10 Common English Mistakes Hebrew Speakers Make (and How to Fix Them)

Hebrew and English are built differently, so certain mistakes repeat for almost every Hebrew speaker. The good news: once you spot the pattern, it is easy to fix. Here are the ten most common ones.

1. Word order in questions

In Hebrew you ask without an auxiliary verb. In English you need do/does: not "What you do?" but "What do you do?".

2. Dropping the verb "to be"

Hebrew lets you say "I hungry" with no verb. English requires it: "I am hungry", never "I hungry".

3. Confusing since and for

Use for with a duration ("for two years") and since with a starting point ("since 2020"). It is such a common mix-up that we wrote a whole article about it.

4. Sounds that do not exist in Hebrew

The th, the w vs v contrast, and the æ vowel (as in cat) need dedicated practice. Listening and repeating beats memorising any rule.

5. Overusing the Present Simple

For something happening right now use the Present Continuous: "I am working now", not "I work now".

6–10: more patterns to watch

• Prepositions: "depend on", "interested in" — not a direct translation from Hebrew.
• Articles: when to use a/an and when to use the.
• Irregular plurals: children, people, feet.
• fun vs funny — enjoyable vs comical.
• his/her — Hebrew does not mark the owner’s gender the way English does.

The best way to fix these is repeated exposure and practice. In our grammar guide, every topic includes a "common mistakes by Hebrew speakers" list for exactly this reason.