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10 Spanish mistakes that make learners sound less natural
+ a downloadable cheat sheet and a mini-quiz
Alejandro Nunez
September 02, 2025
Hola, estudiante,
Bienvenido/a to your weekly check-in, where we keep the Spanish part of your day with practical tips, bite-sized lessons, and learning resources.
This past week, I didn’t keep up with my marathon training as much as I wanted. 🏃♂️ Sometimes life gets in the way, and I know many of you feel the same when it comes to practicing Spanish. The good news? Consistency is about getting back on track, not being perfect. Let’s do that together this week.
🌤️ El tiempo en Austin
Esta semana en Austin va a hacer sol ☀️ con algunas lluvias 🌧.
Frase útil: “Parece que va a llover más tarde.” → “Looks like it’s going to rain later.”
📚 Lesson of the Week: 10 Common Spanish Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Last week, one of my students said “Estoy caliente” I laughed, because in Spanish that usually means “I’m turned on.” 😯
Here are 10 common mistakes English speakers make in Spanish, with simple fixes:
❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct | Why? |
|---|---|---|
Soy 25 años | Tengo 25 años | Age uses tener, not ser. |
Estoy hambre | Tengo hambre | Hunger uses tener (“I have hunger”). |
Soy frío | Tengo frío | To say “I feel cold,” use tener. Soy frío = “I’m a cold/aloof person.” |
Soy aburrido (when you mean bored) | Estoy aburrido/a | Soy aburrido = “I’m boring.” Estoy aburrido = “I’m bored.” |
Estoy caliente (for weather) | Tengo calor | Estoy caliente usually means “aroused.” |
Es muy caliente | Hace mucho calor | Weather uses hacer. |
Me llamo es Ana | Me llamo Ana | Me llamo already means “I call myself.” |
Busco por mi libro | Busco mi libro | Buscar = “to look for,” no por. |
Pago para la cuenta | Pago la cuenta | Pagar doesn’t take para/por. |
Un problema grande | Un gran problema | Some adjectives (like gran) go before the noun. |
📥 Want to practice? Download your free PDF cheat sheet below:
|
🧩 Mini Quiz: 10 Common Spanish Mistakes
How do you correctly say “I am 25 years old”?
A) Soy 25 años
B) Tengo 25 años
C) Estoy 25 años
Which one means “I’m hot”?
A) Estoy caliente
B) Tengo calor
C) Soy calor
How do you say “I’m cold” (because of temperature)?
A) Soy frío
B) Estoy frío
C) Tengo frío
What’s the natural way to say “I like coffee”?
A) Yo gusto café
B) Me gusta el café
C) Me gusta café
Which option means “It depends”?
A) Es depende
B) Depende
C) Tengo depende
Check your answer by taking the quiz below:
👍 ¡Gracias!
Cada error es una oportunidad para mejorar. Thanks for reading and practicing with me this week. Keep going, and Spanish will become second nature.
Hasta la próxima. Te envío un abrazo.
Alejandro Nuñez
Fundador y Director de New Way Spanish (pronto Vokally)
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