Misconceptions when learning Spanish

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Chris

A good while back I was watching a movie that had a motorcycle gang named del fuegos. I thought del fuegos was one word, delfuegos. It took a bit of searching but I finally figured out what it meant and this sort of sparked a fuego to start learning Spanish.

Another one is that I thought "No estoy usando zapatos o calcetines." but was told I should use ni instead of o. Or and Nor can be used in the same way SOMETIMES in English.

Not really anything major but it's cool to me because I'm starting to understand some things and not just going ¿Qué? to everything that is explained to me heh.

Of course, and that's because you know how to read, write and speak English, even if you don't know much of your own grammar.

[Anoosh]

Hi everyone!! I have a question for the Spanish native speakers!!
Do you always write with accent? I'm asking because in Arabic we have some marks, kind of like the accent in Spanish we are supposed to use, but we almost never do.
And about the word (almohada) is true we have it in Arabic but there's a slight difference in the pronunciation, and (al) is the only article in Arabic.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Accents aren't gratuitous. They tell how the word is pronounced and they also differenciate meanings. Many Spanish speakers don't write them, but that's a terrible habit, because other people have confusion and don't always know for sure what they're writing/reading.

[JPablo]

Fully agree with Angélica. "Acentos" o "tildes" son muy importantes en español. A veces pueden cambiar el sentido de lo que se escribe. "Compro" (I buy) "Compró" (he bought) just to give you an example.

[Kalmetam]

It took me a while to realize that problem was problema and not problemo

[CrOtALiTo]

It wasn't problem.

You meant that.

[vita32]

Porque estoy solo aprendiendo el idioma español me penso que el palabra "caballa" es una caballo hembra. No es verdad. Yo sabe ahora que el palabra "caballa" es "mackerel" en engles, que es un pez.

corregir mis errores por favor.
gracias.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Comments and corrections below. (If you have questions I'll be glad to answer them).

Originally Posted by vita32

Porque Como estoy solo aprendiendo el idioma español por mi cuenta, me penso pienso (but the best verb here would have been "creer" conjugated in a past tense, because it's something you don't believe anymore => creía), que el la palabra "caballa" es una un caballo hembra. No es verdad. Yo sabe sé ahora que el la palabra "caballa" es "mackerel" en engles inglés, que es un pez.

corregir mis errores por favor.
gracias.

"Because" is only used when you have stated what has been caused first, so you'll explain why it happened.
If you're going to explain the cause first, the word that expresses it is "como".
You could have said: "Creí/creía que la palabra para un caballo hembra era "caballa", porque estoy aprendiendo español por mi cuenta".

"Por mi cuenta" means "on my own". You can find more on it here.

The word for a female horse is "yegua". (Just like "mare" is not very similar to "horse").

[vita32]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Comments and corrections below. (If you have questions I'll be glad to answer them).



"Because" is only used when you have stated what has been caused first, so you'll explain why it happened.
If you're going to explain the cause first, the word that expresses it is "como".
You could have said: "Creí/creía que la palabra para un caballo hembra era "caballa", porque estoy aprendiendo español por mi cuenta".

"Por mi cuenta" means "on my own". You can find more on it here.

The word for a female horse is "yegua". (Just like "mare" is not very similar to "horse").

Gracias por los correciones. Aprecio su ayudar (I appreciate your help).

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by vita32

Gracias por los correciones. Aprecio su ayudar (I appreciate your help).

I did a little corrections over your post.

Aprecio su ayuda.
Agradesco su ayuda.

I thank your help.

I hope that information can quite be useful for you.

[Feliz]

I have just discovered when to use Te quiero. and when to use Te amo. I had assumed that they were interchangeable in meaning so I have been using them freely as such in my verbal and written communications. In the written communications, the paper trail is very long and embarrassing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I now believe that Te quiero is for relationships that are less emotional and Te amo are for the more emotional ones. No one has come forth to correct me in real life; I guess that they, too, were embarrassed and figured that I'd find out some day. Hmm. :>)

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by vita32

Gracias por los correciones. Aprecio su ayudar (I appreciate your help).

Be aware that the corrections given above were not entirely correct.

"Gracias por las correcciones," and "Agradezco tu ayuda," would be the two corrections I would offer if I were trying to use your wording.

Apreciar is the wrong verb to use when you're thanking someone.

I replaced su (formal) with tu (informal) because we like to be treated that way in the forums.

If you want to sound more like a native, though, leave 'agradecer' out of your reply. We use "I appreciate" a lot in English, but it isn't used nearly as often in Spanish. Just say, "Gracias por la ayuda."

[vita32]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Be aware that the corrections given above were not entirely correct.

"Gracias por las correcciones," and "Agradezco tu ayuda," would be the two corrections I would offer if I were trying to use your wording.

Apreciar is the wrong verb to use when you're thanking someone.

I replaced su (formal) with tu (informal) because we like to be treated that way in the forums.

If you want to sound more like a native, though, leave 'agradecer' out of your reply. We use "I appreciate" a lot in English, but it isn't used nearly as often in Spanish. Just say, "Gracias por la ayuda."

Gracias por la ayuda y gracias por las correciones.