Category: Writing in Spanish

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Improving language Spanish as a language Writing in Spanish

Spanish and its distinction between ser and estar

As mentioned in previous articles, Spanish is one of the world’s most extensive and diverse languages ​​. It also stands out for a particularity that distinguishes it from many other languages: the difference between the verbs “ser” and “estar” to express the concept of “being” in different senses. This distinction, which may seem complex to non-native speakers, reflects a philosophical and historical depth that has influenced the language’s grammar and how speakers perceive reality.

The distinction between “ser” and “estar”: origin and philosophy

The separation between the concepts of “ser” and “estar” has roots in Vulgar Latin, the colloquial form of Latin spoken by ordinary citizens in the Roman Empire. Although in popular Latin, there was still no differentiation between the verb that referred to the essence or nature of things and the verb that referred to temporary states or conditions, there were esse (to exist) and stare (to stand). As Latin evolved into the Romance languages, Spanish retained these two verbs and expanded their meaning. In contrast, other languages ​​, such as Italian or French, simplified their verbal systems and merged these concepts into a single verb.

Philosophically, the distinction between “ser” and “estar” implies a dual view of reality: a difference between the immutable essence of something and its transitory state or condition. When we use “ser,” we are talking about an intrinsic or defining quality, as in “es una persona gentil.” When we use “estar,” we point to a momentary condition, as in “está cansado.” This usage reflects a complex perception in which Spanish distinguishes between the permanent and the temporary, the essential and the accidental.

Examples in other languages

Spanish is not the only language that distinguishes between two concepts of “being”. In Galician and Catalan, other Romance languages ​​of the Iberian Peninsula, two verbs differentiate between an essential quality and a temporary condition. This distinction is crucial in Galician, for example, where “ser” and “estar” are used in a way essential to understanding the language.

Outside of the Romance languages, modern Greek also has an interesting differentiation between the verb “είμαι” (eímai) to describe more permanent states and additional verbs to describe transitory states, although there is no exact correspondence. In other Indo-European languages ​​, such as Hindi, some verbs specialise in expressing temporary conditions versus permanent states, although they do not function like in English. This trend indicates that the need to separate concepts of ser and estar reflects, in part, how different cultures interpret reality.

Consequences of Teaching Spanish

For students of Spanish as a foreign language, distinguishing between “ser” and “estar” is one of the most challenging aspects to master. This is particularly true for speakers of languages ​​that do not have this distinction—English, for example. In English, the verb “to be” covers both meanings, and the distinction is only inferred from context or additional modifiers. This reliance on context and modifiers to understand the distinction in English can make it challenging for learners to grasp when to use ‘ser’ or ‘estar’ in Spanish, as it requires a shift in understanding how a language can structure and categorise reality more precisely in terms of permanence and temporality.

The different use of “ser” and “estar” not only enriches the vocabulary of Spanish but also provides a powerful tool to express ideas and nuances that in other languages ​​require longer explanations. The language thus reflects a particular sensitivity towards the characteristics of people, objects and situations, showing a nuance that has both linguistic and cultural roots. For example, in Spanish, we can say “él se dejó ser” and “él se dejó estar”, and both expressions refer to totally different things. The first alludes to the fact that he decided to live the life he wanted. The second expression indicates that he abandoned himself, probably referring to his physical condition, causing the years to affect his physical state negatively.

The duality between “ser” and “estar” in Spanish is not merely a grammatical issue; it reflects how Spanish speakers perceive reality and distinguish between what is essential and what is transitory. This differentiation, shared to a certain extent with other languages, reveals a cultural depth that is part of the identity of the language. By learning to use “ser” and “estar,” one learns a grammatical rule, and at the same time, one better understands the richness of a language that seeks to capture the essence and change precisely. Isn’t that beautiful?

Keep learning curiosities about the language and the Spanish language, visiting and reading the articles we publish weekly on the iScribo blog. If you want to improve your Spanish writing and correct a specific variant of this language, subscribe to our superb grammar checker. We are waiting for you!

