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Clases de inglés en Miraflores, Lima, Perú |
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Clases de inglés con él profesor Tom Nickalls
Para estudiantes
Actualizado 17-10-2007
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Fifty common grammar mistakes made by Spanish speakers
Intermediate and Advanced Level
1) "How long are you in Peru?"
Living in Peru, taxi drivers often try out their English on me. One of the most common first questions is "how long are you in Peru?" This mistake is made translating from the Spanish, "Cuánto tiempo estás en el Perú?" But, a native speaker will be confused as to whether the question is about the past or the future.
In English we use the present perfect (simple and continuous) to ask about activities that started in the past and continue into the present, so the correct form is "how long have you been in Peru?" If you want to know about how long someone is staying in the future you ask, "how long are you staying in Peru?"
More examples of present perfect:
How long have you been living in Peru? (NOT: How long are you living in Peru?) I've been here since 4 o'clock. (NOT I'm here since 4 o'clock) I've been teaching English in Lima for three years. (NOT: I'm teaching English in Lima for three years)
So, don't confuse people. Use the present perfect when you need to. People will understand you better!
Correct form "How long have you been in Peru?"
2) "Do you know Machu Picchu?"
This is another common taxi driver question! The verb "know" often means "saber" in English rather than meaning that you have visited a place. For example, if you ask a native speaker, "Do you know the planets of the solar system?" He will reply "yes, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth... etc." He hasn't visited them but he does "know" them.
So if you ask "Do you know Machu Picchu?" the listener might assume you are asking if he knows that Macchu Picchu's exists, not whether he has visited it.
In English we say "Have you been to Machu Picchu?" If you ask this question, it is much clearer what you are asking.
Correct form: "Have you been to Machu Picchu?"
3) "I'm boring."
If you say this, no one will want to talk to you! It means you make other people bored, that you are dull, that you are bad company. A film is boring if it makes you feel bored. An interesting film makes you interested.
Correct form: "I'm bored"
4) "This chair is too comfortable."
A chair can't be too comfortable, unless you are a masochist who likes pain or you are worried about going to sleep.
We use "too" to complain about things or to say there is a problem. For instance, "it's too hot, I can't work" or "you've given us too much homework!" We don't use "too" to talk about positive things like comfortable chairs.
For the same reason it sounds strange to say "I love you too much". This means you have a problem with love - maybe you want to commit suicide! But otherwise you say "I love you so much."
Correct form: "This chair is so comfortable"
5) "Hello Teacher!"
Students who say this are just being friendly so I don't mind it. But, if you say this to a teacher in the UK or the USA it sounds disrespectful!
For example in England, school children would never say "Teacher". They would say "Sir", "Miss" or "Mr/Mrs/Miss +Surname". In the context of adult English classes, the correct term for addressing the teacher is the first name (Tom) or, if you want to be very formal Mr/Mrs/Miss + Surname (Mr Nickalls). I prefer "Tom."
Correct form: Hello + First name
6) "Hello Mr", "Hello Mrs"
This is repeated by children talking to tourists all over Peru. Unfortunately many English and Americans find it impolite. I myself don't like it when children shout "Mr" at me and if it's an adult, it’s even worse.
When talking to a client, for example as a waiter to a diner or a hotel receptionist to a guest, the polite term of address is "Sir" or "Madam", but outside a business context this sounds too formal. In a social context you really need to learn people's names, so you can say "John/Jane" or "Mr/Mrs Smith", or "Mr/Mrs John/Jane Smith". If you don't know someone's name and want to catch their attention you can say "Excuse me" and try and catch their eye, or say "Hello there" or "Good morning" or another greeting. But please, never "Mr"!
Correct Form: "Good morning, Sir" (business context) or "Hello John/Mr Smith" (social context)
7) "Did you visit Cusco?"
In English if you say "did you?" you are asking about a time that has finished. For example it's possible to say, "did you go the supermarket yesterday?" or "did you visit Arequipa during your holiday?"
But if you are asking someone about their life up to the present, which has not finished, you must use the Present Perfect. When the person dies you can say "did they visit the United States?", but not before.
Correct Form: "Have you visited Cusco?"
8) "I made my homework."
It's easy to confuse "do" and "make". You need to remember that you "do" your homework.
