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En el lenguaje hablado, algunos verbos que no son reflexivos normalmente, los usamos con esta forma cuando queremos referirnos a «consumir una cantidad específica de algo». No son verbos reflexivos exactamente, porque no significan que nos comamos a nosotros mismos o nos bebamos a nosotros mismos, pero sí usan la misma forma.

In everyday speech, we sometimes use verbs in a reflexive way, even if they aren’t usually reflexive, to express the idea of ‘consuming a specific quantity’ They are called «pronominales» not reflexive, because we are not eating ourselves or drinking ourselves but they are formed with reflexive pronouns.

En la cena comí dos platos de paella – Es correcto pero suena poco natural
En la cena me comí dos platos de paella – Suena más natural

Ahora observa estos dos casos:
– Normalmente no como carne ni bebo productos lácteos.
– Hemos comido toda la tarta

¿Cuál de las dos frases sonaría mejor con el verbo en su forma reflexiva?

En la primera frase, no está especificada la cantidad de carne o productos lácteos. Estamos hablando de forma generalizada, por eso no es correcto decir:

Normalmente no me como carne ni me bebo productos lácteos ❌

En el segundo caso sí se especifica la cantidad: toda la tarta.
Por eso la segunda oración suena mejor así:

Nos hemos comido toda la tarta ✅

Verbos que funcionan con esta forma:

Beberse
Comerse
Tomarse
Fumarse
Estudiarse
Leerse
Aprenderse

Para expresar cuánto tiempo hemos tardado en consumir, con los verbos reflexivos usamos la preposición en:
– Me leí el libro en una semana
– Se bebe la cerveza en un minuto.
– Nos hemos aprendido los verbos pronominales en media hora.

A2, SPANISH GRAMMAR - PRACTICA LA GRAMÁTICA

💃Pretérito Imperfecto

29 de enero de 20257 de octubre de 2025 The Spanish Spell

Pretérito imperfecto is one of the verbs of the past in indicativo. There is not a literal translation to English. It is used to talk about things that were usual in the past, to describe the past or to talk about actions that were in progress.

Fortunately there are only 3 irregular verbs in Pretérito imperfecto: ser, ir and ver.

Let’s see an example of a text with pretérito imperfecto. This text has been made by A.I and modified by me. Try to fill the gaps with the correct form of imperfecto, then click on the gaps to see the correct answer.

Ahora, vamos a practicar con un ejercicio en el que tendrás que completar con presente o con pretérito imperfecto.

A1, A2, B1, SPANISH GRAMMAR - PRACTICA LA GRAMÁTICA

✍️Diferencia entre SER y ESTAR

24 de enero de 202527 de mayo de 2025 The Spanish Spell

In Spanish there are two verbs that can be translated as the verb «to be»: ser and estar.

The principal difference between those verbs is that SER is used to identify the subject and their characteristics:

El león es un animal
The lion is an animal

While ESTAR is used to describe the circumstance of the subject:

El león está aburrido
The lion is bored

Select the expressions that work with the verb SER. There are 8 correct answers.

Now, let’s learn the verb ESTAR.

You can practice with this exercise different adjectives that we use with estar. Select the correct picture for each sentence.

There are some uses that can be confusing when talking about ser and estar.

For location we usually use ESTAR but to say the location of an event we use SER.
In Spain, we use ESTAR to talk about the marital status while in other countries they use SER in that case.

When talking about jobs, we use estar when we refer to the status of the job.

Estar is also used to say what is happening right now. In that case we use estar + gerund.

To learn more about estar + gerundio you can check this post:

✍️Estar + gerundio

A2, SPANISH GRAMMAR - PRACTICA LA GRAMÁTICA

💃El imperativo

16 de diciembre de 202419 de junio de 2025 The Spanish Spell

Spanish speakers are in general very direct – specially people from Spain like me. Some students would mistakenly think that imperative is not a very common conjugation, but actually we use it a lot.

The most common forms in imperative for Spanish people are «tú» and «vosotros» while in other countries they will use «usted» and «ustedes». It is also possible to use imperative with nosotros, for example when we want to say something like «Let´s learn together!» (aprendamos juntos).

Let’s see what do we use imperativo for:

Now, we are going to learn the form of imperativo.

As we can see in the chart above, the form for tú and vosotros will change if the sentence is negative, while the other forms will remain the same.

We will learn the negative form for tú and vosotros first, as it follows the same structure as the other subjects. In order to conjugate this form, we would take presente de indicativo as a reference.

The ending of the verbs -ar will be changed with the ending of the verbs-er in presente de indicativo and the verbs -er, -ir will take the ending from the verbs -ar.

Imperativo negativo de Sara Segoviano

Now let’s practice in context:

The form of imperativo for nosotros / usted / ustedes doesn’t change in the negative form.

Ejemplos:
– No escriba su nombre, escriba su apellido.
– Hablemos en español, no hablemos en inglés.
– Beban agua, no beban vino.

Now, let’s see the form for tú in affirmative sentences. It is very easy, we only have to take out the «s» of the verb in presente.

For vosotros, we will take the verb in infinitive and change the «r» for a «d».

Ejemplos:
– María, recoge los platos.
– Vosotros, salid a la pizarra.

LEARN SPANISH THROUGH SONGS- APRENDE ESPAÑOL CON CANCIONES

🎵La noche de Halloween de Saurom

31 de octubre de 202310 de diciembre de 2024 The Spanish Spell

Vamos a repasar el vocabulario de Halloween en español a través de la canción de Saurom «La noche de Halloween». El siguiente vídeo incluye explicaciones y una actividad interactiva con la canción. Espero que os guste.

Let’s practice some Halloween vocabulary in Spanish with the song «La noche de Halloween» by Sauron. The following video includes an explanation and an activity with the song. I hope you enjoy it.