AEE: Grammar Mistake or False Start?

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: All Ears English Podcast – “Grammar Mistake or False Start?”

Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Michelle Kaplan
Release Date: November 29, 2025
Episode Theme: Understanding and Navigating False Starts in Spoken English

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Lindsay and Michelle dive into the concept of "false starts" in conversational American English—moments when a speaker begins a sentence, then abruptly shifts gears or changes grammatical direction mid-sentence. They address a listener question about whether such shifts represent grammar mistakes or simply natural spoken language, offering practical examples, strategies, and insights for learners to master this very native feature of English conversation.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What are False Starts?

• Definition: A false start occurs when a speaker begins a sentence or idea, realizes mid-way that they want to change or rephrase, and "starts over," often leaving the initial phrase incomplete.
• Native Nuance: False starts are extremely common in natural conversation, not just in English but in all languages. They reflect real-time thinking, course-correction, and genuine connection, as opposed to rehearsed speech.
  • Quote (Lindsay, 03:34): “There is nothing more native and natural than false starts in English… once we can understand false starts, and not let them throw us off as a listener of English, I mean, we are moving into this… C1, C2 levels. This is so exciting.”

2. Listener Question: Grammar or False Start?

• A listener, Eduardo, asks about Michelle’s previous sentence: “I not anybody that comes to mind specifically.”
• Michelle clarifies it wasn’t a grammatical construction, but rather a false start: “I” was the beginning of one thought, then she shifted to “not anybody that comes to mind,” forming a new phrase on the fly.
  • Quote (Michelle, 04:40): “Yeah, that I had a false start. I, I, I was thinking in the moment… it’s not that I was saying… ‘I not anybody that comes to mind’. That would be missing some major grammar there.”

3. Why are False Starts Important?

• Authenticity: They are a marker of authentic, unscripted conversation.
• Dynamic Communication: They indicate speakers are listening, reacting, and connecting, not just reciting.
• Challenge for Learners: Recognizing false starts helps learners listen for meaning rather than perfection, boosting comprehension at higher levels.

4. Real Examples and Role-Playing

Example 1 – Christmas Episode Idea

• Michelle (09:12): “I… not that I can think of right now, but I’ll work on it.”
  • She begins with “I…” (starting to say “I don’t have an idea...”), but instantly pivots to a new construction.

Example 2 – Vacation Plans

• Lindsay (09:37): “Well, we… going to Italy, actually.”
  • She starts “we…” as if to say “we are going to Italy,” but then drops “are” and shares “going to Italy” instead.

Example 3 – Everyday Speech Patterns

• Michelle (11:02): “I mean, because when we’re speaking, I… I just did it. I just did it again. I said, the way your brain is.”
  • Highlights that even during the episode, the hosts catch themselves making false starts.

Role Play (18:00–19:08)

• Michelle: “Can you think of anyone else we need to add to the invite list?”
• Lindsay: “I… not anybody that comes to mind.”
• Michelle: “Do you have any other thoughts on the menu?”
• Lindsay: “I… not really. I think we’re good.”
  • Hosts point out the audible pause or sound (like “uh…”) that often signals a false start.

5. How Should Learners Handle False Starts?

a. As a Listener

• Don’t Panic: Focus on the speaker’s main idea, not their momentary grammar slip.
  • Quote (Lindsay, 17:02): “When you hear somebody do a false start, you don’t think they just did a false start. It just blows away.”
• Use Context: Usually, the speaker’s intention is clear despite the false start.
• Ask for Clarification: If genuinely confused, politely ask for repetition or clarification, not grammar correction.
  • Michelle (15:25): “You can just say, ‘Oh, I'm sorry, could you repeat that?’”

b. As a Speaker

• Practice Not Perfection: Don’t aim for flawless sentences; allow yourself to reset naturally.
• Shadowing: Listen with transcripts, highlight false starts, then practice shadowing or recreating them for more authentic speech.
  • Lindsay (17:38): “Find—go and take a highlighter pen and highlight our false starts. Then listen to the show with the transcripts...Then shadow our false starts.”

c. On Identifying False Starts

• Listen for Cues: Audible pauses, fillers (like “uh”), or abrupt restarts are signs of false starts.
  • Quote (Michelle, 15:55): “There is generally something in the voice, a pause. You can tell the person’s stopping themselves, they’re pulling back, they’re getting going, and then they pull back.”

d. Consuming Multi-Speaker Content

• More speakers mean more natural, messy language. Prioritize conversations, interviews, and talk shows over solo, scripted podcasts.

