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The 10 most frequent doubts when learning Spanish
2LikeSpanish is one of the most studied languages in the world, but learning it often varies depending on where you come from. For an English speaker, distinguishing between masculine and feminine, for example, will be very difficult. On the other hand, for students who speak languages derived from Latin, they will have no trouble making the switch.
Spanish tutor, Cristian Pedraza, has plenty of experience when it comes to understanding struggles of Spanish students. He shares some of the most common difficulties his students face and how he helps them to overcome them.
If you want to learn the most frequent doubts when learning Spanish, in this post we tell you the ten most typical ones. No student is spared, there are even some aspects that even native speakers fail to answer. In the Spanish classes you start, you will see many of these concepts come up regularly at any level. Let's see what they are!
- Subjunctive vs Indicative Mode
In Spanish there are three verb modes: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. However, the tricky thing is that for each of these modes there are different verb tenses in the present, past and future tenses. Many foreigners find it difficult to understand when to use each of the modes and, moreover, when to use each verb tense.
Learning Spanish for an English speaker is especially complicated, as the subjunctive in English does not exist or does not have the same structure as in Spanish. For a French speaker, for example, it will be much easier as it is also divided in the same way. Here are some tricks to distinguish the verb modes in Spanish:
- Indicative: This is used to communicate real information, both for actions in the present, past and future. To distinguish it easily, look at the focus of the sentence.
- Subjunctive mood: This mood is used to express ideas, desires, doubts, denials, recommendations... It differs from the imperative mood because they are not statements about reality, but more subjective information (hence the name of the mood).
- Imperative: The imperative is the easiest to distinguish. All orders and requests are always carried out in the same way.
Moreover, this mode has no verb tenses, making it the simplest of the three modes.
- Verb tenses
The other side of the coin, as we have said, are the verb tenses. How do we differentiate between them? And, even more difficult, how do we conjugate them? As you know, Spanish is one of the most difficult languages to learn for a foreigner whose language is not conjugated. Going back to English, they change very little:
I jump, you jump, he/she/it jumps, we jump, they jump. In Spanish, on the other hand, it is quite different: I jump, you jump, he/she jumps, we jump, you jump, they jump.
Each verb, therefore, has a series of endings that will be marked by both the verb group to which it belongs - those ending in ar, er, ir - and the verb tense. Below you'll find the verb tenses that you can find in each mode, differentiated between simple and compound verbs:
Indicative
Present indicative (I jump)
Pretérito imperfecto (I jumped)
Pretérito perfecto simple (I jumped)
Future (I will jump)
Conditional (would jump)
Pretérito perfecto compuesto (I have jumped)
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto (I had jumped)
Pretérito anterior (hube saltado) Future perfect (habré saltado)
Conditional perfect (would have jumped)
Subjunctive
Present Subjunctive (skip)
Pretérito imperfecto (saltarara or saltase)
Future (I will jump)
Past perfect (has sung)
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto (would have sung or would have sung)
Future perfect (would have sung)
Imperative Present (jump)
Additionally, remember that in Spanish we also have the infinitive (saltar), gerund (saltando) and participle (saltado).
- Irregular verbs
Latin languages are characterised by what are known as irregular verbs in their grammar. These are verbs that are different from the norm and are not conjugated in the same way as other verbs. In Spanish, verbs ending in "-er" generally have the same endings. However, if we take, for example, the case of the verb "Haber", we will see that they have nothing to do with each other.
If you are beginning to study Spanish, one of the first things your tutor will teach you is how to conjugate irregular verbs. There are over a hundred of them, as they can have more than one verb stem or have variations in their ending, but these are the most important irregular verbs in the Spanish language:
- To be: I am, you are, he/she is, we are, you are, they are.
