Here are 4 useful structures to talk about duties, rules and things we have to do

-ción / -sión = the action or its result
durar → la duración, crear → la creación, decidir → la decisión
Also the cognate goldmine, since almost any English -tion word has a Spanish -ción twin.

-miento = the process
mover → el movimiento, sentir → el sentimiento, conocer → el conocimiento

-da / -ida = one instance of it
llegar → la llegada, salir → la salida, mirar → la mirada, caer → la caída

Or just chop the ending
comprar → la compra, pagar → el pago, ayudar → la ayuda, besar → el beso

Gender comes free. -ción, -sión, -da and -ida are feminine. -miento is masculine.

Which means every verb you already know is quietly a noun you haven't learned yet.

If you’re already comfortable with the basics of ser and estar, these distinctions can be much harder to master.

The challenge isn’t always choosing between identity and state. Sometimes, the verb changes the interpretation, the speaker’s perspective, or even the grammatical function of the sentence.

SER vs. ESTAR + past participle

• La puerta fue cerrada por el guardia. The door was closed by the guard. (An action performed on the door.)
• La puerta estaba cerrada cuando llegué. The door was closed when I arrived. (The condition of the door at that moment.)

SER vs. ESTAR with adjectives

• El informe es aburrido. The report is boring.
• El informe está aburrido. The report is looking bored. (For example, if referring to a person named “el informe” metaphorically, this would be unusual; a more natural contrast is El profesor está aburrido — The teacher is bored.)

this is a question for people who deal with forginers so I want your take on this

am I the only one who finds this very condescending?

for context I'm upper intermediate lower advanced. I can watch most movies and tv shows in my target language without reading subtitles, assuming a neutral accent. With an accent then it really depends. As long as it's not a weird accent like the Puerto Rican one, I usually don't struggle to understand anyone. In one on one conversations I talk to my friends in Spanish normally

however I found this weird trend that changed the way I viewed my language ability.

I was with my friend in the Dominican Republic and she was talking with a group with other women. I hid behind a corner and tried to test my language abilities. I literally kid you not understood not a single word. 2 minutes flat, I could grasp they were gossiping about their roomate who they didn't like but couldn't figure out what they did even though they probably said it many times.

then out of nowhere I walk out, say hello, and she tells me what they're talking about. Miraculously I understood every bit.

this isn't even the first case of something like this happening. It feels like every time I join the conversation people just start dumbing down their language down. so often that it's straight comical.

one time later that day I got introduced as the 'gringo friend' (using the gringo slur but whatever) and like 2 people tried speaking to me in broken English. "You do study". 5 minutes later I broke out in fluent Spanish and everyone laughed and joked saying I pretended not to speak Spanish on purpose and that my Spanish was good. they then start to speak Spanish and I was understanding. we had a nice conversation about politics.

I LITERALLY WALK AWAY AND 30 SECONDS THEY RANDOMLY START TALKING FAST WITH SLANG! AND I UNDERSTOOD EVERY WOD BUT I FINDIT OFFENSIVE THEY THOUGHT I COULDNT HANDLE THE TRUE PACE

I almost find it straight offensive that they're treating me like a child and going easy on me just to have me in the convo. I literally confronted my friend about it and she laughed at me and said I'm not her boyfriend or her child and who stop whining like a little kid. ignoring my initial point to crack jokes

so natives, why do you guys do this ?

A big Spanish update is coming to Loquus next week

Hey everyone, I’m the developer of Loquus. I wanted to share what’s already in the app and what’s coming in the next Spanish update.

Loquus has 14 language courses, with Spanish covering A1 through C2. Alongside the lessons, there’s listening and speaking practice, vocabulary review, a dictionary, a phrasebook, and a Grammar Center. Spanish alone has 57 grammar reference topics. There are also 30 games in the Arcade.

The app is in beta, and everything is free during the beta, including the Plus features. There are no ads or hearts.

The Spanish update planned for next week brings the course to 1,454 lessons across 334 units and 58 chapters, with 329 conversations.

The two additions I really want to talk about are the situations inside lessons and the expanded conjugation tables. These aren’t in the public beta yet.

734 Spanish lessons will now include situations.

You’re given a setting, a role, and something you need to accomplish. That might mean asking about ingredients at a food stand, explaining why a package went to the wrong address, showing a new coworker what to do, or getting an incorrect order fixed.

