Common errors made by English speakers in Spanish
  • Anna January 2012
    UN OTRO - UNA OTRA  (wrong)

    One of the most common mistakes I hear from my English Speaking students is the Spanish translation for the English word another

    un otro (masculine)
    una otra (feminine)

    It makes sense because if we split the word another in two words, the result would be
     an + other, and the direct translation into Spanish would be un + otro (But that is wrong!)

    The translation for another is otro (masculine) and otra (feminine)

    Let's see a couple of examples:

    -  I want another drink, please.
    -  Quiero otra bebida, por favor. CORRECT!
    -  Quiero una otra bebida, por favor, WRONG!


    - I will go another day.
    - Iré un otro día. WRONG!
    - Iré otro día. CORRECT!


    Anyone wants to translate the following examples?

    1. I want another beer.

    2. You have another friend.

    3. Give me another cookie.





  • THoth January 2012
    mi maestra me acaba de corregir en este ayer.
  • THoth January 2012
    Quiero otro caña.
    Tiene otro amigo.
    Dame otro galleta.
  • Anna January 2012
    ¡Hola THoth!

    ¿Cómo estás?

    I posted that same question on twitter and I got a lot of "una otra cerveza" answers.

    https://twitter.com/#!/ll_spanish

    caña and galleta are feminine nouns, so we will use otra instead of otro.

    "otra caña"
    "otra galleta"

    For those who are not familiar with the word "caña", it means cerveza (beer). It is a colloquial word extensively used in Spain.

    Other slang terms for cerveza are: birra, chela and fresca.

    Chin chin! (Cheers)







  • Anna January 2012
    IN THE MORNING / AFTERNOON   -  EN LA MAÑANA / TARDE  (wrong)

    Is a very common mistake using the preposition "en". It should be "por" or "de".

    POR: We use "por" when we speak about an approximate time:

    Let's see an example:

    -  I clean the house in the morning.
    -  Por la mañana limpio la casa.  CORRECT!
    -  En la mañana limpio la casa.  WRONG!

    -  I wake up early in the afternoon.
    -  Me levanto temprano por la tarde.      CORRECT!
    -  Me levanto temprano en la tarde.  WRONG!



    DE: We use "de" when we speak about the exact time:


    Let's see an example:

    -  I clean the house at 10 o clock in the morning.
    -  Limpio la casa a las 10 de la mañana.     CORRECT!
    -  Limpio la casa a las 10 en la mañana. WRONG!
     

    Anyone wants to translate the following examples?

    1. I work until 7 in the afternoon.

    2. I work in the afternoon.

    3. Juan leaves the house at 8 in the morning.

    4. Juan is always late in the morning.


    TIP/ADVISE: Never use "EN" related with time (mañana/tarde/noche), and Choose the right form between "POR" and "DE".

    Please send your sentences translated in Spanish or your questions.

    As always ask any questions you may have!


  • kim February 2012

    Hi, I am Kim and I'll give these translations a try

    Trabajo hasta a las siete por la tarde.

    Trabajo de la manana.

    Juan llege la casa a las ocho de la manana.

    Juan es siempre tarde por la manana.

    How do I put ~ over the n in morning (manana)

    Thanks

    Kim

     

  • Anna February 2012
    Hi Kim!

    First of all thank you for trying to solve the exercise. Let's see! Vamos a ver!

    Your answers:

    1. Trabajo hasta a las siete de la tarde.
        (I work until 7 in the afternoon.)

    ¿Why? We use "de" when we speak about the exact time. Since "las siete" is an specific time we should say "las siete de la tarde".

    2. Trabajo por la mañana
       (I work in the afternoon.)

    ¿Why? We use "por" when we speak about an approximate time. Since "the morning" is approximate and can be anytime between 5am and noon we use por.

    3. Juan sale de casa a las ocho de la mañana.
      ( Juan leaves the house at 8 in the morning.)

    ¿Why? We use "de" when we speak about the exact time.

    4. Juan siempre llega tarde por la mañana
       (Juan is always late in the morning.)

    ¿Why? We use "por" when we speak about an approximate time.

    Good job Kim! The level of this exercise was pretty advanced!

    Gracias!



  • Anna February 2012
    ¿Cómo teclear la letra "ñ" /eñe/?
    How to type the letter "ñ"?

    FOR MAC:

    ñ -> press (Option + n) and then n again.
    Ñ -> press Option + n) and then press together (Shift + n)

    FOR  WINDOWS:

    ñ   ->  Alt + 164
    Ñ      -> Alt + 165

    Please visit the old post where we explain how to type accents and other special characters:

    http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/30/how-to-type-accents-and-special-characters-n-ue-n-a-...#Item_1
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