Adding stitches

Ii have 19 stitches on my left needle. My pattern says “cast on 18 sts at beginning of row, K19”. I can’t figure how to cast the sts onto the right-hand needle so I don’t have to knit them before knitting the 19sts. Every instruction I have found has the cast-on stitches going onto the left needle, which would mean you have to knit them before getting to the existing 19 sts. Am I reading this incorrectly? If I were supposed to knit the 18 sts after casting on, wouldn’t it say "cast on 18sts you will have 37 stitches; K37? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

You are right - you move the needle w/the stitches to your left hand then cast on. You’ll have to knit the new 18 stitches just cast on first.

Could it be that they only want you to knit the first 19 of the total 37 stitches? -making a short row. Without seeing the pattern or knowing more about what you are making, it’s hard to know if it’s an error or not. Can you post a link to the pattern or picture of it?