grammar.
Let’s learn the difference between “to do it” and “to do that”:
The uncommon words in both the phrases are “it” and “that”.” It” refers to those things that are familiar or precisely mentioned, while “that” represents the things that are unfamiliar or not mentioned for some reason.
Here are some examples:
- I’m going to my mom’s bakery to learn everything of baking from scratch.
When are you going to do it, I also want to learn it.
- We went fishing last week.
I don’t know how to do that.
In this article, I’m going to differentiate some more confusing phrases with examples.
Let’s dive into it…
I had to do it Vs. I must do it
The sentence “I had to do it” refers to something you’re bound to do. It’s something that you did at someone else’s will. Additionally, the verb ‘had’ represents past perfect tense, therefore the action was performed in the past.
While the sentence “I must do it” refers to something you’re yet to do to fulfill an obligation. It refers to the present and future tense.
What is the difference between “be going to do” and “will do”?
| Going to do | Near future | Represents something already been planned |
| Will do | Future | Represents things that you make on the spot |
In some cases, “going to do” and “will do” can both be used interchangeably.
For instance;
I’m going to get admission to a baking school next week.
I will get admission to a baking school next week.
What is the difference between “has” and “had”, and how do you know which one to use?
| Present verb | Past verb | |
| Auxiliary verb | Has | Had |
| Singular/Plural | Singular noun and pronoun | Singular or plural |
- If you own something in the present, you will use ‘has’.
- For the things you owned in the past, you’ll use ‘had’.
Examples
She has a book (present)
She had a book (past)
- Has can also be used when something has happened in a timeframe.
- While ‘had’ can be used where a past event is followed by another past event. The sentences are formed with a past perfect tense and past simple tense.
She has already watched the movie (present perfect)
When I reached, he had left the hotel.
What is the difference between “as” and “because”?
In rare cases, you can use ‘as’ in the place ‘because’. Though, there are various other uses of as.
| Uses of as | Examples |
| It can be used as a conjunction in place of while | He was busy on his phone as I watered the plants. He was busy while I was watering the plants. |
| You can use it to compare | Your house is as big as my house. |
| As can be used as because | I couldn’t pick up your call as I was doing dishes. I couldn’t pick up your call because I was doing dishes. |
What is the difference between “to do it” and “to do that”?
There’s no grammatical error in using it instead of that and vice versa.
You use ‘it’ for something nearer, while ‘that’ represents the things that are further away.
It can also be used as a pronoun.
Here are the examples;
The party was organized perfectly. It was beyond my expectations. (Here ‘it’ refers to “the party”)
Is this grammatically correct, “Is the phone in upstairs”?
The sentence “is the phone in upstairs” is grammatically incorrect. There’s no need to use the preposition of place “in” with upstairs or downstairs. Another mistake is the absence of the question mark.
So, the correct sentence would be;
Is the phone upstairs?
We have two bedrooms upstairs.
I’m going downstairs.
I left my keys upstairs.
Is it appropriate to use “I” multiple times in one sentence?
Grammatically, there’s nothing wrong with using “I” multiple times in a sentence. Though it may divert the reader‘s attention as it seems you’re emphasizing yourself so much. If you’re writing for interconnected interest, it’s better to avoid repeating this word as much as possible.
Here’s an example;
Since I had no job when I was a teenager, I loved hanging out with friends.
My teen years were filled with hanging out with friends since I didn’t have a job.
This video shows how you can improve your English grammar:
Conclusion
- When learning the English language, the common difficulty most non-natives face is grammatical errors.
- Grammatical errors can change the context of the sentence completely.
- The best practice to improve your grammar is through watching movies, playing games, or interacting with the natives.
- Many people get confused between “it” and “that”.
- You can use ‘it’ for the things that are mentioned or known.
- While ‘that’ refers to the things that are further away.