COMMON MISTAKES. ERRORES COMUNES.

False cognates/falsos amigos:

There are several words in Spanish that are similar in English, but have a different
meaning. Here are a few examples:

ENGLISH WRONG TRANSLATION IT REALLY MEANS...

INTO SPANISH
ACTUALLY *ACTUALMENTE EN REALIDAD
EMBARRASSED *EMBARAZADA AVERGONZADO/A
REALIZE *REALIZAR DARSE CUENTA
APPROVE *APROBAR (un examen) APROBAR/ESTAR DE ACUERDO
EVENTUALLY *EVENTUALMENTE FINALMENTE
CAREER *CARRERA (universitaria) CARRERA (profesional)
LECTURE *LECTURA CONFERENCIA
LIBRARY *LIBRERÍA BIBLIOTECA
PARENTS *PARIENTES PADRES
DIVERSION *DIVERSIÓN DESVÍO
SENSIBLE *SENSIBLE SENSATO
SYMPATHETIC *SIMPÁTICO COMPASIVO
ARGUMENT *ARGUMENTO DISCUSIÓN
TO SUPPORT *SOPORTAR APOYAR

OTHER COMMON MISTAKES

Spanish speakers often confuse by and for in passive voice.

Earn / win. The problem with these two is that they are both translated into Spanish
with ganar. Thus, you get questions like: "How much do you win?" when referring
to your salary. However, you win money in the lottery and you earn (or make)
money at your job.

Politics/ Politician: When referring to the authorities, speakers of Spanish normally

confuse Spanish politico(s) with English politics. A politician is a person who has a
job in politics. Politician = politico. Politics refer to the regulation of a country
(Política). A policy is a principle or rule to guide decisions: Social policies, políticas
sociales.

The Spanish word científico is both noun (profession) and adjective. Therefore Spanish
speakers often use the word scientific to refer to the person: He is a famous
scientific (wrong). Scientist should be used to refer to the person: He is a famous
scientist.
*I am agree

A common error among Spanish speakers is the translation *I am agree for Estoy de
acuerdo. One should say: - I agree - He agrees - We agree...

This/ These

SINGULAR PLURAL
NEAR THIS THESE
FAR THAT THOSE

Omission of Subject

Omission of the subject is a very common and understandable mistake that speakers of
Spanish make when studying English. Just keep in mind that, unlike Spanish, a subject is
always necessary in English. Here's an example of what I mean:

Students often write ( or say):"Is important to talk to the teacher." whereas they should
write: It is important to talk to the teacher. The word it may not refer to anything in
particular, but it is absolutely necessary to make this sentence gramatically correct.

Other/ Another/ Others

OTHER BOOK/OTHER BOOKS. Adjective, no plural. Where are the other books?

ANOTHER BOOK. Adjective, no plural. Give me another book.

OTHERS. Pronoun, plural. Where are the others?

ZERO ARTICLE

Incorrect *The men are rational beings.

Correct Men are rational beings.

Incorrect *The envy is an evil passion.

Correct Envy is an evil passion.

ZERO ARTICLE IN SAXON GENITIVE

Incorrect *I have read the John's novel.

Correct I have read John's novel.

Adapted from http://www.angelfire.com/fl/espanglishtips/#words and http://tonigarcia-iesmbv.blogspot.com.es/

 COMMON MISTAKES
People is... In Spanish, we think of people as one group, a single noun. In English, we think
of people as many persons. Because we think of people as many, we need to use a
plural verb to go with our plural noun. This gives us “people are”. Besides, people is the
plural of person.
People are funny.
People are meeting after work.

I have 24 years – In Spanish, you say, “I have 24 years” to talk about how old you are. In
English, you must remember to use the verb “to be” and then the age. You can use this
pattern: person + to be + age + old.
I am 26 (years old).

For to... – Spanish speakers use para + infinitive verb to talk about the reason they do
something. Voy a California para visitar a mi familia. When Spanish speakers learn
English, many translate the sentence as: *I am going to California for to visit my
family. In English we don’t use for and to next to each other. The sentence should be:
I am going to California to visit my family.
Tomo clases de inglés para aprender más.
I take English classes to learn more.

