Hey buddies, el post de hoy es una recopilación de errores comunes en inglés que cometemos a menudo, a veces porque cambiamos la preposición que toca, o porque nos equivocamos con una palabra o también porque traducimos literalmente. Ponte cómodo porque te detallamos nada más y nada menos que 30 common mistakes que no debes cometer más.

1 We say coworkers, work mates or colleagues, not partners para referirnos a nuestros compañeros de trabajo

 My partners are really helpful.
 My coworkers are really helpful.

2 We say at work, not in the job en expresiones como

 I sometimes surf on the internet in the job.
 I sometimes surf on the internet at work.

3 We say hire mejor que contract, cuando contratamos a un empleado

 Things are going well, we will contract more employees.
 Things are going well, we will hire more employees.

4 We say a business grows, not grows up para decir que el negocio crece

 Our business is growing up and increasing sales.
 Our business is growing and increasing sales.

Utilizamos grow up para referirnos a las personas cuando crecen / maduran

 He’s now a grown up person.
 Children grow up really fast.

5 We say I agree, not I am agree para mostrar nuestro acuerdo

 I am agree with your idea.
 I agree with your idea.

6 We say I think so / I don’t think so, not I think that yes / no para decir creo que sí / no

 Would you come? I think that yes / no.
 Would you come? I think so / I don’t think so.

7 We say I have no idea, not I don’t have an idea para decir no tengo ni idea

 Is she here? I don’t have an idea.
 Is she here? I have no idea.

8 We say leave me alone, not leave me in peace cuando queremos que nos dejen en paz

 Please, leave me in peace, I’m busy now.
 Please, leave me alone, I’m busy now.

9 We say from now on, not since now para decir de ahora en adelante

 We will have new regulations since now.
 We will have new regulations from now on.

10 We say so far, not until now para decir hasta ahora, hasta este momento

 What have they done until now?
 What have they done so far?

11 We say it depends on, not it depends of

 I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. It depends of the weather.
 I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. It depends on the weather.

12 We say related to, not related with

 This is a problem related with the internet signal.
 This is a problem related to the internet signal.

13 We say contact someone, not contact with someone

 I’ll contact with her because I need more information.
 I’ll contact her because I need more information.

14 We say trust someone, not trust in someone

 I trust in my employees to do a good job when I’m not in the office.
 I trust my employees to do a good job when I’m not in the office.

15 We say worry about, not worry for algo o alguien

 Her mother worries for her a lot.
 Her mother worries about her a lot.

16 We say think about / of, not think in. Si imaginamos algo, utilizamos think of / about, si estamos considerando algo utilizamos think about

 I’m thinking in my future and deciding what I want to do.
 I’m thinking about my future and deciding what I want to do.

17 We say similar to, not similar than

 This app is very similar than another one.
 This app is very similar to another one.

18 We say the same as, not the same than or the same to

 He’s the same than his father. They have similar personalities.
 He’s the same as his father. They have similar personalities.

19 We say in the world, not of the world para decir del mundo

 Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players of the world.
 Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players in the world.

20 We say arrive in/at a place, not arrive to a place

 I arrived to work at 9 a.m.
 I arrived at work at 9 a.m.

We use arrive in con lugares como ciudades (London, Paris, etc.).

 We arrived in Paris last Friday.

We use arrive at al referirnos a un sitio en concreto (the bank, the restaurant, work, home, etc.).

 They arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes late.

21 We say go home, not go to home

 She decided to go to home after the theatre.
 She decided to go home after the theatre.

22 We say parking lot, not parking para referirnos a un aparcamiento

 The parking was full, so we parked on the street.
 The parking lot was full, so we parked on the street.

23 We say on the bus / train / plane, not in the bus / plane / train

 Sometimes I read when I’m in the bus.
 Sometimes I read when I’m on the bus.

We say in with cars, vans, trucks, etc.

 Let’s get on the car.
 Let’s get in the car.

24 We say to miss, not to lose a bus / train / plane

 You will lose the train if you don’t hurry up.
 You will miss the train if you don’t hurry up.

25 We say waste time, not lose time para decir perder el tiempo

 Sam loses a lot of time watching TV.
 Sam wastes a lot of time watching TV.

26 We say spend time, not pass time para decir pasar tiempo con

 On the weekend, she likes to pass time with her husband.
 On the weekend, she likes to spend time with her husband.

27 We say to have (or to throw) a party, not to make or do a party

 They are making a party next Saturday.
 They are having / throwing a party next Saturday.

