English mistakes that Spanish speakers make

When your first language is Spanish, learning English can be difficult. There are some big differences in grammar, pronunciation and spelling between the two languages. We will explore five of the most common difficulties Spanish speakers have to overcome when learning English.

Sentence structure

In Spanish, sentences have a more flexible sentence structure. In English, the sentence structure is more fixed. The word order is generally: subject + verb + object. 

For example, in Spanish both of these sentences can be said: 

Están aquí los hombres & Los hombres están aquí.

Using the same example in English, the correct sentence is: The men are here. To say: ‘They are here the men’ sounds very unusual. You could say ‘Here are the men’ but it sounds more formal or special, and you might not want that.

Pronouns: Use them in English!

For Spanish speakers, subject pronouns, such as nosotros and yo, can often be left out. This is because the conjugation of the verb already shows who is speaking. 

In Spanish, ‘Estamos aquí’ and ‘Soy española’ are complete sentences. 

The English language requires that the pronouns are included: 

• Are here vs We are here
• Am Spanish vs I am Spanish

The sentences without the ‘We’ and ‘I’ are incomplete and unclear – this means the person you are talking to is likely to get confused.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is one of the hardest aspects of the English language. Certain sounds that exist in English don’t exist in the Spanish language.

These are three examples of common pronunciation issues:

‘V’ and ‘B’ sounds

In Spanish, these sounds are very similar, but not in English. For example, ‘vote’ and ‘boat’ sound quite different in English.