|
To make it clear, we are going to use the following
color scheme:
| Green:
| The
title | |
Orange: |
XThe mistakeX | | Yellow: | Explanation |
| White: | Correct examples |
| Ask
and ask for | | I asked for a beer. I ordered a beer. |
XPregunté
por una cerveza.X | Preguntar = to ask (when you want to know something)
Pedir = to ask for (when you want something) | | I asked for a beer. I ordered a beer. |
Pedí una cerveza. |
|
I asked him if he had beer. |
Le pregunté si tenia cerveza. |
| Realize |
| I didn't realize. | XNo me realicé.X |
| "Realizar":
means to carry out, execute, to make, to conduct. If you want to say "realize" in Spanish you have to say:
"Darse cuenta". | | I didn't realize. | No me di cuenta. |
| She carried out her plan.
| Ella realizó su plan. |
| I
remember that day | | I remember that day. | XMe recuerdo de aquel día.X |
"Recordar"
(to remember) does not have a reflexive pronoun, nor "de".
Recordar a alguien = remember someone |
| I remember that day. |
Recuerdo aquel
día. (o: Me acuerdo de aquel dia) | | Do you remember Juan? | ¿Recuerdas a Juan? |
| The more I see him the more I like him | | The
more I see him the more I like him. | XLo más que lo veo lo más que me gusta.X |
| Just get used to the Spanish construction using "Cuanto". |
| The more I see him the
more I like him. | En cuanto más lo
veo, más me gusta.(o: entre mas lo veo, mas me gusta)
| | The more I study the more I learn. | En cuanto más estudio, más aprendo. |
| The less you smoke the better you
feel. | En cuanto menos fumas, mejor te sientes. |
| More
than | | More than twenty. |
XMás que veinte.X |
| Normally we use "que" eg. "más que
yo" = "more than I", but when we use numbers we use "de". |
| There were more than 20 people at the conference. |
Había más de 20 personas en la conferencia. |
| He knows more than I. |
El sabe más que yo. |
| The person I live with
| | The boy I live with. |
XEl chico que vivo con.X | | Prepositions never come at the end of a sentence in Spanish. The preposition must come
before a noun, a pronoun or an article. | | The boy I live with. |
El chico con quien vivo. / El chico con el que vivo. | | Whom can I speak to? | ¿Con quién puedo hablar? | | He's dressed in red |
| He's dressed in red. | XEstá vestido en rojo.X |
| When we use
dressed in + "a color" we use "de". | | He's dressed in red. |
Está vestido de rojo. |
| Support
| | I supported his decision | XSoportaba su decisión.X |
| "Soportar" = "to tolerate" or "to put
up with" or "to stand (have patience for)". In most cases we use "apoyar". |
| I supported his decision.
| Yo apoyaba su decisión. |
| I can't stand Juan. |
No soporto a Juan. |
| Story |
| I
like adventure stories. |
XMe gustan las cuentas de aventurasX | | Cuento = story or tale
Contar una historia = to tell
a story
Cuenta = Cuenta bancaria = bank account
Cuenta = a sum (mathematical calculation)
Cuenta = Bill in a restaurant: Note that we use "cuenta" for a bill with food and drinks,
but for other types of bill we use "factura" eg. plumbers, in the garage etc. |
| I like adventure stories.
| Me gustan los cuentos de aventuras. |
| I don't have any money
in my account. | No tengo fondos en mi cuenta. |
| They always make mistakes
in the bill. | Siempre se equivocan en la
cuenta. | | Can you
bring us the bill please? | ¿Nos trae
la cuenta, por favor? |
| Take
someone / Take something |
| I took my son to the airport. |
XTomé a mi hijo al aeropuerto.X |
To express
the idea of giving someone a lift or taking someone somewhere, we use the verb "llevar".
