When you first see or hear the Spanish word “severo” you immediately think to yourself “oh, it must mean “severe”! They are spelled and pronounced almost identically.” Well, in fact that’s where the similarities stop; their meanings are quite different. “Severo” is an adjective that we use to describe the
Are “actual” (in English) and “actual” (in Spanish) the same thing? How about “actually” and “actualmente”? No, they are quite different. Let’s take a look at each pair: The word “actual” in Spanish means “current”, “present”, “contemporary”. Las condiciones climáticas actuales no son favorables; creo que debemos cancelar la feria.
Do you ever wonder where do adjectives go en español? Before or after nouns? Traditionally in Spanish adjectives go after nouns (the opposite of English); particularly when these adjectives are used to qualify or describe the attributes of that noun: Mi casa es grande y luminosa. My house is big
Cuernear: to cheat on someone. Cornudo: cuckold. Echar una cana al aire: to cheat on someone, to sow one’s wild oats. Estar de pirata: to go out with a woman in secrecy to hide that you are cheating on your wife. Engañar: to cheat on someone. Tener un romance: to
All languages have different tools to emphasize or reinforce the message they are trying to get across. One of the most popular tools in Spanish is to place the adjective before the noun. This grammatical resource is frequently used in literary discourse (especially poetry), but it is also very popular
(1) PINTAR AS TO PAINT When we talk about the process of creating a work of art by using paint, brushes, or other techniques, or covering a surface with paint, we translate “pintar” as “to paint”: Goya comienza a pintar en Zaragoza como aprendiz de José Luzán. Goya starts painting in
Si visita Madrid en busca del arte que dejaron los grandes pintores españoles, seguro que le recomiendan el Museo del Prado. Por supuesto, no deje de visitarlo; sin embargo, le invito a que haga un pequeño desvío antes de pasear por sus salas. Acompáñeme a una pequeña ermita, la de
Is there a difference between “a qué hora” and “cuándo”? Can we use them as synonyms? Although both are used to talk about the time, they have distinct uses: Use of “¿A qué hora?” We use this phrase to ask the specific time an action starts or finishes: – ¿A qué
The variety of Spanish spoken in Chile is often labeled as “bad Spanish”, but the linguist Darío Rojas explains in his new book –“Por qué los chilenos hablamos como hablamos”– that it’s “not bad Spanish, just different”, and how Chile’s social, political, and historical circumstances have influenced its language. This
Have trouble telling apart “¿por qué?” and “porque”? No hay problema! “¿Por qué?” and “porque” may be closely related in meaning, but they are not interchangeable. Let’s take a closer look to their specific uses: Uses of ¿por qué?: 1. It is used to ask questions: ¿Por qué estudias