Most articles discuss common mistakes made by English learners, but none of them discuss how to actually eliminate those mistakes for good.
Here are the top 5 mistakes Spanish-speakers make in English, Why they happen and how to get rid of them forever!" 1
1.- Missing Subject
This mistake happens because the subject in Spanish isn’t always necessary. In English, however, it most definitely is! “Es importante estudiar todos los días.” is correct in Spanish, but when we go to translate this, many people say, “Is important to study every day.” Can you find the mistake? It should say, “It is important to study every day.” In English, you must specify the subject. ‘it’ may be a small word but it makes a big difference!
2.- Not using the Present Perfect
This infamous mistake occurs due to the difference in sentence construction used in Spanish. When we’re talking about how long we have been somewhere in English, we say “I have been living in Ecuador for 3 years.” or “I have lived in Ecuador for 3 years.” However, in Spanish this is not the case! In Spanish we say,” Llevo 3 años en Ecuador.” Completely different! Anytime you want to talk about how long you have been doing something, make sure to use the present perfect.
3.- ‘The’ or no ‘the’?
One of the most difficult aspects of learning English is the lack of rules. I know, English would be so much easier if we just stuck to (obeyed) the rules! The confusion with ‘the’ or no ‘the’ is always problematic for Spanish speakers because the use of ‘the”’ in Spanish is much more common than in English. Think about it for a moment. If we were to talk about children and adults in general, we would say, “Los niños son más inocentes que los adultos.” This is a perfectly correct sentence in Spanish. However, “The children are more innocent than the adults.” is not correct. Because we are talking about children and adults in general, we must say, “Children are more innocent than adults.” ‘The’ is generally only used for specific things.
4.- Prepositions
Oh prepositions! Prepositions may be the most disliked part of the English language for many learners. When faced with a difficult challenge such as prepositions, you have two options. Option one is to become extremely frustrated and decide that English is crazy and give up. Or you can accept the fact that learning languages is a process, not a marathon and learn these little monsters one relaxed step at a time. Prepositions are simply different in English and Spanish and by learning all the prepositions by way of a list is the worst thing you can do. Learn a few prepositions a day in context.
5.- Subject-verb agreement
Finally, we have reached our last and most common mistake. An example of this mistake would be, “Everyone love that movie.” The correct sentence is “Everyone loves that movie.” ‘Everyone’ is a singular noun, even though it includes many people. We call these collective nouns. A Collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole and take the singular form of the verb. Other examples where we use the singular form of the verb in English is with the following collective nouns: anybody, somebody, anyone, everybody, someone, anything, everything, something etc.
1) Quoted from:
This mistake happens because the subject in Spanish isn’t always necessary. In English, however, it most definitely is! “Es importante estudiar todos los días.” is correct in Spanish, but when we go to translate this, many people say, “Is important to study every day.” Can you find the mistake? It should say, “It is important to study every day.” In English, you must specify the subject. ‘it’ may be a small word but it makes a big difference!
2.- Not using the Present Perfect
This infamous mistake occurs due to the difference in sentence construction used in Spanish. When we’re talking about how long we have been somewhere in English, we say “I have been living in Ecuador for 3 years.” or “I have lived in Ecuador for 3 years.” However, in Spanish this is not the case! In Spanish we say,” Llevo 3 años en Ecuador.” Completely different! Anytime you want to talk about how long you have been doing something, make sure to use the present perfect.
3.- ‘The’ or no ‘the’?
One of the most difficult aspects of learning English is the lack of rules. I know, English would be so much easier if we just stuck to (obeyed) the rules! The confusion with ‘the’ or no ‘the’ is always problematic for Spanish speakers because the use of ‘the”’ in Spanish is much more common than in English. Think about it for a moment. If we were to talk about children and adults in general, we would say, “Los niños son más inocentes que los adultos.” This is a perfectly correct sentence in Spanish. However, “The children are more innocent than the adults.” is not correct. Because we are talking about children and adults in general, we must say, “Children are more innocent than adults.” ‘The’ is generally only used for specific things.
4.- Prepositions
Oh prepositions! Prepositions may be the most disliked part of the English language for many learners. When faced with a difficult challenge such as prepositions, you have two options. Option one is to become extremely frustrated and decide that English is crazy and give up. Or you can accept the fact that learning languages is a process, not a marathon and learn these little monsters one relaxed step at a time. Prepositions are simply different in English and Spanish and by learning all the prepositions by way of a list is the worst thing you can do. Learn a few prepositions a day in context.
5.- Subject-verb agreement
Finally, we have reached our last and most common mistake. An example of this mistake would be, “Everyone love that movie.” The correct sentence is “Everyone loves that movie.” ‘Everyone’ is a singular noun, even though it includes many people. We call these collective nouns. A Collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole and take the singular form of the verb. Other examples where we use the singular form of the verb in English is with the following collective nouns: anybody, somebody, anyone, everybody, someone, anything, everything, something etc.
1) Quoted from:
https://www.verbling.com/articles/top-5-mistakes-spanish-speakers-make-in-english/
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