6 MISTAKES THAT ENGLISH SPEAKERS MAKE WHEN SPEAKING SPANISH

Spanish grammar for English speakers can be a real challenge… until now, anyway! I’ve spent many years teaching English speakers and I can assure you that most of them still follow a certain pattern when making mistakes, as they share the same native language. If you speak English and you want to stop making the same mistakes as your fellow countrymen when speaking Spanish, this article is for you!

1. Using the verb “ser” (to be) for a person’s age

In Spanish, unlike English, we don’t use the verb “to be” to express our age. The verb that we use to say how old we are is “tener” (Spanish for “to have”). Yes, you heard that right! It would be something like “I have 35 years old”.

So, forget about saying things like:

– ¿Cuántos años tienes?

– Soy 35 años**

Because the right way to say it is:

-¿Cuántos años tienes?

– Tengo 35 años OK

2. Gender of nouns

That’s right! Although it may sound odd, in Spanish, nouns have genders. For instance, “la mesa” (table) is feminine, but “el libro” (book) is masculine. Consequently, the article, noun and adjective all need to match:

La mesa es blanca
El libro es blanco

While it’s true that Spanish  grammar for English speakers may be a bit complicated in some ways… it’s a matter of practice, and you end up internalizing it!

3. Placing the adjective in front of the noun: “tengo una grande casa”**

Another common blunder I’ve seen in my English-speaking students when speaking Spanish is putting the adjective in front of the noun.

In English, we would say:

The White House

Adj + noun

However, in Spanish we say:

La casa blanca OK

Noun + adj

Not La blanca casa **

4. Confusing ser/estar.

One of the most difficult things about learning Spanish is understanding the difference between the verbs “ser” and “estar”, since in English they are both expressed using just one verb: “to be”.

Obviously, I’m not going to elaborate on all the differences today, because I would need to write an entire article on this point. But I will explain one of the differences where English speakers struggle the most: “estar” for locations and “ser” for descriptions.

I hear my students say sentences like “¿Dónde es la Sagrada Familia?”** all the time. In Spanish, when we want to express locations of people, places or things, we use the verb “estar”, not “ser”:

– ¿Dónde está la Sagrada Familia?

– Está en el barrio del Ensanche

The verb “ser”, in contrast, can be used for descriptions:

– ¿Cómo es la Sagrada Familia?

– Es muy grande y bonita.

5. Confusing saber/conocer

This is another common pitfall among English speakers, because in English only one verb is used: to know. It’s easier than you think! Have a look:

• Conocer: We use “conocer” to talk about people, places or things:

¿Conoces a María? (With people, we need to use the preposition “a”)

¿Conoces el gazpacho andaluz?

¿Conoces el parque del Retiro?

• Saber: “Saber”, conversely, is used to talk about skills or information:

¿Sabes tocar la guitarra?

¿Sabes cuál es la capital de España?

6. Not conjugating verbs

Last, we have this frustrating stumbling block for students when they’re trying to speak Spanish: conjugating verbs. Of course, it’s normal to struggle in this area, because English uses the same verb for everyone. For example, let’s look at the verb “to go” or “ir” in Spanish:

In English, we would say: I go, you go, they go… However, in Spanish the verb changes depending on the person we’re talking about: yo voy, tú vas, ellos van…

So since now, you can stop saying “yo ir a Barcelona”** which would be wrong…

I know that studying Spanish grammar for English speakers can sometimes feel very challenging. Don’t get overwhelmed! It’s just a matter of paying attention to small differences between the two languages and finding a good Spanish teacher who can guide you through the process.

I bet that once you apply these little tricks you will stop sounding like a foreigner when speaking Spanish!