Take a decision/make a decision – People who speak Spanish use the verb “tomar” with
the word decision. English uses a different verb with decision. In English, we use the
word “to make”. Always remember, we don’t take a decision, we make a decision.
We can go left or right. I need to make a decision.
We need a plan for next year. We need to make a decision.

Actually and currently – The Spanish word actualmente looks similar to the English word
actually. Unfortunately, these words do not mean the same thing. Actually means en
realidad, and actualmente means currently/nowadays.
Actually, this isn’t a problem. En realidad, este no es problema.
John doesn’t work here currently. John no trabaja aquí actualmente.
Always remember: actually is en realidad, and actualmente is currently/nowadays.

Lost/missed – In English, it is okay to say “I missed the bus” meaning you didn’t get there
on time. We say lost when we had something, but now we cannot find it. For example,
“I lost my car keys”. That means that we had our keys before, but now we cannot find
them. Because of this, you cannot say that you lost the bus or lost a plane.
We missed our flight to New York.
John lost his passport and could not travel.
 FALSE FRIENDS
False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages that look or sound similar, but
differ in meaning.They can cause difficulty for students learning a foreign language because
students are likely to identify the words wrongly due to linguistic interference.

ENGLISH SPANISH TRANSLATION FALSE FRIEND YOU REALLY MEAN IN

(INCORRECT ENGLISH....
TRANSLATION)
actually en realidad actualmente nowadays, at present
to advertise anunciar advertir to warn
advice consejos aviso warning, notice
argument discusión, pelea argumento de un plot
libro/una película
to assist ayudar asistir a un lugar to attend
career carrera profesional carrera degree
universitaria
collar cuello de las prendas de collar necklace
vestir
college facultad, colegio colegio school
universitario
conductor director de orquesta conductor driver
(to be) sufrir de estreñimiento estar constipado to have a cold
constipated
contest concurso contestar to answer
costume traje, disfraz costumbre custom, habit
curse maldición curso course
deception engaño decepción disappointment
dessert postre desierto desert
disgust asco, repugnancia disgusto annoyance
economics economía económicos cheap
embarrassed avergonzado/a embarazada pregnant
estate propiedad, bien inmueble estado, país state
eventually finalmente eventualmente by chance, occasionally
exit salida éxito success
fabric tela fábrica factory
familiar conocido, familiar (adj) pariente relative
hardly apenas duramente hard, strongly
inhabitant habitante inhabitado uninhabited
to intend tener la intención de intentar try
involve involucrar, implicar envolver wrap
jam mermelada jamón ham
large grande largo long
lecture conferencia lectura reading
lentils lentejas lentillas contact lenses
letter letra del abededario o carta letra de canción lyrics
library biblioteca librería bookshop
mayor alcalde mayor bigger
notice notificación, anuncio noticia piece of news
ordinary común ordinario vulgar
pan cacerola pan bread
petrol gasolina petróleo oil, petroleum
prize premio precio price
realize darse cuenta realizar make
regular de tamaño normal regular not so good
remove quitar, eliminar remover stir
resort centro turístico resorte spring
rope cuerda ropa clothes
rude maleducado rudo rough
sane cuerdo sano healthy
sensible sensato sensible sensitive
sensitive sensible sensitivo related to the senses
soap jabón sopa soup
spade pala espada sword
stationery artículos de papelería estacionario stationary
stranger desconocido o forastero extranjero foreigner
stretch estirar, extender, ensanchar estrechar to narrow
suburb barrio rico periférico de la suburbio de casas slum
ciudad pobres
success éxito suceso event
to support apoyar soportar to put up with, to bear
sympathetic comprensivo simpático nice, friendly
sympathy compasión, pésame simpatía friendliness, affection
target objetivo tarjeta card
terrific fenomenal, genial terrorífico terrifying
tramp vagabundo trampa trap
zealous entusiasta celoso jealous

Adapted from http://inglesbachsaramago.blogspot.com.es/2011/10/bachillerato-list-of-false-friends.html

 COMMON MISTAKES
Correct the following common mistakes:

Wrong I have visited Niagara Falls last weekend.

