Ten Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make in English

Grammar and Sentence Structure Transfers

Spanish verb endings tell the listener who is doing the action, and Spanish nouns behave differently when talking about general concepts. Bringing these habits into English creates three very common slips.

1. Dropping the Subject Pronoun "It"

In Spanish, subject pronouns are optional because the verb conjugation carries the person. For weather, time, or general situations, Spanish uses no pronoun at all, as in "Es importante" (It is important) or "Llueve" (It is raining). In English, almost every sentence requires an explicit subject. Leaving it out sounds incomplete.

• Transfer error: "Is raining today, so is better to stay home."
• Natural English: "It is raining today, so it is better to stay home." (stating weather and a general situation with a dummy subject)

2. Using "Have" Instead of "Be" for Age and States

Spanish expresses age and physical sensations as things you possess using "tener" (to have), such as "Tengo hambre" (I am hungry) or "Tiene treinta años" (She is thirty years old). English treats these as states of being and uses the verb "to be".

• Transfer error: "I have thirty-two years and I have cold."
• Natural English: "I am thirty-two years old and I am cold." (describing age and temperature as personal states)

3. Adding "The" Before General Plural and Uncountable Nouns

In Spanish, when you talk about a whole category of things, you need the definite article: "Me gusta el café" (I like coffee) or "Los perros son leales" (Dogs are loyal). English drops "the" when speaking in general terms and only uses it for specific items.

• Transfer error: "The music helps me relax after the work."
• Natural English: "Music helps me relax after work." (talking about music and work in general, not a specific song or job)

4. Pluralizing Adjectives or Nouns Used as Adjectives

Spanish adjectives must match the noun in number and gender, such as "problemas importantes" (important problems). In English, adjectives never take a plural "s", even when a noun is acting as an adjective before another noun.

• Transfer error: "We have differents options for shoes stores."
• Natural English: "We have different options for shoe stores." (keeping both the adjective and the modifying noun singular)

Verbs and Prepositions That Do Not Match One-to-One

A single Spanish word often covers territory that English divides between two words. Memorizing fixed phrases through vocabulary, dictation, and conjugation practice helps your brain store the whole chunk rather than translating word by word.

5. Confusing "Make" and "Do"

The Spanish verb "hacer" translates to both "make" and "do". As a rule of thumb, English uses "do" for tasks, obligations, and repetitive work, while "make" is for creating, producing, or choosing something.

• Transfer error: "I need to make my homework before I do a decision."
• Natural English: "I need to do my homework before I make a decision." (pairing tasks with "do" and choices with "make")

6. Translating "En" Always as "In"

Spanish uses "en" for inside spaces, surfaces, and days of the week. English splits this job across three prepositions: "in" (enclosed spaces, months, years), "on" (surfaces, days, public transit), and "at" (specific points, times).

• Transfer error: "Your keys are in the table, and the meeting is in Monday."
• Natural English: "Your keys are on the table, and the meeting is on Monday." (using "on" for a flat surface and a day of the week)

7. Saying "Depend Of" and "Married With"

Because Spanish says "depender de" (to depend on) and "casado con" (married to), it feels natural to reach for "of" and "with". In English, verbs and adjectives lock into specific prepositions that must be learned as pairs.

• Transfer error: "It depends of the traffic, and she is married with my brother."
• Natural English: "It depends on the traffic, and she is married to my brother." (using the standard English preposition pairs)

Vocabulary and Word Order Traps

Even advanced speakers occasionally fall into vocabulary traps when a word looks identical to Spanish or when reporting a question.

8. Mixing Up "Actual" and "Current"

In Spanish, "actual" means belonging to the present moment. In English, "actual" means real or exact, while "current" (or "currently" for the adverb) refers to the present time. For more pairs like this, read our guide to Spanish-English false friends.

• Transfer error: "In my actual job, I actually live in Madrid."
• Natural English: "In my current job, I currently live in Madrid." (referring to present employment and residence)

9. Explaining Purpose with "For To"

When answering "Why?", Spanish uses "para" followed by an infinitive: "Voy a Londres para aprender inglés" (I am going to London to learn English). Translating "para" as "for" and the infinitive with "to" produces "for to", which is not grammatical in modern standard English.

• Transfer error: "I called the office for to ask about the schedule."
• Natural English: "I called the office to ask about the schedule." (using the simple infinitive with "to" to show purpose)

10. Inverting Word Order in Indirect Questions

Direct questions in English invert the auxiliary verb and subject: "Where is the station?" (Asking directly for a location). However, when you embed that question inside a polite phrase like "Can you tell me..." or "I don't know...", English switches back to normal statement order (subject before verb), unlike Spanish which often keeps the verb before the subject.

• Transfer error: "Do you know what time starts the movie?"
• Natural English: "Do you know what time the movie starts?" (placing the subject "the movie" before the verb "starts" in an indirect question)

Quick Self-Correction Drill

Read the five sentences below. Each one contains two transfer mistakes from our list. Say the corrected version out loud before checking the answers underneath.

1. "Is very important for to practice every day."
2. "My sister has twenty-five years and is married with a doctor."
3. "Do you know where is the bus stop in Main Street?"
4. "In my actual company, we make many interessing projects."
5. "The coffee helps me focus, but it depends of the hour."

Answers: 1. "It is very important to practice every day." (added "It", removed "for"). 2. "My sister is twenty-five years old and is married to a doctor." (changed "has" to "is... old", "with" to "to"). 3. "Do you know where the bus stop on Main Street is?" (statement order, "on" for streets). 4. "In my current company, we do many interesting projects." ("current", "do projects", singular adjective). 5. "Coffee helps me focus, but it depends on the time." (no "The" for general nouns, "depends on").

Your Proofreading Checklist

Before you send an important work email or finish a writing task, run through this five-step check:

• Scan every verb to make sure it has a clear subject like "it", "they", or a noun.
• Circle the word "the" and delete it whenever you are talking about things in general.
• Check every "make" and "do" to confirm whether you are creating something or completing a task.
• Look at adjectives before plural nouns and erase any final "s" on the describing word.
• Check indirect questions starting with "Could you tell me" or "I wonder" to ensure the subject comes before the verb.

Your Next Step

Pick just two patterns from this article that you recognize in your own speech and write three true sentences about your week using the corrected English forms. If you want to see which grammar habits are holding you back across all skills, take our free placement assessment to find your exact CEFR level and get a personalized study plan.