10 more common errors Spanish speakers make in English

1. Switching he/she and his/her

One of the most common errors Spanish speakers make in English is to mix up he and she.
This can really confuse the listener, especially if someone is telling a story involving a man
and a woman! The same is true with his and her. In English, which doesnt have
masculine/feminine grammatical gender, the pronoun agrees with the possessor. Heres a
little story for your students to work through to help them get the hang of it.
The teacher had Jennys book and Toms book. By mistake, she gave Jenny Toms book and
Tom Jennys book. When Jenny realised she had his book and Tom realised he had her
book, they swapped them. Now Jenny has her book and Tom has his.
2. Avoiding phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are notoriously difficult for learners of English, but the ability to understand
and use them is key to any degree of fluency in the language. However, Spanish speakers
tend to avoid them when there is a synonym or near synonym that derives from Latin:
e.g.tolerate for put up with or investigate for look into. This can often make their speech
sound stilted or over formal.
3. Know/get to know/know how to/meet etc.
The various uses of the two Spanish verbs saber and conocer are quite distinct, but Spanish
speakers tend to translate both of them simply as know. Sometimes, this is indeed the best
translation:
No la conozco muy bien. > I dont know her very well.

S que hacer. > I know what to do.

However, often a different translation is required:
Conoc a Juan en una fiesta. > I met Juan at a party.
Me gustara conocer el norte de Espana. > Id like to get to know the north of Spain.
Sabes conducir? > Do you know how to drive?
4. Avoiding modal verbs
Modal verbs, with their wide range of meaning and nuance, can be tricky for Spanishspeaking learners of English, especially certain uses of would and might. Learners often
avoid them, preferring alternative expressions which, although correct, can often sound
unnatural to native ears; for example, possibly will/wont instead of might/might not:
I will possibly go to the party. Better: I might go to the party.
Another example is would for past habit. Spanish speakers often avoid this altogether,
relying solely on used to instead. Its much more common and natural in English to start
talking about the past with used to and then switch to would.
My family used to go to camping every summer. I used to feel really excited as we set off.
We used to sing songs in the car as we drove to the campsite. Better: My family used to
go camping every summer. I would feel really excited as we set off. We would sing songs
5. Overuse of will for future expressions
There are many ways to talk about the future in English, and the choice of which structure
to use usually depends not on how far ahead the event is taking place but on what the
speaker is doing when they speak: i.e. making a prediction, talking about a plans or a
decision,

reading

timetable

etc.

However,

Spanish

speakers

tend

to

use willindiscriminately. Its very unnatural to use it to talk about things that have been
decided and arranged. The present continuous (or going to) should be used instead, e.g.
John and Sally are getting married next August.
6. Using the wrong preposition
Given that Spanish en can be translated by in, at and on Spanish speakers often use the
wrong preposition:
El libro est en la mesa. The book is on the table.
Fui a Italia en julio. I went to Italy in July.
Quedemos en tu casa. Lets meet at your place.

Its important to learn prepositions with the words they go with as part of a phrase (on the
table/in July/at my/your/his/her place) in order to avoid this kind of mistake.
Although its unlikely in most cases that using the wrong preposition will confuse the
listener, there are case when changing the preposition changes the meaning. For
example:
The teacher shouted to the boy (to get his attention).
The teacher shouted at the boy (because he was angry with him).
7. Repeating the main verb

Heres a typical classroom exchange with a low level Spanish learner of English.
Teacher: Do you like tennis?
Student: Yes, I like. Do you like?
Its a common error to repeat the main verb, whereas native English avoids this by using
the auxiliary verb do. Heres an example of a natural exchange:
A: Do you like tennis?
B: I dont, but my brother does. Do you?
A: I do, yes. I love it.
8. Overpronunciation of h
Spanish speakers often pronounce the English h sound as a Spanish j, especially the
beginning of a word. The English sound is much softer than the Spanish. A good way to
practice is with the following tongue twister:
Horrible Henry Hunt, who has a hundred happy horses, has a huge house in Hampshire.

9. Adding an unnecessary e
Another of the most common errors Spanish speakers make in English pronunciation is a
tendency to insert an e sound before words beginning with s plus a consonant, so that
strange becomes e-strange and Spain becomes e-Spain.

Heres

another

silly

tongue

twister to practice the correct pronunciation:

Steve Spears gets stressed studying in school but he stops stressing out when he starts
doing sports.
10. Adjective position
In general, Spanish adjectives go after the noun they qualify (un coche rojo). The opposite
is true in English, where adjectives always precede the noun (a red car). This can lead to
mistakes, especially by low-level learners. Sometimes the position of the adjective in
Spanish changes the meaning, and a different word is necessary in English:
Un gran hombre a great man
Un hombre grande a big man