- Do you want to know what the most common mistakes
in Spanish are and how you can fix them
so you can improve your Spanish?
Then keep watching.
(upbeat music)
Hola amigos, May here from Spanish and Go,
your resource for learning real world travel Spanish.
When I started teaching Spanish
to English speakers back in college,
I soon realized that there
were some very common mistakes
all of my students were making.
So today I'm gonna tell you what these mistakes are
and how you can correct them.
Let's start with cognates.
There are thousands of words in English
and Spanish that don't only look and sound
the same, but they also have the same exact meaning.
These words are called cognates or cognados.
Words like hotel, taxi, melon, actor
are just a few examples.
Cognates can make learning Spanish a lot easier
for English speakers when they already know these words.
Now on the other hand there are some words
in Spanish that look very similar
to some words in English, but these ones
have different meanings.
Now this is called false cognates or falsos amigos.
So false cognates are very confusing
and they put you in situations where you think
you know the meaning of a word,
but you actually don't.
So we're gonna start with numero uno,
realizar versus to realize.
Realizar means to do or to accomplish something.
To realize in Spanish is darse cuenta.
For example, (speaking in Spanish)
Today I realized the dogs destroyed my shoes.
Numero dos, embarazada versus embarrassed.
Embarazada means pregnant.
If you want to say embarrassed in Spanish,
you would say avergonzado or avergonzada.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
I was very embarrassed when I fell down at the plaza.
We're gonna leave a link in the description
where you can download a pdf with all the phrases
from this video.
Numero tres, parientes versus parents.
Parientes means relatives.
If you want to say parents in Spanish,
you would say padres.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
My parents live in Mexico.
Numero cuatro, suceso versus success.
Suceso means event.
If you want to success in Spanish,
you would say exito.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
Our last minute party was a big success.
Numero cinco, introducir versus introduce.
Introducir means to put in, to insert, or to enter.
If you want to say to introduce someone in Spanish,
you would say presentar a alguien.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
Jim introduced me to his mom in Minnesota.
Numero seis, actualmente versus actually.
Actualmente means nowadays or in this day and age
or just now or at the moment.
Now there is no exact translation for this one
in Spanish, but if you want to say actually,
you can say de hecho, or la verdad es que,
or en realidad.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
Actually, I didn't want to watch this movie,
but my friends insisted.
Numero siete, soportar versus to support.
Soportar means to stand.
If you want to say support in Spanish,
you would say apoyar.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
Our families support our decision
of not eating meat.
Numero ocho, sentencia versus sentence.
Sentencia is the punishment given
to a criminal by a judge or a court.
If you want to say sentence in Spanish,
you would say frase or oracion.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
This sentence is very complicated.
Before going to the next one,
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Numero nueve, colegio versus college.
Now colegio means any private school.
It could be an elementary school, a high school,
any kind of school that's private is a colegio.
If you want to say college in Spanish,
you would say universidad.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
I went to college in Colima, Mexico.
Numero diez, now this one is not a false cognate,
it's a case of literal translation gone wrong.
Buscando para versus looking for.
Buscando para doesn't exist.
It's wrong, don't use it.
If you want to say looking for in Spanish,
you would say buscando and that's it.
For example, (speaking in Spanish).
I'm looking for my cell phone.
Have you seen it?
Numero once, another very common mistake
Spanish learners make is regarding the use
of ser and estar.
Now these two verbs are a headache
for many Spanish learners.
All you need to know is the main difference
between these two verbs so you can avoid
making mistakes using them.
Basically ser is used for things
that are a little bit more difficult to change.
Things that are more permanent.
For example, your nationality.
I can say I am Mexican, (speaking in Spanish).
Of course I can change my nationality
but that is not always easy to do.
So you're gonna want to use ser for things like that.
Estar is used for things that are easier to change.
For example, location.
So if I say I am in Puerto Rico.
(speaking in Spanish)
That's something easier to change.
I could go to the airport right now,
get on a plane, and be in a different country
in a few hours.
So that's easier to change, location,
that's why you use estar.
So we have a video dedicated to explaining
how and when to use the verbs ser and estar.
You can watch that video right here.
Thank you guys for watching.
I hope this video helped you realize
what mistakes you're making.
Let us know in the comments if you've made any
of these mistakes, or if there's any other mistake
that you think is very common.
Hasta luego.