Right
Wrong The woman which works here is from Japan.
Right
Wrong She’s married with a dentist.
Right
Wrong She was boring in the class.
Right
Wrong I must to call him immediately.
Right
Wrong Every students like the teacher.
Right
Wrong Although it was raining, but we had the picnic.
Right
Wrong I enjoyed from the movie.
Right
Wrong I look forward to meet you.
Right
Wrong I like very much ice cream.
Right
Wrong She can to drive.
Right
Wrong Where I can find a bank?
Right
Wrong I live in United States.
Right
Wrong When I will arrive, I will call you.
Right
Wrong I’ve been here since three months.
Right
Wrong My boyfriend has got a new work.
Right
Wrong She doesn’t listen me.
Right
Wrong You speak English good.
Right
Wrong The police is coming.
Right
Wrong The house isn’t enough big.
Right
Wrong You should not to smoke.
Right
Wrong Do you like a glass of wine?
Right
Wrong There is seven girls in the class.
Right
Wrong I didn’t meet nobody.
Right
Wrong My flight departs in 5:00 am.
Right
Wrong I promise I call you next week.
Right
Wrong Where is post office?
Right
Wrong Please explain me how improve my English.
Right
Wrong We studied during four hours.
Right
Wrong Is ready my passport?
Right
Wrong You cannot buy all what you like!
Right
Wrong My mother wanted that I be doctor.
Right
Wrong The life is hard!
Right
Wrong How many childrens you have?
Right
Wrong My brother has 10 years.
Right
Wrong I want eat now.
Right
Wrong You are very nice, as your mother.
Right
Wrong She said me that she liked you.
Right
Wrong My husband is engineer.
Right
Wrong I came to Australia for study English.
Right
Wrong It is more hot now.
Right
Wrong You can give me an information?
Right
Wrong They cooked the dinner themself.
Right
Wrong Me and Johnny live here.
Right
Wrong I closed very quietly the door.
Right
Wrong You like dance with me?
Right
Wrong I go always to school by train.
Right
Wrong If I will be in London, I will contact to you.
Right
Wrong We drive usually to home.
Right
Now, go through the answers and make sure you understand the corrections.

Wrong I have visited Niagara Falls last weekend.

