Spanish Nacho — Writing
Spanish as it is spokenin Spain
Most Spanish you find online is written for Latin America. These are the things that trip people up when they land here instead — written by a teacher in Granada, with the examples you will actually hear in a bar.
- 01
Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish: which one should you learn?
They are the same language, and you will be understood either way. But six differences decide which one fits your plans — and one of them is a verb form most courses skip entirely.
Read - 02
Ser vs Estar, explained by a Spanish teacher in Granada
Forget permanent versus temporary — that rule breaks the moment you say someone is dead. Here is the distinction that actually holds, with the examples you'll need in a Spanish bar.
Read - 03
Vosotros: the verb form nobody teaches you, and you'll need it daily in Spain
Most Spanish courses skip vosotros because they are written for Latin America. In Spain you will hear it within an hour of landing. Here is the whole thing, in about ten minutes.
Read - 04
Spanish accent marks: the ones English speakers always forget
Accents are not decoration. Ten of them change the meaning of the word completely, and one of them turns 'yes, my love' into something much colder. The rules take five minutes.
Read - 05
El or la? Spanish noun gender rules that actually work
The -o/-a rule covers most nouns and then abandons you on the ones you use daily. Here are the patterns that hold, the traps that don't, and why it is la sartén.
Read - 06
The little word English speakers always drop in Spanish: lo, la, le
In English, 'it' disappears when the context is obvious. In Spanish it never does. This is why 'puedo ver muy claro' makes a Spaniard ask: see what, exactly?
Read - 07
Sobremesa and six other Spanish words English can't translate
Some words tell you more about a country than a guidebook does. These seven need a whole sentence in English — and understanding sobremesa is close to understanding Spain.
Read - 08
How to say "most of the time" in Spanish (and the mistake almost everyone makes)
It is not "por la mayoría del tiempo". Spanish splits it in two — la mayor parte for things you measure, la mayoría for things you count. Here is the rule.
Read - 09
Why Spanish people have two surnames
Every Spaniard carries their father's surname and their mother's — and women keep their own name when they marry. Here is how the system works, and why forms abroad keep breaking it.
Read - 10
Why Spanish children are still awake at midnight
A four-year-old having dinner on a terrace at midnight is not a scandal in Spain — it is a Tuesday in July. Here is the logic behind it, and what it means if you are moving here with kids.
Read - 11
In Spain, you pay on your own birthday
It is your birthday, so you bring the cake and you buy the drinks. It sounds backwards until you do the maths — and it explains the most misunderstood verb in Spanish: invitar.
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