edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
- 1Try
- 2Learn
- 3Practise
- 4Check
“Quería que vinieras”: the tense drags the mood with itMatching the subjunctive to the main verb: present with present (“quiero que vengas”)…“Serán las tres”: a future that is not about the futureUsing the future for a guess about now (“serán las tres”, “estará en casa”) and the…“Fue construido” or “estaba construido”Telling the action apart from the state it leaves behind: “la puerta fue cerrada a las…“Un momentito”: the diminutive is not about sizeWhat “-ito” really adds: affection (“abuelita”), politeness (“un momentito”), softening…“Acabar de”, “acabar con”, “acabar por”Verbs whose meaning changes entirely with the preposition: “acabar de/con/por”, “dar…“Me alegro de que vengas”: feelings take the subjunctiveThe subjunctive after anything that reacts to a fact instead of reporting it: “me alegro…
Another oneKeep practising: SpanishThe rule, in three lines
The words that hold an argument together, and what each one promises: sin embargo and en cambio announce a contrast, por tanto and así que a consequence, además an addition, de hecho a confirmation, and o sea a rewording.
The usual slip. Using pero for every contrast, and placing the connector where English would without the commas Spanish wants around it.
Why it catches you out. You have a wide stock of these in English and will look for one-to-one matches. Two of them do not have any: “en cambio” is not “in change” and “o sea” is not “or be”. And most of them take a comma on both sides in Spanish, where English often uses none.