Right I visited Niagara Falls last weekend.
Wrong The woman which works here is from Japan.
Right The woman who works here is from Japan.
Wrong She’s married with a dentist.
Right She’s married to a dentist.
Wrong She was boring in the class.
Right She was bored in the class.
Wrong I must to call him immediately.
Right I must call him immediately.
Wrong Every students like the teacher.
Right Every student likes the teacher.
Wrong Although it was raining, but we had the picnic.
Right Although it was raining, we had the picnic.
Wrong I enjoyed from the movie.
Right I enjoyed the movie.
Wrong I look forward to meet you.
Right I look forward to meeting you.
Wrong I like very much ice cream.
Right I like ice cream very much.
Wrong She can to drive.
Right She can drive.
Wrong Where I can find a bank?
Right Where can I find a bank?
Wrong I live in United States.
Right I live in the United States.
Wrong When I will arrive, I will call you.
Right When I arrive, I will call you.
Wrong I’ve been here since three months.
Right I’ve been here for three months.
Wrong My boyfriend has got a new work.
Right My boyfriend has got a new job. (or "has a new job")
Wrong She doesn’t listen me.
Right She doesn’t listen to me.
Wrong You speak English good.
Right You speak English well.
Wrong The police is coming.
Right The police are coming.
Wrong The house isn’t enough big.
Right The house isn’t big enough.
Wrong You should not to smoke.
Right You should not smoke.
Wrong Do you like a glass of wine?
Right Would you like a glass of wine?
Wrong There is seven girls in the class.
Right There are seven girls in the class.
Wrong I didn’t meet nobody.
Right I didn’t meet anybody.
Wrong My flight departs in 5:00 am.
Right My flight departs at 5:00 am.
Wrong I promise I call you next week.
Right I promise I’ll call you next week.
Wrong Where is post office?
Right Where is the post office?
Wrong Please explain me how improve my English.
Right Please explain to me how to improve my English.
Wrong We studied during four hours.
Right We studied for four hours.
Wrong Is ready my passport?
Right Is my passport ready?
Wrong You cannot buy all what you like!
Right You cannot buy all that you like!
Wrong My mother wanted that I be doctor.
Right My mother wanted me to be a doctor.
Wrong The life is hard!
Right Life is hard.
Wrong How many childrens you have?
Right How many children do you have?
Wrong My brother has 10 years.
Right My brother is 10 (years old).
Wrong I want eat now.
Right I want to eat now.
Wrong You are very nice, as your mother.
Right You are very nice, like your mother.
Wrong She said me that she liked you.
Right She told me that she liked you.
Wrong My husband is engineer.
Right My husband is an engineer.
Wrong I came to Australia for study English.
Right I came to Australia to study English.
Wrong It is more hot now.
Right It’s hotter now.
Wrong You can give me an information?
Right Can you give me some information?
Wrong They cooked the dinner themself.
Right They cooked the dinner themselves.
Wrong Me and Johnny live here.
Right Johnny and I live here.
Wrong I closed very quietly the door.
Right I closed the door very quietly.
Wrong You like dance with me?
Right Would you like to dance with me?
Wrong I go always to school by train.
Right I always go to school by train.
Wrong If I will be in London, I will contact to you.
Right If I am in London, I will contact you.
Wrong We drive usually to home.
Right We usually drive home.

Adapted from www.engvid.com

ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 1
The following text comes from a student's essay. On each numbered line there is ONE error of
grammar, word order, vocabulary or spelling. There are no punctuation mistakes. Find the
mistake on each numbered line, UNDERLINE it and WRITE the correction in the space
provided to the right of the text.

1 My name’s Rosaria Mangiagatti and I’m from Fondi, a small town of Lazio.

2 I live in a flat in the centre of the town with my family. There are five persons in

3 my family – my mother, my father, my two brothers and myself. My mother

4 name is Laura and she’s a teacher. My father’s name is Pietro and he is also

5 teacher. My brothers’ names are Luigi and Gian Franco. They are more young than

6 me and they are both still at the school. We have got a dog called Flash.

7 I am 19 years and I am a student at the Third University of Rome. I’m

8 study English and French. I have been studying English for 3 years but my

9 English is not very good. I speak French enough well.

10 I don’t have very free time, but I like dancing and playing the guitar. I go

11 to dance classes twice a week. I also like go to the cinema and to the disco.

12 I haven’t a boyfriend at the moment. I went out with a boy called Massimo for

13 three years but we have split up two months ago. So I’m free!!

14 In the summer I’m going to the USA for visit some relations but apart from that I

15 haven’t got any plans for the future. I just want get my degree and find a job.

1
 ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 2

The following text comes from a student's essay. On each numbered line there is ONE error of
grammar, word order, vocabulary or spelling. There are no punctuation mistakes. Find the mistake
on each numbered line, UNDERLINE it and WRITE the correction in the space provided to the
right of the text.

0 My boyfriend's name is Francesco. He's 22 years but he's

0 quite mature for his age. He works for 3 years in a bank.
1 Our relationship has begun two years ago and now I know
2 him very well, but I must to be frank, at first I was only
3 interested in his looks. He has black short hair and brown
4 eyes. He isn't very tall but he's more tall than me. I don't
5 think is particularly good-looking, but he has something
6 that make him a special person to me.
7 He has a character very complex. He's usually very sweet
8 and kind to me and always listens my problems but he gets
9 hungry very quickly, especially with his parents. This is
10 because he has a stressful work and he is always tired.
11 He's generous to everyone he knows, but sometime he’s
12 too much generous and his friends take advantage of him.
13 But the worse thing about Francesco is his jealousy. If I
14 just look at another man he goes mad. He would like marry
15 me, but I say him that I'll only marry him if he learns to trust
me

2
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 3

The following text comes from a student's essay. On each numbered line there is ONE error of grammar, word
order, vocabulary or spelling. There are no punctuation mistakes. Find the mistake on each numbered line,
UNDERLINE it and WRITE the correction in the space provided to the right of the text.

