10 Spanish Mistakes English Speakers Make (Quick Fixes)
Quick answer: The most common Spanish mistakes (especially for English speakers) are predictable: literal translations, mixing up ser/estar and por/para, choosing the wrong past tense, and using “false friends.” The good news: these errors are normal, and you can fix them faster with a few patterns and short practice drills.
In this guide you’ll find 10 mistakes I see every week in online lessons, plus the exact corrections and examples you can copy.
Introduction
Learning Spanish as an English speaker comes with a very predictable set of challenges. I see them every week in my online classes: different students, different backgrounds, same patterns. These mistakes aren’t a sign of “bad Spanish.” They’re part of the learning process. The goal isn’t “zero mistakes,” but fewer mistakes over time, with more confidence and more natural Spanish.
If you’re learning mostly through apps or online lessons, these mistakes can repeat for months unless you get feedback and practice them in real conversation.
The most common Spanish mistakes (quick overview)
Most Spanish mistakes aren’t random. They come from a few predictable habits: dropping small words, translating literally, and choosing “safe” grammar that sounds natural in English but not in Spanish.
Here’s a quick overview, and then we’ll break down each mistake with examples and fixes.
| Mistake | What it looks like | Quick fix |
|---|---|---|
| Skipping articles/prepositions | “Voy baño”, “Estoy estación” | Add the small words. Voy baño → voy al baño. Estoy estación → estoy en la estación. |
| Skipping verbs | “No problema”, “No bueno” | Restore the missing verb. No problema → no hay problema. No bueno → no es bueno. |
| Confusing gender | “Me gusta el playa” | Learn the noun with its article (as a pair). El playa → la playa. Remember common exceptions: el día, el problema; la mano. |
| Ser vs estar | “Soy cansado” | Use estar for states. Soy cansado → estoy cansado. |
| Por vs para | “Estuve en España para veinte días” | Use por for time duration. Para veinte días → por veinte días. |
Now let’s go through each mistake one by one, with clear examples and quick fixes.
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.
Fix: Slow down and add the small words: al, a la, en el, en la.
Example: “Voy baño” → Voy al baño. / “Estoy estación” → Estoy en la estación.
Mini drill: Say 5 sentences using voy al / voy a la / estoy en el / estoy en la.
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.
Fix: Ask yourself “what’s the verb?” If it’s missing, add hay / es / está (or another basic verb).
Example: “No problema” → No hay problema. / “No bueno” → No es bueno.
Mini drill: Correct 5 short phrases by adding hay / es / está.
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.
Fix: Don’t memorize nouns alone. Learn them with the article: la playa, el problema, la mano.
Example: “La problema” → El problema. / “Me gusta el playa” → Me gusta la playa.
Mini drill: Write 10 nouns as el/la + noun (never noun alone). Then highlight exceptions you notice.
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.
Fix: Use ser for identity/description and estar for states/conditions (how something feels right now).
Example: “Soy cansado” → Estoy cansado. / “Estoy estudiante” → Soy estudiante.
Mini drill: Say 3 pairs: soy… (identity) vs estoy… (state) using the same adjective (e.g., soy aburrido vs estoy aburrido).
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.
Fix: Use por for duration/time; use para for purpose/goal.
Example: “Voy a estar de vacaciones para tres semanas” → Voy a estar de vacaciones por tres semanas.
Mini drill: Make 5 sentences with por + time (por dos horas, por una semana, por tres días…).
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.
Fix: Use en for location (where you are) and a for movement (where you’re going).
Example: “Estoy a casa” → Estoy en casa. / “Voy en casa” → Voy a casa.
Mini drill: Say 5 pairs: Estoy en… / Voy a… (en casa, en la oficina, en el trabajo, en el supermercado, en el parque).
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.
Fix: Spanish cognates keep Spanish vowel sounds. Aim for clean vowels and stress the last syllable in -ción words: in-for-ma-CIÓN, pro-nun-cia-CIÓN.
Example: “informéishon” → información / “pronuncieishon” → pronunciación.
Mini drill: Say these 5 words out loud slowly, then faster: información, pronunciación, situación, conversación, explicación.
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.
Fix: Use preterite for completed actions (a clear start/end) and imperfect for background, habits, and ongoing situations.
Example: Ayer fui al cine (one-time event) vs Antes iba al cine todos los viernes (habit/background).
Mini drill: Tell a short story using both: 3 sentences in preterite (events) + 2 in imperfect (background).
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”
Tip: Keep a small “false friends” list and review it once a week. Repetition is the cure.
Fix: Don’t trust the look of a word. Learn false friends as mini-pairs: asistir = attend, actualmente = currently.
Example: “Actually, I can’t go” → En realidad, no puedo ir. (not actualmente).
Mini drill: Pick 4 false friends and write 1 sentence for each (Spanish + English meaning).
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.
Fix: In Spanish, the default order is noun + adjective (casa roja, perro grande).
Example: “Una roja casa” → Una casa roja. / “Un grande perro” → Un perro grande.
Mini drill: Convert 5 phrases from English order to Spanish order: red house, big dog, difficult exam, new phone, interesting movie → casa roja, perro grande, examen difícil, teléfono nuevo, película interesante.
How Do You Say “Mistake” in Spanish? (Bonus)
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.
mistake = error
a mistake = un error / una equivocación
to make a mistake = cometer un error
to make mistakes = equivocarse
And then I usually add something else: what matters isn’t choosing the perfect word for “mistake,” but accepting 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.
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 extra beginner-friendly explanations, here’s a general resource you can explore: BBC Languages.
Next Steps
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 noticing the moment when something that once felt impossible suddenly becomes natural.
You don’t need perfect Spanish. You need growing Spanish.
Want to fix these mistakes faster?
If you want help spotting your patterns and correcting them in real conversation, you can book a free trial lesson with me.
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