You also: "do exercises" "do the housework" "do the washing up/ironing/ laundry"
Correct: "I did my homework."
9) "I've been learning English since two years ago."
In English, you can say, "since 2002" or "since Monday" or "since July" (since a point in time) or you can say, "for 2 years", "for a week", or "for five months" (for a period of time).
You rarely use "ago" with "since" or with the present perfect tense.
Correct form: "I've been learning English since 2004" or "I've been learning English for two years".
10) "I'm agree."
This common mistake is due to the translation from the Spanish "estoy de acuerdo". "To agree" is a verb so you need to say "I agree". The negative is "I disagree", or "I don't agree".
Correct form: "I agree."
11) "I walk-ed to the supermarket."
Pronunciation mistakes are difficult to explain in writing. Saying "ed" ending words with an extra syllable is very a common mistake. For instance "walked", "worked", "called", and "robbed" are words of only one syllable not two. The endings are consonant clusters, which Spanish speakers find very difficult. You need to practice them.
12) "in this moment", "by foot", "I played football in the beach."
These are some of many common mistakes made with prepositions. There are some grammar rules to help but the best way to learn them is to remember whole phrases, including the preposition, just like you would remember one word. It's even better if you can learn some example sentences to remember the meaning and pronunciation.
Correct: "at this moment", "on foot", "I played football on the beach"
13) "I usually work in Lima but I'm actually working in Cusco."
"Actually" does NOT mean "actualmente". It means "en realidad" or "realmente". Examples of the correct use of actually are, "He looks poor, but actually he's very rich!" and "Few people have actually seen the Loch Ness monster, though lots of people say it exists."
If you want the meaning of the Spanish "actualmente" you need to say "presently", "currently or "these days".
Correct: "I usually work in Lima but I'm currently working in Cusco"
14) "I bought this in a library on Larco Avenue."
There is confusion here because library sounds like the Spanish librería, but doesn't have the same meaning. You can't buy books in a library, and there are no libraries on Larco Avenue. You borrow books from a library (biblioteca) or you go there to study. You buy books from a bookshop.
There is added confusion because in Peru people buy stationery (pens, pencils, etc.) from a "librería". In English this shop is a stationers.
15) "I'm going to the shops for to buy some bread."
This mistake is due to translating from the Spanish "voy a la tienda para comprar pan". In English when we use the infinitive it indicates purpose, so we don't need "for".
Correct: "I'm going to the supermarket to buy some food."
16) "He said me..."
You "say something." You "tell someone something." But you DON'T "say someone.." There are some exceptions: for instance you "tell a joke" and "you tell a lie", but this is the general rule.
For example: CORRECT: He said hello. He said he was sorry He said, "I love you." She told him he was correct. She told her he was sorry. She told him that she loved him too.
INCORRECT He said him hello. He said to him he was sorry. He said, "I love you" to him.
Correct: "He told me..."
17) "Now I used to go surfing at the weekend."
The form "used to do something" as in "I used to walk to school every day", is only used for past habits and situations, and NEVER for the present. For present habits you can use "usually", as in "I usually go to work in my car."
To confuse things a bit more, there also the form "used to doing something", meaning "to be accustomed to doing something", as in, "after so many years, I'm used to getting up at 6 o'clock."
Correct: "I usually go surfing at the weekend."
18) "Exists some wonderful tourist destinations in Peru."
Students often look for a translation of the Spanish "hay" and maybe they find "exists" in the dictionary. Unfortunately, it sounds very strange in English. In English we say. "there are".
Correct: "There are some wonderful tourist destinations in Peru."
19) "the next week, the last week, go to the bed."
All these phrases shouldn't include "the". This common mistake derives from translating the equivalent phrase from Spanish.
You need to learn the phrases as if they are complete words and not translate from the Spanish word by word. Grammar rules can also help you - for example, in time phrases, "next" and "last" are never preceded by "the".
Correct: I was in Arequipa last week. I'm going to Cusco next week. Now, I must go to bed.
20) "The people is very friendly here."
In English, "people" is a plural form and is countable ("two people," "three people"). We therefore say:
"People are..", NOT "People is..." "There were too many people..." NOT "There was too much people". "He's a good person" , NOT "He is good people"
Correct: "The people are very friendly."
21) "The Peruvian food is delicious."