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Writing in Spanish

Gender and number agreement errors in Spanish and how to avoid them

Gender and number agreement is one of the pillars of Spanish grammar. However, it is common for speakers, both native and learners, to make mistakes when coordinating nouns, adjectives, verbs and pronouns. These errors may go unnoticed in everyday conversations but are more evident in written texts or formal situations. Below, we will look at the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Gender agreement between noun and adjective

One of the most common mistakes is not adjusting the gender of the adjective to that of the noun it describes. In Spanish, adjectives must agree in gender with nouns. For example, it is correct to say “una casa blanca” and not “un casa blanco”, or “un coche nuevo” and not “un coche nueva”.

To avoid this error, it is essential to pay attention to the gender of the noun and make sure that the adjective matches it. One trick is first to identify whether the noun is masculine or feminine and then check whether the adjective matches that gender.

2. Number agreement between noun and adjective

Another standard error is disagreement in number, when the noun is plural, and the adjective remains singular, or vice versa: “Los libros interesantes,” not “los libros interesante.”

An easy way to avoid this error is to remember that if the noun is plural, the adjective must also be plural. The endings s or es in adjectives are usually clear indicators of plurality.

3. Subject-verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement is a crucial aspect of Spanish grammar. It’s where the verb must match the subject in number. For instance, it’s not “los niños juega”, but rather “los niños juegan” (the children play).

To avoid these types of errors, it is essential to identify the number of the subject (whether it is singular or plural) and ensure that the verb is conjugated correctly.

4. Pronoun agreement

Errors in gender and number agreement in pronouns are common. For example, when a masculine pronoun is used to refer to a feminine person, “la directora, ella” (the director), not “la directora, él” (the director, he).

Strategies to avoid these mistakes:

  • Reread texts: Reviewing a sentence slowly can help you spot agreement errors.
  • Practice mental agreement: Word agreement can be helpful before speaking or writing.
  • Study the rules: Reviewing grammar rules strengthens your understanding of agreement.

Remember that gender and number agreement errors are common in Spanish. Still, they can be avoided by paying attention to the gender and number of nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs and rereading and reviewing basic grammar rules.

Keep learning curiosities about the language and the Spanish language, visiting and reading the articles we publish weekly on the iScribo blog. If you want to improve your Spanish writing and correct a specific variant of this language, subscribe to our superb grammar checker. We are waiting for you!

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Improving language Writing in Spanish

Let’s play Scrabble! The most common letters and words in Spanish

Have you ever played Scrabble? Scrabble is a crossword game in which players form words using letter tiles and a board divided into squares. Some letters and words in Spanish are more common and can be strategic to maximize your score. So, let’s explore how to use these frequent letters and words to play Scrabble in Spanish effectively.

Most common letters

In the Spanish language, the most common letters are the vowels “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, and “u”, along with the consonants “s”, “r”, “n”, “l”, and “d”. These letters appear frequently in the game and are worth one point, which may seem low, but their abundance makes it easier to create words. Within the vowels, the most common letter in Spanish is undoubtedly the letter “e”, followed by the letter “a”. The third most common letter is also a vowel and is the letter “o”. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the letters that appear less frequently in the Spanish vocabulary are the letters “x”, “k”, and “w”. The letter “w” was the last to be added to the Spanish alphabet, only incorporated in 1969 as a loan from the English and German languages. Although it may seem strange, the most representative letter of Spanish, “ñ”, is also one of the least used letters.

Now that we’ve explored the most common letters in the Spanish language, let’s turn our attention to the most common words. This will help us understand which words we can form most easily when playing Scrabble.

Most common words

Two- and three-letter words are precious in Scrabble because they allow you to use limited spaces and connect with other words already on the board. Some of the most common two-letter words in Spanish are “un”, “la”, “el”, “en”, “es”, “al”, “lo”, “de”, “me” and “se”. These words are handy for quickly scoring points and strategically opening or blocking the board. If you don’t have many options or are already at the end of the game, using these monosyllables is always a good idea, so save this as a game strategy 😉.

