Indian English Errors
Indians use hundreds of English phrases that sound completely normal at home — but confuse or amuse the rest of the world. These are not random mistakes. Each one has a reason: colonial holdovers, translation from Hindi, stative verb rules no one taught, or idioms used with the wrong half. This series explains the most searched ones.
45
Errors
8
Categories
2–3 min
Per article
Redundancy — phantom words
A word that adds no meaning — remove it and nothing changes.
Revert back
Revert
'Revert' already means 'go back'. Adding 'back' is pure repetition — a tautology. Direct SSC CGL error-spotting pattern.
Cope up with
Cope with
'Cope' already means 'manage'. The particle 'up' does not exist in this phrasal verb in standard English.
Discuss about
Discuss
'Discuss' is transitive — it takes a direct object with no preposition. 8 more verbs (mention, reach, enter) follow the same rule.
False friends — different meaning abroad
Words India uses in one sense — the rest of the world uses them in a completely different sense.
Pass out (= graduate)
Graduate / pass out (= faint)
In India: 'I passed out from IIT.' Abroad: 'I fainted.' The confusion causes serious misreads in CVs and IELTS essays.
Do the needful
Handle this / take care of this
Not a grammar error — it is 1800s British colonial English. Britain dropped it 100 years ago. India kept it. Abroad it sounds archaic.
Out of station
Out of town / away
British railway administration English from the 1800s. 'Station' meant a posting city. Abroad, station means a train station — nobody will understand.
Grammar errors — double structures
Using two grammatical forms where English allows only one.
Can able to
Can / is able to
'Can' and 'be able to' are synonyms. Two modals cannot occupy one modal slot. You must choose one.
More better
Better
Double comparative — one method per comparison. 'Better' is already the comparative of 'good'. 'More' is redundant.
Myself Amirul Khan
I am Amirul Khan
Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself) cannot replace subject pronouns. Common in spoken Indian English, wrong everywhere else.
Translation & coinage — words that don't exist
Words either coined from Indian logic or translated literally from Hindi — not found in any English dictionary.
Prepone
Bring forward / move up
Indians reversed 'postpone' by replacing 'post' with 'pre'. Perfect logic — but English never made this word. Not in Oxford or Merriam-Webster.
Updation
Update
'Update' is already a noun — no suffix needed. 'Updation' was formed by wrongly applying the -tion rule to a word that is already both a noun and a verb.
What is your good name?
What is your name?
A literal translation of the Hindi honorific 'aapka shubh naam kya hai?' — 'shubh' (auspicious) has no equivalent in English. Names have no quality.
Mother-tongue influence — stative verb errors
Hindi uses progressive forms freely. English bans them for stative verbs — verbs of state, sense, and possession.
I am knowing the answer
I know the answer
'Know' is a stative verb — it describes a state, not an action. Stative verbs never take -ing in standard English.
She is having a car
She has a car
'Have' used for possession is stative. Only 'have' meaning 'eat/experience' (I am having lunch) takes -ing.
He is not understanding
He does not understand
'Understand' is stative. In Hindi, 'samajh raha hai' uses a continuous form — Indians carry the pattern into English.
I am wanting to go
I want to go
'Want' expresses desire — a mental state. Mental-state verbs (want, need, prefer, love) are stative and cannot take -ing.
Mother-tongue influence — literal translations
Phrases translated word-for-word from Hindi or regional languages — grammatically impossible in English.
Do one thing…
Here's what you should do…
A direct translation of 'ek kaam karo'. In English, 'do one thing' means literally perform a single action — not 'let me give you advice'.
I will come by walk
I will walk / come on foot
Translated from 'paidal aaunga'. In English, 'by' before a transport mode requires a vehicle noun (by bus, by car) — not a verb.
She gave exam yesterday
She appeared for / sat the exam
From Hindi 'exam dena' (to give an exam). In English, students take or sit exams — teachers give them. The roles are reversed.
Open the fan / Close the fan
Turn on / Turn off the fan
Translated from 'pankha khol do / band karo'. Fans and switches are operated, not opened or closed. 'Open' is for containers and doors.
Cousin brother / Cousin sister
Cousin
English 'cousin' is already gender-neutral. Indian languages distinguish male/female cousins, so speakers add 'brother/sister' to clarify — unnecessary in English.
Formal/register errors — Indian office English
Phrases from colonial bureaucratic English or Indian corporate culture that sound odd or meaningless to international readers.
Kindly intimate me
Please inform / notify me
'Intimate' as a verb means 'to hint subtly' — not 'to inform'. Using it to mean 'tell me' is a false friend from formal Indian usage.
I will update you
I will keep you informed / I will let you know
In formal written English, 'update you' is too informal. 'Keep you informed' or 'revert with the details' are the correct registers.
