Some of the errors in selected areas of English grammar and lexis made by a sample of 100 first year college students from Madhya Pradesh, India, were investigated. The errors of students are described in linguistic terms, and some of the probable sources of errors are explained. The rules of grammar and usage that should be established to help the learners overcome their learning problems are indicated. Samples of students' English were obtained through two exercises: a free composition and a passage for translation from Hindi into English. Out of 141 scripts collected from four colleges, 100 were selected for analysis. An erroneous expression is considered to be any word, phrase, or sentence which deviates from its manner of use by an educated native speaker of standard British English or violates any rule of contemporary English grammar or usage. Categories and subcategories of errors were established in terms of the rules of grammar or usage violated. In all, 4161 errors were identified and categorized under 15 major areas listed in order of frequency of recurrence. Of these, errors in the verb phrase are discussed because they form the bulk of the total errors, and it is the verb phrase which is central to sentence construction. Errors in the verb phrase are divided into three major categories: verb forms and patterns, auxiliaries, and tenses. (SW)