10 Common English Mistakes IT Professionals Make (and How to Fix Them)
The most frequent English grammar and vocabulary mistakes made by non-native IT professionals — with before/after examples, explanations, and fixes. Real examples from emails, PR reviews, and technical documentation.
Learning English in school teaches grammar rules — but professional IT communication has its own patterns that textbooks rarely cover. Non-native English speakers who work in tech make a consistent set of mistakes that are easy to fix once you know what to look for.
This article covers the 10 most common English mistakes made by IT professionals, with real examples from code reviews, emails, Slack messages, and technical documentation.
Mistake 1: “Do you have questions?” vs “Do you have any questions?”
The mistake: Omitting “any” in questions about countable things.
❌ “Do you have questions about the migration?” ❌ “Are there problems with the build?” ❌ “I didn’t see errors in the logs.”
✅ “Do you have any questions about the migration?” ✅ “Are there any problems with the build?” ✅ “I didn’t see any errors in the logs.”
Why it happens: In many languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, German), the word for “any” is optional or implied. In English, omitting it in questions and negatives sounds incomplete.
Rule: Use “any” in questions and negative sentences with plural or uncountable nouns.
Mistake 2: “I will make a research” vs “I will do research”
The mistake: Using “make” with nouns that require “do.”
❌ “I will make a research on the issue.” ❌ “Let me make a test for this scenario.” ❌ “We need to make a refactoring.”
✅ “I will do some research on the issue.” ✅ “Let me run a test for this scenario.” ✅ “We need to do a refactoring.” / “We need to refactor this.”
Common “do” collocations in IT:
- do research / do a review / do a refactor / do testing / do an analysis
Common “run” collocations in IT:
- run a test / run a build / run a command / run a migration / run a script
Common “make” collocations in IT:
- make a change / make a request / make a commit / make a mistake / make a decision
Mistake 3: “Actual” vs “Current”
The mistake: Using “actual” when you mean “current” or “existing.”
❌ “In the actual version, the bug is present.” ❌ “The actual code doesn’t support this feature.” ❌ “What is the actual status of the deployment?”
✅ “In the current version, the bug is present.” ✅ “The existing code doesn’t support this feature.” ✅ “What is the current status of the deployment?”
Why it happens: In French (actuel), Spanish (actual), German (aktuell), Italian (attuale), the word that looks like “actual” means “current” or “present.” This is a false friend.
What “actual” really means in English: real, genuine — as opposed to theoretical or rumoured.
✅ “The actual runtime is 2.4 seconds” (as opposed to estimated) ✅ “The actual error cause was a race condition” (the real cause)
Mistake 4: “The information are” vs “The information is”
The mistake: Treating uncountable nouns as plural.
❌ “The informations from the API are incomplete.” ❌ “All the datas were corrupted.” ❌ “I need some advices on the architecture.”
✅ “The information from the API is incomplete.” ✅ “All the data was corrupted.” ✅ “I need some advice on the architecture.”
Uncountable (always singular) in English:
| ❌ Plural form (wrong) | ✅ Uncountable (correct) |
|---|---|
| informations | information |
| datas | data* |
| advices | advice |
| feedbacks | feedback |
| knowledges | knowledge |
| equipments | equipment |
| researches (in this sense) | research |
*Note: “data” is increasingly used as plural in technical writing (“the data are stored…”) but as singular in general use (“the data is incomplete”). The singular form is safer in mixed audiences.
Mistake 5: Forgetting the article (“The” and “A”)
The mistake: Missing articles before nouns, especially in documentation.
❌ “We deployed fix for the issue.” ❌ “Build failed because of timeout.” ❌ “I reviewed PR and left comments.”
✅ “We deployed a fix for the issue.” ✅ “The build failed because of a timeout.” ✅ “I reviewed the PR and left comments.”
Why it happens: Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian, Korean, and many other languages have no articles. This is one of the hardest aspects of English for speakers of these languages.
Practical guide:
- A/An — first mention of a non-specific noun: “We found a bug.”
- The — second mention, or when there is only one specific thing: “The bug is in the auth module.”
- No article — general concepts or plural nouns: “Bugs are inevitable. Engineers fix bugs.”
Mistake 6: “I am agree” vs “I agree”
The mistake: Treating “agree,” “disagree,” “suggest,” “recommend” as adjectives.
