5 most common errors by English speakers learning Spanish
SER or ESTAR?
The eternal question... Take for example:
“Los compañeros de mi clase están muy simpáticos.”
“En esta calle está una tienda muy bonita”
Corrections:
"Los compañeros de mi clase SON muy simpáticos". Why? Because we assume It is a characteristic of them and not just a temporary state.
"En esta calle HAY una tienda muy bonita".
Why? Because THERE IS/ARE is usually "HABER" in Spanish.
Acordarse de algo vs. recordar algo
Both verbs mean more or less the same, 'remember' something or someone.
But students usually confuse and mix them up:
*recordarse de algo
*No me recuerdo de tu nombre.
Corrections:
“No recuerdo tu nombre" = no "ME" & no "DE”
“No me acuerdo de tu nombre" = "ME" & "DE”
Conocer a alguien vs. quedar con alguien
In English 'meet' means both
1) meet someone for the 1st time
2) meet someone (for a coffee, for a date, etc.)
In Spanish there are 2 different verbs:
1) conocer a alguien = for the 1st time
2) quedar con alguien = to do something
Saber vs. poder
When we talk about abilities we use 'can' in English, but in Spanish we use the verb 'saber' instead of 'poder', which is a translation for 'can' in other contexts:
*Yo puedo nadar.
Correction:
-"Yo sé nadar".
Mantequilla vs. maquillaje
Okay, okay... We must confess it is actually not a very commonerror but one of our students made it once because of their similarity in phonics and we find it hilarious!
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SER or ESTAR?
Acordarse de algo vs. recordar algo
Conocer a alguien vs. quedar con alguien
Saber vs. poder
Mantequilla vs. maquillaje
