- Dropping
i, a, or e too early.
Use the full Mini-ma form until it is automatic.
- Putting modifiers after nouns.
Say
mega kasa, not kasa mega.
- Forgetting
sa when you want clear possession.
Prefer mi-sa buku in beginner writing.
- Using bare
ke for everything.
Prefer ke-man, ke-loke, ke-tempo, ke-rason, ke-modo.
- Putting
no too late.
Prefer mi i no pale.
- Mixing up
ki and ke-*.
ki links non-interrogative content clauses; ke-* asks content questions; se marks embedded “whether”.
- Making helper order random.
Learn the beginner pattern:
no, then tense, then aspect, then helper, then main verb.
- Reading
de, en, and go the same way everywhere.
Before the main verb they can be helpers; after the main verb, or after a or e, they are relation words.
- Forgetting formal Mini-ma question and command markers.
Prefer
tu i pale ke? and favo i pale lenta.
- Using
da for both “that” and contingent conditionals.
Prefer oda for distal “that” and keep da for conditional results.
- Treating every transparent pattern as open grammar.
Learn listed ordinals and the fixed
ke-* / nulo-* sets as taught.
- Trying to build heavy relative clauses too early.
Keep
ki relatives narrow with one omitted core argument. If the phrase becomes hard to read, paraphrase it as two simpler clauses.