is there a starting point i can learn, like a few frequently used phrases and words people use day to day? i want to learn but focus on that mainly and learn the rest as i go, if that makes sense. i understand 60% of it and read 20% of it so far.

So I've got a book called "Spanish in 3 months" to learn most of my grammatica rules from but I might need some more info.

It has some example sentences with every new concept it introduces and this chapter is about using demonstrative pronouns as a noun. It also mentions that you can use "*este*" and "*aquel*" as a way to list things (*"first*" and "*second*").

The example sentence it uses is:

"**Tienen un hijo y una hija. Esta es médica y aquel es profesor**"

And the translation it gives is:

"**They have a son and a daughter. The former is a doctor and the latter is a teacher.**"

I believe the book has got it wrong. Shouldn't the former (the son) be the teacher and the latter (the daughter) be the doctor? The gender of the pronouns doesn't make any sense otherwise?

Can someone please explain it to me if I'm wrong for thinking this? Or is the book wrong?

Is the best translation really just pelicula sangrienta? That would translate directly to bloody movie but there’s a lot more to a gory movie like Terrifier or Saw than just blood.

I was speaking recently with someone in Spanish and they used hubo or similar in a phrase which wasn't in a perfect tense, then I noticed it in a show too. Unfortunately I cannot remember the phrase at this point. Is there a version of this that exists in the English language that I haven't noticed? I can only thing of the perfect tense using the English have=haber, ei:

1. I had eaten
2. I have eaten
3. I will have eaten

or a more complex perfect tense like the continuous perfect:

1. I had been eating
2. I have ben eating
3. I will have been eating

I play violin in an orchestra in Spain, how do I talk about "practicing" a musical piece at home? Maybe I'm overthinking it and I could directly say "practiqué esta pieza la semana pasada" but it feels weird...? I know "ensayar" is "to rehearse" but in English we differentiate between "rehearsing" formally with a group and "practicing" at home, does that difference exist in Spanish? I also feel like my stand partner asked me if I had time to "aprender" or "estudiar" (I can't remember which word she used now oops) the pieces at home, and that word choice surprised me.

Can I say estoy de viaje or estoy viajando?

For example, ....para que recibas la compensacion que...mereces, indicative, or merezcas, subjunctive? Or could either one be ok?

¡Hola! ¿Qué es un bollo en España?

“Llevo tres meses estudiando español” = “I’ve been studying Spanish for three months.” The same pattern works in “Llevamos una hora esperando” (“We’ve been waiting for an hour”): llevar + a time span + gerund describes how long an activity has been underway. Compare “Estudié durante tres meses,” which describes a completed period of studying. Context still matters, but this pattern is handy to recognize while reading.

I've heard "buenas noticias (todos)" from the professor in both dubs of Futurama, but recently heard "buenas nuevas" from the Ice King in Adventure Time, which is a better way to express "good news"?

Is it wrong to not have students say "yo" before a verb? For example, yo tengo vs. tengo

I'm filling in to teach 6th grade Spanish to students who haven't had a Spanish class before. It's a U.S. public school and I am not certified to teach Spanish.

hey guys, I'm having some trouble with preterite vs imperfect. I had to answer a fill in the blank:

El verano pasado, todos los días nosotros _____(ir) a nadar en el lago y _____(divertirse) un montón.

and I thought it would be imperfect but my teacher said it wasn't. she said the answers were: fuimos/nos divertimos

and I dont really get why its preterite here

When reading EEUU aloud, do native speakers actually say the letters e-e-u-u or just say Estados Unidos?

I often see stuff like "me robó el corazón" and I'm wondering if i should be translating it as "my heart" or "the heart", also I don't know why or when you guys would use "mi" instead of "el/la"

Edit: Thank you for all the responses, I definitely could've used a better example but it was the last thing I saw 😂. I think I it understand now 😁💙

If for instance you are using Claude or something, would you add the personal a? Is it a judgement call about whether you think they merit consideration as something personified like the line between animals and pets?

Why does the following sentence use le instead of lo/la? Isn't "arm" receiving the action?

Sally pinched Armando's arm as she walked by.

Sally le pellizcó el brazo a Armando cuando pasó.

Apologies if this is frequently asked, but I have a question for Spanish speakers concerning these two sentences: (1)“If they don’t know, they should ask her” and (2) “If you guys [plural] don’t know, you guys should ask her.”

Obviously in English, the pronouns are different (“they” vs the plural “you”), which helps distinguish exactly who is being spoken to. But in Spanish (afaik), the sentence would be the same for both of those situations: “Si no lo saben, deberían preguntarle an ella.” My question is, do Spanish speakers rely on context in this situation (i.e. “they know who I’m talking to”), or is there a different way to distinguish exactly who you’re talking to/about, since the verbs and pronouns are identical for both situations in Spanish?

Es mi primer trabajo como maestra! Para introducirme PRESENTARME a los niños, cuál suena más natural?

1. Hola, soy la señorita Smith
2. Hola soy señorita Smith
3. Hola soy miss Smith

A menudo en las canciones españolas oigo adjetivos como nuevo después del sustantivo. Entiendo que tiene un significado diferente,¿pero este orden libre se aplica a varios o muy pocos adjetivos? Espero que este mensaje tenga sentido pero lo siento si hice errores cuando lo escribí.

I frequently say things like “yo creo” or “yo quiero” when it is obvious that I am talking about myself.

I've noticed that native speakers often leave out the "yo". Even when it is grammatically correct, can it sound unnatural if it is used too much?

Hola a todos, yo he estado estudiando español hace siete meses (así que, porfa perdón cualquier error gramatical 😁)

Escuché a la canción “un beso y una flor” muchas veces tras españa ganó la copa del mundo… sabes, celebrarlo. Aún estoy confundido por la frase “al partir”. Cuando la busco en el traductor, me dice que la frase significa “when leaving,” pero también me dice que no hay un traducción directo.

Y cuando intento usar la palabra “al” con otros verbos, no me da la repuesta misma. Como, no hay significado parecido por la frase, “al querer”, o “al intentar”. ¿Hay cualquieras reglas para este tipo de frase?

Muchagracias y espero que eso tiene sentido!!

I've seen them both used interchangeably but I've also been led to believe there's some nuance to it, like cases where you'd use one over the other, and I'd like to ask natives for clarification.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre «alguna que otra» y «una que otra»? He visto que se utilizan indistintamente, pero también me han dado a entender que hay algún matiz, como casos en los que se usaría una en lugar de la otra, y me gustaría pedir una aclaración a los hablantes nativos.

I was trying to communicate to someone that something was "deep-fried", but "Frito profundo" doesn't sound correct to me. Is there a Spanish word or phrase that indicates that something is deep fried?

So the lesson i just did explain that ir + gerundio is to say that something is gradually increasing, but i cant really wrap my head around it? Like take the sentence "va ahorrando dinero al final de cada mes" vs " esta ahorrando dinero al final de cada mes" both translate to me as "he is saving money at the end of each month. But do they actaully mean different things?