SER or ESTAR?
The eternal question... Take for example:
“Los compañeros de mi clase están muy simpáticos.”
“En esta calle está una tienda muy bonita”
Corrections:
"Los compañeros de mi clase SON muy simpáticos". Why? Because we assume It is a characteristic of them and not just a temporary state.
"En esta calle HAY una tienda muy bonita".
Why? Because THERE IS/ARE is usually "HABER" in Spanish.
"Acordarse de algo" vs. "recordar algo"
Both verbs mean more or less the same, 'remember' something or someone.
But students usually confuse and mix them up:
*recordarse de algo
*No me recuerdo de tu nombre.
Corrections:
“No recuerdo tu nombre" = no "ME" & no "DE”
“No me acuerdo de tu nombre" = "ME" & "DE”
"Conocer a alguien" vs. "quedar con alguien"
In English 'meet' means both
1) meet someone for the 1st time
2) meet someone (for a coffee, for a date, etc.)
In Spanish there are 2 different verbs:
1) conocer a alguien = for the 1st time
2) quedar con alguien = to do something
"Saber" vs. "poder"
When we talk about abilities we use 'can' in English, but in Spanish we use the verb 'saber' instead of 'poder', which is a translation for 'can' in other contexts:
*Yo puedo nadar.
Correction:
-"Yo sé nadar".
"Mantequilla" vs. "maquillaje"
Okay, okay... We must confess it is actually not a very common error but one of our students made it once because of their similarity in phonics and we find it hilarious!
-"mantequilla" = butter
-"maquillaje" = make up
exercises to practice
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