Language/Spanish/Vocabulary/How-to-sound-more-natural

Hello everybody,

In this lesson, we will give you useful tips to sound more like a native in Spanish.

This means using typical expressions that are not direct translations of your native language.

If you are a native Spanish speaker, please edit this wiki page and add more expressions.

That's <adjective>

In Spanish, when we give a simple opinion it's not common to say "Eso es <adjective>" (That's <adjective>). Instead you can say "Qué <adjective>". For example:

• Qué bueno, qué bien, bien (That's good); Me parece bien (It seems good).
• Qué gracioso, qué divertido, qué chistoso (That's funny).
• Qué mal, qué malo (That's bad).
• Qué lindo, qué bonito, qué chévere (That's beautiful).

Last

In English they use "Last" (último) to refer to the time (day, month, year) just passed.

So, it's not very common to say "Fui a una fiesta el último domingo o el domingo pasado" (I went to a party last Sunday).

Instead, we just say "Fui a una fiesta el domingo" because the past of the verb ("Fui") already indicates that the Sunday is the Last one.

Next

Also, when the verb refers to the future, it's not necessary to say "Próximo" (Next) as in "El domingo iré a una fiesta" (Next Sunday, I will go to a party).

Days, months and demonyms

By the way, in Spanish, the names of the days, months and demonyms are written in lowercase letters as opposite to English where they are written in capital letters:

• lunes (Monday), martes (Tuesday).
• octubre (October), enero (January).
• inglés (English), español o castellano (Spanish).

For a <time>

When talking about periods, it's not necessary to say "Por" (for):

- Estudié inglés tres años (I studied English for three years).

- Mi hermano estará con nosotros una semana (My brother will be with us for a week).

Pronoun <verb>

Avoid the use of pronouns (Yo [I], Tú [You], Ellos [They]) followed by a verb. Spanish language have a rich conjugation which allows to indicate the subject (and number), time and mode; so it's not well to say the pronoun constantly like in "Yo estudio, yo viajé, yo jugaré" (I study, I traveled, I'll play), as it is in English where the pronoun is necessary because of the simplicity of the conjugation. Just say the verb: "Estudio, Viajé, Jugaré"; the pronoun is clear: Yo (I).

You can use the pronoun when there's ambiguity or when you want to emphasize: "Él trabajó, Ella trabajó" (He worked, she worked).