To express the idea of taking something such as a pill, a drink, a bus, etc. we use the verb "tomar". |
| I took my son to the airport. |
Llevé a mi hijo al aeropuerto. |
| My son took a taxi to the airport. |
Mi hijo tomo un taxi al aeropuerto. |
|
Next |
| He
drank a lot and the next morning he had a hangover. |
XBebió mucho y la próxima mañana tenía resaca.X |
| The "próxima/o"
(next) is only used in the present and the future. In the past we must use "siguiente" (the following). |
| He drank a lot and the
next morning he had a hangover. | Bebió mucho
y la mañana siguente tenía resaca. | | They met in 1990 and they will get married next year. | Se conocieron en 1990 y se van a casar el año próximo.
| | It was a success
| | The film was a big success in Argentina. | XLa película tuvo mucho suceso en ArgentinaX. | | Success in Spanish is "éxito".
"Suceso" is an event. | | The film was a big success in Argentina. | La pelicula tuvo mucho éxito en Argentina. | | The event took place in the city. | El suceso tomó lugar en la ciudad. |
| I will be here for 6 months |
| I will be here for five days. | XVoy a estar aquí por cinco días.X |
This is the answer to the question. How long are you going
to be here?
In Spanish you have to say "voy a estar aquí" or the meaning is unclear. |
| I will be here for five
days. | Voy a estar aquí cinco dias. |
| In the morning
| | In the morning |
Xen la mañanaX | |
The problem is the preposition "en" it should be "por" or "de".
We use "por" when we speak about an approximate time:
eg: Por la
tarde doy un paseo. = I go for a walk in the evening. We use "de"
when we speak about the exact time:
eg: A las 5 de la tarde doy un paseo. = I go for a walk at 5
o clock in the evening. | | in the morning | por la mañana: |
| early in the morning |
temprano por la mañana | | at midday | al mediodía | | at lunchtime | a
la hora de comer/a la hora de almorzar | | in the evening | por la tarde |
| at midnight |
a medianoche | | in the early hours of the morning | por la madrugada | | I live in the Suburbs |
| I live in the suburbs. |
XVivo en los suburbiosX |
| The
"suburbios" in Spanish is a conflictive area of a city with poverty and other problems. It is not
a good translation of "suburb" or "outskirts" | | I live in the suburbs of Bogota. | Vivo en las afueras de Bogotá. |
| To move | | I'm
going to move to another house. | XVoy a moverme a otra casa.X | When you want to say "to move" in the sense of changing
where you live you have to use the verb "mudarse".
"Moverse" is to move as in movement.
"Correrse" is to move over. | |
I'm going to move to another house. | Voy a mudarme a otra casa. | | The dancer moves with grace. |
La bailarina se mueve con gracia. |
| Please move over. |
Córrete por favor. |
| Regarding / To respect |
| I don't know anything regarding this subject. |
XNo sé nada respeto a este asunto.X |
| You must respect your wife. |
*Debes respectar a tu esposa.* |
| "Respecto
a" (regarding) and "respeto" (respect). | | I don't know anything regarding this subject. | No sé nada respecto a este asunto. |
| You must respect your wife. |
Debes respetar a tu esposa. |
|
My oldest / youngest brother
| | My oldest/youngest brother | XMi hermano más viejo/jovenX |
| You have to use "mayor" or "menor". |
| My oldest brother lives
in Guatemala. | Mi hermano mayor vive en
Guatemala. | | Patricia
is my youngest daughter. | Patricia es mi
hija menor. | | Look
for - Search | | I am looking for my book. | XEstoy mirando para mi libro.X |
"Mirando
para" doesn't exist, it's a literal translation from English. You can use "buscar" but it has
no preposition.
Note: When the thing we are looking for is a person we add "a" after "buscar". |
| I am looking for
my book. | Estoy buscando mi libro. |
| I am looking at
the book. | Estoy mirando el libro. |
| Entradas
| |
Did you buy the tickets for the cinema? | X¿Compraste los billetes para el
cine?X | "Boletos" or "Pasajes" are for travel tickets. We use "entradas" for ticket
to the theater or cinema or shows.
By the way: A showing in the cinema is the "la sesión"
A performance at the theatre is "la función" |
| Did you buy the tickets for the cinema? |
¿Compraste las entradas para el cine? |
| Did you buy the train
tickets? | ¿Compraste los
boletos para el tren? |
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