The 15 most common spelling mistakes in Spanish

Learning a new language requires paying attention to the small details and following the grammatical rules to avoid making mistakes. Here are the 15 most common spelling errors in Spanish.

1. Coger OR Cojer
As a general rule, before the e/i the letter g is written to represent the sound / j /, / j / is pronounced the same in: jardín, general, gigante, joven, jugar.
However, there are several exceptions, including: women, object, boss, travel, language, fabric, complexity
Debes coger el papel de la mesa​

2. Imagen OR Imajen
As in the previous case, we must resort to the general rule and represent the sound / j / before the letter e with the letter “g”
Es importante tener buena imagen

3. Cónyuge OR Cónyugue
Sometimes we hear the word cónyuge pronounced with the phoneme / gu /, it is completely wrong since it must be pronounced with the phoneme / j / and as the phoneme / j / is followed by the vowel “e” must be written with the slogan “g” Debes venir a la cita con tu cónyuge

4. Paraguas OR Paragüas
In Spanish, dieresis is very rare, but it is also easy to know when to use it. The rule says that the dieresis is used in words with sound / gu / followed by the vowels e / i in which the vowel u is pronounced. That is, it can only appear in words with the syllable güe or güi. The most frequent words are: lingüístico, vergüenza, pingüino.
Aprende las reglas gramaticales para no pasar vergüenza

5. Estuve OR Estube
The verb to be is widely used and in all its conjugations it is written with "b" except in the past perfect indicative: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron.
Ayer estuve visitando la Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias

6. Probar OR Provar
Another very frequent verb, so it is convenient to remember that all the conjugation of this verb is written with "b"
Debes probar el nuevo restaurante

7. Arriba OR Arriva
A widely used word that we must remember that is written with "b"
Ve al piso de arriba que te están esperando

8. Obtener OR Ovtener
As a general rule the phoneme / b / which is followed by a consonant is written with the letter "b". There are two exceptions: molotov y ovni.
Debemos tener el máximo rendimiento

9. Votar OR Botar
In this case the two words are spelling correctly, however, they have different meanings. The verb vote refers to the fact of participating in a process of choosing people. While the verb botar means to expel or throw something.
Iré a votar para elegir al nuevo presidente.
Has de botar los productos caducados a la basura.

10. Hielo OR Ielo
All words that begin with "ia" or "ie" must be preceded by the letter "h".
Dame hielo para poder hacer los batidos

11. Humano OR Umano
As a general rule all words that begin with the prefix –um followed by a vowel must go with an “h” in front, for example: humedad, humo, humor
En derecho se estudia la declaración de los derechos humanos

12. Hospital OR Ospital
There are a number of prefixes that usually begin with "h". These prefixes are: herm-, histo-, holg-, horm-, horr-, hops-.
Vamos al hospital a consultar al medico

13. Vaya OR Valla
The two forms of writing are correct. However, its meaning is different. Written with "ll" fence is the union of several tobacconists to determine an enclosure. With "y" it is either an interjection or the first singular person of the present subjunctive of the verb go.
Deberíamos pintar la valla del jardín.
Quizás vaya a la reunión esta noche.

14. Yendo OR Llendo
As a general rule all verbs whose infinitive do not have y, in their conjugations the sound / and / is usually represented with the y. This is the case of going that is gerund to go.
Estoy yendo hacia la fiesta.

15. Espectacular OR Expectacular
The letter x represents the phoneme / k + s / between two vowels or at the end of the syllable if it is followed by consonant. For this reason, to represent the sound / s / of the first spectacular syllable, the letter "s" is used and not the letter "x"
La actuación de ayer fue absolutamente spectacular.