- Estar: I am, you are, he/she is, we are, you are, they are, they are 3. Doing: I do, you do, he/she does, we do, you do, they do
- Have: I have, you have, he/she has, we have, you have, they have, they have
- Power: I can, you can, he/she can, we can, you can, they can 6. Know: I know, you know, he/she knows, we know, you know, they know. 7. Have: I have, you have, he/she has, we have, you have, they have, they have
- Giving: I give, you give, he/she gives, we give, you give, they give. 9. Go: I am going, you are going, he/she is going, we are going, you are going, they are going.
- Verbs ser and estar
Of the irregular verbs, the Spanish verbs ser and estar are some of the most complicated for foreigners. Why is that? In many languages, these two verbs are often translated as one. Take, for example, English. The verb "To be" can be used both to say "Estoy en Barcelona" (I am in Barcelona) and to say "Soy de Barcelona" (I am from Barcelona).
How then do we distinguish between them?
- Verb to be: It is used to communicate permanent states: to identify who a person is or whose certain object it is, to describe, to tell the time, and to indicate the price or quantity of something.
- Verb estar: Used to convey temporary states or situations such as moods, the physical or mental situation of a person or thing.
- Prepositions "by" and "for".
These two propositions are a real headache for learners of Spanish as a foreign language. They often confuse them. And the fact is that their
The distinction, although obvious to a native speaker, is very subtle: when do you use the preposition por and when para? Here are some tips:
- Purpose or cause? One of the key things to distinguish between the two is to ask yourself whether you are trying to express a cause or a purpose. If you want to express a cause, then you use the preposition por: "He has gone through this". On the other hand, if you want to indicate a purpose, you should use para: "I'm going to the gym to do sport".
- If you want to express a specific location, you have to use the preposition por: "You get to the school by the road on the right".
- By when? If you want to express a specific date or time, you should always use "by": "Homework is due today".
- Here, there, there, there, there
Another of the most frequent doubts are related to adverbs of place. What is the difference between there and there, and between here and there? Languages such as French and Spanish make this distinction, which helps people understand whether they are talking about something near or far away. On the other hand, for an English or American, who only use "there" to indicate there, they often get confused.
- Male or female?
One of the most frequent doubts for students of Spanish is the masculine and feminine. In the Spanish language, all nouns have gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). The way to differentiate
masculine and feminine is by looking at the vowel of the word and learning the grammatical rules:
- Words ending in a: although there are some exceptions, they are generally feminine words.
- Words ending in o: although there are some exceptions, they are generally masculine words.
In addition, the ending of the word can also give you information. For example, words ending in -ción, -dad or -ez are usually feminine. On the other hand, words ending in - or, -aje are more masculine.
- Spanish accents
The Spanish language has only one type of accent: the closed accent. Although it is a problem for both native and foreign students of Spanish, if you understand the rules of grammar you will never go wrong. When is it accented?
To find out, you have to look at the stressed syllable of the word and stress if it meets these characteristics:
- Acute words: They are accented when they end in a vowel, -n or -s. ● Flat words: they are stressed when the stress is on the penultimate syllable if they do NOT end in a vowel, -n or -s.
- Sdrújulas and sobresdrújulas: when the tonic is the
antepenultimate or more, it is always stressed.
- Many expressions and sayings
Spanish is a centuries-old and very rich language, which is why it has hundreds of expressions and sayings. While some are intuitive and easily understood, there are others that you won't be able to understand unless you know the hidden meaning.
How can you learn them? As well as talking to native Spanish tutors, Spanish or Latin tutors, a good way to learn is by reading. Spanish and Latin novels are full of fun expressions that will help you better understand their culture.
- Sounds difficult to pronounce in Spanish
As with all languages, some sounds are easier to pronounce than others. One of the advantages of learning Spanish is that it is considered one of the easiest languages for foreigners to pronounce. However, there are some sounds that tend to be more difficult to pronounce, such as the double r or the letter r, the letter g and j, the letter h (which is soundless) and the letters c and z.
To practise the pronunciation of these sounds, it is best to practise active listening by watching series, films or listening to songs. In addition, having conversation classes in Spanish with native speakers can also be very useful because they will be able to correct your mistakes.