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Lindsay (06:27): “Despite what our textbooks would like us to think…it’s not all pre-rehearsed. We don’t know what we’re going to say before we say it. And we don’t want to know because we don’t want to be that person that waits to speak until everything is perfect.”
• Michelle (11:17): “And there’s nothing wrong with this. In fact, it would be odd if we didn’t do things like this.”
• Lindsay (12:13): “We don’t want to dwell on what we think is a grammar mistake. That’s breaking connection. Why would you ever point that out to someone? No, you want to know what they’re saying so you can build the connection.”

---

Practical Tips for Learners

(15:03–19:36)

• Listen broadly and focus on understanding the message, not every word.
• Don’t correct or overthink false starts—let them flow and focus on connecting.
• Try finding and shadowing false starts in real conversations (podcasts, TV shows, etc.).
• Remember: False starts are a healthy marker of honest connection and high-level understanding.

---

Conclusion

Lindsay and Michelle strongly encourage learners to embrace the “messiness” of real conversations, seeing false starts not as errors but as signs of dynamic, living communication. Mastering them means moving toward C1/C2 fluency—where connection matters more than perfection.

---

Notable Timestamps

• 03:34 – Defining false starts and discussing their importance for high-level listening.
• 04:02 – Listener question about “I not anybody that comes to mind.”
• 09:12–10:20 – Examples of false starts in action.
• 15:03 – How to respond if you’re confused by a false start.
• 15:55 – Audio cues and signals for detecting false starts.
• 17:38 – Practical exercise: Highlighting and shadowing false starts.

---

Key Takeaway:
Don’t strive for perfect English—engage in connection-driven, authentic conversation, and see false starts as a necessary, even beautiful, part of advanced communication!

Transcript

[A]

This is the All Ears English Podcast. Grammar Mistake or False Start? Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast. Downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio video girl. Coming to you from Colorado and New York City, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

[B]

Do you ever hear native speakers say a weird sentence that seems to be totally incorrect? Grammat, Is there something else going on here like a false start? Today, find out why these are so common in English and how to practice with them to have better connections.

[A]

The countdown is on. Holiday shopping season is officially here. Uncommon Goods takes the stress out of gifting with thousands of unique, high quality finds you won't see anywhere else. Don't wait. The most meaningful gifts get scooped up fast and now's the perfect time to cross names off your list. Uncommon Goods looks for products that are high quality, unique and often handmade or made in the U.S. many are crafted by independent artists and small businesses, making every gift feel meaningful and truly one of a kind. I was browsing the Uncommon Goods website and I found the perfect gift for the soccer fan in my life and I It's a hardcover book entitled the Soccer History of Manchester United. A compilation of the biggest headlines since 1909. I can't think of a better thing to give my partner who's a huge soccer fan. With every purchase you make at Uncommon Goods, they give back $1 to a non profit of your choice. They've donated more than $3.1 million to date, so don't wait. Cross those names off your list before the rush. To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommon goods.com a e e that's u n c O M M O N G o o d s.com a e e for 15 off Uncommon Goods we're all out of the ordinary.

[B]

Hey Lindsay, how are you?

[A]

Hey, Great Michelle. How are you? How's it going?

[B]

Pretty good, thanks. Yeah, everything's good.

[A]

Michelle, do you have any friends from high school that you still talk to?

[B]

I well, not people I talk to all the time, but I do still keep in touch with some.

[A]

Ah, okay. All right. I. I think for me I'm in touch with like maybe two. One or two people from high school. Not too many. Not too many.

[B]

Yeah, same.

[A]

Yeah, but it sounded like you had a couple of false starts there, Michelle, when you were answering my question.

[B]

Yeah, because I was. I really had to kind of think about it.

[A]

So.

[B]

Yeah, that was interesting. So, guys, today we are going to answer a listener question about false starts.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, there is nothing more native and natural than false starts in English. This, our listeners know this in their native language. I'm sure this happens. And this is really once we can understand false starts and not let them throw us off as a listener of English, I mean, we are moving into this. Yo. C1, C2 levels. This is so exciting. Right? So good stuff. So what did the student ask on YouTube?

[B]

Yeah, so this question is from YouTube. It's from Eduardo Luis Fagunda da Silva, 4415. And Eduardo says, hi, girls. Why did Michelle say I not anybody that comes to mine specifically? Is it possible to say I not? Where is the word between I and not? Very good question. Very interesting. I like this.

[A]

I know. Good observation. Clearly, Eduardo is listening very closely. But, Michelle, we didn't go back to that episode to figure it out, but we have a hunch. What happened here? What is our hunch?