MY FIRST JOB

I am only 19 years, so I have not had much experience of work, but

last year I have worked for two days at a trade fair in Rome.

1 My brother work for a big company in Rome that makes tractors and

2 other agricultural equipment and he said me that his company was

3 looking for young women to work like sales representatives at the

4 trade fair. He asked me if I would like apply for the job. I said that I

5 would, and the next day I went to the company for a interview.

6 The interview has been very strange because the interviewers

7 not ask me questions about my school, or my work experience.

8 They only asked me questions like this: ‘How tall you are? How

9 much do you weigh?’. I was very surprised by this questions but

10 I really wanted have the job , so I answered them very politely.

11 A few days later, the company telephoned to me and offered me the

12 job. They said that I should arrive to the fair at 7am the next day and

go directly to the company’s stand.

13 The next morning I went to the stand, where I met other two girls.

14 Then arrived the company person and he gave us all bikinis and told

15 us to put on them. Our job was to lie on the tractors in sexy poses. I

was very angry and refused to do it so that was the end of my first job!

3
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 4

Some of the lines in this letter contain a word that shouldn’t be there. Write the word in the column on the left.
Other lines are correct. Put a tick (v) against the lines which are correct..
Dear Carlo,

I’m very sorry I couldn’t come to the your leaving party last night, 1. the

but I had a terrible stomach ache so I went to the doctor’s. I had to 2. v

wait two hours for to see her because a lot of other people were there, 3. for

but the doctor gave to me some medicine and I feel fine now. 4.

I hope you like your new job when you will get back to Italy. When 5.

you have a time please write and give me your new address so I can 6.

write to you. I would like that to keep in touch with you. 7.

I think we all enjoyed our English class and I hope we have been all 8.

passed the exam. However, I don’t think of Jorge wanted to pass the 9.

exam because he wants to stay in London with his new girlfriend, 10.

Maria. If he fails the exam, and his company will pay for him to stay 11.

at the school and take the exam again. He said me he was in love! 12.

I’m going to stay in London for two more weeks so I can to visit all 13.

the places I haven’t seen yet. Then I’m going to go back to Moscow. 14.

I hope you have had a great party yesterday and I hope we can meet 15.

again some day in the future. I’ll miss everyone which I met at the 16.

school but it’ll be much nice to see my home and family again. 17.

4
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 5
The following text comes from a student's essay. Some of the lines in this letter contain a word that shouldn’t
be there. Write the word in the column on the left. Other lines are correct. Put a tick (v) against the lines which
are correct..

0 I was about five years old. It was very late at the night and my parents

0 were asleep. I was awake because of I wanted to go to the toilet. I went

1 to the toilet and I saw a light under the living room door. So I have

2 opened the door and went in, and I saw a man in the living room.

3 I looked at him, and he looked at me, and he smiled at me and said,

4 “Hi! What’s your name?” And I said him, “Sam”.

5 “Do you want to play a game, Sam?” he asked to me, and I said, “Yes.”

6 He had a big bag in his hand, and he said, “Let’s to put things in this.”

7 So we played the game. I gave things to him, and he put them in his bag.

8 I took my father’s wallet out of his jacket, and I took also my mother’s

9 purse out of her coat, and the man put both them in his bag.

10 Then I went into my parents’ bedroom very much quietly and took their

11 watches and rings, and my mother’s earrings, and gave them to the man.

12 I gave to him some other things too –our silver knives, forks and spoons,

13 two clocks and a lots of old books – and he put everything in his bag.