When we talk about things in general in English we don't use "the" either for singular uncountable nouns (cooking out, football, poverty) or plural countable nouns (people, taxis, barbecues).
So for example, we say: Football is the most popular sport in Argentina. (NOT: the football) Poverty is still increasing. (NOT: the poverty) Italian people eat lots of pasta. (NOT the Italian people) Barbecues are popular in Australia (NOT the barbecues)
Correct: "Peruvian food is delicious."
22) "I have hunger", "You have reason", "I have 1.70m"
This mistake is made because some Spanish phrases consisting of "tener + adjective" are expressed in English with " to be + adjective"
Correct forms: "I'm hungry", "You're right", "I'm 1.7m tall".
23) "on January", "at Monday", "in 6 o'clock"
The grammar rules for prepositions of time are:
on a day (Tuesday, 14th Jan, Christmas Day) in a period of time: (January, February, the summer, the winter, the 1970s, the 20th century, the afternoon...) at a time (6 o'clock, midday, breakfast time)
Irregular ones to remember are "at night" and "at the weekend".
Correct: "in January", "on Monday", "at 6 o'clock"
24) "I want to emigrate to Canada to win more money."
In Spanish you have "ganar", but in Spanish there is "to win" and "to earn" which are slightly different. You win money at the casino, or in a competition. In a job, you earn money.
Correct: "I want to go to Canada to earn more money."
25) "We've been compromised for six months. We're getting married next year. "
Compromised is not the same as "comprometido" in Spanish. "Compromised" means "endangered or exposed to risk", for example, "a virus has compromised my computer." It is completely different from "engaged", which means to have promised to marry somebody. (No jokes please!)
Correct: "I've been engaged for six months."
26) "Has two brothers"
Spanish is unusual in that you can miss out the pronoun and just say "tiene sed", or "está bonito", but in English you can seldom do this.
Correct: "He has two brothers."
27) "Can you borrow me your eraser?"
Ah! Such a common mistake! If you need money from the bank you ask them if they can lend you some money. You want to borrow money from the bank.
In general: You lend someone an eraser. (You give...for a time) You borrow an eraser from someone (You take... for a time)
Correct: "Can you lend me your eraser?" or "Can I borrow your eraser?"
28) "He was liking the film."
You never use the verb "to like" with a continuous tense because it is a "state" verb". This means that it is a verb that indicates a condition or state of being rather than a voluntary action. There are many other state verbs:
For example: NEVER: "I was wanting to go the beach." CORRECT: "I wanted to go to the beach." NEVER: "I was hearing a loud noise." CORRECT: "I heard a loud noise" NEVER: "I am agreeing with her." CORRECT "I agree with her." NEVER: "I was seeing TV when the phone rang" CORRECT: I was watching the TV when the phone rang.
Correct: "He liked the film," or "He was enjoying the film."
29) "My coat is the same like yours," "Your house is as big like mine."
This mistake is due to translating the Spanish "como" to "like" when the correct word is "as" in these phrases. "the same as" (el mismo como) "as + adjective + as" (tan + adjetivo + como)
Correct: "My coast is the same as yours," "Your house is a big as mine."
30) "I love hearing the radio in the car", "I'm going to see the news at 8 o'clock"
It's possible to ask "Did you hear the news on the radio?" or say "I saw a good film last night" but "hear" and "see" don't indicate attention or interest. To indicate attention and interest you use "watch," "look at" (for visual things) and "listen to" (for audio.) "Watch" is usually used for TV as it implies something is happening.
Correct: "I love listening to the radio in my car," I'm going to watch the news at 8 o'clock."
31) "Can you give me some advices."
"Advice" does not have a plural. This is because it is an uncountable noun unlike the Spanish equivalent (consejo/consejos). There are other nouns like this:
For example: INCORRECT: "The medias is mainly pro-government." CORRECT: "The media is mainly pro-government." INCORRECT: "The news are very bad" CORRECT: "The news is very bad." INCORRECT: "Would you like a bread?" CORRECT: "Would you like some bread?"
Correct: "Can you give me some advice?"
32) "How much time have you been studying English?"
This is another mistake due to trying to translate word for word the Spanish equivalent "cuánto tiempo." The correct English form is "how long".
Correct: "How long have you been studying English."
33) "I have two childs."
