Comment from Ariane

No worries, Ben. Everyone makes mistakes and that is a very easy one to make.

Comment from Daniel Chui

Don’t sweat it, Ben. I saw the error and I honestly didn’t make a big deal of it; in no way does it blow your credentials. If anything, Notes in Spanish has been so influential and useful for all of us precisely because of your humility in admitting occasional errors, and pointing us toward the right path .

I have a Youtube Channel where I put up a lot of interesting things on Castilian Spanish; since NIS has been so influential in picking up this accent, I would love for your to check it out sometime. Back in 2006 when I was studying in Morelia, Mexico, I walked the streets listening to your podcast from Spain. People asked me why I was trying to learn Spanish from Spain and I endured countless inquiries and criticisms. I don’t think any variety of Spanish is better or worse than another (with the exception of the Spanish spoken in USA, thumbs down), but I’ve always loved the Madrilian and Andalusian accents… and I think I’ve made it in part thanks to you guys!

- Daniel Chui

Comment from Sharon Barnett

Dear Ben,
One of the most valuable lessons you and Marina have taught me is ¨don´t be afraid to make mistakes!¨ I love how Marina still corrects you on the podcasts…. and you just move on. It has given me confidence to try to speak Spanish… knowing full well that I will make a ton of mistakes!! Plus…now a lot of us will remember EL dia!!! Gracias!!!

Comment from Kevin

I guess we can forgive you this time

Comment from Anna Preziosi

and then there is the rule for the real tricky words like agua…it’s feminine but you say el agua because you cannot have la plus a word that begins with an a…so you would say el agua esta fria. It took me months to get used to that one! I always had to think before I spoke. In every language there are all types of little exceptions. But like you said Ben, that’s how we learn!

Comment from Bonnie Cook

No te preocupes Ben, eres un buen ejemplo a todos. My classes always remember this easy to make mistake after hearing that Todos LOS Problemas son MASCULINOS! Ja!

Comment from Teresa

Eso es un error muy famoso y fácil de hacer.
Una vez, yo saludé a mi profesor de gramática avanzada: “Buenas días” (a pesar de estudiar español muchos años).d Tú puedes imaginar su respuesta jajaja…y tengo licenciatura en español.
Teresa

Comment from Vincent

In my university studies, I had the privilege to have the president of the RAE as a lecturer one semester. He taught us that -ma, -pa and -ta words that are cognates of English are Greek in origin and thus masculine in Spanish. This has helped a great deal in trying to explain these “oddities” in Spanish. It also helps to understand why problema and tema are masculine, yet cama is not. Ojala que os ayude un poco!

Comment from Roderick

WOW!! I would have done the exact same thing!! But, I have to thank you Ben, I always find that when I have an experience connected to learning something new in Spanish, even if its sometimes embarrassing, I never forget it.

I think I can borrow your experience to remember this lesson!

Thanks!

Comment from Warren

Nah, no credentials blown there. Even professional writers writing in their first language make typos, otherwise there’d be no such thing as an editor (though sometimes we wish that was the case anyway!!).

Your podcasts are really useful, big thank you! I’ll buy the worksheets when I have the spare cash.

I found something really useful in one of the beginner ones, can’t remember which but maybe the one about tapas and ordering in restaurants. Where the el/ella form of a verb is also the usted form. Like Anna above with the agua, that always confused the hell out of me, I was thinking “Why not tienes? Why not haces?” But know I know, it’s also the usted version!

But that makes things a bit easier! Because if you just learn the yo and el/ella forms in one past, one present and one future tense, you can get to the point where you can get out talking more quickly. Even if you do sound a bit too formal or whatever. Because if you just learn yo and el/ella, you can talk about I, you, he, she and it. Then you can learn the rest later!

I typed more than I meant to…

Comment from Jo

No te preocupes, Ben…otro dia dije: “he ponido la comida en la mesa” (en vez de ‘puesto’). He estado aprendiendo español desde hace 3 años y media. Creo que sin los errores, no se puede aprender nada.
P.D.: teneis algunas noticias de vuestro proximo proyecto? Tengo muchas ganas de empezar algo nuevo!

Comment from The Pardoner

It’s ok. We forgive you.

