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Common Spanish Grammar Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Jan 17, 2024
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In the process of learning a language some obstacles are difficult to overcome, even for native speakers. Verb tenses, gender and singular/plural concordance or prepositions are very common grammar mistakes when learning Spanish.
For you to learn Spanish Online, we have prepared this Spanish grammar tutorial that will be useful for you to expand or perfect your command of this great language. Are you ready to learn?
- Adjectives are always placed after the noun
One of the biggest differences between English and Spanish is in the placement of adjectives. In English we always place the adjective in front of the noun:
Eng: I like that yellow scarf from the storeBut in Spanish, it is just the opposite, the adjective is behind the nounSpa: Me gusta esa bufanda amarilla de la tienda
- Gender and number concordance
Going on with the relationship between nouns and adjectives, it is very important for you to know that in order to have a correct Spanish there must always be concordance between nouns and adjectives in:
- Gender: Masculine/Feminine.
- Number: Singular or Plural.
So if the noun has a feminine gender and singular number, the adjective must be feminine and singular. Let's see an example for each case:
Masculine - singular
Eng: The red car.
Spa: El coche rojo.
Masculine - plural
Eng: The red cars.
Spa: Los coches rojos.
Feminine - singular
Eng: The pink shirt.
Spa: La camisa rosa.
Feminine - Plural
Eng: The pink shirts.
Spa: Las camisas rosas.
- Confusing personal pronouns and possessives
This is a very common Spanish grammar mistake not only among Spanish learners, but also among native speakers.The personal pronouns "tú" and "mí" of the first- and second-person singular are often confused with the possessive pronouns "tu" and "mi".On the one hand, personal pronouns are words that replace the noun and perform the same functionTú:- Eng: Do you know Carlos?- Spa: ¿Tú conoces a Carlos?Mí:- Eng: The package is for me.- Spa: El paquete es para mí.On the other hand, possessive pronouns replace the noun and indicate belonging or possession:Tu:- Eng: Your friend's name is Carlos.- Spa: Tu amigo se llama Carlos.Mi:- Eng: My car is red.- Spa: Mi coche es rojo.It is also important to distinguish the personal pronoun 'Él" with the definite article "El".Él:- Eng: He is too smart.- Spa: Él es demasiado inteligente.El:- Eng: The boy plays.- Spa: El niño juega.In this example we can see why it is so important to put the accents correctly as they can give a completely different function to a word.
This lesson is going up a level, isn't it? If you've reached this point, you're already an expert Spanish speaker.
Now we are going to talk about prepositions. Both in spoken and written language it is quite common to make mistakes with prepositions. The most common grammar Spanish mistakes are:
- Using a preposition instead of the correct one.
- Using a preposition that is not necessary
- Not using a necessary preposition.
- Using words as prepositions that are not prepositions.
- Using prepositions in a totally ambiguous way.
If you want to know the prepositions in more detail, don't worry because we will make content dedicated to them.
As you can see, studying Spanish at home and having fun doing it is possible thanks to our content. Don't forget that if you have any doubts, in Spanishtutor.es you can find many tricks and recommendations that will make your Spanish improve.
See you soon!
