Someone says, "The mother gave the candle the daughter." The word "to" is missing. But listeners often still understand the real meaning. Scientists in the US tested 483 native English speakers. The listeners heard sentences with mistakes like this one.

When the speaker had a foreign accent, listeners more often guessed what the speaker wanted to say. The same thing happened with speakers who have a language disorder, a problem with using language. So don't be afraid of small mistakes.

If you hear "The mother gave the candle the daughter," you may not think a candle received a child. Listeners often add the missing "to" in their heads. In 2017, a research team reported that native English listeners make this kind of repair more often when the speaker has a foreign accent. They seem to expect more errors from non-native speakers, so an odd sentence is more likely to be treated as a slip.

Chen and colleagues have now retested the idea with 483 native English speakers. Listeners heard sentences and answered a question about each. The effect appeared again for speakers with a second-language accent and also for speakers with a language disorder. So listeners often work to understand what you meant, even when your grammar is not perfect.

Speech is full of small slips, and listeners are good at repairing them. Hear "The mother gave the candle the daughter" and you might assume a missing "to" instead of a strange gift. Psycholinguists explain this with the noisy-channel model.

Listeners weigh what they heard against what a speaker is likely to mean, and the more errors they expect, the more freely they correct. In 2017, researchers showed that native English listeners corrected implausible sentences more often when the speaker had a foreign accent.

Chen, Chau and Schroeder have now repeated it with 483 native speakers and added speakers with language disorders. Listeners were lenient with both groups. This cuts two ways. Learners can worry less about perfect grammar, because listeners tend to fill the gaps for them.

But a listener who expects mistakes may also "fix" something you actually meant. A 2018 study found that Spanish listeners heard ironic praise as less ironic when it was delivered in a foreign accent. The new study tested listeners with a comprehension question after each sentence, so real conversation, with context and the chance to ask again, may work differently. When your meaning is unusual or important, say it a second way.