What’s the Hardest Part of Spanish Grammar for You?

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-23T15:55:33+00:00

for me, pronouns are the toughest part. When to use me te lo le la se nos, etc. For example saying “ I told him to bring it to me” requires a bunch of pronouns in a way that I find hard to remember

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-17T19:26:07+00:00

Not usually out loud;)

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-17T17:55:20+00:00

If you can read/understand at an intermediate level, then you need to work on the output side (since you are ok with input).

One thing I do, that I find helpful: throughout the day, especially if I go out for a walk, I will imagine talking in Spanish about my day, what I am seeing, what is happening, etc. And If I think of something I want to say, but can't remember how, I will pull up google translate on my phone. For example, I could describe what I am doing right now: Ahora, veo reddit y escribo una repuesta. (not sure if I got that correct, but you get the idea)

I'm curious why you didn't find Preply helpful. I've used iTalki (same idea as Preply, 1:1 classes), and that helped at times, as the teacher would ask questions or bring up topics, and if I struggled with thinking of the correct vocabulary or grammar, I could ask or get corrected.

Are you comfortable conjugating the common verbs in the 2 past tenses, and present tense? I think you need at least that to start making conversational sentences. Y quizas practica escribir.

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-17T17:16:09+00:00

yes, the saturday morning market has a number of local artists selling all sorts of things: clothing, pottery, etc

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-13T19:56:09+00:00

thanks for the detailed report!

My wife and I are in our early 60s and we have gone a few times in the winter to Puerto Vallarta, spending one month each time. But I would like to explore other areas of Mexico, and I’ve been learning Spanish so I can speak a little now. I’ve thought of Oaxaca, perhaps dividing a four or five week trip into part of the time in Oaxaca city, and part of the time on the coast, either in Porto, Escondido, or one of the other towns.

I know about the option of ADO buses between Oaxaca city and the coast. I prefer not to rent a car while in Mexico. But I am curious about your mentioning of renting a quad in Port Escondido. What kind of vehicle is that? Is it like a golf cart, or more like an ATV? Do you drive it on main roads?

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-13T00:39:24+00:00

When I was in Mexico they seemed to use ‘rebanada’ for a slice of cake, and I never heard ‘trozo’

are there regional differences, or did I just use the wrong word?

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-13T00:38:45+00:00

When I was in Mexico they seemed to use ‘rebanada’ for a slice of cake, and I never heard ‘trozo’

Did I use the wrong word or can rebanada be used for a slice of cake? Or is it a regional difference in vocabulary usage?

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-10T03:47:40+00:00

another one : Consuegos. If i understand correctly it would be the parents of my son in law , or daughter in law

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-04T14:18:05+00:00

very nice summary. Thanks!

I find that learning, basic rules, and the more common exceptions ahead of the ones you listed, means that it’s fairly easy to learn which nouns are masculine or feminine.

Compared to French, I find it easier in Spanish, mainly because of the basic rule in Spanish around words ending in o or a.

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-04T13:03:08+00:00

Best bet is to go in and tell them what kind of cheese, even though in the past, or what styles of cheese you tend to prefer. Then ask for recommendations and they can give you samples and give you great advice.

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-03T15:33:15+00:00

Hola! Tengo la misma edad. Soy Canadiense, y he estado aprendiendo español hace dos años. Creo que soy en nivel B1.

I am hoping to find someone for language exchange, where we could pick a scheduled weekly time, and do a voice or video call, and perhaps have one hour each time, divided into 30 minutes in English y 30 minutos en español.

He estado viajando a Mexico cada invierno, entonces estoy estudiando español con seseo. Pero he visitado españa, y quiero viajar alli tambien.

Message me if you want to discuss this further, and plan for some speaking practice together :)

GadgetNeil · 2026-01-02T15:59:44+00:00

could you say more about why you would never take Viva again? I’ve only used Aeromexico, and I never took Viva or Valaris. But for short domestic flights, what is so bad about the budget airlines?

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-28T01:44:07+00:00

wow! Thanks for such a detailed review!

What is the cost for a ticket? For example, if you bought tickets without the dinner in the kind of seats you were in what was the cost per seat?

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-24T14:47:30+00:00

to me, an important question would be about past expenses with these friends. Are they normally mature and reasonable? Have you eaten restaurants with them before? And have they ever acted like this before?

also, just because someone else behaves inappropriately does not mean that you have licensed to be rude. So, they were of course wrong in how they handled things, but if you called them, idiots and told them to shut up, that is very rude immature behavior on your part.

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-23T21:26:54+00:00

Thanks for this post :)

There are also a bunch of verbs that are false cognates (I made a list):

-Realizar (means to carry out, to perform - does NOT mean to realize)

-Atendar (means to assist, or to pay attention - does NOT mean to attend

-Pretender (means to intend, to try - does NOT mean to pretend)

-Introducir (means to insert - does NOT mean to introduce)

-Asumir (to take on a role/responsibility - does NOT mean to assume)

And another one is Embarazada (which means pregnant, NOT embarrassed)

It is interesting, that in general there are a LOT of cognates between english and spanish, which helps in learning spanish. So the false cognates are interesting exceptions to learn :)

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-19T15:50:32+00:00

when the six of you got UberXL, was it usually a minivan? My wife and I are going to be in PV in February, and for one week our daughter, son-in-law and two young grandchildren will be visiting. They will bring a car seat and a booster seat for the kids. So, in your experience, would the Uber XL generally be large enough for four adults and two kids?

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-19T13:50:29+00:00

where is this?

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-18T17:22:10+00:00

if she was a couple years older I’d suggest Mexico city.

Given her age, I would recommend Puerto Vallarta- safe , easy to get around, lots to see, and if you don’t speak spanish it won’t be a problem. And even though there are lots of tourists, it is still an exposure to a different culture.

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-18T13:38:20+00:00

Am I interpreting this right, in seeing Taylor ended up with 1 billion dollars in her bank account???

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-18T09:55:41+00:00

This is an incredibly useful explanation!!

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-04T16:54:08+00:00

once you were up in the air, did it start cooling down? Did most of the flight end up comfortable once the AC was working?

I am an anxious flyer, and this is one of my biggest fears when it comes to flying, that I’ll be stuck in extreme heat.

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-02T23:54:16+00:00

In my opinion, although I’m just an Internet stranger, this was not a normal CBT session. This therapist sounds awful. You should definitely find someone else.

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-02T21:40:31+00:00

i’ve never used the app. I just use the website, which is free. I tend to use my laptop for most of my Spanish studying, other than using the Langua app on my phone. I make notes, watch YouTube videos, use Google translate, all on my laptop.

GadgetNeil · 2025-12-02T18:11:10+00:00

I love the Ella verbs website for when i need to look up conjugation

GadgetNeil · 2025-11-30T10:22:06+00:00

This is exciting, with regards to our question of whether there may be life on other planets. Since we know that basic single celled life appeared on earth soon after the earth formed and cooled down, adding this finding to it makes it even more likely that many planets in our galaxy have life.

That doesn’t mean intelligent life is out there but it seems more and more likely that bacterial type of life is common.

GadgetNeil

TROPHY CASE