English Grammar Tips for Spanish Speakers

Spanish speakers bring significant linguistic advantages to learning English. The languages share thousands of cognates, similar sentence structures in many cases, and overlapping vocabulary from Latin roots. But those similarities can also create subtle traps — places where Spanish and English look parallel but diverge in important ways.

English grammar for Spanish speakers isn’t just about learning new rules. It’s about unlearning the places where your Spanish brain applies a pattern that doesn’t transfer. These transfer errors are so deeply automatic that grammar checkers often don’t flag them, and well-meaning colleagues won’t always tell you.

This guide covers the most common interference patterns: where they come from, what they look like in professional writing, and how to fix them. For the broader picture on professional English development, see our guide on succeeding as a non-native English professional. If you prefer to read this content in Spanish, we also have a Spanish-language version of our AI grammar guide.

The Verb “To Be”: One English Verb, Two Spanish Verbs

This is probably the single most persistent transfer error Spanish speakers carry into English. Spanish uses two separate verbs where English uses one:

• Ser — for permanent or inherent qualities (identity, origin, profession, essential characteristics)
• Estar — for temporary states, conditions, location, and feelings

English collapses both into a single verb: to be. This doesn’t usually cause errors in simple sentences, but it creates confusion in professional contexts in more subtle ways.

The subtle problem: translating “estar” constructions into “to be” + incorrect structure.

Wrong: The project is delayed since last week. Right: The project has been delayed since last week.

The Spanish “está retrasado desde la semana pasada” uses estar for a current state, which in English is a present perfect construction (“has been”), not a simple “is.” Spanish speakers often miss this because “is delayed” feels like a direct translation that works — and sometimes it does, but not when duration is implied.

The professional impact: This kind of error is subtle enough that readers might not consciously notice it, but it accumulates into a writing style that feels slightly off to native readers. Being aware of the distinction helps you catch these in your pre-send review.

Age: “To Have” Years vs. “To Be” Years

In Spanish, you have years (years of age): Tengo 35 años. In English, you are an age.

Wrong: I have 35 years. Right: I am 35 years old. / I’m 35.

Wrong: My manager has 20 years of experience — she has 45 years. Right: My manager has 20 years of experience — she’s 45.

This error is common in spoken English for Spanish speakers and less common in written professional English — but it appears in profiles, bios, and introductions. The fix is simple once you’re aware of it: “to be” for age, always.

The tener (to have) pattern extends to other phrases that Spanish expresses differently from English:

• Tener hambre (to have hunger) → “I am hungry” (not “I have hunger”)
• Tener frío (to have cold) → “I am cold” (not “I have cold”)
• Tener miedo (to have fear) → “I am afraid” (not “I have fear”)

In professional writing, you’re unlikely to write “I have hunger” — but the underlying tener pattern can create other less obvious errors, so it’s worth understanding the principle.

”Discuss About”: The Phantom Preposition

This is one of the most common and persistent errors Spanish speakers make in professional English, and it’s entirely invisible to non-native ears because it sounds reasonable.

Discutir sobre in Spanish takes the preposition sobre (about/over). When speakers translate this directly, they keep the preposition.

Wrong: We need to discuss about the budget. Wrong: Let’s discuss about this in the meeting. Right: We need to discuss the budget. Right: Let’s discuss this in the meeting.

“Discuss” in English is a transitive verb — it takes a direct object without a preposition. The same is true for several other verbs that have Spanish equivalents with prepositions:

• Wrong: We must emphasize about the deadline. → Right: We must emphasize the deadline.
• Wrong: She mentioned about the issue. → Right: She mentioned the issue.
• Wrong: I contacted to the client. → Right: I contacted the client.

The mental check: after “discuss,” “mention,” “contact,” and “emphasize,” if you feel pulled to add “about” or “to,” that’s the Spanish pattern. Resist it.

False Friends: Professional Traps for Spanish Speakers

False friends are words that look similar in Spanish and English but carry different meanings. In professional contexts, they can cause real confusion.

“Actually” ≠ “actualmente”

Actualmente in Spanish means “currently” or “at present.” “Actually” in English means “in reality” — often used to correct a misunderstanding.

Wrong: Actually, I am working on the proposal (when you mean “right now”). Right: Currently, I am working on the proposal. / I am currently working on the proposal. Right use of “actually”: “Actually, the deadline was moved to Friday” (correcting a misconception).

“Embarrassed” ≠ “embarazada”

This is the classic one: embarazada in Spanish means “pregnant.” “Embarrassed” in English means feeling ashamed or awkward.

