How to tell a child that he is not right or that he did something wrong

Question

When my little son is doing (did) something and I want to praise him or tell him that he is doing (did) it right I can use the following phrases:

• that(it) is right(correct)!
• you are doing well!
• that is the way!
• way to go!
• well done!
• success is yours!

But the question is what phrases are opposite of these. What do you think about following phrases?

• that(it) is wrong
• that(it) is not right
• that(it) is incorrect
• that(it) is not correct
• you are(were) wrong
• you are doing (you did) wrong
• you are not doing (you did not) well
• that is not the way
• you are(were) mistaken

Please let me know which of these phrases are incorrect, correct or correct but uncommon. And give me your common versions. Thanks!

Answer 1

All of these sentences are correct and appropriate, with three exceptions:

• "You are doing wrong" should be changed to "You are doing it wrong" or "You are doing a bad thing" or "You are making a mistake".
• "You did wrong" should be changed to "You are wrong" or "You did something wrong" or "You made a mistake".
• "You did not well" should be changed to "You did not do well".

Even these three exceptions are sometimes said by native speakers, but these exceptions are not quite Standard English.

"Uh-oh" is another option that means either "Something is going wrong" or "Something just went wrong".

Homer Simpson exclaims "Doh!" when he realizes that he made a stupid mistake.

Answer 2

I agree with what @Jasper said, but I would like to add another tip: native English speakers tend to use contractions, like shortening "you are" to "you're" and "that is" to "that's".

If your son is doing something wrong, you could also tell him to "stop" or "Don't do that!"

And finally, here's another phrase that can be used to praise people:

"Good job!"