Common Mistakes: Literal Translations from English

Some of the hardest errors to catch are the ones that sound perfect in your head — because you are translating English word-for-word. Spanish uses different verbs, different prepositions, and different structures for many everyday ideas. This page walks through the classic literal-translation traps.

Mistake 1: Using ser for age

English uses "to be" for age: I *am 25 years old. Spanish uses *tener (to have): I *have 25 years. Using *ser here is one of the most recognizable beginner errors.

The same trap catches learners when they try to translate "old" literally.

Mistake 2: Translating "I am hungry" with ser/estar

Because English uses "to be," learners reach for soy or estoy. The correct Spanish uses tener — which feels strange at first, because you are literally saying "I have hunger."

Estoy hambriento is not ungrammatical, but it sounds bookish. Everyday Spanish says tengo hambre.

Mistake 3: Translating weather literally

English says "it is sunny" or "it is cold." Spanish uses hacer (to make) for most weather expressions, not ser or estar.

See Weather Verbs for the full set.

Mistake 4: Dropping the preposition before casa

In English, "I go home" needs no preposition. In Spanish, ir always takes a, even before casa.

Notice that casa here drops the article (a casa, not a la casa) — this is the fixed expression meaning "home" rather than "to the house."

Mistake 5: Translating "I like" directly

Gustar does not mean "to like" — it means "to be pleasing." The English subject becomes the Spanish indirect object, and the English object becomes the Spanish subject. This is the single most common structural error for beginners.

Notice also that the generalization la pizza requires a definite article. See Gustar and Similar Verbs.

Mistake 6: Putting hace ago before the clause

"I studied a long time ago" becomes Estudié hace mucho tiempo in Spanish. Learners often put hace mucho tiempo first, which is possible only when followed by que and a new clause structure.

Note the meaning shift: hace + period + que + present means you still do the action. See Time Expressions.

Mistake 7: Using mirar a for "to watch TV"

Spanish has two verbs for looking: mirar (to look at) and ver (to see / to watch). For "watch TV," Spanish uses ver, not mirar, and never with the preposition a for an inanimate object.

The a only appears with people or personified objects (personal a). You would not use it with la televisión.

Mistake 8: Adding a preposition after buscar

English "to look for" has two words. Spanish buscar packs the preposition into the verb. Adding por or para is a word-for-word translation that breaks the grammar.

Mistake 9: Adding a preposition after esperar

Esperar means "to wait for" (and also "to hope"). Like buscar, it takes a direct object with no preposition.

Mistake 10: Using en after depender

"To depend on" uses on in English. Spanish uses de, not en.

Mistake 11: Translating "to think about" with sobre

"To think about someone" uses en, not sobre or acerca de. Pensar sobre means "to have an opinion about" — a different meaning.

Pensar que ("to think that...") behaves exactly like the English version and causes no trouble.

Summary table

The deeper pattern behind all of these mistakes: Spanish and English sometimes lexicalize ideas differently. Spanish packs prepositions into verbs (buscar), uses tener for states (tener hambre), and uses hacer for weather. None of these can be reached by translating word-for-word — you have to learn the Spanish structure as its own unit.