10 Common Spanish Mistakes English Speakers Make (and How to Fix Them)
Learning Spanish as an English speaker comes with a very predictable set of challenges. I see it every week in my online classes: students come from different countries, ages, and backgrounds, but many of them repeat the same patterns. These Spanish mistakes aren’t a sign of “bad Spanish.” They’re simply part of the learning process. And just like in any language, the goal is not to reach “zero mistakes,” but to reduce them with practice and confidence.
1. Skipping articles and prepositions
One of the first mistakes in Spanish that beginners make is omitting articles or small connecting words. Students say things like “voy baño” or “estoy estación.” This doesn’t happen because they’re translating from English—English uses articles here as well. It happens because beginners focus only on the “important” words and skip what feels like “details.” These small structures take time to become automatic, and that’s normal.
2. Skipping verbs
Another common mistake in Spanish is leaving out the verb altogether. New learners often say “no problema” or “no bueno,” instead of “no hay problema” or “no es bueno.”
It’s not a grammar issue—it’s a focus issue. At the beginning, students communicate with fragments, and the verbs slowly reappear as fluency grows.
3. Confusing gender (el/la)
English speakers struggle with grammatical gender because they simply don’t have the concept in their native language. Words like problema (which is masculine) are especially confusing. I usually correct gender only when the mistake becomes too persistent, to avoid overwhelming the student early on.
4. Ser vs Estar
This is a classic. English only has “to be,” so learning two different verbs is a big adjustment. Students often ask why Spanish makes the distinction at all. Over time, patterns become clearer, but in the beginning, ser and estar feel chaotic. My approach is to prioritize high-frequency situations first, rather than explaining every rule at once.
5. Por vs Para
As students advance, the mistakes don’t disappear; they simply become more subtle. One that appears again and again is the difference between por and para. Sometimes a student tells me, “I’ll be on vacation para three weeks,” and they say it with total confidence—because in their mind, it makes perfect sense. Therefore, when I explain that we use por to talk about duration, something clicks, and immediately the phrase transforms into “por tres semanas.” I love when that happens: they correct themselves not because I correct them, but because the language suddenly becomes meaningful.
6. Translating “at” as “a”
Another moment that repeats itself often is when students try to translate the English preposition at as a. It sounds logical, almost identical, and it feels like a direct equivalence. But the truth is that English at and Spanish a don’t work the same way at all. At usually marks a fixed point, a location where something is happening; a expresses movement toward a destination. That’s why we say estoy en casa, not estoy a casa. Once students understand that the similarity is only phonetic—not conceptual—the mistake fades quickly.
7. Pronouncing cognates like English
Pronunciation brings its own challenges. It’s very common for beginners to pronounce words like información or pronunciación as if they were still English: informéishon, pronuncieishon. This isn’t really a “mistake in Spanish”; it’s just the natural influence of their native language. With a bit of listening and repetition, the Spanish rhythm starts settling in, and the English shadow begins to disappear.
8. Preterite vs Imperfect
Even at B2 level, students still struggle with the past tenses. The differences between the preterite (indefinido) and imperfect aren’t always clear-cut, and Spanish speakers themselves sometimes hesitate or self-correct in mid-sentence.
The goal is not perfection. It’s to create two or three strong guidelines that work in most cases, and then refine the intuition with practice. This reduces the margin of error dramatically.
9. False friends
Some false friends create confusion and real misunderstandings:
asistir (to attend), not “to assist”
embarazada (pregnant), not “embarrassed”
actualmente (currently), not “actually”
carpeta (folder), not “carpet”
These Spanish mistakes are extremely common, and repetition is the best cure.
10. Word order: adjectives after nouns
Even word order plays its part. English speakers tend to put adjectives before nouns—a red house, a big dog, a difficult exam. So when I hear una roja casa, I know exactly what’s happening: their brain is still organising the world through English syntax. With more exposure to Spanish, that structure flips almost automatically.
Bonus: How do you say “mistake” in Spanish?
Somewhere along the way, someone inevitably asks me: “How do you say ‘mistake’ in Spanish?” It’s one of the simplest—and most honest—questions students ask. I always tell them that the most common word is error, but that equivocación and fallo also exist. And if they want to say “to make a mistake,” the natural expression in Spanish is equivocarse.
Then I usually add something else: what matters isn’t choosing the perfect word for “mistake,” but accepting the fact that equivocarse is part of the process. Mistakes aren’t proof that you’re doing something wrong—they’re the clearest sign that you’re learning.
And if you’re looking for practical ways to practice speaking so you can spot and correct these mistakes faster, I wrote a full guide on how to practice Spanish conversation without living in a Spanish-speaking country.
A final note for frustrated learners
Mistakes don’t mean you are failing. They are a sign that you are learning.
You will have days when everything feels easy, and days when everything feels complicated. Maybe you’re tired, stressed, or distracted. That’s part of the process, not a setback.
Language learning is long-term. Some days you advance quickly; other days you simply maintain what you already know. Both things matter.
If you want more general resources, the archived BBC Languages page still has useful beginner-friendly explanations.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after years of teaching Spanish online, it’s that every learner carries their native language with them—its logic, its rhythm, its shortcuts, its blind spots. But that isn’t a problem. It’s the starting point. The goal isn’t to delete those influences; it’s to learn to navigate around them.
Some days will feel smooth, and others will feel heavy, and both are part of the process. What matters is showing up, speaking even when you’re tired, listening even when the words feel fast, and celebrating each moment when something that once felt impossible suddenly becomes natural.
You don’t need perfect Spanish. You need growing Spanish.
Want to Try Solve these mistakes
If you want help identifying your own patterns, improving your Spanish mistakes, or simply practicing in a way that feels supportive, book a free trial class with me.
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