The 10 Most Common German Mistakes for English and Spanish Speakers (and How to Fix Them)

Almost every English and Spanish speaker makes the same German mistakes. The good news: because these mistakes are so predictable, you can fix them one by one. Here are the 10 most common ones, with the wrong sentence, the right sentence and a quick fix.

1. Guessing the gender

English has no grammatical gender, and Spanish only has two. German has three, and they often do not match your language. In Spanish the sun is masculine (el sol) and the moon feminine (la luna). In German it is the opposite: die Sonne, der Mond.

• Wrong: das Tisch, der Lampe
• Right: der Tisch, die Lampe, das Buch

Fix: never learn a noun alone. Learn it with its article, and look for patterns in our guide 5 patterns that work.

2. Putting the verb in the wrong place

In a German main clause the conjugated verb is always in position 2. Also, German needs the subject, so Spanish speakers should not drop it.

• Wrong: Heute ich gehe ins Kino. / Bin müde.
• Right: Heute gehe ich ins Kino. / Ich bin müde.

Fix: read the simple verb-second rule.

3. Forgetting that the verb jumps to the end

After words like weil and dass, the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.

• Wrong: Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich will in Berlin arbeiten.
• Right: Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich in Berlin arbeiten will.

Fix: after a comma plus weil, dass, ob, wenn, look for the verb and move it to the last place.

4. Losing the separable prefix

Verbs like aufstehen split in two in a main clause, and the prefix goes to the end.

• Wrong: Ich aufstehe um 7 Uhr.
• Right: Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf.

Fix: see our article on separable verbs.

5. Mixing up accusative and dative

Some verbs, like helfen, always take the dative. And after place words such as in, you ask "where?" (dative) or "where to?" (accusative).

• Wrong: Ich helfe den Mann. / Ich gehe in der Schule.
• Right: Ich helfe dem Mann. / Ich gehe in die Schule.

Fix: learn the simple rule in accusative vs. dative.

6. Choosing haben when you need sein

Spanish uses only haber for the perfect tense, and English uses "have". German uses sein for movement and change.

• Wrong: Ich habe nach Hause gegangen.
• Right: Ich bin nach Hause gegangen.

Fix: read when to use haben and when to use sein.

7. Using wissen when you need kennen

English has one verb, "to know". German has two: kennen for people and places, wissen for facts.

• Wrong: Ich weiß Anna. / Ich kenne, wo sie wohnt.
• Right: Ich kenne Anna. / Ich weiß, wo sie wohnt.

Fix: see kennen vs. wissen.

8. Mixing up wenn, als and ob

English "if" and "when" cover three German words.

• Wrong: Ich weiß nicht, wenn er kommt. / Wenn ich ein Kind war, ...
• Right: Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. / Als ich ein Kind war, ...

Fix: use the 3-second trick for wenn, als and ob.

9. Translating feelings and age word for word

This is where German can seem to make no sense. English says "I am cold", Spanish says tengo frío ("I have cold") and "I have 30 years". German does neither.

• Wrong: Ich bin kalt. / Ich habe kalt. / Ich habe 30 Jahre.
• Right: Mir ist kalt. / Ich bin 30 Jahre alt.

Fix: learn these as fixed phrases. A few use haben as in Spanish: Ich habe Hunger, ich habe Durst. The verb tun also hides in many such phrases, as you can see in our guide to tun.

10. Reading "halb drei" as 3:30

In German, halb drei means half to three, so it is 2:30. A learner who gets this wrong may arrive one hour late.

• Wrong: Es ist halb drei = 3:30
• Right: Es ist halb drei = 2:30, and 3:30 is halb vier

Fix: see German time telling explained.

Bonus: small words that make a big difference

When someone asks a negative question, like Kommst du nicht mit?, a simple ja is confusing. Use doch to say "yes, I do": how to use doch. And to sound more natural, learn the German filler words. Also remember that modal verbs like möchte sound more polite than will.

Your turn

Pick the two mistakes you make most often and write three correct sentences for each. Then learn them as full sentences and test yourself with instant feedback.

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