❌ “I am agree with your approach.” ❌ “I am suggest we discuss this in the next sprint.” ❌ “We are recommend switching to PostgreSQL.”
✅ “I agree with your approach.” ✅ “I suggest we discuss this in the next sprint.” ✅ “We recommend switching to PostgreSQL.”
Rule: These are verbs, not adjectives. You do not need “am/is/are” before them.
This also applies to: doubt, understand, know, think, believe.
❌ “I am not understand the error.” → ✅ “I don’t understand the error.” ❌ “I am knowing the answer.” → ✅ “I know the answer.”
Mistake 7: Wrong Preposition After Common IT Phrases
The mistake: Using the wrong preposition after fixed expressions.
| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct |
|---|---|
| depends of the input | depends on the input |
| responsible of the deployment | responsible for the deployment |
| the issue is related with the database | the issue is related to the database |
| integrated in the system | integrated into the system (or: integrated with the system) |
| waiting the review | waiting for the review |
| based in REST principles | based on REST principles |
| consists in three services | consists of three services |
| listened the feedback | listened to the feedback |
Strategy: Prepositions are best learned as fixed phrases, not rules. When you learn a word like “depend,” learn it as “depend on” not “depend” alone.
Mistake 8: “Since 5 years” vs “For 5 years”
The mistake: Using “since” with a duration instead of a point in time.
❌ “I have been working with Kubernetes since 5 years.” ❌ “The system has been running since 3 hours.”
✅ “I have been working with Kubernetes for 5 years.” ✅ “The system has been running for 3 hours.” ✅ “I have been using Docker since 2019.” (← since is correct with a time point)
Rule:
- For + duration (how long): “for 5 years,” “for 3 hours,” “for two sprints”
- Since + point in time (when it started): “since 2021,” “since Monday,” “since the last deployment”
Mistake 9: Overusing “Please” in Requests
The mistake: Adding “please” so many times it loses meaning or sounds passive-aggressive.
❌ “Please check. Please fix. Please review. Please let me know.” ❌ “Could you please please ensure that the tests please pass before merging?”
When “please” is overused, it can read as sarcastic or desperate. Native speakers use “please” purposefully — once per request, usually at the end.
✅ “Could you take a look at this when you have a moment?” ✅ “Let me know if you have questions.” ✅ “I’d appreciate a review by Thursday.”
Polite alternatives to “please + command”:
- “Could you…?”
- “Would you mind…?”
- “I was hoping you could…”
- “It would be great if you could…”
Mistake 10: “I will” for Present Plans vs “I’m going to”
The mistake: Using “will” for everything future, when “going to” or present continuous is more natural for planned actions.
| Context | ❌ Sounds odd | ✅ More natural |
|---|---|---|
| In standup, describing today’s plan | ”I will work on the migration today." | "I’m working on the migration today.” |
| Immediate decision in a meeting | ”OK, I will take that ticket." | "OK, I’ll take that ticket.” (both fine) |
| Already planned action | ”I will attend the architecture review on Friday." | "I’m attending the architecture review on Friday.” |
| Prediction or commitment | ”The build will take 10 minutes." | "The build will take 10 minutes.” (correct) |
Rule of thumb:
- Will → spontaneous decisions, predictions, promises: “I’ll fix it.”
- Going to / Present continuous → pre-planned intentions: “I’m going to refactor that module this sprint.”
In practice, “will” is rarely wrong — but using present continuous in standup reports sounds much more natural.
Quick Reference Table
| Mistake | Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| Missing “any” | Do you have questions? | Do you have any questions? |
| Wrong action verb | make a research | do research |
| False friend | actual version | current version |
| Uncountable noun | informations | information |
| Missing article | the build failed because of timeout | …because of a timeout |
| Verb vs adjective | I am agree | I agree |
| Wrong preposition | depends of | depends on |
| Since vs for | since 3 years | for 3 years |
| Overusing please | Please please please check | one deliberate please |
| Will for plans | I will update the docs today (in standup) | I’m updating the docs today |
Practice
Find and fix the mistakes in this paragraph:
“I reviewed the actual PR and I am agree with most of the changes. However, I have some feedbacks. The function depends of the configuration file since 2 years and I am recommend we refactor it. Please please let me know if you have questions about this.”
Corrected version:
“I reviewed the current PR and I agree with most of the changes. However, I have some feedback. The function has depended on the configuration file for 2 years and I recommend we refactor it. Let me know if you have any questions about this.”