Vokally

In Spanish, "te echo de menos" means "I miss you."
That same verb, ECHAR, can also mean: to pour, to fire someone, to grow, or to suddenly burst into laughter.

1. TO POUR or TO PUT IN.

• Échale un poco más de sal, por favor. → Put a little more salt in, please..
• Echa más agua a la olla. → Pour more water into the pot..

2. TO FIRE someone

• Lo echaron del trabajo la semana pasada. → They fired him last week..

3. TO GROW

• Esa planta está empezando a echar raíces. → That plant is starting to grow roots..

4. TO BURST OUT LAUGHING

• Mi hijo se echa a reír de nada. → My son bursts out laughing over nothing..

5. TO MISS

• Echo de menos a mis amigos de Venezuela. → I miss my friends from Venezuela..

In Latin America we usually say "extrañar" → Extraño a mis amigos de Venezuela.
Both are correct.
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In English, you can say "before leaving" or "after eating," using the -ing form.
In Spanish, that idea always needs the infinitive: "antes de salir", "después de comer"

Any time a preposition comes before a verb, Spanish switches to the infinitive (the -ar / -er / -ir endings).

1. DE.
• Estoy cansado de esperar. → I'm tired of waiting..
• Tengo miedo de perder el vuelo. → I'm afraid of missing the flight..

2. SIN

• Se fue sin decir nada. → He left without saying anything..
• No puedes aprender sin practicar todos los días. → You can't learn without practicing every day..

3. POR

• Gracias por venir a mi casa. → Thanks for coming to my house..
• Disculpa por llegar tarde. → I'm sorry for being late..

4. EN

• Estoy pensando en mudarme a Valencia, España. → I'm thinking of moving to Valencia, Spain..
• Insisto en aprender Español. → I insist on learning Spanish..

5. ANTES DE / DESPUÉS DE

• Lávate las manos antes de comer. → Wash your hands before eating..
• Me siento bien después de estudiar Español. → I feel good after studying Spanish..

The rule never changes.
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In Spanish, the gerundio (the -ando / -iendo endings) works with more verbs than just ESTAR.
Each one gives you something English says in a completely different way.

1. ESTAR: right now.
Estoy grabando este video. → I'm recording this video.

2. SEGUIR: still
Sigo trabajando en ese proyecto. → I'm still working on that project.
Mi hijo sigue durmiendo. → My son is still sleeping.

3. LLEVAR + time: how long
Llevo dos años estudiando Español. → I've been studying Spanish for two years.
Llevamos una hora esperando. → We've been waiting for an hour.

4. IR: little by little
Poco a poco voy entendiendo más. → Little by little I'm understanding more.
La ciudad va cambiando. → The city is slowly changing.

5. ANDAR: going around doing something
Ando buscando apartamento. → I'm looking for an apartment.
Ella anda diciendo que va a estudiar Español con Vokally → She's going around saying she's going to study Spanish with Vokally.
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10,000 followers. Gracias.

In Spanish, the word “mil” never changes when you count.

• Diez mil personas siguen esta página para aprender Español. → Ten thousand people follow this page to learn Spanish..

• Cien mil, doscientos mil, un millón. → One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, one million..

“Miles” is for an amount you don’t know.

• Miles de personas están aprendiendo Español con Vokally. → Thousands of people are learning Spanish with Vokally..

Entonces: “mil” stays the same when you count.
“Miles” is when you don’t have the exact number.
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In Spanish, when you describe a position, we don't use the gerundio (the -ando / -iendo endings).
English does. You can say "I'm sitting," "I'm standing," "I'm lying down."

In Spanish, those are not actions. They are results. So we use ESTAR + participio (the -ado / -ido endings).

• Estoy sentado en la sala. → I am sitting in the living room..
• Ellos están abrazados. → They're hugging..
• Ella está parada en la puerta. → She's standing in the doorway..
• Mi hijo está acostado en el sofá. → My son is lying down on the couch..
• La escalera está apoyada en la pared. → The ladder is leaning against the wall..

En Venezuela: La escalera está "arrecostada" en la pared :flag-ve:

Notice how the ending changes with the subject: sentado, abrazados, parada, acostado, apoyada. . . . .
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In Spanish, the past participle (the -ado / -ido form) can go after SER or after ESTAR.

SER gives you the action. ESTAR gives you the result.

Con SER:

• Los productos son enviados desde México. → The products are sent from Mexico..
• La casa fue construida en 1990. → The house was built in 1990..

This is the passive voice, and in Spanish we mostly write it. In conversation, we use the SE form:

• Los productos se envían desde México..
• La casa se construyó en 1990..

Con ESTAR:

• La cena está servida. → Dinner is served..
• El trabajo está terminado. → The work is finished..
• La casa ya estaba construida cuando la compramos. → The house was already built when we bought it..

And in both cases, the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Which one do you use more when you speak, SER or ESTAR?
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In Spanish, when you make a hypothetical comparison, you use “como si” (as if, as though).

It describes something that is not real, so it almost always takes the subjunctive.

The structure is “como si” + the imperfect subjunctive or the past perfect subjunctive

• Él está como si nada hubiera pasado. → He is as if nothing had happened..
(You can also say: Él está como si nada.)

• Me trató como si fuéramos amigos de toda la vida. → He treated me as if we were lifelong friends..

• Él habla como si supiera mucho del tema. → He talks as though he knew a lot about the subject..

Entonces, “como si” introduces a hypothetical comparison, and it’s always followed by the subjunctive.

Comment an example below and I’ll send you a free guide to practice COMO SI and other ways to say “as if.”
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In Spanish, the verb SACAR means “to take out” or “to extract,” but it has many more meanings:

1. To take out → Yo s**o la basura los jueves..
2. To draw a conclusion → No saquemos conclusiones antes de conocer todos los hechos..
3. To take a picture → Voy a sacar muchas fotos de mi viaje a España..
4. To inherit a trait → Mi hijo sacó los ojos de su abuelo..
5. In sports → Alcaraz sacó un ace para ganar el set..

One verb, so many uses.

What other ways do you know to use SACAR?

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In English, you can say: "I remember seeing," "He admitted breaking," or "I regret going," all with -ing.
In Spanish, none of these use the -ing form.
They use The Compound Infinitive: HABER + a past participle. Same structure every time.

• Recuerdo haber visto esa película. → I remember seeing that movie..
• Mi hijo admitió haber roto el plato. → My son admitted breaking the plate..
• Me arrepiento de haber dudado de ti. → I regret doubting you..

Do you understand the difference between both English and Spanish?

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In Spanish, QUÉ and CUÁL both translate to "what," but they're not interchangeable.

Use QUÉ for definitions or explanations, and always right before a noun, even when English uses "which."

• ¿Qué es el subjuntivo? → What is the subjunctive?.
• ¿Qué libros prefieres leer, los de ficción o los de no ficción? → Which books do you prefer to read, fiction or nonfiction?.

Use CUÁL or CUÁLES when you're asking someone to specify from a list of options, not define.

• ¿Cuál es tu trabajo? → What is your job?.
• ¿Cuáles son tus fortalezas? → What are your strengths?.

Which one do you mix up the most?
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