Additionally, three-letter words like “una,” “los,” “con,” “del,” “las,” “par,” “por,” “más,” and “dos” are essential to mastering the game, as they allow you to score additional points by crossing over with other words or by being placed in double or triple word boxes. “Vida,” “país,” and “años” are also widespread words in Spanish that will allow you to score several points (especially the word “años”) if you manage to put them together.

Strategies based on common letters and words

An effective strategy is to try to form words with the most common letters and keep some valuable vowels and consonants in your reserve. Vowels, in particular, are crucial for connecting words, while consonants such as “s” and “r” can create plurals or verb forms extending words already played.

For example, if you have the word “casa” on the board, adding an “s” to form “casas” allows you to score points for the new word created. Also, if this extension crosses another word or is placed in a double or triple scoring box, the score can increase significantly 😃.

In short, knowing and taking advantage of Spanish’s most familiar letters and words gives you a significant advantage in Scrabble. With a good strategy, using short words and frequent letters, controlling the board and accumulating points effectively is possible, ensuring success in this challenging and fun word game. So go ahead and practice Spanish through the game and let us know how it goes! Good luck!

Keep learning curiosities about the language and the Spanish language, visiting and reading the articles we publish weekly on the iScribo blog. If you want to improve your Spanish writing and correct a specific variant of this language, subscribe to our fantastic grammar checker. We are waiting for you!

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Improving language Writing in Spanish

Tips for writing an essay in Spanish: a brief guide to success

Feeling lost in the daunting task of writing an academic essay or a research paper? Fear not; these guidelines are here to guide you through the process, ensuring your ideas are expressed with the utmost clarity and professionalism. With these tools at your disposal, you can confidently embark on your writing journey.

You must consider the structure; writing an academic essay differs from writing an email or conversation. Even if the conversation is about the topic you will discuss in your essay, they are in different formats, and you must be clear about the formalities you must consider in an academic essay. If you follow these steps, you will be assured of a high percentage of your success:

  1. So that you know – the first thing you need to consider is what you want to achieve with your text. Before writing any text (and this advice applies to any text, whether academic or not), you should consider the audience you are addressing and the objective you seek with your writing. Remember that your objective must be realistic and feasible. For example, your objective could be to communicate your research findings or to debate two historical and antagonistic political perspectives and show your point of view concerning the current context of your country.
  2. Make a writing outline: This is key. Don’t even think about starting to write without creating a writing outline. This will not only make your writing more accessible, but it will also help you organise your ideas and the bibliography you will work with, so the quality of your work will be strengthened from the ground up. Believe me.

Now, let’s see what that outline might look like. A simple and helpful way to start is by writing a basic structure that will allow you to understand your work well. (1) Start by writing a summary of about 100 words where you explain what your essay/research is about. (2) Write the title of your essay. You can change this later, but please remember that this is the first guide for your work. (3) State your thesis. For example, if I want to talk about childhood bilingualism, my thesis could be: In the past, childhood bilingualism was believed to be detrimental to children’s development. However, it has been proven that bilingual children have a more prosperous development in language and neural connections than monolingual children. In this case, I am showing my position in favour of bilingualism, and I am also implying that I have sources of information to support it and that I will show them in developing my work. (4) Write at least 2 or 3 main points, accompany them with supporting statements and consider relevant bibliography. This section is vital since it will correspond to the body of your essay in the future. These main points must include a statement (the main idea) and at least two or three supporting points. These will be sections and subtitles in the future within your essay. Continuing with the example of bilingualism, a main point could be traditional thinking regarding bilingual children: they have disadvantages in terms of cognitive development. My supporting points would be a) bilingual children have a lower IQ than a child who only speaks one language. b) The delay in speech skills in bilingual children. To develop this topic and the two subtopics I propose, I must be guided by the bibliography I have already designated for this section. (5) Write a conclusion paragraph of at least two lines. Remember that the conclusion is often the reformulation of the thesis.

This comprises a basic outline that will make your subsequent writing easier. Having written the summary and thesis of your essay will make the introduction much more straightforward; the main points will become the sections within the development, and the two lines of reformulation of the thesis were part of the advanced work that you began when writing your conclusion. All this work already requires bibliographic research, reading and organisation, but at the same time, it will help you organise your ideas very well.