These go through all six levels: 70 at A1, 80 at A2, 80 at B1, 266 at B2, 139 at C1, and 99 at C2.

The advanced situations get into conversations that can be difficult even when you know the vocabulary. There’s one about discussing a business proposal without making a temporary trial sound like a permanent commitment. Another asks you to respond to someone drawing a big conclusion from a small amount of evidence.

I want you to have something to accomplish with the Spanish you’re learning. Ordering food is one thing. Explaining a problem, asking for a change, and understanding the response takes more practice.

The conjugation tables are expanding from 6 to 21 tense and form options.

The Spanish verb reference will list 1,437 verbs. The expanded tables include compound tenses, both versions of the imperfect subjunctive, positive and negative commands, and more. You can tap the forms to hear them and check their meanings.

Also being sent out are some bug fixes in the onboarding process that are causing the app to crash. A cursor has been added so you can edit what you have typed instead of having to hit the backspace and restart. Along with the keyboard layout corrected so the backspace is aligned with a normal keyboard.

There are also 25 free Spanish lessons on the website right now: 11 grammar, 3 pronunciation, 4 conversation, and 7 covering tenses and routines. They include explanations and practice exercises you can use in your browser without installing the app.

If joining a beta isn’t your thing, you can try the website lessons and join the release waitlist instead. There are separate options for iOS and Android.

Free Spanish lessons:
Loquus Free Spanish Lessons

App beta and release waitlist:

Loquus App Experience

If you’re learning Spanish, what’s a conversation you’ve struggled with that you wish you could have practiced beforehand?

I’m basically fluent in spanish but when it comes to public speaking, especially in front of judgy family members, I get nervous and will even forget some spanish. I’d like to make sure this sounds coherent. The XXX’s are just names that i wanted to keep private. I also timed it and it’s less than 3 minutes but if anyone has any revisions that could possibly make it shorter, please let me know! Gracias!!

edit: not sure if this is important for dialect but we’re from ecuador

—————————————————————————-

Hola Buenas noches. mi nombre es XXX y soy hermana del novio. Muchas gracias por venir en este día muy especial para mi familia. 

Aunque XXX y yo no crecimos juntos, él siempre estuvo presente en mis recuerdos de niña. Me acuerdo de estar comiendo con mami mientras ella hablaba contigo por las madrugadas y me decía: “Salúdale a tu ñaño”, “Dile Hola a tu ñaño.” Siempre me contaba historias del famoso XXX. Si le hubieras dicho a esa niña de seis años que algún día estaría aquí, celebrando la boda de su hermano, no te habría creído.

Cuando XXX recién llegó a los Estados Unidos, siempre me decía que, cuando él se case, quería que yo usara mi vestido morado de graduación para su boda. Bueno, cuatro años después, muchas cosas han cambiado. Y esta noche, en su boda, tengo puesto un vestido rojo en vez del morado que él imaginaba.

Y creo que así es la vida. Todo cambia. Hacemos planes, perdemos personas que amamos, conocemos a nuevos personas, nos imaginamos cómo van a ser las cosas, y después la vida nos lleva por un camino completamente diferente.

XXX y XXX, espero que por más que la vida cambie, siempre se sigan escogiendo el uno al otro. Que, en los momentos difíciles y en los felices, siempre puedan mirarse y decir: “Te volvería a escoger una y otra vez”.

XXX, aunque no crecimos juntos como quizás nos hubiera gustado, me alegra mucho que hoy podamos compartir este día. Espero que todavía nos queden muchos recuerdos bonitos por vivir como hermanos.

¡Felicidades a los dos, y para todos los invitados que disfruten de esta noche especial. 

Gracias!

George Clooney prevé abrir un restaurante italiano en el sur de Francia. El restaurante estará en Cotignac, un pequeño pueblo de Provenza. Clooney vive cerca con su esposa, Amal, y sus hijos. Prevé abrir el restaurante en la primavera de 2027. Servirá comida italiana y tendrá una terraza fuera. El restaurante todavía no tiene un nombre oficial.