14 And in the end he said, “OK, Sam. It’s bedtime. You go back to the bed

15 Now. Goodnight.” So I said goodnight and after I went back to bed.

5
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 6
The following text comes from a student's essay. Some of the lines in this letter contain a word that shouldn’t
be there. Write the word in the column on the left. Other lines are correct. Put a tick (v) against the lines which
are correct..

0 Here is some advice on how to eat the spaghetti by Antonio Carluccio.

0 My first memory of eating pasta is how much I loved to sucking strings

1 of spaghetti into my mouth. My mother told to me this wasn’t polite.

2 When I have used a spoon to get the spaghetti around the fork, she told

3 me not to do. But apart from these basic rules, eating spaghetti is easy.

4 First, only use a spoon if the pasta is in a soup or if it is very small pasta

5 in a sauce. For long thin pasta you have must to be more careful.

6 If you’re eating spaghetti, should mix it with the sauce. If all the

7 spaghetti is coated in sauce, it is more easier to lift a few strings at a time.

8 Then push the pasta to the side of your plate to make space. Turn the

9 fork so you have a mouthful on it which it is not to big. When the

10 forkful is tidy, put it into your mouth. Don’t let the spaghetti hang out.

11 You must never cut pasta with a knife. If you want, you can to break

12 spaghetti in half before that you cook it.

13 There should not be too much of sauce. English people tend to put a lot

14 of sauce on their pasta but when you’ve eaten your spaghetti, the plate

15 should have be almost dry Finally, don’t put cheese over a fish sauce.

6
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 7
The following text comes from a student's essay. Some of the lines in this letter contain a word that shouldn’t
be there. Write the word in the column on the left. Other lines are correct. Put a tick (v) against the lines which
are correct..

1 In the late 1900s.my grandfather was been a poor young teacher in London.

2 He was in love with a young woman called Gwendolyn of whose family

3 was quite rich. One weekend he went down to the family’s large country

4 home near Lewes, because of he wanted to ask her to marry him. On his

5 first night, he woke at three in the morning because he was much thirsty.

6 While that he was trying to find his way to the kitchen in the darkness, he

7 has knocked something off a table in the corridor. Next morning he

8 discovered he had broken a very valuable porcelain figure, which it was the

9 pride and joy of Gwendolyn’s mother, Mrs Thompson. When he saw Mrs

10 Thompson in the morning, he told to her what had happened and she was

11 obviously quite angry but he tried hard not to show it. .He apologised to her

12 all through breakfast, and then he went into the sitting room to wait for his

13 girlfriend, who was upstairs for getting dressed. He sat down on what he

14 thought was a cushion in an armchair. When he has got up five minutes

15 more later he realised it was not a cushion, but the family’s Pekinese dog.

16 Unfortunately, by then, it was already too much late and to his horror he

17 saw it was dead. He could not face the family again and left the house

18 without seeing Gwendolyn. In the end they both married other two people

7
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE 8
The following text comes from a student's essay. Some of the lines in this letter contain a word that shouldn’t
be there. Write the word in the column on the left. Other lines are correct. Put a tick (v) against the lines which
are correct.

1. Chris Eubank, the British boxer talks about how he keeps healthy.

2. At the moment I’m more healthier than any man in the street. I’m fit

3. again, although I had chicken pox not long ago. I have had a temperature

4. of 102 degrees and my face was swollen. Apart from colds and flu,

5. chickenpox is the only illness who I’ve had.

6. When we were children my mother gave to us basic food like fish, rice,

7. fresh vegetables and fruit. Junk food like the hamburgers and sweets are

8. expensive and we couldn’t to afford them. The kitchen is the most

9. important room in the house because food is medicine. We weren’t ill

10. when we were been young because we ate the right things.

11. Now I don’t eat until after three in the afternoon because I like to training

12. on an empty stomach, but I do miss the big breakfasts I used to have.

13. I began smoking when I was six years, but when I was sixteen my chest

14. began to burn whenever I ran too much fast, so I gave it up

15. My favourite drink is water or pineapple juice. I never drink alcohol.

16. I don’t feel as if I’m getting old yet – I haven’t got no grey hair and my

teeth are all mine.