  • Don’t fill your essay with quotes. Remember that you can paraphrase. But never forget to cite your references, or you will be plagiarizing, and we never, ever want to be accused of plagiarism—at least not if you are visiting a website looking for clues to learn how to do a really good job 😉.
  • Trust your work. You’re already doing well if you’ve made it this far and followed most of these suggestions. 😊
  • Review and send! Don’t obsess over perfection; it’s the enemy of good. Above all, don’t forget to enjoy your work.

Keep learning curiosities about the language and the Spanish language, visiting and reading the articles we publish weekly on the iScribo blog. If you want to improve your Spanish writing and correct a specific variant of this language, subscribe to our superb grammar checker. We are waiting for you!

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Writing in Spanish

I loved you versus I have loved you: verb tenses in Spanish

Today is February 14, Valentine’s Day. Everyone is talking about love, flowers, and chocolates, but what is the time for love? Did you know that in Spanish, you can say I loved you, and I have loved you? Depending on the country you are in, it can mean the same thing or something subtly different. Pay attention here because the times of love are different everywhere.

Pretérito perfecto simple v/s pretérito perfecto compuesto: When and which countries use a particular verb tense the most

What tense is used to express recent actions? Well, it depends: while in that case, the pretérito perfecto compuesto (te he querido [I have loved you], lo he visto [I have seen it], or he salido [I have gone out]) is more common in much of Spain, in America, and some areas of Spain such as the Canary Islands, what would be used in this case would be the pretérito compuesto simple, that is: te quise [I loved you], lo vi [I saw it], and salí [I left]. In these areas, what happens is that both the pretérito perfecto compuesto and the pretérito compuesto simple can be used to express the same idea. That is something that occurred in the recent past.

Let’s look at an example to make it clearer.

  1. No he desayunado
  2. No desayuné

Depending on whether you are in Latin America or Spain, these two sentences could be interpreted in different ways:

In Spanish from Spain, sentence (a) can only refer to today (a recent past), while the second (b) refers to yesterday. In Latin America, both sentences can be used interchangeably to refer to today’s action. Even the first could mean that he has not eaten yet, but he can still do so, and the second could mention that at the moment, he has not had breakfast because it is too late. I love those subtleties of language!

If you speak English, you will realise that these two tenses in Spanish from Spain are the same as the distinction between the past simple and the present perfect in English.

Going back to the original example of this day of love, the “te quise” in Spain means that “until yesterday I loved you, but no more”, and the “te he querido” means that until sometime today I also loved you, but for some reason not anymore. 🥺

I’m sorry; love and grammar are like that sometimes.

I hope you learned something more today or that you are at least enjoying a beautiful date on this day of love. Lots of love and Spanish to you! 😍😎

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Writing in Spanish

Question and exclamation marks in Spanish. Let’s see how to use it!

In Spanish, the exclamation marks (!) and question marks (?) are double, like parentheses. That is, they delimit both interrogative and exclamatory sequences. Unlike languages like English or French, which have auxiliaries or a specific grammatical formula or order for constructing a question, Spanish is more unrestrained, so the only way to indicate that you are facing the beginning of an exclamation or question mark is through the first sign. This is the clue that allows correct intonation when reading a text, so the opening signs (?) should not be suppressed to imitate other languages that only use the closing sign.

But how do we use these signs?

  • When a sentence ends with a question or exclamation, the closing signs are the sign at the end of the statement (!?) Therefore, it is not appropriate to put a period at the end (the point is already included by the sign: !?); thus, the word that follows it will always be written with an initial capital letter.

Example: ¿Qué hora es? Olvidé mi reloj en casa.

                 [What time is it? I left my watch at home]

  • If the statement does not end in a question or exclamation, other punctuation marks can be added, for example, comma (,), semicolon (;) or colon (:):

Examples:

¡Tranquilo!, ¿vale?

[Calm down, okay?]

   «Aúllan como demonios cuando llega la noche; ¿sabes por qué?: para quebrar el silencio que los aterroriza»

[«They howl like demons when night comes; Do you know why? to break the silence that terrifies them»]

(Vargas Llosa La ciudad y los perros, 1962).

