20 COMMON MISTAKES WE MAKE IN SPANISH LANGUAGE… Part 1

         

Sometimes when we feel that we have learnt a particular language, we tend to commit lots of errors while speaking or writing it, this is probably because we feel we are now in command of the language. I think this happens to everybody, to me and also by extension the native speakers. That’s just to know that no one is really 100% at what they do.

   Here are the mistakes:

11.     Second person singular of the preterite (indefinido) conjugation with an extra “s”.  Examples: vivistes (wrong) instead of viviste (correct)–you lived, fuistes (wrong) instead of fuiste (correct)–you were or you went.

22.     Misspelling or mispronouncing the first person plural form of the indefinido. Examples: Ayer, juguemos al fútbol (wrong) instead of Ayer, jugamos al fútbol (correct)-we played football yesterday.

El año pasado trabajemos en la misma oficina (wrong) instead of El año pasado trabajamos en la misma oficina (correct).

33.     El dequeísmo: this simply means using “de que” where you are supposed to use “que”. Example: Pienso de que vendrán (wrong). Instead of Pienso que vendrán (correct) –I think they will come.

44.     Deber o Deber de: Most of the time, we confuse expressing obligation (deber + infinitive) with expressing probability (deber de + inf). Example: expressing obligation: Debes decirselo. (You must tell her or you have to tell her), expressing probability: Deben de estar por llegar. (They must be arriving any minute now).

55.     Decidir o Decidirse a: This has to do with knowing when to add the preposition “a”. Decidir y Decidirse a, both means to decide but the former is more or less “to decide to” while the latter is to decide, to make up one’s mind. Decidir does not go with the preposition “a”. e.g He decidido a comprarlo (wrong) but He decidido comprarlo (right) (I have decided to buy it). Decidirse goes with the preposition “a” or “por”. e.g Me he decidido a comprarlo. (I have made up my mind to buy it), Se ha decidido por la rosa. (She has decided on the pink one).

66.     Escuchar u Oír: Escuchar means to listen while Oír means to hear but most of the times we find ourselves using the former where we are supposed to use the latter. Example: You are on the phone and you can’t hear your caller clearly, you say “Te escucho mal” which literally translates to “I am listening to you badly” but the correct term to use is actually “Te oigo mal” (I can’t hear you).

77.     Mirar o Ver: Mirar means to look while Ver means to see. Whenever we are making a sentence that is related to watching television or seeing movies we always find it confusing in knowing which to use. So when you say anything related to watching television (football games, TV programs) you can either use ver or mirar. E.g Veo la televisión (In Spain) (I am watching television) or Miro la televisión (in Latin America) (I am watching television). But for movies (películas) we always use ver. E.g Ya he visto la película. (I have already seen the movie). This error is peculiar to Spanish learners not the natives.

88.     Recordar(se) o Acordar(se) :Both verbs can mean to remember, to recall and to remind, all depending on the context you want to use them. But one thing to thing to note is that “acordar” does not mean to remember but acordarse does.

99.     The wrong placement of object pronouns “Me se instead of Se me. Example: Me se da a mí la costura (wrong), but Se me da a mí la costura (correct) (I am good at sewing).

110.     Oler: The verb oler is very irregular that when it comes to conjugating the preterite (indefinido) especially the first person plural, we write “olemos” the indicative form instead of “olimos”.

Fíjate: The verb acordar also means “to agree”, and “to award”.