Spanish Lessons & Resources to Learn Spanish for Free

Home > Spanish Language > Common Errors

Common mistakes in Spanish
Language Resources
dQ Members
Destinations

/spanishlanguage/words/list.asp

A nivel de
Prepositional phrase of foreign origin that is equivalent to certain prepositions in Spanish. Avoid it and use the Spanish prepositions.
Ejemplo:
Incorrect: El problema será estudiado a nivel de la dirección.
Correct: El problema será estudiado por la dirección.

A punta de pistola
A robbery occurs "a punta de navaja" or "de cuchillo", but never "a punta de pistola". The correct expression is pistola en mano.
Ejemplo:
Entraron en el banco pistola en mano.
Le robaron el bolso a punta de cuchillo.

Acerbo / acervo
Do not confuse the two words:
Acerbo: cruel, sharp to the taste.
Acervo: a lot of small things, accumulation of goods.
Ejemplo:
Hicieron muchos comentarios acerbos que le molestaron.
Esa nación tiene un gran acervo cultural.

Acordarse de / recordar (a)
Although these are synonyms they do not have the same structure. Acordarse is a reflexive verb and takes the preposition de. Recordar is a transitive verb and does not take a preposition, except in cases when the direct object requires the preposition a.
Ejemplo:
Me acuerdo de las vacaciones.
Recuerdo las vacaciones.
Another possible mistake is the following:
* "Me recuerdo…". Because the verb "recordar" is not reflexive, it does not use the pronoun. The correct expression is: "Recuerdo…"

Aparte / A parte
Aparte can be an adverb, an adjective or a noun.
Example: Ese tema es aparte.
A parte is a construction made up of a preposition and a noun, "parte" (which can take determiners and be pluralized).
Ejemplo:
Nos quedaremos en casa. No iremos a parte alguna.

<<< Former -- Next >>>

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M
N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

Remember that besides these words, you can consult our data base for Spanish Words (Word of the day)

Learn Spanish

dQ Community

About don Quijote