European Spanish – Linguistic tips

Tip #1: How to apologize

After verbs like siento or lamento it is not required to write the verb escuchar (to hear) in Spanish (Lamento / siento escuchar que...). After these verbs we usually write a subordinate clause introduced by que (Siento / lamento que + subjunctive).

EN: I am sorry to hear that...

ES: Siento / lamento que…

Tip #2: Verb “to experience”

The English verb to experience is not used like the Spanish verb experimentar: _experimentar does not form a phrase with the noun problema. In Spanish we should preferably use the expression: tener un problema.

EN: if you experience a problem...

ES: si tiene(s) un problema

Tip #3: More on apologies

After verbs like siento or lamento it is not required to write a preposition (por), as in english (about). When we translate the construction sorry about + noun or gerund into Spanish, we only write siento or lamento + noun or infinitive (siento/lamento las molestias / haber causado alguna molestia).

EN: Sorry about + noun / gerund

ES: Siento / lamento + noun / infinitive"

"Perdón por las molestias" could be an informal alternative to "Lamento haber causado una molestia". "Siento las molestias causadas".

Tip #4: About the word “Definitely”

The English adverb definitely should not always be translated as definitivamente in Spanish. There are a lot of sentences in which it could be better translated as sin duda, seguro or muy, among other adverbs.

EN: This is definitely an interesting idea
ES: Esta es, sin duda, una idea interesante

Tip #5: Honorifics (Courtesy and respect words)

Honorifics like “señora” or “señor” are written with lowercase in Spanish:

EN: Dear Mr. Gómez,
ES: Estimado Señor Gómez: (No)
ES: Estimado señor Gómez: (Yes)

However, the abbreviations of these words are always written with a capital letter:

EN: Dear Ms. Gómez,
ES: Estimada sra. Gómez: (No)
ES: Estimada Sra. Gómez: (Yes)

Note that these honorifics can be abbreviated only when they appear with a person’s surname:

EN: Thank you very much, madam.
ES: Muchas gracias, Sra. (No)
ES: Muchas gracias, señora. (Yes)

EN: Thank you very much, Mr. López.
ES: Muchas gracias, Sr. López. (Yes)

Tip #6: About the structure “Account under the e-mail…”

It is a mistake to translate the English expression “account under the e-mail…” as “cuenta bajo la dirección de correo electrónico…”. We usually write the participle “vinculada” or “asociada” instead of the preposition “bajo” (literal translation of under).

EN: Your account under the e-mail 000…
ES: Su cuenta bajo la dirección de correo electrónico 000… (No)
ES: Su cuenta asociada / vinculada al correo electrónico 000 (Yes)

Tip #7: Verb “to appreciate” vs. “apreciar”: false friends

The Spanish verb “apreciar” is not used like the English verb “to appreciate”: the meaning of “apreciar” is “to feel affection for someone” or “to give credit to someone”. Because of this, when we translate sentences like “I appreciate that...” into Spanish, we use the verb “comprender” or the construction “darse cuenta” instead of “apreciar”.

EN: I do appreciate that there is a difference…
ES: Aprecio que existe una diferencia… (No)
ES: Comprendo / me doy cuenta de que existe una diferencia… (Yes)

Tip #8: “ícono” vs “icono”:

The word “ícono” (with accent) is used in the LatAm variety of Spanish. In the European variety we use the same word without accent “icono”.

EN: Click the icon again ES: Vuelva a hacer click en el ícono (No)
ES: Vuelva a hacer click en el icono (Yes)

Tip #9: About "Oye"

In greetings of informal emails, we preferably use “¡Hola!” instead of “¡Oye!”, because of the expression “¡Oye!” sounds too colloquial.

EN: Hey!
ES: ¡Oye! (No)
ES: ¡Hola! (Yes)

Tip #10:

Please check if special characters are correctly rendered from the source text to the target. Among the characters that can produce wrong translations, you can find: &, %, >, < etc.

Example:

[source EN] You can click on Audio & Video to upload your file.

[wrong character] You can click on Audio &amp; Video to upload your file.

When you find a wrong output like the one in the example, please restore the original character you find in the source.