The Most Common Mistakes of Spanish Speakers

The most common mistakes of Spanish speakers force us to be more humble. Students of Spanish tend to listen to Spanish speakers as if we were gods. They are like sponges because they try to absorb everything we say. During our Spanish classes at www.spanishviaskype.com some students often tell us: “yesterday I spoke to a Spanish woman and she said these sentences, but in my grammar book I read something different. Is the book wrong?

Today we are going to learn Spanish with some of the most common mistakes we make when we speak, because native speakers are far from perfection.

1. The most common mistakes: Leísmo

Leísmo is the confusion between the pronouns le and lo. You should know that we can replace a direct object in a sentence with the pronoun le (if it is masculine). If it is a person, this confusion is accepted nowadays, but it is not accepted if it is a thing or a feminine person.

Lo besó (a su novio) = the most correct
Le besó (a su novio) = accepted
La besó (a su novia) = incorrect
Le compró (el coche) = incorrect

2. Laísmo in Spanish

Laísmo is another of the most common mistakes for Spaniards. It is the confusion between the pronouns la and le. Here we have the opposite of leísmo. If we have an indirect object we should substitute it with the pronoun le. But some Spanish speakers usually do it with the pronoun la if it is feminine. This change is totally incorrect.

Le (a su madre) dijo que estará en casa = correct
La (a su madre) dijo que estará en casa = incorrect

3. The most common mistakes: Dequeísmo

Dequeísmo is the use of the preposition de when it is not necessary. This error usually occurs when we introduce a subordinate clause with the conjunction que.

Pienso que eso está mal = correct
Pienso de que eso está mal = incorrect

4. The verb gustar and the subject

The verb gustar is not only difficult for students of Spanish, but also for us. It is one of the most common mistakes we make. The verb gustar is formed with an indirect object, which is usually the person experiencing the emotion, and with a subject, which is what causes the emotion. However, many speakers use that person as if he or she were the subject of the verb.

A mí me gustaría ir a España = correct
Yo me gustaría ir a España = incorrect

You can read more about the verb gustar in this article:

If you want to learn Spanish online without mistakes you can book your classes here. And remember, “intelligent people learn from their own mistakes, wise people learn from the mistakes of others”.