Gerald's Spanish Language Blog

Normally when you're writing something with a word processor, the software takes care of dividing long words at the ends of a line. But what if you're writing Spanish and ... Read More

Sondeo:¿Qué candidato a la presidencia estadounidense es tu preferido? Hillary Rodham Clinton John Edwards Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee John McCain Barack Obama Ron Paul Mitt Romney Otro candidato ¿Quieres ver los resultados? Este sondeo no es científico y sólo refleja la ... Read More

I'm often asked what are the most common mistakes that people make when learning Spanish. I have no idea (or at least none I could verify scientifically), but I know ... Read More

Like the perfect tense, the pluperfect tense indicates that an action has been completed. However, the pluperfect also indicates that it was completed before some implied or stated time. Note ... Read More

Although determiners don't have much meaning in themselves, they are a type of word we use in nearly every sentence. Learn more about them by browsing through our grammar glossary. ... Read More

In English the passive voice is used constantly — in fact, the opening part of this sentence used it. But in Spanish the passive voice is a relative rarity, especially ... Read More

Haber is one of the most common verbs in Spanish. It is used as an axiliary verb to form what are known as the perfect tenses, and it also is ... Read More

You've probably heard the saying "you're never too old to learn." But there's another saying that addresses the same subject: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." So which ... Read More

If you come across something in Spanish that's inconsecuente, you may be tempted to think that it's unimportant. After all, inconsecuente and "inconsequential" look and sound a lot alike and ... Read More

Lo is one of those words that doesn't always have a clear definition — and it can function in at least three different ways, as a subject pronoun, object pronoun ... Read More

Spain's most recent attempt at coming up lyrics for its national anthem, La Marcha Real ("The Royal March"), has become an embarrassing flop.Spanish hasn't had lyrics for its anthem since ... Read More

The Spanish n usually has the same sound as the English "n," but when it comes before a b, v or p, it sounds more like the English "m." And ... Read More

Con (pronounced basically like the English "cone," not like "con") is one of the most common Spanish prepositions. Nearly always, it is the equivalent of the English "with," so it ... Read More

Now that U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has made "¡sí se puede!" something of a slogan when he addresses Spanish-speaking voters, as he has done in Las Vegas during the ... Read More

Some Spanish names — Fernando and María come to mind — are quite familiar to people who don't speak the language. Others are less familiar. Which kind would you consider ... Read More

Most of the time it isn't necessary to know whether an object pronoun is a direct one or an indirect one. But with certain verbs it is, especially when talking ... Read More

Name a grammar rule, and somewhere there's likely to be an exception. One of the exceptions in Spanish is known by grammarians as apocopation — the shortening of certain adjectives ... Read More

Nadie is an indefinite pronoun with some unusual characteristics. Among them is that it is sometimes translated into English as "nobody," and sometimes as its opposite, "anybody." Learn more...

One of the things you'll learn fairly early on in learning Spanish is that you'll find yourself at a big disadvantage if you don't learn the subjunctive mood, a grammatical ... Read More

Knowing a person isn't the same kind of knowing as knowing a fact — at least to the ears of a Spanish speaker. Here's a guide to knowing when to ... Read More

If you're thinking about spending the Northern Hemisphere's summer studying Spanish in Spain or Latin America, it's not too early to start planning. Our FAQ on immersion study tells you ... Read More

If you're asked to go somewhere but have a schedule conflict, you may respond by saying something like "I'm supposed to go to my cousin's wedding." How would you say ... Read More

One of the most popular blog posts I had here during the past year was one in which readers were invited to share their most embarrassing moments while learning Spanish. ... Read More