Comment from kanekok

Anna Preziosi:
You’re almost right, but I think it it’s more about where the emphasis is stressed than about the word starting with “a”. Palabras llanas o esdrújulas o sobreesdrújulas where the stress falls on the first syllable “el água, águila, etc” make the otherwise feminine word starting with “a” take the masculine article, but not in cases like “la agénda” where the stress falls on the second syllable.

Saludos

Comment from Vincent

“a” words are tricky……it has more to do with the stress on the first syllable “a” sound than if the word begins with “a”. For example, el hacha but la ambulancia……that helps clarify el agua a bit more. Some of these things I have learned only recently, even after 24 years of studying the language!!

Comment from Sam

I am sorry, but what is wrong with “He ponido la comida en la mesa”?

Comment from Anna Preziosi

Thanks kenekok…I just remember the rule when it pertained to agua, a word used daily! It has been “decades” since I took a Spanish class! My memory is not what it used to be!

Comment from Robert Smith

Ben,
Microsoft Word is delivered with Spanish and French grammar and spelling check in addition to English. Under “Review” then “Set Language” select “Spanish, Spain”. It works very well.
Robert Smith

Comment from neil howe

Ha Ha (or if you prefer Ja Ja) as various of your commenters said, “its easy to make a mistake, even in your own language). For example in think your statement in the text above…
“without getting Marina to check the Spanish (which she usually always does, )

I think this is grammatically a little suspicious.. i think one can ALWAYS do something or USUALLY do something but i dont think its possible to USUALLY ALWAYS do something…. it just goes to show it’s easy to make mistakes..
Great website.. keep it up.

Comment from Maryse

Hola! Tienes toda la razón. Lo más importante es aprender de sus errores Ultimamente, hice todo lo contrario dando una formación en español… Decía “el cuota” todo el tiempo como si fuera una excepción… (en francés, “quota” es masculino)… ¡Que tengan una buena semana!

Comment from (otra) Marina

Hello Ben and Marina,

I wouldn’t worry too much about this, “blowing your credentials” sounds a bit harsh, we’re only human! I “blow my credentials” every week in front of my students, but I have learned to not expect my students to be perfect, so that they don’t expect me to be flawless in return! You’re doing a great job and you might actually have given hope to a lot of people just by making that mistake, it shows that no one is safe from those, and when we try to focus on the tricky words of a sentence, the “easy” words might take advantage of our lack of attention and decide to get us! I am sure those sly words have a mind of their own…

Comment from Emma

Ben,
If it makes you feel any better, I consider myself bilingual (as I grew up in Spain) and I still make the occasional mistake. I recently learnt that while I get singulars correct (for example, el idioma or el problema), I often get plurals wrong! And why? Well, I’m told (on good authority) that native Spanish-speakers get feminine and masculine articles mixed up as well!! You just have to watch Spanish TV! I suppose the same can be said of native English-speakers and their grammar .
Keep up the good work!

Comment from Geoff Saunders

“which she usually always does”

Well maybe you should get someone to check the English too!

(Just razzin’ a little…love your work, Ben!)

Comment from Ann

I agree completely that you can only learn a new language after you overcome your fear of speaking without making mistakes. I also love the fact that Marina corrects you in the podcasts, it is both reassuring to those of us who are still learning, and more “real.” Lastly, I agree that it’s easy to make mistakes even if it’s your native language. For instance, the other day, a native Spaniard commented on a photo I posted on Facebook: “me encanta este foto” – “foto” being another one of those tricky words that fool you into thinking it’s masculine.

But I do think that, as someone who is trying to teach others, you should always (and not “usually” always get Marina to double check things you send out publicly!

Comment from Wanda Janz

We make errors in our first language, so it isn’t abnormal to make some in our second or third. No worries!

Comment from Mike Harn

no pasa nada

Comment from Jim

I have been taking Spanish 101 for the last 26 years
I am on your side I know you will never make that careless error again

Comment from Ha

I am fluent in 3 languages and i make mistakes in all of them everyday, depending of what kind of drink i have for the day or even without any drinks. One doesn’t judge other people’s competency by their mistakes done inadvertently, but more for what they know, if we “are capable” or competent to assess all what they know. Credentials are not earned by knowing a few things here and there, catching a few mistakes you think nobody can when everybody knows a zillion things that you don’t know.

I love your podcasts. You both are very pleasant and natural, honest and spontaneous with amazing background where credentials should also take account. You do well in things you love to do. And we love learning from you.

