Beginners' English

Howdy everyone,

A few years ago, I worked in a global company.
Our company took over an American one (Yes we can!) and one of our employees* wanted to complain he had not received a response to a message they** sent.

This employee was a beginner in English and didn't even asked (edit - thanks Ghislaine) for help thinking it was bloody*** easy!
"I am very annoyed because I have not yet received your message : I demand just an answer !"
The sentence is crossed out as there're far too many mistakes.

Will you find them all?
- there are 2 tricky words that don't have the meaning expected by this beginner: what are they?
- there's a big grammatical mistake... and another big one...
- it's just pidgin! The addressees were not happy!

Notes:
*- "an employee of ours" is considered as too formal in the States
**- notice the "an employee" then "they"
"he/she" as well as "(s)he" could also be used.
"They" is not a plural here but this form is used when Am. don't know about the gender of the person and replaces he ou she. Respectful, isn't it?
***- "bloody" is a casual word that means "very" (it's considered as a swearword in British English)

I am very annoyed because I have not yet received your message : I demand just an answer !"
The sentence is crossed out as there're far too many mistakes
Hi Gérard
"Annoy" and "Demand" are 2 "faux amis" I am annoyed means : I am cross and I demand means asking in a very forceful way
The first mistake is "I have not received your message yet" and the second is "I am demanding"
thank you
Muriel


i forgot to point out that just is before the verb thank you gerard

Hi Muriel,

Thanks a lot for your response!

Again, the guy was a beginner/newbie/rookie and he (it was a man) translated the French sentence he had in mind... which is not correct.
He didn't want to be rude but...

"I am very annoyed" means "je suis très énervé/irrité" and not the simple "ennuyé".
"I demand" means "j'exige".

Okay, you pointed out the dodgy items...

and...

An important rule of English is: we must not separate a Direct Object from its verb (nothing in between except for poets LOL)!
But this mistake is othen made even by intermediate learners.

Hi everyone,

Do you think of other frequent mistakes made by beginners in addition to faux amis?

We all make mistakes, as we think more quickly than we speak or write.

Read again your message : "this employee was a beginner and didn't even asked for help..."

This is another typical mistake we all make ; we should read : "and didn't even ask"

Thank you for all your very interesting articles, I enjoy reading them, especially when they refer to the grammar and use of a language.

Very good point Ghislaine. You're quite right, thanks!

"didn't even asked"
I'm not that proud as it's the kind of mistake beginners make: playing with the sentences from the affirmative to the negative form, to "never" and having to modify the verb.

~~ edit
I edited the 1st post as we must not leave mistakes.