Here we are today with another post to help you increase your Spanish! Stop making tiny mistakes and start speaking like a native!
Use the present tense to indicate near future
To sound more native, try to talk in the present when saying something that will happen in the near future. Spanish speakers would say ¿vamos a comer paella mañana?; El martes voy al gimnasio, ¿quieres venir conmigo?. In these sentences there’s no need to use the future tense as it’s something that will happen soon.
Learn the difference between pedir and preguntar
This is very important to improve your Spanish level. Many Spanish students use them in every situation, but actually they are not interchangable. We only use “preguntar” to ask a general question and usually the answer is yes or no. While pedir is used to ask for something. to request a service, an object, a favor, when you use this verb, you expect something back. In order to use them correctly, remember that:
Pedir: to ask for -> Necesito pedirte un favor (I need to ask you a favor); Pedir ayuda (ask for help); pedir información (ask for information).
Preguntar: to ask -> te quiero preguntar una cosa (I want to ask you something); Quiero preguntarle si volverá mañana (I want to ask her/him when she/he’ll be back).
Avoid the overuse of “yo”
Usually Spanish native speakers omit the pronoun when talking about themselves. This is because the conjugation of the verb already indicates the subject without the need of including the pronoun. In a sentence like “voy al cine mañana”, the subject “yo” is already expressed by the verb. Contrarly, the use of the pronoun “yo” is required when the speaker wants to stress the difference between his and the listener situation. Mi novio quiere ir al cine mañana pero yo no quiero.
Limit the use of passive expressions
Another tips to avoid sounding like a foreigner, is to replace passive expressions such as “es possible”/ “es necesario” with “poder” / “tener que”. For instance try to use expressions like “¿puedo coger un boli?” / mañana tienes que llegar a las 10”, instead of “es necesario que mañana llegues a las 10”.
Ser + adjective / Estar + adjective
When complimenting someone, remember to use the correct form. Ser + adjective indicates a permanent situation, while using the verb estar stresses the fact that the adjective only refers to that moment. For example: “Que guapo eres”, you’re saying that he’s handsome. While if you say “Que guapo estás”, your underlining that he’s looking good today.
Be careful about the genre of nouns
The misuse of articles is one of the most common mistakes. While it is true that the majority of words ending with “a” are feminine and words ending with “o” are masculine, there are some exceptions. Example: “el día”, “la moto”, “la mano”, “la radio”. Of course, adjectives also follow the genre of the noun: Que tengas un buen día. ¿Te gusta mi nueva moto?.
Pasado mañana / anteayer
I heard many times Spanish students saying “el día después de mañana” o “en 2 días..” because they didn’t know how to say the day after tomorrow. To increase your overall level of Spanish, start saying “pasado mañana” or “anteayer” instead of 2 days ago or in 2 days.
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