Actually mistakes help me remember. May be you should make more “involuntary mistakes”. Keep up with the good work. No need to recover your credentials. They have been there and nobody can take away from you. Keep up with the good work.

Comment from Motley

Do native speakers make mistakes like that, please tell me they do.

Comment from Bill Osler

@Sam: The problem with “He ponido la comida en la mesa” is that poner is not a regular verb. The past participle is “puesto”, not “ponido”.
We all make mistakes in all of our languages. Thankfully, most listeners/readers can figure it out anyway.

Comment from Bobbie

Words ending in “ma” are masculine, despite the “a” ending….

Comment from Daniel Chui

Bobby, you posited that “Words ending in “ma” are masculine, despite the “a” ending….”

I wanted to clarify that words ending in “ma” can be either masculine or feminine.

Ex: el clima, el tema, el programa

but

la cama, la cima

It’s hard to identify any fixed rule, other than learning the exceptions and keeping in mind that all of the masculine words ending in “ma” come from Greek.

- Daniel Chui

Comment from Marion Crowhurst

Bién hecho, Ben, confesar tus errores.
Acabo de terminar “Gold 1 & 2″. Ha sido una experiencia utilísima. Tengo muchas ganas de recibir Gold 3.
Les tengo agunas sugerencias. Aunque la idea sea dar experiencia de conversaciones verdaderas–y Uds. lo hacen muy bién–3 cosas me causan, de vez en cuando, problemas de entender: 1. A veces, hablan muy pero muy rápido, especialmente Marina. 2. Marina se ríe a menudo mientras habla. 3. A menudo, hablan ambos a la vez. Me doy cuenta de que estos hechos son consecuencias de conversaciones naturales, pero tal vez Uds. puedan reducir el número de tales cosas.

Comment from saeed

Dear Ben and Marina,

We have learned so much from you that a typo like this wouldn’t put us off learning from you guys. I ,personally, am indebted to you. Keep up the good job. Wish you the best.

Comment from Maggi B

Blown credentials? Hardly. If we were all afraid to make mistakes we would ever even attempt a foreign language. I have non-native friends who are fluent in English and even a couple who teach English, and they make small errors all the time. It’s almost impossible not to. Interesting teachable moment.

Comment from Sheila

Gracias! I love your podcasts! Bringing this error to my attention has helped me learn that dia is one of those tricky ones! I was working with my tutor the other day and remembered the problem word… el problema. This is all very relevant in my current learning! Also, as others stated, we all make mistakes and it is helpful to have the reminder that making mistakes with a new language is normal and expected. THANK YOU for making a point of correcting your mistake and helping others, and thank you for all of your hard work on these lessons. You both rock!

Comment from Kees van Egmond

No BIG deal, Nobody is perfect

Comment from Jeanette

Bless you. You have found a way to teach me in an unforgettable way how to be careful for those particular tricky nouns!!

Comment from J. Perry

With me you will never “blow your credentials”. I am a Spanish teacher in Pennsylvania and my students and I love your podcasts. I love the relationship between you and Marina, very endearing.

Comment from Thomas Lindsay

Mate I didn’t even notice!haha don’t worry your still a legend! Just keep the emails coming!!

Comment from Randy

I had a Zen teacher who used to say “there is a mistake in everything we do.” Kinda takes the pressure off I think.

Comment from Courtney

It’s interesting how some folks just LOVE to point out errors others make. I guess they think it makes them look smart…even a little one like this one which did not at all affect the meaning of your message. Ya gotta laugh!

Anyway, when’s the new stuff coming out??? I’m really anxious to see what you’ve got in store for us this year!!

Comment from Charles Nagel

Ben: thank you for this. I’ve got a question as I plunder through NIS Intermediate. I have lost the written lessons 11-20 in which I had bought a few years ago. My computer crashed before I had an opportunity to print them out! Would there be a way for an arrangement for those to be sent again to me?
Muchas Gracias.
desde – Anchorage,Alaska

Comment from Susana

Ben, I’ve been teaching for 30 years and I still make mistakes – we NEVER stop learning!!! You and Marina are the best! I follow you and always, always recommend you to my students here at Bellevue College (near Seattle WA.)
Keep up the good work!!!

