10 mistakes Spanish speakers make in English

When I was taking ESL classes many years ago, one of my Colombian classmates asked me: “Do you know New York?” “Of course,” I replied, “who doesn’t?” But what I thought he’d asked was if I knew ABOUT New York. Later I found out that he actually wanted to ask me if I had ever been to New York. This confusion was a result of a literal translation from Spanish into English. See, in Spanish it makes perfect sense to ask if someone knows or has met a city, but in English it sounds quite confusing.

So when my classmate asked me if I knew New York, I gave him the wrong answer. This was way before I had first visited the city, so I didn’t “know” New York at that time.

Many mistakes that we make in English are a result of direct translation from our native language. Moreover, we are more prone to certain types of mistakes depending on our native language. For example, Slavic speakers might make some grammatical or pronunciation mistakes that Korean or Spanish speakers wouldn’t because of the particular grammatical structure in their first tongue.

10 mistakes that Spanish speakers might make in English

Below are 10 mistakes that I have personally heard some Spanish speakers make when they learn English.

1. ✘ “People is”

Many Spanish speakers still make this mistake despite their otherwise good English. For them, this expression has become such a habit that it’s hard to break. If you are used to saying ✘ “people is” because you are translating the phrase from Spanish, where “la jente” is singular, think of people as “personas.” This might help you to switch from singular to plural.

2. ✘ “Too much” instead of ✔ “very much” / ✔ “a lot”

Many Spanish speakers translate the word “muchisimo” that actually means “very much” as “too much.” Hence, they can say, ✘ “I’m learning too much from you” or ✘ “I like your dress too much.” In English the correct phrase to use in these cases is ✔ “very much” or ✔ “a lot.”

Even though “too much” is also used in English in phrases such as “I had too much fun,” it usually has a negative connotation. If you had a great night at the party you were invited to, you can say that you had a lot of fun or that you had a great time.

3. ✘ “Do you know (or meet) New York?”

Sometimes Spanish speakers would use ✘ “I know New York” or ✘ “I met New York” (or any other city) when they mean to say ✔ “I’ve been to New York. This is because in Spanish, the verb “conocer” is used for places as well. But in English we only meet people. In addition to ✔ “I have been to this city,” you can also say ✔ “I have visited this city.”

4. ✘ “Married with”

This is yet another mistake that many Spanish speakers often make. The literal translation from the Spanish expression “casada” / “casado con” is rendered into English as ✘ “married with”. But in English people are married to other people, and not with them.

If you catch yourself making this mistake, what can help is to think of yourself as being attached instead of married; you are attached to them and they are attached to you. Slightly changing the term or the concept we think of can help with shifting your mindset and hence correcting your grammar.

5. ✘ “Pacific” instead of ✔ “peaceful”

Although this doesn’t happen often, I’ve heard some Spanish speakers describe something in nature that is peaceful as pacific. In English, however, you can only refer to the Pacific Ocean as “pacific.” For all other things, use “peaceful,” “quiet,” “tranquil,” etc. You can google the list of synonyms if you don’t want to repeat the same word over and over again.

6. ✘ “I am agree”

In Spanish, the word “agree” in this phrase is an adjective describing what you “are” at the moment. In English, however, it is a verb; it’s the action you “do” when your opinion matches someone else’s. Hence the correct way to say this expression is ✔ “I agree.” You can even say ✔ “I do agree with you” if you want to add some emphasis. Adding that emphasis can actually help you reprogram your brain to the correct English version, so you can use it for a while until you get used to saying ✔ “I agree.”

7. ✘ “I have 30 years”

This is confusing because in Spanish one “has” a certain number of years while in English one “is” a certain number of years “old.” This is the reason why many Spanish speakers say, ✘ “I have 30 years,” which is the literal translation from the Spanish “Tengo 30 años.” But the correct way to say this phrase in English is ✔ “I am 30 years old” or just ✔ “I’m 30.”

8. ✘ “With she” instead of ✔ “with her”

In Spanish there is no difference in the pronoun she and her in sentences like “ella esta casada” (she’s married) and “hable con ella” (talk to her). In both phrases here we have the same pronoun – ella. That is why some Spanish speakers say, ✘ “I’m going to go with she” instead of ✔ “I’m going to go with her.” This is yet another case in which literal translation is not going to work.

9. Infinitive instead of gerund

There are certain words in English that must be followed by a gerund (-ing ending) and not an infinitive. Before and after are two examples. So we need to say ✔ “before going” or ✔ “after walking” instead of ✘ “before to go” or ✘ “after to walk.” But many Spanish speakers still use “before” or “after” with the infinitive form “to go” because this is the grammatical form in Spanish. If you make this mistake, be extra careful. Make a list of words that are followed by a gerund and practice them in sentences.

10. ✘ “My couple” instead of ✔ “my partner”

In Spanish, you can use the word “pareja” to refer to your partner, but this word can also be translated into English as “couple.” That’s why some Spanish speakers say ✘ “my couple” instead of ✔ “my partner.” In English, however, a couple always means two people (or two objects) together and you cannot refer to one of them as a “couple.” The best way to describe a person whom you are romantically involved with is “my husband / wife,” “my spouse,” “my girlfriend / boyfriend,” and “my partner.”

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Although many nonnative speakers are aware of some of the mistakes they make due to literal translation, they still keep making the same errors because of the habit they have built. One of the hardest things to do is to break a habit, so if you are aware that you make certain mistakes despite knowing what the correct version of a phrase should be, practice the particular phrase in many different contexts. Come up with a variety of sentences and repeat them using the correct grammar. Eventually, you will get used to it.

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