What your mistakes are actually telling me

Why do I say I has and Do you had… when I know it’s wrong?

Most of my clients know what frustrates them about their English. It’s usually grammar. It’s usually a small thing that they repeat, and they know they repeat it. They see it, they hear it, they name it before I do: I said ‘I has a dog’ again, didn’t I? Then they laugh awkwardly, apologise, and say, I know that’s wrong. I don’t know why I said it.

But here’s something we don’t talk about enough. That moment? That’s not failure. That’s proof your brain is doing something incredible. You say it because your brain is doing something complicated, brave — and very human. It’s managing two languages at once. And that’s messy.

Let’s talk Czenglish

If you're Czech, your brain comes to English with a fully developed system already in place — your mother tongue. And Czech is very different from English. Just a few examples:

* Czech doesn’t use do/does/did to make questions → so Do you had? makes sense to your internal logic.

* In Czech, verbs don’t change depending on he/she/it → so He speak or They has doesn’t sound wrong at first.

* Czech has no present continuous → When I am spoking is you trying to fit Czech rhythm into English grammar.

* Personal changes → sounds totally natural in Czech but has a different meaning in English. We say staff changes instead.

* Two years before instead of ago → makes perfect sense, because Czech uses před dvěma lety — literally “before two years.”

All of this makes perfect sense from a Czech brain’s point of view. Your errors are not stupidity. They’re system interference. And you know what’s amazing? When you notice them — that means your brain is updating the system.

I has / We has / They has

But then: He has a meeting at 3.

You get the third person right — every time. So why not the others? It’s not because you don’t know. It’s because your brain is still rewiring. And when that happens, mistakes are part of the process.

What’s happening here: you’re applying has across all subjects instead of conjugating have/has correctly. Czech doesn’t have subject–verb agreement in the same way. The verb mít (to have) is conjugated, but not always consciously. You default to the most frequent form — often has.

This tells me you do know the rule. Your brain just struggles to apply it automatically across all subjects — especially under pressure.

I said him / He said me (instead of told me)

You're mixing up say and tell, especially when there's an object (me, him, her). In Czech, řekl mi (he told me) uses a different system — but there’s no clean difference between tell someone and say something. So it all merges.

What this tells me? You’re already handling reported speech and indirect objects. That’s complex grammar. You’re past beginner stage.

Do you had a Nokia?

You know English questions need do. You’ve internalised that rule. But sometimes, past tense slips through. It’s because Czech forms questions without auxiliary verbs. Měl jsi Nokii? becomes Did you have a Nokia? — but to a Czech speaker, the logic of Do you had? feels right.

This tells me you’re close. Your brain knows do belongs there — it’s just finalising the rules for past tense auxiliaries.

I fan for Arsenal

In Czech, you’d say jsem fanoušek Arsenalu — literally I’m a fan of Arsenal. You turn that into a verb (I fan), attach a preposition, and… it doesn’t work.

But what do I see? You’re trying to use identity vocabulary. You’re experimenting, trying to personalise your English. That’s a huge step forward. We just need to refine the structure.

When I am spoking…

Ah, irregular verbs and continuous tenses. Czech doesn’t have continuous forms like I am speaking. And irregular past forms (spoke, went, wrote) are patternless — they’re brute memory work.

This tells me you’re reaching for compound tenses, not just basic forms. You're experimenting. That’s where real growth happens.

Personal changes (instead of staff changes)

A classic false friend. Personální změny sounds like it should mean personal changes, but in Czech, personální means HR-related.

So when you say this, I know you’re talking about workplace vocabulary, using high-level topics. Mistakes here are mostly lexical. No big deal.

It depends about… (instead of on)

This one’s a favourite. In Czech, we say záleží na…, and the preposition doesn’t line up with English. So about feels logical.

But here’s the thing — you’ve already learned the first part: It depends… That’s 80% of the job. The right preposition will follow with a bit of repetition. Trust me.

2 years before (instead of ago)

Another direct translation from Czech: před dvěma lety → “before two years.” But in English, we say ago — two years ago. Before is only used when comparing two events in the past (He died two years before the war).

This tells me you’re confidently using time expressions. You just need to polish the final detail.

Listen instead of hear

Many Czechs mix these up. They say, Czech doesn’t distinguish them — but I think it does. Slyšet vs poslouchat. The difference is there, but we blur it.

This mistake shows me you're working with nuance — with subtle distinctions, not basic blocks. This is no longer beginner territory. This is fine-tuning.

What to say to yourself next time

When you notice a mistake, don’t groan. Don’t say, Ugh, I know this! Why do I keep doing it?

Say this instead:
Oh! My brain just spotted something. That’s a good sign.


Say it out loud. Smile, even. Because this is how fluency begins — not with perfection, but with awareness. So if you say we has again next week, I’ll smile — because I know what’s really happening. You’re shifting. You’re listening to yourself. And that? That’s fluency in motion.

Keep noticing. Keep speaking. Keep growing.
You’re doing better than you think.