[B]

Yeah, that I had a false start. I, I, I was thinking in the moment.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I was starting to answer the question. So it's not that I was saying. Lindsay, is it okay to say I not anybody that comes to mind?

[A]

No, first of all, no, no. That would be missing some major grammar there.

[B]

That would be a problem.

[A]

Yes. So the answer is, no, we cannot say that. But that's not really what she was saying. Right. It sounds like. I'm guessing what you actually said was, I not anybody that comes to mind. So you could have had a filler. Like I added a filler in there. But you didn't. But it was just a false start. It's like you started a sentence and you were about to say I something else. Then you change. You, you turn left or you turn, you turn right. Right. And then you started over.

[B]

Yes, exactly. So I was starting to answer the question. So, yeah, maybe I was saying I don't. Or maybe I was thinking that and then I thought of it and then I said, not anybody that comes to mind specifically. So I'm thinking in real time. This is extremely common. It happens probably a thousand times a day when we're talking to people, don't you think?

[A]

Oh, for sure. I mean, sometimes we know a word that we're about to say, like don't Right. Maybe you were about to say I don' blah, blah, blah, but then you just decided that the don't became irrelevant because you changed the structure of your sentence in the moment. Totally valid and normal. Right, Right.

[B]

So it could have been that I was changing completely what I was gonna say, but it could have also been that I realized I wanted to use another grammatical structure.

[A]

Right. So that's.

[B]

That is interesting. Yes. But the point is that I'm thinking in real time and that, you know, we're not. When we, when we're speaking, we're not reciting a speech, we're not reading a story. So this is going to happen over and over and over. And it is a really good question because it can be hard to hear that and to recognize these.

[A]

It's a really good question. You know, despite what our textbooks would like us to think. Old textbooks from the 90s. Yeah. It's not all pre rehearsed. We don't know what we're going to say before we say it. And we don't want to know because we don't want to be that person that waits to speak until everything is perfect. Right. We're trying to get away from that. We're trying to get more real and more connected with the people in front of us. Sometimes that requires changing our mind mid sentence. And I want our listeners to be ready to do that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Oh, my gosh. This is going to be a really interesting episode. So, guys, before we get more into it, we just want to say thank you. A big, big, big, big thank you to the listeners who have reviewed our show.

[A]

Oh my gosh. And some amazing five star reviews in the last few weeks here, Michelle. So huge thank you to someone from the Republic of Korea. The name is written in Korean, but five star review. Amazing. Thank you so much. That was on October 6th. Hand fobs from Canada or Luparia from China. And then a huge thank you to Janice Winkler from Argentina. Janice left a beautiful review about all ears English. And I found it and I sent it to Michelle and Aubry and we were just over the moon, weren't we, Michelle? For like half a day. We loved it. Yes.

[B]

Oh my gosh, Jenna, thank you so much. Really, when you send those and we. And we get to see how people feel and what they think about our show. It's just very touching.

[A]

Really amazing. And then that's not all, Michelle. There's also Viola from China on October 19, five star review. And QCC from China, October 27, five star review. Thank you so much. Our amazing listeners. Guys, if you have not left a review yet for Allers English, we'd love to see what you think of the show. So please go on over wherever you listen, Apple podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music. Leave a review for the show. All right.

[B]

Yes, please do. Thank you again.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right, so, Lindsay, let's talk more about this question. So, again, sometimes this happens, these false starts. So you're thinking, you start one answer, then you change direction, or how you're saying it grammatically with I, not anybody. This. This is not what we're talking about. Yeah, it's just a change in direction from what I'm saying. So. But let's give some examples of how this might sound.

[A]

And it's. It is challenging to. To recreate these as authentic examples. You know, the better thing to do that I would recommend is for our listeners to go back to old episodes, and you'll find tons of examples of false starts and left turns, right turns, where we just changed our mind. That's the better way. But we'll try to recreate these examples the best we can. Okay, here we go. All right. Do you have any ideas for a Christmas episode, Michelle?

[B]

I. Not that I can think of right now, but I'll work on it.

[A]

Nice. All right, so you changed your eyes. So you were gonna say I and then something, but then you took a left turn and you said, not that I see. You were essentially starting over in the sentence, Right?

[B]

Yep. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Or here's another one. Lindsay, are you planning on going on vacation soon?

[A]

Well, we going to Italy, actually. Okay, so this might be really confusing for listeners, because, Michelle, could we grammatically say, we going to Italy?

[B]

Going to Italy. No, you can see in my. You can see in my plans. The little blue underline. Google is like, no, no, no. What are you saying? That's not right.