  • Finally, do not forget that if the word immediately before the beginning of a question or exclamation is also the end of a sentence, it must have a period.

Example: No sé por qué voy. ¿Por qué soy así, qué busco?

  [I don’t know why I’m going. Why am I like this? What am I looking for?]

(Leila Guerriero Domingo, 2020).

Remember that punctuation marks are intended to transcribe -in part- the pauses, tones, duration, and intensity of the melodic curve of the spoken language. Although it is impossible to transcribe oral discourse with all its nuances, punctuation marks help us a lot. Despite their limitations, they can interpret and harmonise a written text with the melody of orality. Think that punctuation marks are symbols that help us write the scores of our voices.

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Writing in Spanish

The Importance Of Spelling In Communication

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La Importancia de la Ortografía en la Comunicación | iScribo

The importance of using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation is a fact when it comes to writing. Good use of written Spanish should be a priority in all writing and as Spanish speakers, whether it is our mother tongue or not, we must make proper use of spelling.

Writing with spelling mistakes or inappropriate words makes communication difficult and can lead to irreparable errors. The importance of spelling in communication is reflected in a well-written redaction. Today iScribo brings you some recommendations for good writing, read on to find out more.

Why is Spelling Important in Communication?

To be understood by others, it is necessary to write well with good spelling. We need to write correctly in order to write formal texts, such as a CV for a job, reports, complaints, applications and so on.

Your writing is your reflection. Think about how others see you through your writing.

Did you know that if you have good spelling, your ideas are more easily communicated? As well as making a good impression, the ideal of good spelling is to communicate without barriers.

It is no longer just for us, writing properly helps to preserve the language and that is vital for us. If we don’t take care of our Spanish, who will?

Writing correctly gives us more confidence and therefore helps us to improve our self-esteem, incredible, isn’t it?

If you think you have problems with certain words, for example, if you can’t make a difference between b and v when writing, make a list of different words and learn them. A good idea for this example would be to write them down in two columns, one for the b and one for the v. The mental image of this mini table will make it easier for you to write it every time it comes up.

You may also get confused with homophones, such as haya, aya, allá or halla, so writing them several times and seeing the result will help you to distinguish them better next time.

And of course, pay attention to the accents! They are also obligatory when writing in capital letters and leaving them out is a very serious mistake.

Recommendations

While it is true that the language of the networks when abbreviating when writing is an obstacle to learning, knowing good spelling depends on the user, as there are many ways to learn it well. From the RAE and the Fundéu to language blogs, such as this one by iScribo, and different learning channels.

Reading also helps to improve the way we write. Looking at words we don’t know or paying attention to others we didn’t know how to write helps to improve both our spelling and our learning of the language.

Knowing how to structure a text is also of vital importance in order to get the message across correctly.

It is also true that it is not only our fault. Sometimes, whether we write by hand or type, we do so under pressure. Lack of time or the demands of work mean that we don’t pay attention to what we are writing or that we don’t even check our work. Perhaps this is the main reason to value a Spanish grammar and spelling checker, the revisions are quick, and the improvements are more than noticeable.

Learning the etymology of words helps us to relate their origin to our writing. Moreover, if we know where they come from, we can relate them to their family and thus create a mental concept map. In this way you will not only know how to write a single word, but you will have mastered many more without even realising it. The brain works automatically once it has learned a concept.

iScribo & Proper Written Spanish

It is worth stopping to think for a minute about what you are writing and how. This helps you to organise your ideas and make better decisions when writing. Writing must be flawless for others to understand us and is a reflection of our thinking. That’s why we ask you, are you doing your best to write well? iScribo’s Spanish grammar checker is here to help. Its real-time corrections and suggestions implemented by artificial intelligence are another method of learning and improving your written communication. Good written communication is synonymous with quality. Have you tried it yet? Let us know what you think.

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Writing in Spanish

Guide To The 39 Most Common Spanish Verbs

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Guía De Los 39 Verbos Más Comunes del Español | iScribo

Verbs are words that express the action of the subject or the state the subject is in. This is why verbs in Spanish always match in gender and number with the subject.

