Profesional

Fifty common grammar mistakes made by Spanish speakers
Intermediate and Advanced Level
1) "How long are you in Peru?"
Taxi drivers often try out their English on me. One of the most common first questions is "how long are you in Colombia?" This mistake is made translating from the Spanish, "Cuánto tiempo estás en Colombia?" But, a native speaker will be confused as to whether the questionis about the past or the future.
In English we use the present perfect (simple and continuous) to ask about activities that started in the past and continue into the present, so the correct form is "how long have you been in Colombia?" If you want to know about how long someone is staying in the future you ask, "how long are you staying in Colombia?"
More examples of present perfect:
How longhave you been living in Colombia? (NOT: How long are you living in Colombia?)
I've been here since 4 o'clock. (NOT I'm here since 4 o'clock)
I've been teaching English in Bogota for three years. (NOT: I'm teaching English in Bogota for three years)
So, don't confuse people. Use the present perfect when you need to. People will understand you better!
Correct form "How long have you been inColombia?"
2) "Do you know Machu Picchu?"
This is another common taxi driver question! The verb "know" often means "saber" in English rather than meaning that you have visited a place. For example, if you ask a native speaker, "Do you know the planets of the solar system?" He will reply "yes, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth... etc." He hasn't visited them but he does "know" them.
So if youask "Do you know Machu Picchu?" the listener might assume you are asking if he knows that Macchu Picchu's exists, not whether he has visited it.
In English we say "Have you been to Machu Picchu?" If you ask this question, it is much clearer what you are asking.
Correct form: "Have you been to Machu Picchu?"
3) "I'm boring."
If you say this, no one will want to talk to you! It means you makeother people bored, that you are dull, that you are bad company. A film is boring if it makes you feel bored. An interesting film makes you interested.
Correct form: "I'm bored"
4) "This chair is too comfortable."
A chair can't be too comfortable, unless you are a masochist who likes pain or you are worried about going to sleep.
We use "too" to complain about things or to say there is aproblem. For instance, "it's too hot, I can't work" or "you've given us too much homework!" We don't use "too" to talk about positive things like comfortable chairs.
For the same reason it sounds strange to say "I love you too much". This means you have a problem with love - maybe you want to commit suicide! But otherwise you say "I love you so much."
Correct form: "This chair is socomfortable"
5) "Hello Teacher!"
Students who say this are just being friendly so I don't mind it. But, if you say this to a teacher in the UK or the USA it sounds disrespectful!
For example in England, school children would never say "Teacher". They would say "Sir", "Miss" or "Mr/Mrs/Miss +Surname". In the context of adult English classes, the correct term for addressing the teacher is the first name(Tom) or, if you want to be very formal Mr/Mrs/Miss + Surname (Mr Nickalls). I prefer "Tom."
Correct form: Hello + First name
6) "Hello Mr", "Hello Mrs"
This is repeated by children talking to tourists all over Peru. Unfortunately many English and Americans find it impolite. I myself don't like it when children shout "Mr" at me and if it's an adult, it’s even worse.
When talking to aclient, for example as a waiter to a diner or a hotel receptionist to a guest, the polite term of address is "Sir" or "Madam", but outside a business context this sounds too formal. In a social context you really need to learn people's names, so you can say "John/Jane" or "Mr/Mrs Smith", or "Mr/Mrs John/Jane Smith". If you don't know someone's name and want to catch their attention you can say...