[A]

But that's not actually what I said.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And that's why this is such a cool episode today. That's not what I said. I said, well, we. And I was about to finish my sentence, and then I literally started over, and in my new sentence, in my new idea, my new phrase, I took off the. The subject, the pronoun, and I just said, going to Italy. So I took off. We are. And I said, going to Italy.

[B]

Right. And it doesn't. It just. It's just the way your brain is working in that moment. You could have just kept on going and said, well, we're going to Italy, actually. But.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Maybe you just decided, oh, I want to say It. In kind of a more casual way or, you know, you're not.

[A]

Not.

[B]

You're not actually thinking, I'd like to say this like this. It just happens. So you're just change direction and say it in that kind of a way instead.

[A]

Right. Because it's more about the fact that you're going to Italy and you're. You're connecting with someone in front of you about how great it's going to be. The wine, the food, everything. Yeah, I could have. There's a lot of ways you could have rewritten this sentence. You could have said, well, we. We're going. We could have included the Weir too. Right?

[B]

Yeah, true.

[A]

Right. Could have done that.

[B]

Yeah, right. You could have done that there. So, I mean, there's endless things that you could have. Because it's just kind of the way your brain is. I mean, because when we're speaking, I. I just did it. I just did it again. I said, the way your brain is.

[A]

I didn't even notice it. It's so.

[B]

And then I stopped and I said, I mean, you know, it. And. And there's nothing wrong with this. In fact, it would be odd if we didn't do things like this.

[A]

It would be really odd. And this is actually why I think Aller's English. Not. I don't want to brag here, but this is why I think our show helps listeners get better so fast. It's because you're hearing two people speak very naturally. You do have a lot of these false starts. We don't talk about this very much on the show, but it's what you don't get when you have a single host, because usually a single host probably has a script or just kind of. I don't know. When you're speaking alone, you're not as spontaneous. Right. It's just how it is. So, you know, make sure you're getting intake or input. That is two listeners. That's really important. Sorry, two speakers. Super important, Michelle. Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Yeah. And this. So this can happen a lot. You have to listen out for these. Because again, it could come off as a grammar mistake or be confusing, but it's just. It's all part of normal speech patterns. It's just the way people speak naturally.

[A]

Yep. And again, we don't want to dwell on what we think is a grammar mistake. That's breaking connection. Why would you ever point that out to someone? No, you want to know what they're saying so you can build the connection. Exactly.

[B]

My family lives hours away from me, but with Aura frames. We stay connected. It is the best gift you can give someone. To be honest, I take so many pictures of my kids that I frequently run out of storage. They are always doing something silly, cute or funny. Like for Halloween, my son was an inflatable kid being picked up by an alien and my daughter was a box of donuts. We had so much fun that night and I took a ton of pictures. It was a memory I wanted to share with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. I generally use my phone, but this way they get it straight to a frame for a wonderful surprise and a big version of a picture. You can preload photos before the gift ships and you can keep adding them from anywhere, anytime. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. Perfect for the holidays. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it for a limited time. Visit auraframes.com and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames named number one by Wirecutter by using promo code AEE at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code AEE. This exclusive black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best best of the year. So order now before it ends. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

[A]

All right, so Michelle, where do we go from here? This is very enlightening today.

[B]

Yeah. So I mean, what, what can you do as a listener? Because you might be listening to this episode right now and saying, whoa, right now I'm. Now I'm totally confused. And how do I identify these and how do you know? What do I do? Well, so first off, as Lindsay said, continue doing what you're doing. Listen to many different forms of English TV shows, movies, podcasts, talks with friends.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Look at our transcripts, you know, and you will see this happen a lot. Just consume as much as you possibly can. And like Lindsay said, make sure it's.

[A]

More than one speaker, especially when there's two, three speakers. I mean, consume things like talk shows, right. Where, you know, like the morning talk shows that used to be on all the time, like Oprah, like where you have people talking to each other, not just one single speaker reciting something. Right. That's not challenging enough. Okay.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And then what if someone's not sure? What should they do?

[A]

I mean, you can ask, right? You can clarify. And there are ways. We could do a whole other episode on ways to clarify that you make sure you understood. But most of the time you are going to understand because you're going to just kind of close the loop in your head, and the person's going to really make sure they're focusing on what they're saying. Like, they're going to Italy. They're excited about that. That's what it's about, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And. But you can, you know, if, you know, you don't have to say you're confused about the grammar, you're not sure, but you can just say, oh, I'm sorry, could you repeat that so you can ask? And I. I also want to point something out that is important, which we've kind of touched on a little bit, is there is generally something in the voice, a pause. You can tell that the person's stopping themselves, they're pulling back, they're getting going, and then they pull back so you can hear I not Right. They might say, or they might just do this.