Please do the same
Please complete the [specific task]
'The same' refers to nothing specific. The reader cannot act on a vague instruction. Always name the action explicitly.
Today only I sent it
I sent it today / I sent it just today
'Only' used as an emphasiser at the end is a direct MTI pattern from Hindi ('aaj hi bheja'). In English, 'only' must sit before what it modifies.
Please do it at the earliest
Please do it by [date] / as soon as possible
'At the earliest' is vague — it signals urgency without a deadline. In professional English, vague urgency is worse than a clear date.
We are like that only
That's just how we are / That's our nature
A literal translation of 'hum aise hi hain' or 'aise hi hai na'. The tag 'only' as an emphasiser has no equivalent function in English.
Redundancy — absolute words
Words that are already absolute or total in meaning — they cannot be intensified or modified.
Advance planning
Planning
Planning, by definition, happens before the event. 'Advance' is built into the meaning — adding it is redundant.
Past history
History
History only ever refers to the past. 'Past history' would imply there is a 'future history' — which is just the future.
Future plans
Plans
Plans are always about the future. If something already happened, it's no longer a plan — it's an outcome.
End result
Result
Results come at the end of a process. There is no 'middle result' or 'beginning result' in standard English.
Free gift
Gift
A gift is free by definition — you cannot buy a gift for yourself. 'Free gift' is marketing language designed to sound generous; it is logically hollow.
Completely destroyed
Destroyed
'Destroyed' is absolute — something is either destroyed or it isn't. It cannot be 'partially destroyed' (that would be 'damaged').
Repeat again
Repeat
'Repeat' means 'to do again'. 'Repeat again' means 'to do again again' — the 'again' is baked in.
PIN number / ATM machine
PIN / ATM
PIN = Personal Identification Number. ATM = Automated Teller Machine. Saying 'PIN number' = 'Personal Identification Number number'.
Safe haven
Haven
Haven already means a safe place of refuge. 'Safe haven' is a tautology — though widely used, it remains logically redundant.
Idiom errors — misuse and misquote
English idioms used in the wrong context, with the wrong meaning, or with missing halves that change the sense entirely.
I have a doubt (= I have a question)
I have a question
'Doubt' in English implies suspicion or distrust — 'I doubt his honesty.' Using it to mean 'I have a question' is a direct MTI error from Hindi 'mujhe ek doubt hai'.
He is doing mischief
He is being mischievous / causing trouble
Mischief is a noun — you cannot 'do' it the way you do homework. The adjective form is mischievous; the verb form is 'to cause mischief'.
She is very much fond of music
She is fond of music
'Fond of' already expresses a strong liking. 'Very much' is grammatically awkward before an adjective phrase; use 'very fond of' or drop the intensifier.
He is a jack of all trades (said as a compliment)
Versatile / skilled in many areas
The full proverb is 'jack of all trades, master of none' — a criticism of shallow expertise. Using only the first half as a compliment reverses the meaning.
The ball is in your court (said when speaker still has tasks)
Use only when the other person must act next
This idiom means 'it's your turn to act'. Using it when you still have pending action misleads the listener and can cause conflict in professional settings.
At the drop of a hat (used as negative)
Use correctly — it means 'immediately and willingly'
'She agrees at the drop of a hat' means she is too eager. The idiom has a slightly critical tone. Using it as straightforward praise misrepresents the speaker.
I have a doubt vs. I doubt it
These mean entirely different things
'I have a doubt' (Indian English) = I have a question. 'I doubt it' (standard English) = I don't believe it's true. Confusing the two causes serious misunderstandings.
Can you lend me your ears?
Can I have your attention?
A misquote of Shakespeare's 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears' — a rhetorical flourish, not everyday English. Native speakers never use it in conversation.
He is doing mischief vs. being naughty
He is being naughty / He is misbehaving
In Indian English, 'mischief' covers any bad behaviour. In standard English, mischief is playful troublemaking — quite different from 'naughty' or 'defiant'.
Why does Indian English exist at all?
India adopted English during British colonial rule — not from everyday conversation, but from formal government offices, courts, and schools. The English Indians learned was the written, bureaucratic English of 1800s Britain.
When Britain updated its language over the 20th century, India's English stayed largely frozen in its colonial form. Phrases like "do the needful" disappeared from British usage by 1920 — but continued in Indian offices for another 100 years.
Other errors come from direct translation from Hindi and regional languages. In Hindi, you say "cope up karna" — so Indians add "up" to the English equivalent. Stative verbs like 'know' and 'understand' take the continuous form in Hindi, so Indians write "I am knowing".
These are not signs of poor English. They are signs of a living language that diverged. But in competitive exams, IELTS, and international professional contexts, knowing the difference matters.