I might lose some of you with this reference, but I swear it’s relevant to your Spanish:
There used to be a recurring joke in the cartoon Family Guy where they had these two vaguely Scandinavian guys who spoke almost perfect American English…
Except for a few small details:
“It was so expensive, each drink cost like 6 dollars 40!”
“This party is on the hook, man”
Saying things that sound funny to native speakers is just the entry fee we pay as learners.
No way around it.
But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to sound like cartoon characters.
So that’s our goal today:
We’re going to look at a few small things you can practice to make your Spanish sound more natural.
They’re not too hard, and they make a real difference.
Watch out for yo
Conjugations drive all Spanish learners a little nuts.
But their extreme specificity means we already know who is doing the action from the verb itself.
And so we hardly ever need pronouns.
That’s why saying yo or tú all the time will make your Spanish sound a bit odd, even if everything else is spot on.
Since the verb includes the info we need, pronouns are generally something we add for emphasis.
The difference between haces and tú haces is similar to the difference between you do and YOU do.
This can depend on tone and context, but as a general rule: use pronouns to clarify or emphasize — not by default.
If you’re an English speaker, you’re used to using pronouns constantly, which makes this tricky.
As an experiment, try cutting out Spanish pronouns entirely for a bit, then adding them back in.
Watch your emphasis
Ever had someone respond with a confused look when you’re using the pretérito?
It might be because of where you’re PUTting the EMphasis.
Take “hablo” vs “habló” – one tiny stress change makes the difference between “I speak” and “he/she/usted spoke.”
Emphasis/stress is a big topic (which is why we dedicate a good chunk of time to it inside Confident Spanish Pronunciation).
But one place to practice is on 3rd person preterite (habló, comió, estudió, tomó). It’s a frequent trouble spot for students of mine.
Stress in Spanish works a little differently from English, but the big thing to know is that, in these verbs, there needs to be an audible emphasis on the last syllable.
Desayunó temprano pero aún así terminó saliendo tarde de casa
vs.
Desayuno temprano pero aún así termino saliendo tarde de casa
Getting this right is important — otherwise, your listener can end up confused about who did what (since, remember, you’re not using pronouns except for the clarify or emphasize).
Chiquititititito
Mexicans say ahorita.
Chileans say cafecito and tecito.
Colombians (and many others) say ico instead of ito.
This one is tricky because it changes so much from place to place.
But regardless of differences, diminutives (-ito/ita, -ico/ica endings) are a big part of everyday Spanish.
A couple simple examples:
Perro = dog
Perrito = little dog, but also a dog you feel some affection or care for, or just find cute. It can sound a bit warmer.
Hermana = sister
Hermanita = little sister, but said with a bit more cariño from an older brother (again, changes a bit from place to place, but in general it’s a bit warmer than plain old hermana).
Incorporating -ito/-ita in a natural way will take time, and what sounds “right” is subjective because of how this feature of Spanish changes. Listening to native speakers from your target region will be a big help here.
For now, just keep an ear out for when this happens, and try out some diminutives and see what kind of reactions you get.
1% better every day
Improving your Spanish is a frustratingly gradual process.
No three tips will make you feel or sound natural overnight.
Instead, I’m hoping you’ll remember at least one of today’s tips next time you speak Spanish.
A small change this week won’t feel like much, but you’re slowly adding to your skillset.
In writing this, I remembered a quote from James Clear’s Atomic Habits:
“If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
I didn’t check his math, but he’s got a publisher so I’ll believe it.
Either way, that’s the idea to keep in mind —
Keep on adding these little tweaks, getting a tiny bit better each day.
In a year, you’ll be 684 times better (don’t check my math).
Buen fin de semana,
Connor
