Common English Speaking Mistakes by Spanish Speakers (And How to Fix Them)
If Spanish is your first language, you've probably been told your English is good — and it probably is. Spanish speakers often have strong vocabulary and can hold conversations comfortably. But there are a handful of very specific English mistakes Spanish speakers make over and over again, and most of them come from the same place: Spanish grammar patterns quietly hijacking your English.
The frustrating part is that these mistakes often feel correct. They follow the logic of Spanish perfectly. That's exactly why they're so persistent — and why identifying them specifically is so much more useful than generic advice like "practice more."
Why Spanish Speakers Make These Specific Mistakes
Spanish and English share a lot of vocabulary (roughly 30–40% of English words have Spanish cognates), which is a huge advantage. But the two languages differ significantly in:
- Word order (especially with adjectives and adverbs)
- Subject pronouns (Spanish often drops them; English never does)
- Articles (Spanish uses them differently)
- Verb tenses (Spanish has more subjunctive use; English relies more on modal verbs)
The mistakes below come directly from these structural differences. Recognising the pattern behind each error is the key to fixing it.
Mistake 1: Dropping the Subject Pronoun
In Spanish, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb conjugation makes it clear. In English, the subject is almost always required.
❌ "Is very cold today." ✅ "It's very cold today."
❌ "Are you ready? Yes, am ready." ✅ "Are you ready? Yes, I'm ready."
This is one of the most common errors and often goes unnoticed by the speaker because it "sounds right" — it's grammatically complete in Spanish. Train yourself to always start a sentence with its subject in English.
Mistake 2: Misusing "Make" and "Do"
Spanish has one verb for both: hacer. English splits them, and the division isn't always logical.
| Spanish | Incorrect English | Correct English |
|---|---|---|
| hacer una pregunta | make a question | ask a question |
| hacer un examen | make an exam | take an exam |
| hacer ejercicio | make exercise | do exercise |
| hacer una pausa | do a pause | make a pause / take a pause |
The rough rule: "Do" for activities and tasks (do homework, do yoga, do the dishes). "Make" for creating or causing something (make a decision, make a mistake, make a plan). But many expressions are fixed — learn them as chunks rather than trying to derive the rule every time.
Mistake 3: Adjective Placement
In Spanish, adjectives usually follow the noun. In English, they almost always come before it.
❌ "I want a car red." ✅ "I want a red car."
❌ "She's a woman intelligent." ✅ "She's an intelligent woman."
This one is usually easy to fix once you're aware of it. The challenge is in fast speech — when you're thinking quickly in Spanish and translating, the noun sometimes slips out first.
Mistake 4: Double Negatives
Spanish uses double negatives grammatically correctly: No sé nada ("I don't know nothing") is standard Spanish. In English, double negatives cancel each other out and sound uneducated in formal or professional contexts.
❌ "I don't know nothing about that." ✅ "I don't know anything about that."
❌ "She never says nothing." ✅ "She never says anything."
The pattern: after "don't," "never," "nobody," etc., switch to "any-" words instead of "no-" words.
Mistake 5: Confusing "Actually" and "Currently"
This is a false cognate (a "false friend"). Actualmente in Spanish means "currently" or "at the moment." But "actually" in English means "in fact" or "to be honest."
❌ "Actually, I work at Google." (meaning: right now, I work at Google) ✅ "Currently, I work at Google." / "I work at Google at the moment."
✅ "Actually" = "In fact / Surprisingly / To be honest"
- "I thought it was hard, but actually it was fine."
This mistake causes genuine confusion in conversations because the meaning shifts completely.
Mistake 6: Using "Since" When You Mean "For"
Desde hace in Spanish translates to both "since" and "for" in English, but they're used differently.
- Since = a point in time ("I've lived here since 2019")
- For = a duration ("I've lived here for six years")
❌ "I've been studying English since six years." ✅ "I've been studying English for six years."
❌ "I've worked here for 2018." ✅ "I've worked here since 2018."
Mistake 7: Pronunciation of -ed Endings
Spanish speakers often add an extra vowel sound to words ending in consonant clusters that don't exist in Spanish.
❌ "I work-ed" → pronounced "work-EHD" (as a full syllable) ✅ The -ed ending has three sounds:
- /t/ after unvoiced consonants: walked, laughed, stopped
- /d/ after voiced consonants: called, opened, played
- /ɪd/ only after /t/ or /d/: wanted, needed, decided
Practice: "I worked, I talked, I called, I played, I wanted, I decided" — notice which ones add a syllable and which don't.
Mistake 8: "I am agree" vs "I agree"
In Spanish, estoy de acuerdo uses a verb + adjective structure. In English, "agree" is already a verb — no "am" needed.
❌ "I am agree with you." ✅ "I agree with you."
❌ "He is not agree." ✅ "He doesn't agree."
A Dialogue Showing Corrected Patterns
Here's a conversation with common Spanish-speaker errors corrected:
Before (with errors): "Since five years I live here. Actually I am working in a hotel but is very difficult, no? I am agree the salary is not good."
After (corrected): "I've lived here for five years. At the moment I'm working in a hotel, but it's really hard, you know? I agree — the salary isn't good."
Both convey the same meaning. The corrected version sounds natural and professional.
A Practice Plan to Fix These Habits
Knowing the mistakes isn't enough — you need to rewire the habits through speaking practice. Here's what works:
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Focus on one error per week. Trying to fix all eight at once leads to paralysis. Pick one (start with subject pronouns or make/do) and consciously monitor it for a week.
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Record yourself. Have a 2-minute conversation with yourself about your day. Listen back and count how many times you made each error.
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Practice with immediate feedback. This is where having a conversation partner — or an AI tutor — is invaluable. Talk to Gemma can conduct spoken English sessions where you practice in real-time and build the habit of catching these errors as they happen.
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Learn phrases as chunks. Rather than applying rules, memorise "I agree," "for six years," "do exercise," "make a mistake" as fixed units.
Every language learner has a set of persistent errors that come from their mother tongue. For Spanish speakers, these eight patterns cover the vast majority of what holds back an otherwise strong English speaker. The good news: they're all very fixable with targeted practice. If you're ready to start speaking and catching these habits in real conversation, try a free session with Talk to Gemma and work with an AI tutor who'll respond to your exact level.