Spanish Grammar Tips – Part 1

Does your Spanish sound like that of an 8 year old? Or maybe you’re a veteran speaker looking for a brief refresher? Either way, here are a few pointers that will help avoid some of the more typical pitfalls.

1. Two Consecutive Verbs

For both Spanish and English the rule is the same: when two verbs are placed together, we conjugate the first and leave the second in the infinitive.

I want to eat pizza.

Because the infinitive in English typically consists of ‘to’ + verb, oftentimes Spanish learners will mistakenly say:

Quiero a comer pizza. -INCORRECT

The infinitive in Spanish is just one word ending in ‘r’.

Quiero comer pizza. -CORRECT

2. Invitar vs Invite

In English we use ‘invite’ when one initiates plans with someone. ‘Invitar’ can mean the same, but it always implies that the person inviting is paying.

Juan me invitó comer empanadas. (He suggested the idea and payed the bill)

[Boy approaches lonely girl in bar] ¿Te invito un trago?

So if you’re treating someone, use ‘invitar’.

3. Absence of article

For some reason when referring to one’s profession, Spanish speakers remove the article.

English: I am a lawyer. Spanish: Soy abogado.

4. Absence of article II

The same goes when using ‘otro/a.’ You can NEVER place ‘un/una’ before ‘otro/otra.’

English: Can I have another coffee? Spanish: ¿Me das/traes otro café?

This leads us to another fallacy….

5. Puedo Tener

It is very common when ordering to say ”Can I have…?” In Spanish the modal ‘can’ is not necessary.
English: Can I have a glass of Malbec?

Spanish: ¿Me das/traes una copa de Malbec?

6).Vote for, Look for, Wait for, Pay for

In none of these circumstances is it necessary to use por or para when translating.

Decidí votar a nadie porque todos los candidatos son pésismos.

Los que tienen el poder siempre están buscando maneras de mantenerlo.
Te estábamos esperando toda la noche en el pub.  ¿Te perdiste?

For even more helpful tidbits check out Spanish Grammar Tips-Part 2