Unlike in Spanish, English has lots of irregular plural nouns. The plural of "a child" is not "childs" or "childrens," but "children".
Other confusing irregular plurals are: foot feet man men mouse mice woman women tooth teeth fish fish
Correct: "I have two children."
34) "How many people were there?" "Two thousands."
With precise quantities we always say "thousand", "million" and "hundred".
For example: "I have two thousand dollars." "It was the year two thousand." "There were fifty thousand people in the stadium." In the year three hundred BC."
Although we say "thousands" ,"hundreds" etc. to indicate more imprecise quantities:
"There were thousands of people there." "How many have they sold?" "Millions!" "They've been doing this for hundreds and hundreds of years"
Correct: "How many people were there?" "Two thousand."
35) (on the telephone) "Hello, I'm Tom. Is Carlos there?"
You say, "I'm Tom," to introduce yourself to a stranger when meeting face to face, for example, "Hello, I'm Tom. What's your name?" but not on the telephone. To say who you are on the phone you say, "it's Tom," or "it's Tom here." If you want to introduce yourself on the phone you say, "my name's ...etc."
Correct: "Hello, it's Tom here. Is Carlos there?"
36) "I'm systems engineer"
Unlike in Spanish, we use the indefinite article (a, an) with professions.
Correct: "I'm a systems engineer."
37) "She dances very good"
It's common to confuse "good" and "well." This isn't a translation problem so much as more general confusion. This is wrong in the same way that it's wrong to say in Spanish "baila muy bueno".
"Good" is an adjective, so for example: "The beer's good." "It's good!" "She's a good dancer."
"well" is an adverb, so we say: "She speaks Spanish very well." "She has done really well" and...
Correct: "She dances very well."
38) "She drinks much coffee" "There's many bars in Barranco"
"Much" and "many" are used in negative sentences ("I don't have much money", "There's aren't many students") or yes-no question sentences ("Are you working much at the moment?", "Are there many cinemas?) and also in phrases like "as much as", "how many?", "too much" and "so many".
But, "many" and "much" sound strange in positive sentences . With these, we usually use "lots of" or "a lot of" (both for countable and uncountable nouns).
"I've got a lot of friends", NOT "I've got many friends." "There's a lot of people", NOT "There's many people." "He's drunk a lot of beer, NOT "He's drunk much beer."
Correct: "She drinks lots of coffee" and "There are a lot of bars in Barranco."
39) "Everybody have done their homework."
Grammar isn't always logical! "Everybody" is singular in English so you say "Everybody is..." The same is true for "everyone", "everything", "nobody" and "no one", so:
"Everyone is rich here." "Everything has been completed." "Nobody is coming." "No one goes there anymore."
Correct: "Everybody has done their homework."
40) "A florist is a shop who sells flowers."
For people you can use the relative pronouns "who" ("that" informal) and for things you can use "which" ("that" informal). But you can't use "who" for objects or "which" for people.
"He's someone who always tries his best." NOT He's someone which..." "It is the only plan which will work." NOT It is the only plan who will work"
Correct: "A florist is a shop which sells flowers."
41) "He called to Carlos."
You "call someone." The preposition "to" is not included. There are many other verbs where Spanish speaker need to be careful not to add "to". For example:
you tell someone something you give someone something you know someone you invite someone
So, "He told Miriam his name." NOT "He told to Miriam his name." "She gave me some money." NOT She gave to me some money." "My sister knows to him," NOT My sisters knows to him." You should invite to Carlos" NOT You should invite to Carlos"
Correct: "He called Carlos."
42) "Manchester United won Liverpool"
You "win" a championship or other competition. You "beat" another team or another person. So for example:
Italy won the world cup. They beat France, Portugal, Holland and many other teams.
You can "win against another team." For example, "Barcelona won against Real Madrid." But it's not common to say this.
Correct: "Manchester United beat Liverpool."
43) "I practise football every Saturday"
You are practising something if you do it regularly to get better at it (American spelling: practicing). For example, "The Brazilian team is practising taking penalties for the final." But if you want to say you do something because you enjoy it or just to keep fit, you should say "play", "do" or "go". For example:
I play tennis in my spare time. NOT: I practice tennis in my spare time. I do yoga every morning. NOT: I practise yoga every morning. I went bungee jumping in New Zealand. NOT: I practised bungee jumping in New Zealand.
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