Every language has its own rules around grammar and pronunciation and its own unique vocabulary to learn, and English is no different. In some ways, Spanish speakers have an advantage because there are many similarities between the two languages. But, you’ll also probably find you fall into a pattern of mistakes in English that are common for Spanish speakers. Let’s take a look at the most common English errors you might be making, and how you can correct them.

Common English errors in pronunciation

Pronunciation errors in English can affect your speaking at any level from beginner to advanced. Here are some to watch out for and practice. A great tip is to record yourself speaking and listen back to it or, even better, use an app like ELSA AI that records you and gives you feedback on your pronunciation.

i / i: 

The difference between short and long vowel sounds can be difficult for Spanish speakers, especially the short /i/ sound (bin, film) compared with the long /i:/ (sheep, meat). It’s not such a big problem if you say “pitch” when you mean “peach”, for example, but things become more dangerous if you say “nit” when you mean “neat”! 

v/b

In Spanish these two sounds are pretty much identical, but in English /b/ is a much harder sound than /v/. A good tip is to practice saying pairs like vat/bat, vlog/blog, vowel/bowel until you can hear the difference. 

The extra “e”

Because a lot of Spanish words start with “es”, Spanish speakers often add an unnecessary “e” at the beginning of English words. For example, in Spanish it’s “especial”, “específico”, “España” etc while, in English, it’s “special”, “specific” and “Spain”. So it’s common to hear people add an extra sound to words like “esport”, “eschool” or “estreet”. (It should be sports, school, street!)

Common English errors in grammar

There are a lot of common grammar mistakes in English so you’re definitely not alone if you’re making any of these.

I am here since a long time.

In Spanish you use the present tense with “since” but, in English, you need the present perfect: “I have been here for a long time.”

Bored/boring

Although “bored” and “boring” are both adjectives, the meaning and use of ed/ing adjectives is very different. We say something or someone is “boring/interesting/exciting” if it makes us feel bored/interested/excited. 

So if you say “I am boring” you mean you make other people feel bored. Another way to think about it is to think of it like the difference between ser and estar. Ser is for permanent states and estar is for temporary states just like “ing” is for permanent states and “ed” is for temporary states. So, a boring person will be boring forever, but a bored person will feel different later.

Confusing the verbs to have and to be

Spanish and English use these two verbs very differently. So in English “I have am 20 years old” and “I have am hungry.” To have is also used for temperature, so “I have am cold/hot”. And don’t worry, “I am hot” doesn’t mean what it means in Spanish!)

Common English errors in vocabulary

Because English and Spanish share Latin roots, lots of English and Spanish words translate very easily which makes learning English vocabulary easier than if you were learning a language like Turkish or Chinese. But it’s not always that simple so here are some common English errors to look out for.

False friends

False friends are Spanish words that look and sound very similar to a word in English but actually have a very different meaning. Have you ever made any of these common mistakes in English?

• In English, if you have a baby in your tummy, you’re pregnant, not embarrassed (embarrassed = tener verguenza).
• In English, you carry papers in a folder or a file, not a carpet (carpet = alfombra).
• Definitely don’t tell people you’re constipated if you have a runny nose and a cough! In English you’ve got a cold. (to be constipated = tener estreñimiento)
• In English, we check a document to see if everything is correct, we don’t control it. (control = gestionar/dominar)

There are plenty of other false friends between English and Spanish, like fabric – tejido, but fabrica – factory; manifestación – protest or demonstration; actually – realmente but actualmente – currently. But these don’t usually provoke such strange looks when you say them!

Easily confused words

Adjectives and adverbs are often easily confused and lead to a lot of common errors in English.

fun, funny

If something is funny (cómico), it makes you laugh, like a joke or a comedy film. But when an activity is enjoyable, it’s fun (divertido).

hard, hardly

If you hardly work, you rarely work meaning you don’t work much or often. If it hardly rains where you live, there isn’t much rain. But if you work hard, or it rains hard, you do a lot of work and you get very wet!

responsible

A common English mistake for Spanish speakers is to say “I am the responsible” when you mean “I’m the person responsible for [checking everything is correct]” or “I’m responsible for…”. Or “I’m in charge of …” Often the job title would be a better description of what you do, for example, “I’m the supervisor/line manager”. That way, people understand that your job means you’re the person responsible for various different things and you don’t need to explain. 

Hopefully you’ve got some useful tips here to help you avoid many of the common errors in English for Spanish speakers. But don’t worry too much about your mistakes and keep practicing!
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