Make a mistake or Commit a mistake

[anupumh]

Hi,

Which is appropriate and why?

I have made a mistake.

I have commited a mistake.

Thanks

[Offroad]

We can have

We committed an error.
We committed a crime.
We made a mistake.

I guess 'commit' does not collocate with 'mistake'.

Edit. Why?
Hmm... let me guess: 'commit' is something ...intentional, and 'mistake' usually happens accidentally??
What do you think?

[PROESL]

Hi,

Which is appropriate and why?

I have made a mistake.

I have commited a mistake.

Thanks

The correct one is "make a mistake". The verb "commit" is usually reserved for something more serious, such as "commit a crime". Typical, yes, but it's the only one I can think of at the moment.

[mara_ce]

Verb + mistake:

make / repeat / learn from / pay for / discover / realize / acknowledge / admit (to) / correct / put right / rectify

e.g. Don’t make the same mistakes as I did.

Mistake + verb:

happen / occur

e.g. Mistakes are bound to happen sometimes.

[Raymott]

Hi,

Which is appropriate and why?

I have made a mistake.

I have commited a mistake.

Thanks

You generally 'make' a mistake.
You can 'commit' an error though.

Why? <shrug>

[Offroad]

You generally 'make' a mistake.
You can 'commit' an error though.

Why? <shrug>

my guess:

error ----> intentional
mistake --> non-intentional

[Raymott]

my guess:

error ----> intentional
mistake --> non-intentional

That's an interesting theory, but I doubt whether most errors are intentional.

Here's another differentiation:
In applied linguists, an "error" as it applies in "Error Analysis" is a mistake that learners make because they do not have the linguistic competence to know better. A "mistake" is an error they make when they do know the correct form, but are under pressure, or aren't concentrating.

If I wrote "a understanding" or "What's it's meaning?", then I have made a "mistake", because I know that the correct forms are "an understanding" and "What's its meaning"

If a ESL student wrote that, it would sometimes be impossible to know if it was an error or a mistake - ie. do they know it's wrong?