This exam tips covers Errores de traducción — Translation Errors within Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words) for GCSE Spanish. Revise Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words) in Writing + Translation (EN→ES) for GCSE Spanish with 16 exam-style questions and 12 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 3 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
⚠️ Errores de traducción — Translation Errors
❌ "I am tired" → Soy cansado
✅ Estoy cansado/a
Why: Temporary state = estar. Ser is for permanent characteristics — identity, nationality, profession. Being tired is a condition that changes, so it takes estar. Remember: ser is WHO you are; estar is HOW you are right now.
❌ "I like sports" → Me gusto los deportes
✅ Me gustan los deportes
Why: Gustar reverses the English structure. Los deportes is the subject (plural → gustan). The person who does the liking takes an indirect object pronoun (me/te/le/nos/os/les). Never conjugate gustar to agree with the person.
❌ "It is raining" → Es lloviendo
✅ Está lloviendo (continuous) or Llueve (simple)
Why: Spanish uses estar for the continuous (ongoing) form, NOT ser. Ser is never used for continuous actions. Está lloviendo = it is raining right now (continuous). Llueve = it rains (simple present — also acceptable here).
❌ Si tendría tiempo, estudiaría más
✅ Si tuviera tiempo, estudiaría más
Why: NEVER si + conditional. The rule is: si + imperfect subjunctive (tuviera) → conditional (estudiaría). The conditional appears in the result clause only — never after si.
Practice questions for Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words)
Translate this sentence into Spanish: **I like football because it is exciting and I play every weekend.**