El niño corrió durante tres horas. (The boy ran for three hours.)

As we can see in this example, the verb is in the past simple tense. Learning the verb tenses can take a while, but don’t be discouraged, as with everything in life, Spanish grammar takes practice.

It is important to know which are the most common Spanish verbs so that we can express ourselves as a true native speaker. During these months, we have been introducing you to the most common words of different grammatical elements.

Today iScribo brings you a list of common Spanish verbs for you to practise. Read on to discover it.

Most Common Spanish Ar Verbs

The verbs ending in ar are the verbs of the first conjugation. Here you can find the most used Spanish verbs in this category:

1. Estar (to be): Estoy en la puerta de tu casa, ¿me abres? (I’m at your door, will you open it for me?)

2. Comprar (to buy): Hace falta comprar yogures de limón. (We need to buy lemon yogurt.)

3. Buscar (to look): Búscalo en Internet y sal de dudas. (Look it up on the Internet and find out for sure.)

4. Andar (to walk): Le gusta andar por las tardes. (He likes walking in the evenings.)

5. Cerrar (to close): Se me olvidó cerrar la puerta al salir. (I forgot to close the door when I left.)

6. Encontrar (to find): Te habríamos encontrado antes si me hubieras mandado tu ubicación. (We would have found you sooner if you had sent me your location.)

7. Dar (to give): Me han dado un regalo de bienvenida. (They gave me a welcome present.)

8. Empezar (to start): El curso empieza la semana que viene. (The course starts next week.)

9. Cocinar (to cook): Los abuelos cocinarán una paella. (The grandparents will cook a paella.)

10. Hablar (to talk): El bebé comenzó a hablar a los siete meses. (The baby started talking at seven months.)

11. Quedar (to meet): Quedaron a las ocho en punto. (They met at eight o’clock.)

12. Saltar (to jump): Saltaría la valla un par de veces. (I’d jump the fence a couple of times.)

13. Estudiar (to study): Estudió para el examen de español durante toda la noche. (They studied for the Spanish test all night long.)

Common Spanish Verbs Ending in Er

The second conjugation comprises verbs ending in er:

14. Aprender (to learn): Ya habíamos aprendido toda la lección cuando nos preguntó. (We had already learned our lesson when he asked us.)

15. Ser (to be): Soy tan independiente como práctica. (I am as independent as I am practical.)

16. Beber (to drink): Es importante beber agua cuando se hace ejercicio. (It is important to drink water when exercising.)

17. Comer (to eat): Iremos a comer al restaurante de la esquina. (We will go to eat at the restaurant on the corner.)

18. Conocer (to meet): Conocimos a tu primo en tu cumpleaños. (We meet your cousin at your birthday party.)

19. Entender (to understand): No entendí la moraleja del libro. (I did not understand the message of the book.)

20. Creer (to believe): No me creo ni una palabra de lo que me has contado. (I don’t believe a word you say.)

21. Haber (there is/there are): No hay nadie en la sala, tenemos que esperar. (There is nobody in the room, we have to wait.)

22. Hacer (to make): No me ha hecho gracia que te rías de mí. (I made an omelette for lunch.)

23. Leer (to read): Me tengo que leer dos libros para el grupo de lectura. (I have to read two books for the reading group.)

24. Saber (to know): No sé si sabes que el lunes es fiesta. (I wonder if you know that Monday is a holiday.)

25. Querer (to love): Te quiso tanto como a tu hermano. (He loved you as much as he loved your brother.)

26. Tener (to have): Tengo cuatro relojes y no sé cuál ponerme. (I have four watches and I don’t know which one to wear.)

Most Common Verbs Ending in Ir

The third conjugation comprises verbs ending in ir:

27. Abrir (to open): Tendríamos que haber abierto la ventana antes de salir. (We should have opened the window before leaving.)

