What Common Mistakes Have You Made In Spanish?

[Matiasba]

my problem is that I invent words all the time
to say "lets complete the steak with a salad" I say "complementamos el bife con una ensalada" which is not a word, I should say "el bife podemos acompañar con una ensalada"
mistake "reportaje" for "reporte"
reportaje=interview
reporte=report (can also use "informe" in Spanish)
and of course, femenine/masculine problems

Bonus: when I got here I dated a guy who tried to convince me that "tema" is feminine, I knew it was masculine, but he really tried to convince me to laugh at me. HDP.

complementar el bife con ensalada no esta del todo mal dicho. Its a complement

 

[Redpossum]

The owner of my favorite local cafe said something today about a "gato de dos patas", and did that snickering thing that guys do. Another customer told it's an exp<b></b>ression meaning a prostituta, more specifically a high-class callgirl.

 

[nlaruccia]

A friend said they once saw a tourist from Spain asking the owner of a newspaper stand here where they could "coger el autobús #17", and the reply was something like "si queres coger el autobus deberias comenzar con el escape de exhausto."

 

[Redpossum]

A friend said they once saw a tourist from Spain asking the owner of a newspaper stand here where they could "coger el autobús #17", and the reply was something like "si queres coger el autobus deberias comenzar con el escape de exhausto."

Thanks, N, you made me laugh out loud

 

[fifs2]

Asked the decorator last month about the best color for the sofa cojones.... Cant seem to make cojines stick in my old brain!

 

[bobg]

Mispronouncing the word for comb, such that it sounded as if I was talking about my tallywhacker.

When working at the Baker's Square in San Diego, an assistant manager told my friend Jose to put some chairs por atras, rather than alla atras, which occasioned much hilarity.

My high school Spanish teacher Margie related a story about when she was a learner, and went shopping for eggs. She asked the merchant, tienes huevos?

Margie also talked about driving along in the DF, outside of Mexico City, with some Mexican friends, when she saw some really big goats and cried, mira esos cabrones!

My Spanish is pretty poor. I don't get the difference between por atras and alla atras. And I don't see what is wrong with asking tienes huevos? I do know that huevo does not always mean egg. But my dictionary does not have an alternative. (I have always wondered how to ask "do you carry/sell/have" in a store? Do you use the usted form of the verb or the ustedes form?)

Thanks, Bob

 

[ajoknoblauch]

My Spanish is pretty poor. I don't get the difference between por atras and alla atras. And I don't see what is wrong with asking tienes huevos? I do know that huevo does not always mean egg. But my dictionary does not have an alternative. (I have always wondered how to ask "do you carry/sell/have" in a store? Do you use the usted form of the verb or the ustedes form?)

Thanks, Bob

Hay huevos?

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

OK, que quiere decir, "mama huevos" ?

C
h
u
p
ar
l
a
v
e
r
ga
?

 

[Redpossum]

My Spanish is pretty poor. I don't get the difference between por atras and alla atras. And I don't see what is wrong with asking tienes huevos? I do know that huevo does not always mean egg. But my dictionary does not have an alternative. (I have always wondered how to ask "do you carry/sell/have" in a store? Do you use the usted form of the verb or the ustedes form?)

Thanks, Bob

OK, Bob, here we go...

Por atras means "up your ass"

Tienes huevos? is asking if he has testicles

Neither, you use hay, thus simply asking if it is for sale, as in Hay huevos?, meaning "Are there eggs for sale?"

Oh, and another one to watch out for - when referring to "the small one", always say el pequeño, because el chiquito means your anus. Thus, chiquitiar is a verb meaning "to sodomise".

Ahh, Castellano is such a beautiful, poetic language...

 

[Osprey87]

The very first mistake I mad when I first got here was pronouncing the "H" in Helado (ice cream). Another more recent mistake was when I was studying with my private Spanish teacher, I kept using the word "Ramera" instead of "Remera", which is t-shirt, but "Ramera" means bitch or slut in Spanish, but she also told me that they don't use it too much anymore, it's kind of an old saying, just like "Hasta la Vista", they use "hasta luego" now. Other than those few things, I think i'm learning pretty well. My husband, who is an Argentine citizen, and other locals say I have an excellent pronunciation, but it also helps to have previously learned a little Mexican Spanish, and Italian too.