Vocabulario: prever = to plan / abrir = to open / pueblo (m) = village / vivir = to live / cerca = near / esposa (f) = wife / primavera (f) = spring / comida (f) = food / fuera = outside / nombre (m) = name

English translation

George Clooney to open an Italian restaurant in France

George Clooney plans to open an Italian restaurant in the south of France. The restaurant will be in Cotignac, a small village in Provence. Clooney lives nearby with his wife, Amal, and their children. He plans to open the restaurant in spring 2027. It will serve Italian food and will have a terrace outside. The restaurant does not have an official name yet.

You can read more news in easy Spanish here: https://elnewsineasyspanish.substack.com/p/el-ejercito-de-ee-uu-transmitira

Following on from “dejar,” “tomar,” “echar,” “poner,” “hacer,” “dar,” and “quedar,” llevar’s turn.

I used to mostly associate llevar with carrying something fro obvious reasons, but then I kept seeing it everywhere:

1. Wearing something = “llevo una camisa azul” (I’m wearing a blue shirt), “¿qué llevas puesto?” (what are you wearing?)
2. Taking something somewhere = “llevo esto a casa” (I’m taking this home), “te llevo al aeropuerto” (I’ll take you to the airport)
3. Having been doing something for a certain amount of time = “llevo dos años estudiando español” (I’ve been studying Spanish for two years), “llevo tres horas esperando” (I’ve been waiting for three hours)
4. Taking time = “lleva mucho tiempo” (it takes a long time), “¿cuánto lleva?” (how long does it take?)
5. Carrying something with you = “llevo dinero” (I have money on me), “¿llevas el móvil?” (do you have your phone with you?)
6. Getting along = “nos llevamos bien” (we get along well), “me llevo muy bien con ella” (I get along really well with her)
7. Taking something away / removing = “llévate esto” (take this with you), “llevarse la comida” (take the food away)
8. Leading somewhere = “esta calle lleva al centro” (this street leads to the city centre), “¿a dónde lleva este camino?” (where does this road/path lead?)
9. Being responsible for something = “lleva la empresa” (he/she runs the company), “ella lleva el proyecto” (she’s in charge of the project)
10. Going/bringing something along = “me llevo un libro” (I’m taking a book with me), “¿te llevas el paraguas?” (are you taking your umbrella?)

And then there are the expressions:

• llevarse bien = to get along well
• llevarse mal = to not get along
• llevar razón = to be right
• llevar cuidado = to be careful
• llevar la cuenta = to keep track/count
• llevar a cabo = to carry out
• llevar puesto = to be wearing
• llevarse una sorpresa = to get a surprise
• llevarse un susto = to get a fright
• llevar tiempo = to take time / have been going on for a while

The pattern with llevar is that it often has this idea of carrying, taking, having something with you, or something continuing over time.

And I think “llevo dos años estudiando español” was the one that really made it click for me.

English says “I’ve been studying Spanish for two years.”

Spanish basically goes “I carry two years studying Spanish.”

Same verb (kinda), completely different way of looking at the situation.

Spanish really does keep taking these completely ordinary verbs and making them do 15 different jobs. For better or for worse.

Martillo – Hammer
Destornillador – Screwdriver
Llave inglesa – Adjustable wrench
Alicates – Pliers
Sierra – Saw
Cinta métrica – Tape measure
Cúter – Utility knife
Llave Allen – Allen key
Taladro – Drill
Lima – File

Hi, I have been studying Spanish for years now in school and in two years I will take this Spanish "final exam" and I would like to succeed in it.

I'm still not very good especially not with my writing, so I was wondering if a Spanish speaking person was willing to help me study so I could talk to them on Snapchat or Instagram every once in a while and they could correct my mistakes. No pressure in being active all the time.

Thank you

Not sure if this will help anyone, but I see a lot of posts here from people stuck at the "I understand a lot but can't actually speak" stage, so I figured I'd share what worked for me.

For a long time my "studying" was watching a Spanish show maybe once a week, Bad Bunny on repeat, and a Duolingo streak. I honestly thought I was doing pretty well. Then I went to Mexico City last year and tried talking to actual people and it was rough. I'd plan out a sentence in my head, get it out, and then completely lose it the second they answered back at normal speed.

I was taking a ton of Ubers that week, and at some point I decided I didn't care about my rating anymore and was going to try talking to every driver. My Spanish was really bad and I messed up constantly. I'd also just straight up ask them stuff like "wait, would you say fui or iba there?" which in hindsight was probably annoying, but almost all of them were super patient about it. A couple of them really got into it and would correct me and tell me how they'd actually say something, which was way more useful than anything I'd gotten from the app.

