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  Word Order: almost battery dead is My phone’s! have I I’ll steak the think, medium-rare. by have I I’m intrigued proposal say that to your. come didn’t do he he said think to want Why you? a and beer do first get home I I is like open some The thing to TV watch […]

  The English word “collapsed” has a more limited meaning than its Spanish counterpart. In both languages, “collapsed” refers to a building or something similar that has fallen down. The abandoned factory collapsed overnight. The Old Man of the Mountain, a rock feature that looked like the face of an old man, collapsed at some […]

The most common modal verbs we use to talk about things that are mandatory are must and have to. In the present and in the affirmative, both have very similar meanings: obligation. However, must implies that the obligation comes from within; i.e., you are obliging yourself to do it. I must get to the professor’s […]

  Both the Spanish and English words refer to things people have learned, especially as children, but they are just different enough that you need to learn them separately. “Educado” in Spanish refers to behavior.  If your parents raised you well, to be respectful and follow the rules of etiquette, people consider you to be […]

  The Spanish word Un(o)/Una has two possible translations into English, the number “one” and the article “a/an”.  They’re often confused, because oftentimes, people don’t know which is appropriate for the context. “One” is a number or a pronoun.  We use it when we want to specify that there is only one of something, or […]

  Word Order: done have I I it known wouldn’t had. and bike here his me Paul stay to told watch. come had Mary not said she that told to you. avoid Please sculptures the touching. at Don’t like look me that! Answers: I wouldn’t have done it had I known. Paul told me to […]

  Spanish, with expressions like “ellos se miran” can be a little confusing, because, without context, that sentence could mean that a) there are two people, and each one is looking at himself (reflexive), or that b) each person is looking at the other (reciprocal). English makes this easy: To say that Alice is looking […]

  Put the words in the right order: could Do me possibly think tomorrow visit you you? any be drive Might there there to way? have I not Philip Should told? don’t got I know Matt selfie stick this where. drove I Madrid quickly to very. Answers: Do you think you could possibly visit me […]

  As usual with false friends, these words have similar underlying ideas, but are not the same. The English word “rare”, much like its Spanish lookalike, means that something is infrequent, perhaps even a little special.  But it’s not unusual.   And that’s what makes it different from the Spanish word.  A more common translation for […]

  These two words in English seem to be the same word in Spanish, so there can be some confusion.  Let’s clear that up. Why is used to ask questions: Why are you here? Why is the sky blue? It is also used as a relative pronoun: I wonder why she goes out with him. […]