6 Spanish mistakes English speakers make (and fixes)

Every English speaker makes the same handful of mistakes in Spanish, and almost none of them are about vocabulary. They come from quietly translating English structures word for word. The good news: once you can spot the pattern, each one takes a minute to fix. Here are six classic traps, why they happen, and what to say instead.

1. Using ser for everything

English has one verb, to be. Spanish has two, and beginners tend to pick ser every time because it looks like the “default”. The simple rule of thumb: ser is for what something is (identity, origin, profession), while estar is for where something is and how it is right now (location, feelings, temporary states).

Soy cansado.

That sentence is the classic slip. It says “I am a tired kind of person”. What you want is:

Estoy cansado. Soy de Londres. Estoy en Madrid.

Tiredness is a state, so it takes estar. Where you are from is identity, so it takes ser. Where you are standing today is a location, so estar again. If you want the full explanation with practice, try the lessons on the verb estar and ser or estar: the first rule.

«Soy de Londres, pero hoy estoy en Madrid.»

2. Saying “I am 30”

In English we are a certain age. In Spanish we have years. So Soy treinta is wrong, and Estoy treinta años is wrong too. The correct version uses tener:

Tengo treinta años.

The same logic applies to a few other feelings that English expresses with to be. Spanish says you have hunger, thirst, cold, heat, fear and sleepiness. It sounds odd at first, but it becomes automatic after a week of use.

If you are not sure how tener behaves, the lesson on the verb tener covers every form in a few minutes.

3. Falling for false friends

Spanish and English share thousands of look-alike words, and that is a real gift. But a small group of them are traps, and they tend to produce the funniest mistakes. A few to memorise:

The safest habit is to treat any word that looks too convenient with a little suspicion until you have seen it in context. We list many more in the lesson on false friends.

4. Turning gustar around

English speakers say I like pizza, with I as the subject. Spanish literally says pizza pleases me. That is why Yo gusto la pizza sounds so strange, and why it can even mean something quite different.

Me gusta la pizza. Me gustan los tomates.

Notice that the verb agrees with the thing you like, not with you. One thing: gusta, singular. Several things: gustan, plural. Once this clicks, you can also use it with a person: Le gustas means “he or she likes you”. Practise it step by step in likes and dislikes with gustar.

5. Saying “yo” in every sentence

English needs a subject in every sentence, so we pack in I, you, he and she every time. In Spanish the verb ending already tells you who is acting, so the pronoun is usually dropped. Compare:

Yo soy María y yo vivo en Sevilla y yo trabajo en un banco.

It is not wrong, but it sounds heavy and a little robotic. A native speaker would say:

Soy María, vivo en Sevilla y trabajo en un banco.

Keep the pronoun when you want to contrast people (Yo prefiero el té, pero ella prefiere el café) or to clear up a doubt. Everywhere else, let the verb do the work. That small change makes your Spanish sound smoother almost immediately.

6. Putting the adjective in the wrong place

In English the adjective comes before the noun: a red car. In Spanish it usually comes after, and it must agree in gender and number: un coche rojo, una casa roja, dos coches rojos. Beginners often write un rojo coche, which is understandable but sounds like a line from a poem.

Two quick checks save you most of the time. First, find the noun and decide whether it is masculine or feminine. Second, make the adjective match it, and put it behind. The lesson on adjective agreement gives you a pattern you can repeat in your sleep.

These slips are not a sign of a bad ear. They are a sign you are thinking in two languages at once, which is exactly what progress looks like. If you want more small wins, you may also enjoy our article about the twelve grapes at midnight, which is full of simple, useful Spanish.

Try it yourself

Choose the best answer, then reveal it to check.

Come back to these six habits whenever your Spanish feels stuck. Fix one at a time, and each one will quietly disappear.