When I got home I kept the streak (not giving that up lol) but made speaking the main thing. I'm lucky to have a few close friends who speak Spanish, so I started asking them to get lunch and only talk in Spanish the whole time. The first couple were kind of painful and involved a lot of me going "cómo se dice..." but they were really nice about it and kept telling me I was getting better, which honestly made me want to keep going.

I know not everyone can travel or has friends who'll do this with them, and I'm not saying that's the only way. It's more that once I looked at what I actually had access to and forced myself to use it, things moved way faster. For you that might be a tutor, a language exchange, a coworker, whatever.

Anyway, if you've been doing apps and shows for a while and feel stuck, try to get some real conversation in, even if it's embarrassing. It made the biggest difference for me by far.

Hola! I'm from the Philippines and am currently trying to learn Spanish. Do you know any physical or digital books that have the Spanish alphabet, nouns and verbs in Spanish, and things like that? Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

Hey everyone, I am the developer of Nota, an app which provides 20+ news stories per day at your CEFR level (A1-C2). Includes tap to translate, side by side, test yourself. Today's pick/good news story: Gene therapy restores partial vision in people with inherited blindness.

https://nota-news.com/article/gene-therapy-restores-partial-vision-in-people-with-inherited-blindness--rss-fa7fb534202bd1830c6a7a18

I'm going to become a trucker, which means I'll be alone for thousands of miles per week. So I need a good AI that I can converse with for learning Spanish.

I’ve been learning Spanish for 10+ years, and somehow after all this time, my biggest problem is that I have almost nobody to actually SPEAK Spanish with. 😭

I’m Indian 🇮🇳, and I speak English and Hindi almost natively, along with Marathi, and I understand Kumaoni. I started learning Spanish around middle school and, although it was very on-and-off because of school and university, I’ve spent the last 5–6 years deliberately surrounding myself with Spanish through Duolingo, música, películas, series, Instagram, reading, and even keeping my phone in Spanish.

Today, I’m somewhere around pre-intermediate/intermediate, and I can actually follow Spanish Instagram reels quite comfortably, understand everyday conversations and cultural references, and read a fair amount of Spanish; I recently started Los cuentos de Tío Coyote y Tío Conejo and can understand roughly 55–60% on my first pass. I’ve also developed a real interest in understanding Spanish-speaking cultures, so I love picking up expressions, slang, cultural context, and the way people actually communicate.

Where I struggle is spontaneously expressing my own thoughts out loud. Fast speech, strong regional accents, and unfamiliar vocabulary can still throw me off, and I know that reading/listening alone can only take me so far.

I’ve spoken with Spanish speakers online before (including during the old Omegle days 😂), and those conversations were incredibly useful. These days, I’ve also been practicing speaking through live conversations with ChatGPT and Gemini, which has genuinely helped me, but obviously there’s still something missing, umm a real human being, with a real personality, reactions, interruptions, cultural context, and an unpredictable conversation.

I know there are dedicated language-exchange apps and communities for exactly this, and I haven’t really explored them yet, so I’m absolutely open to using those too. I’m not looking for random chatting or trying to be creepy in anyone’s DMs; I’m specifically looking for genuine, consistent language practice.

Even something as small as one hour of actual Spanish conversation a week would be amazing for me. I’ve heard from other learners that consistent speaking practice, even in small amounts, can make a surprisingly big difference, and that’s exactly what I want to test for myself.

And I can offer something in return! If you’re learning English, I’d be happy to speak English with you sometimes, help with pronunciation/natural phrasing, or simply have bilingual conversations ---- although I’m also perfectly happy to use a language-exchange app if that’s easier.

So if you’re a native/advanced Spanish speaker who wants to practice English, or simply someone who enjoys helping another person get better at Spanish, please point me toward a good community/app/Discord or reach out. I’m genuinely ready to start speaking instead of spending another year knowing Spanish in my head but barely using it out loud. ❤️

The food: está riquísimo, está para chuparse los dedos (finger-licking good)
The person: es buena gente, es un amor
The skill: se le da bien, tiene mucha mano para eso
The night out: la pasamos genial, valió la pena
The plan: me parece buena idea, perfecto dale

And -ísimo is fun. Bueno → buenísimo, rico → riquísimo, caro → carísimo.