Comment from Ann

Ben – don’t sweat the small mistakes (and after teaching Spanish for 24 years, I consider yours a very small mistake!) @Sam – the past participle of “poner” is “puesto”, not “ponido” – it’s one of the irregulars. I think any native speaker would understand what you meant and he or she might even forgive you!

Comment from Andrew

¡Ben tiene toda la razón! ¿deberíamos esperar para hablar hasta que seamos perfectos en (hablar) UN idioma? ¡Claro que NO! Esa debe ser lección número uno.

Además, tengo un secretito: tampoco es perfecta Marina…casi a lo mejor…pero perfecta–no. No obstante, a mi me encanta su acento castellano.

Bueno…¿cuántos errores lleva esta respuesta mía? ¡No me hago ni la más remota idea!

Comment from Bárbara Antos

¡Tranquilo! Cursando yo asignaturas para mi maestría en literatura española, en la primera página de un trabajo escrito de considerable importancia para la clase de literatura medieval, escribí “,,,una gran dilema…” ¡¡Vaya vergüenza!!
Creo que los nativos son má benévolos con los errores gramaticales que los no-nativos.

Comment from Isabel

Lo bueno de este error especifico es que nunca mas se equivocara sobre la palabra DIA.
Un dato para alguien que puso que las palabras que terminan en MA son de genero masculino… solo las que vienen del griego ( o sea palabras relacionadas con las ciencias de todo tipo).
Creo que todos nos equivocamos y podemos aprender de nuestros errores.

Comment from Robert Frank

No problems Ben! Your Spanish is amazing! I wish I could speak as well as you. Unfortunately I speak with a very strong “andaluz” accent, and often incorporate French words with Spanish pronunciation into my everyday language

Thank you for everything, you and Marina are the best!

From Rob.

Comment from jim

No credentials blown whatsoever.

Besides, I don’t want to learn from somebody perfect, I want to learn from somebody human.

And another besides, everyone makes mistakes of all kinds in any language they speak. It’s normal.

We’re not robots……… and thank god for that.

But there are some pretty nasty people out there on the web willing to be snide.

Comment from RuthLT

Mi professora de Espanol me enseno: Todas las palabras que tienen a sus fines ma, pa, y ta son masculinos.

Esta regla funciona bien.

Comment from heba

hola Bin,
first of all I’d like to thank you and Marina for every thing, your emails are great, your podcasts are fenomenal, never mind, your emails are useful.even this wabi sabi one.
so never mind it happens.

Comment from Ben

Wow, I can hardly believe the number of comments that have come in overnight! Thank you so much for all the lovely messages about Notes in Spanish, and for all the additional useful information on this kind of mistake. 51 comments so far, overnight, is unprecedented! Thanks again to all of you – as much as we have helped all of you learn Spanish, you have all helped us to keep this project going over the years.

@Charles Nagel – get in touch with us via the support link and we’ll hook you up with the missing worksheets.

Comment from kate

Hola chic@s,

Big deal Ben!!!

To make mistakes is only human. To make such a small mistake is testament to how good your Spanish is. To feel bad about it is also a sign of your striving for perfection.

Saludos

Comment from Donald Rutherford

At least it proves that your emails are read!

Comment from Joseph

The one that always confuses me is “El agua” when it´s singular or “Las aguas”when it´s plural.
Just another irregular rule of spanish grammar.

So don´t worry Ben no pasa nada it´s an easy mistake to make.

Comment from Michelle

We love you because of your mistakes, not in spite of them.

Comment from Roxane

If it helps, any, Ben, I did the exact same thing a couple of days ago! And it’s certainly not that one don’t know better, it’s just that, as a native English speaker, these things are bound to slip out. I was sitting on the lowered tailgate of my truck with Henry, a ranch worker who is Mexican, and I was making a little joke about the overnight change from summer to winter here in California, and I said, “Un día hace calor, la proxima día . . .” and Henry broke in, laughing, saying, “. . .¡Sí, hace frio!” Of course he didn’t even bat an eye, what does he care . . . it popped out because I was just rattling along with a friend, not thinking. It wasn’t until I was heading down the road that I went, “*GROAN!* But you’re right: it is GOOD this happened, because now it’s stuck in my mind with a big “caution” sign over it, and likely won’t happen again.