[A]

Like.

[B]

That sounded like I'm burping, but I'm not. You're just pulling back. You're starting the car and then you're putting the brakes on and you're changing.

[A]

Sure. Yeah. Would you recommend that we try to do this on our own, Michelle? Would this be hard to recreate on our own? I. I feel like it could be. Right.

[B]

It is hard. It is hard to recreate it in a natural way, but I actually think that it could be good practice to try it. Yeah. If somebody asks you a question, you don't. You don't want to do this purposely all the time because that's just totally defeating the purpose.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah.

[B]

Now we're going to rehearse the false start.

[A]

I mean, it's not ideal.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's not. No perfect speech, but no one cares about perfect speech, you know? Right.

[B]

And when you're listening, also, don't focus on, like we've said, don't focus on the grammar, focus on the content, focus on the connection. Exactly. And you will start to kind of naturally understand these things and be able to identify them or honestly not even realize that they happened, because you just get used to it. Lindsay. When you hear somebody do a false start, you don't think they just did a false start. It just blows away.

[A]

No, I don't miss a beat, as they say. Like, I just want to know what they're trying to say.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I just want to connect with them. So that's why it's so the most important thing here is don't panic.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Try to get the main idea of the content. What are they trying to say? I think One thing that they, our listeners, could do is get our transcripts. You can get Those in the iOS Android app, or you can get those by [e-mail] subscribe. So get the transcripts. Find. Go and take a highlighter pen and highlight our false starts. Then listen to the show with the transcripts, see how that happened. Then shadow our false starts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then start there. And then create your own false starts. Right? Yeah. And then try to identify them when you. When you hear them, when native speakers do them. Right.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Yeah, it's really good.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

So should we do a role play?

[A]

Yeah, let's do it. So here we are, friends at a. At lunch, and we're planning a party. A party? Yes, a party. There we go.

[B]

Okay. So can you think of anyone else we need to add to the invite list? I.

[A]

Not anybody. Come. Not anybody that comes to mind.

[B]

Okay, sounds good.

[A]

Do you have any other thoughts on the menu?

[B]

I. Not really. I think we're good.

[A]

Great. So there. There tends to be like. Like we said before, some kind of a mouth sound. Right. Like. Or something when we do that false start. Not always. It could be a total silent pause.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But usually it's an or something. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Very subtle. Right? Yeah.

[B]

It's almost like a car. Like, you can. You can hear it going then like.

[A]

Like.

[B]

Like slightly stepping on the brakes. Yeah.

[A]

It's the sound of the car taking the right or the left turn.

[B]

Right. Right.

[A]

So just to recreate again, you said, can you think of anyone else we need to add to the invite list? And I said, I. Not anybody that comes to mind.

[B]

And that's, I think, the exact one that the listener asked about, I believe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you said, do you have any other thoughts on the menu? And I said, I. Not really. Yeah.

[A]

So the important thing is. No, there are no more thoughts on the menu. It's not that you did some weird grammar thing. That's not what's important at all.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's planning the party.

[B]

Yes, exactly. We're excited. Yeah. And we're also excited for you to listen to this episode. Episode 25, 6, 16. That was a really good one. Very interesting. It was assumption versus presumption in English. A lot to get into there.

[A]

Yeah. This is great. I can't believe we've never done an episode on false starts before, but this is one of those things that just lurks below the surface of the show. True. And it's a really cool feature of what we do here on the show because we don't, we don't make up any fake English here, okay? It's all super real for you. And so I bet if you really dig in, guys, into our transcripts, you're going to find a ton of these. And this is what makes you a better listener and a better speaker, ultimately. So really inspiring today.

[B]

Yeah, really good. Great listener question. Thank you so much. Thank you again to our reviewers. And Lindsay, I'll see you next time.

[A]

All right, Sounds good, Michelle. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

[B]

All right, bye.

[A]

Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time. And Doug, here we have the limu.

[B]

Emu in its natural habitat, helping people.

[A]

Customize their car insurance and save hundreds.

[B]

Of with Liberty Mutual.

[A]

Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[B]

Cut the camera.

[A]

They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty, Liberty.

[B]

Liberty Savings Ferry unwritten by Liberty Mutual.

[A]

Insurance company and affiliates excludes Massachusetts.

[B]

At Etsy, we know the holidays are already exciting, but we can't help adding joy to the season. Get up to 60% off gifts from small shops with Etsy cyber specials.

[A]

Terms apply for gifts that say I.

[B]

Get you shop Etsy.