Wrong: She was very embarrassed after the meeting (if you mean she was pregnant). Right: She was very embarrassed after the meeting (if she felt awkward or ashamed). Right: She’s pregnant. (Never “she’s embarrassed” to mean embarazada.)

“Sensible” ≠ “sensible” (in Spanish)

Sensible in Spanish means “sensitive” — emotionally attuned or easily affected. “Sensible” in English means “reasonable” or “practical.”

Wrong: We need a sensible approach (if you mean an emotionally aware one). Actually, “sensible approach” is correct English — it means a practical approach. But “He is very sensible about criticism” doesn’t mean he’s emotionally sensitive — it means he handles it reasonably. Right (to mean emotionally sensitive): He is very sensitive about criticism.

“Actually” false friend behavior extends to other adverbs:

• Eventualmente (eventually/possibly in Spanish) ≠ “eventually” (at some future point in English, after a delay)
• Actualmente (currently) ≠ “actually” (in reality, as a correction)

Wrong: We will eventually send the proposal (when you mean “possibly/maybe”). Right: We may send the proposal. / We might send the proposal.

Subject Dropping: The Missing Pronoun Problem

Spanish is a pro-drop language — you can omit the subject pronoun because verb conjugations are distinctive enough to convey who’s acting.

Voy a la reunión. (I am going to the meeting.) — subject omitted, but the verb form makes it clear.

English verbs are far less distinctive. Without the subject pronoun, the sentence is incomplete.

Wrong: Am going to the meeting. Wrong: Have reviewed the document and sent it. Right: I am going to the meeting. Right: I have reviewed the document and sent it.

In written professional English, subject dropping appears when writers are moving quickly or thinking in Spanish. It’s more common in shorter messages — Slack notes, bullet points, informal emails — where the pace encourages it. Worth watching carefully.

Question Formation: The Missing Auxiliary Verb

In Spanish, you can form a question simply by inverting word order or using intonation: ¿Hablas inglés? In English, most questions require an auxiliary verb (do, does, did, can, will, etc.).

Wrong: Speaks he English? Wrong: You need help? Right: Does he speak English? Right: Do you need help?

This error is more common in spoken English than written professional English — but it appears in informal writing, quick messages, and sometimes in email subject lines.

Particular professional contexts where this matters:

• Email subject lines as questions: “Need more information?” not “Information needed by us?”
• Meeting agenda items phrased as questions: “Do we have the budget approved?” not “Have we the budget approved?”

The auxiliary verb requirement is one of those English rules that has no Spanish equivalent to anchor it. It takes explicit practice to make it automatic.

Adjective Placement: Putting Description Before the Noun

In Spanish, adjectives typically follow the noun: el informe anual (the annual report), el cliente importante (the important client).

In English, adjectives precede the noun: the annual report, the important client.

For simple cases, Spanish speakers usually get this right in English — the pattern is learnable quickly. But it breaks down with longer or stacked adjective phrases.

Wrong: The department financial performs well. Right: The financial department performs well.

Wrong: We need a solution long-term. Right: We need a long-term solution.

The longer and more complex the noun phrase, the more likely the Spanish word order bleeds through. A quick rule: if you’re modifying a noun with an adjective, move the descriptor before the noun, not after.

Using Tools That Understand Your Specific Patterns

Generic grammar tools catch some of these errors but not all of them — particularly the subtle ones like phantom prepositions after “discuss,” or the ser/estar → present perfect conversion. A Grammarly alternative that tracks your recurring error patterns is more useful for language-specific transfer errors, because it can show you which of these Spanish-interference patterns keep appearing across your writing rather than flagging them one-off.

NotchTutor’s pattern-tracking approach is particularly useful for Spanish speakers who’ve been writing professional English for a while and aren’t making obvious mistakes — but still feel their writing isn’t quite landing with native readers. That gap is usually the set of errors described in this guide: subtle, recurring, invisible unless you’re looking for them.

Building Awareness That Becomes Automatic

The goal with all of these patterns is the same: catch them consciously until they stop appearing unconsciously. That transition — from deliberate checking to automatic production — takes time and real writing practice.

The most effective approach is to pick one pattern at a time, focus on it for a week, and look for it specifically in your pre-send reviews. One week on “discuss about.” The next week on false friends. The week after on subject pronouns. That focused attention works better than trying to monitor everything at once.

For specific phrases that can immediately improve your professional email writing, see our ESL email phrases cheat sheet. And for the writing habits that make this kind of improvement stick over time, our guide on how to sound more native in English writing covers the broader patterns that matter most.

Your Spanish is a resource in professional English — not just a source of errors. Most of what you know transfers directly. These patterns are the specific places it doesn’t. Fix them, and you’ll close a gap that’s been holding back writing that’s already mostly strong.