Word-for-Word English: Fix Open the Light, I Have Hunger and Two More Translation Leaks

Can you open the light?

Every word is English. The grammar is fine. A listener will understand you at once, and nobody will laugh. But for half a second, the listener hears something small and unusual, and then moves on.

That half second is a translation leak: a sentence built from your first language, one word at a time. In a podcast episode about thinking in English, Emily reads out four of them, and Paul gives the natural version. Her comment is worth keeping: “None of the translated sentences were rude or stupid.” And Paul agrees: “People understood them. They just sounded a little unusual.”

This page puts those four leaks side by side with the natural version, adds four more, and shows you a way to catch the ones that only you make.

Why a correct sentence can still sound strange

English has fixed partners. We turn lights on, we take photos, we are hungry. Nothing in the grammar book says why. These pairs are habits of the language, and a learner who translates meets them wrong in a quiet way: every word is right, but the pair is not the one English uses.

That is why Emily says “the fix is not a grammar rule.” The fix is hearing the natural version many times, until the pair sounds normal and the translated one sounds odd. A rule can help you understand a leak. Only repeated listening makes you stop producing it.

Four leaks from the episode, side by side

What a translator says	What English says	The change
Can you open the light?	Can you turn on the light? / Can you switch on the light?	open → turn on, switch on
I have hunger.	I’m hungry. / I’m starving.	have + noun → be + adjective
Yesterday I made a lot of photos.	Yesterday I took a lot of photos.	make → take
Please say me your phone number.	Please tell me your phone number. / Could you give me your phone number?	say → tell, or a softer request

Read the left column once, then say the right column out loud three times. The point is not to feel bad about the left column. The point is to hear which words changed, and how few they are.

Lights, screens and doors: on and off, not open and close

Paul explains the first one in a single line: “Many languages open and close lights. English turns them on and off.” The same pair works for other things you start and stop with a switch:

• turn on / turn off the light, the TV, the heating, the tap
• switch on / switch off the lamp, the computer
• Open and close are for doors, windows, boxes, books and apps.

So Can you turn on the light? is right, and Can you open the window? is also right. Both are normal English. Only the light was a leak.

Hungry, thirsty, tired: be + adjective, not have + noun

In some languages you have hunger. In English you are hungry, and if it is very strong you are starving. The pattern repeats with most feelings of the body:

Leak (written for this page)	Natural English
I have thirst.	I’m thirsty.
I have cold.	I’m cold.
I have 25 years.	I’m 25. / I’m 25 years old.
I have fear of dogs.	I’m afraid of dogs. / I’m scared of dogs.

If a sentence in your language says I have + a noun for a feeling, a state or an age, try I am + adjective in English first.

Take, make and ask: verbs that carry the photo, the mistake and the question

Emily’s line about the third leak is a good way to remember it: “Take a photo, take a break, take a seat. Take is everywhere.” In English, take goes with a photo, a break, a seat, a shower, a walk. Make goes with a mistake, a decision, a plan, a cup of tea. Your first language may use one verb for all of these. English splits them.

Leak (written for this page)	Natural English	Why
He did a mistake.	He made a mistake.	Make goes with mistake.
Can I make you a question?	Can I ask you a question?	We ask a question.
It depends of the weather.	It depends on the weather.	Depends goes with on.

You do not need to learn a long list. Notice the pair each time you hear one, and write down the whole chunk, not one word.

Say, tell and give: the phone number problem

Paul fixes the fourth leak this way: “In English, we tell someone something.” So Please tell me your phone number is natural. His softer option is even better in real life: “Could you give me your phone number?” It sounds less like an order and more like a request.

Say (examples written for this page)	Tell (examples written for this page)
Say is followed by the words: “She said hello.”	Tell is followed by a person: “She told me her name.”
He said that he was late.	He told me that he was late.

For a full page on the difference, see Say vs Tell in English: Which One Fits Your Sentence?.

Catching a leak in your own English: three steps

The hard leaks are the ones nobody corrects, because everyone understands you. Here is a way to find them.

1. Notice the pause. A half-second look, a repeated word, or a different word from the listener (for example, “You mean, turn on the light?”, written for this page) is a signal. So is a sentence you built word by word and felt unsure about.
2. Ask which word is the odd one. Almost always it is one small word: a verb, a preposition or an adjective. Say the sentence again and find the one you translated.
3. Save the whole chunk with a moment. Do not write a translation. Write the natural pair and a real time you could use it: turn on the light, when I get home. A word with a real moment is easier to find later.

Then collect: listen to natural English without stopping, as Paul says, because “you collect the natural versions.” The more you hear the pair, the less the old one comes out.

Practice 1: choose the natural sentence

Choose the sentence that sounds natural. The answers follow.

1. a) Can you close the light, please? b) Can you turn off the light, please?
2. a) I’m very hungry. b) I have very hunger.
3. a) We took many photos at the beach. b) We made many photos at the beach.
4. a) Please tell me your address. b) Please say me your address.
5. a) Sorry, I made a mistake. b) Sorry, I did a mistake.
6. a) It depends on the traffic. b) It depends of the traffic.

Answers

1. b
2. a
3. a
4. a
5. a
6. a

Practice 2: repair the leak

Say each sentence in a natural way. The answers follow.

1. Please open the TV. (written for this page)
2. She has 30 years. (written for this page)
3. He made a photo of the cat. (written for this page)
4. They said me the news. (written for this page)
5. I want to make you a question. (written for this page)

Answers

1. Please turn on the TV.
2. She’s 30. / She’s 30 years old.
3. He took a photo of the cat.
4. They told me the news.
5. I want to ask you a question.

Practice 3: your own list of five

Think of the last week. Write five sentences you said or wrote in English, and read them out loud. Mark any sentence that made you hesitate. For each one, find the odd word, write the natural pair, and add a real moment: I took a photo of the bread clip, because I could not find the word. Keep the list for a week and read it again.

Leaks, translation apps and meetings: three honest questions

Should I worry about leaks in a meeting? No. People understood Emily’s four examples. Aim for clear first. Fix the leaks when you study, not while you speak. The episode’s rule is “Speak simple and fast. Study slow and careful.”

Can a translation app fix my leaks? It can show a natural version, but if you copy the result every day, the app is practising and you are not. Write the first draft yourself in simple English, then check only the part you are not sure about.

Do all learners have the same leaks? No. A leak comes from your first language, so each language leaks in different places. That is why your own list in Practice 3 is worth more than any list on a website.

The natural versions in one list

1. Turn on the light. Switch off the lamp.
2. I’m hungry. I’m starving. I’m thirsty.
3. Take a photo. Take a break. Take a seat.
4. Tell me. Could you give me your phone number?
5. Make a mistake. Ask a question. It depends on…

Hear it in a real conversation

Want to hear Paul and Emily say the leak and the fix out loud, with the market story that started it all? Listen to the episode and read its Show Note: How to Stop Translating in Your Head: Paul’s Orange Story, Six Habits and a Three-Second Game. It also has six daily habits and a three-second answer game.