28. Salir (to leave):  Saldré del trabajo sobre las cinco. (I will leave work around five o’clock.)

29. Subir (come up): Subiríamos si nos invitaras. (We’d come up if you invited us.)

30. Decir (to tell): Te dije la verdad pero no me creíste. (I told you the truth but you didn’t believe me.)

31. Escribir (to write): La chica escribe en su diario todas las noches. (The girl writes in her diary every night.)

32. Ir (to go): Iremos al río cuando suba la temperatura. (We will go to the river when the temperature rises.)

33. Partir (to chop, to leave):Partiremos las manzanas. (We will chop the apples.)

            El avión partió al amanecer. (The plane will leave at sunrise.)

34. Pedir (to order): Se ha pedido pescado para cenar. (He ordered fish for dinner.)

35. Decidir (to decide): Decidió que se pasaría por la fiesta de Ana. (He decided that he would stop by Ana’s party.)

36. Preferir (to prefer): Prefiero que te marches tú primero. (I prefer that you leave first.)

37. Imprimir (to print): Deberías imprimir todos los documentos. (You should print all the documents.)

38. Sentir (to feel): Siento muchísimo lo que te ha pasado. (I am very sorry for what happened to you.)

39. Venir (to come): Vino del gimnasio y se acostó. (He came from the gym and went to bed.)

iScribo in Defense of Grammar

There are many verbs and their use will depend on the different Spanish-speaking countries. There are verbs that are used in Spain in everyday conversations that are offensive in other Latin American countries. This is why we encourage you to learn about different Spanish-speaking cultures so that you can draw your own conclusions. iScribo advocates the correct use of Spanish grammar. Our tool corrects your written Spanish in real time according to the rules of the RAE. The Academia can also help you learn the difference between regular and irregular verbs, you can check their list here.

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Writing in Spanish

Guide About How To Use Prefixes in Spanish

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Descubre Cómo se Forman los Prefijos en Español | iScribo

Few people know how prefixes in the Spanish language work and how to use a prefix correctly. This is normal, since the norm sometimes changes and the influence of other languages leads us to misspell them.

What is a prefix in Spanish? How are prefixes written? What are the most common prefixes in Spanish? iScribo answers your questions according to the rules of the RAE.

What are Spanish Prefixes?

Prefixes are elements of Spanish grammar that depend on other elements, and therefore lack autonomy.

Prefixes are affixes, meaning that they are placed before the root or lexical base of the word they accompany. Their function is to alter the meaning of the original word, to give it some nuances or an additional meaning.

Some examples are pre, ex, multi and súper, to name a few:

multiespacio, exministro, supercerca, preaprobado

(multispace, ex-minister, superclose, preapproved)

How Should Prefixes Be Written?

Prefixes are attached to the word they accompany, so it is incorrect to write them separately or with a hyphen, except for the exceptions mentioned a few line below this examples:

✓ antisistema, prenupcial, contraoferta (anti-system, prenuptial, counteroffer)

X anti-mafia, pre pagado, súper bonito (anti-mafia, pre-paid, super nice)

If the next word begins with a capital letter, whether it is an acronym or a number, the prefix IS hyphenated:

✓ pro-Obama, super-8, mini-USB

X posGorvachov, sub21

Note that the prefix súper does not have an accent even if it is hyphenated with the following word or there is simply a space.

Another exception is to write the prefix separately when it affects several words that act as a unit or if it affects proper nouns consisting of more than one word:

✓ pro Barack Obama, ex chica de los recados (former delivery girl)

X proderechos humanos, antiNaciones Unidas

In case of a combination of prefixes, they are written together or separately following the same rule as if there were only one prefix:

✓ ex vice primera presidenta, supersuperlento (former first vice-president, super-super-slow)

When it comes to monosyllables, when the prefix is added to them, they are no longer monosyllables and are considered acute, so they must be stressed as such:

✓ biogás

If you find yourself in a situation where you have to use two or more prefixes for a single word, add a hyphen after the first suffix:

✓ pre- y poselectoral

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Prefixes follow some basic rules and you will see, as you practise with our tool, that they are easy to apply. iScribo corrects incorrect prefixes and suggests writing improvements as you write, in real time. Have you tried it yet? Tell us about it in the comments.

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