In literature latent multilingualism refers to the presence of multiple languages within a text or discourse, even when they are not overtly expressed. While less visible than overt or manifest multilingualism, latent multilingualism is widespread and plays a significant role in shaping meaning and understanding. Latent multilingualism can be expressed in multiple ways and might encompass various linguistic phenomena, such as translation, allusion, intertextuality, and the influence of one language on another. For this reason, latent multilingualism can be understood through a cross-lingual influence (CLI) lens, which refers to the way in which one language affects another in a specific context or, in this case, text. By employing this linguistic notion to literary texts, we aim to show that in multilingual literature the grammatical structure or the lexis are often transferred from one language to another, leading to latent multilingual literary practices. By taking examples from Italo Svevo’s La coscienza di Zeno, Tomer Gardi’s Broken German etc. we also aspire to shift from an error-oriented view of these “broken languages” to a more dynamic understanding of their literary functions.