28 We say to have a drink, not to take a drink

 Let’s take a drink after work.
 Let’s have a drink after work.

29 We say to sunbathe, not to take the sun

 She loves taking the sun on the beach.
 She loves sunbathing on the beach.

30 We say to make mistakes, not to have errors or have mistakes.

 My English is okay, but I have a lot of mistakes.
 My English is okay, but I make a lot of mistakes.

No te preocupes si te identificas con algunos (o muchos) de ellos, son los errores más comunes que cometemos los hispano hablantes. Anota con los que más te equivocas para repasarlos, pero vuelve a esta lista siempre que lo necesites o tengas dudas.

Los idioms son frases hechas que forman parte del lenguaje hablado. La dificultad está en que tenemos que familiarizarnos con ellos y aprender a usarlos tal cual, porque las mismas palabras por separado pueden tener un significado diferente. También son frecuentes en el ámbito laboral así que hoy te «retamos» a que empieces a usar estos 17 idioms en el trabajo.

Es importante comprenderlos a la hora de ponerlos en práctica nosotros, pero también es necesario ser capaz de entender su significado cuando otra persona los usa y para evitar malentendidos. Verás que algunos son fáciles porque también hay frases hechas similares en español, pero aquí te dejamos algunos de los idioms en el trabajo más comunes.

To get down to business – significaría algo así como «vayamos al tema». Se usa cuando antes de una reunión hay un poco de conversación más general pero entonces llega el momento de ponerse a trabajar o a hablar del tema en cuestión.

E.g.
Now that everyone’s here, let’s get down to business and talk about the proposal.

To get the ball rolling – significa empezar a hacer algo.

E.g
We need to get the ball rolling on this project. The deadline is in November, and it’s already September.

To be on the ball – significa estar al tanto de todo lo que pasa.

E.g.
I think he’s doing a great job. He’s really on the ball.

The ball is in your court – esta es igual que en español, la pelota está en (tu,su) tejado.

E.g.
The ball is in their court now. Let’s wait for their decision.

To be on the same page – estar de acuerdo en algo, cuando las opiniones o ideas coinciden.

E.g.
I want to make sure we’re all on the same page about this.

To see eye to eye – esta es muy parecida a la anterior, significa estar de acuerdo.

E.g.
We don’t always see eye to eye but I respect his opinions.

The big picture – significa la visión más general sobre un asunto.

E.g.
We have to see the big picture to solve the problem.

To read between lines – igual que en español, significa leer entre líneas, entender algo aunque no se diga explícitamente.

E.g.
If you read between the lines you can see he had other reasons to do it.

To hit the nail on the head – significa dar en el clavo, acertar.

E.g.
She hit the nail on the head when she said the problem was the budget.

To cut corners – hacer algo de la forma más fácil, barata, rápida, normalmente dejando de lado otros aspectos importantes.

E.g.
The airline was accused of cutting corners on safety.

Back to square one – volver a empezar desde el principio.

E.g.
Our idea wasn’t successful so we are back to square one.

Back to the drawing room – también es empezar algo desde el principio, desde la fase de plantear ideas.

E.g.
They had to go back to the drawing room and start planning a strategy again.

To start something from scratch – empezar algo desde cero.

E.g.
The only way to get a different design this was to start from scratch.

To be up to your eyes – estar muy ocupado, tener mucho que hacer.

E.g.
I’m up to my eyes at work this month, I have a deadline to meet and there’s a lot to be done.

To have a lot on your plate – estar muy ocupado, tener mucho que hacer.

E.g.
I think he has a lot on his plate right now. Someone should help him.

Your hands are tied – tener las manos atadas, cuando no puedes hacer nada más porque hay alguna razón que te lo impide o que escapa a tu control.

E.g.
I’m sorry I can’t help you with this, my hands are tied.

Call it a day – normalmente significa dejar de trabajar para irse a casa, pero también puede usarse para indicar que ponemos fin a algo.

E.g.
Ok, I think we should call it day, we are all tired.

Y antes de finalizar, y decir Let’s call it a day! elige los que más te hayan gustado o los que te resulten más fáciles y comienza a usar estos idioms en el trabajo para sentirte cada vez más cómodo con ellos, incluso se los puedes contar a tus compañeros, al intentar explicarlos seguro que te queda mucho más claro a ti también.

¿Te has quedado con ganas aprender más idioms? Descargate nuestro e-book gratuito «125 idioms para hablar como un nativo» ????????