Comment from linda

Ben, We love you for who you are. The mistakes you make in the podcasts reinforce the learning process and give them a character. We all make mistakes all of the time, no pasa nada. Roxanne is absolutely right it has a very positive side to it.

Comment from Linda

Mistakes are what keep us humble as teachers….lets our students know that we are “for real”! I, for one, appreciate you admitting that you aren’t perfect because my students sure think you are!! If that is the biggest mistake you make this week, your are doing well!!

Comment from Jack

Este error es menos grave que “I thought I better” en tu lengua materna!

Comment from roger cooper

As the tio quoted above by Ben, I admit to having been rather harsh in saying his credentials were blown. We can all learn from our mistakes, and four eyes are better than two before we publish something.

Irregularities in Spanish gender endings often go back to Latin, which originally had three of the tiresome things. Late (or Vulgar) Latin, from which all the Romance languages are derived, got rid of the neuters. Some became masculine, others feminine.

As Anna points out, agua is feminine, but we say and write el agua, for reasons of euphony, but it remains feminine. But I think she will find that most feminine nouns starting in ‘a’ don’t follow this rule, taking la as their article, e.g. alegría, alfombra. It depends on where the stress lies.

As my first Spanish course put it in 1966: ‘It is essential that nouns be learnt with their article’, a counsel of perfection. That said, over 99% of Spanish nouns can be ‘sexed’ correctly if they end in o or a. Día (m) and Mano (f) are the commonest exceptions. Nouns ending in e are usually masculine. Etymology helps: if you know that a word ending in a is from the Greek, such as tema, clima, planeta¸ chances are it will take el. Guarda and guardia are also masculine. To confuse things further, there are a few other feminines ending in o, such as moto, foto, dínamo and, surprisingly, modelo (in the fashion sense).

Comment from John Bentley

Dear Marina and Ben: I have been listening to your podcasts for some time now and they are brilliant. They have helped to keep me motivated in learning this lovely language. I am a “self-learner” and I use a range of resources but you have the “XFactor”. Your personalities come across so strongly, it’s almost as if I know you personally. As for your “credentials”, they are impeccable. I live in France and speak French quite well. I make mistakes in French all the time – I try to learn from them. Language is all about communication and both of you are great communicators. Muchas gracias. Hasta luego.

Comment from Alan Russell

Querido Ben,

¿Has metido la pata? ¡Claro que no! En contrario, has mostrado que eres ambos humano como nosotros y también muy honesto por admitirlo. Tú sitio web es lo mejor de la red para aprender español; por favor, ¡siga enseñarnos!
¡Muchas gracias!

Comment from miguel

No pasa nada en absoluto, tio.
Gracias por un ejemplo bueno.

Comment from nancy schlejen

!Hola Ben!

No hay problema. Nadie es pefecto, hago errores tambien. !Eres una inspiracion a mi hoy y para siempre. !Me encante tu libro sobre tu vida en Espana.

Comment from Martin

Mistake? My foot! That was a great Spanish lesson.

Many years ago in the Alps our Austrian ski instructor told us we could finish our week long course with the dreaded black diamond slope. Standing on top of it, I thought “no way”. He said, “Just do as we practiced all week; I’ll show you how easy it is.” He took off and fell on the first turn. We laughed, relaxed and made it down.
Later I heard that he always fell when his students struggled, and that he was a student of psychology and taught skiing to German tourists during his semester breaks.

Ben’s mistake was not only minute but helpful in improving my Spanish (because I’ll remember my comment here (if it was a mistake at all and not planted by Ben (consciously or sub-consciously))).

Greetings from Ohio,
Martin

Comment from Ben

Thanks for all the new comments!

@Martin – I never make deliberate mistakes, don’t worry, the perfectionist in me is too strong (to strong for my own good!)

Comment from tomcampbell99@gmail.com

Hay necessario tener un website para que blog con ustedes?

Comment from Alicia

I have really enjoyed Ben and Marina from the very start. I am taking this opportunity to share my enjoyment with some friends.
Note “ma” words are masculine as cognates but they are femenine, when they are not. hence: el sistema, el dilema, el programa, el problema but la cama, la cima, la trama. Maybe someone could explain la fama, la dama, la mama.

Continue with a job well done,
Alicia

Comment from Brendon hobbs

I have been learning Spanish for nearly 5 years and still make the occasional el / ella mistake. It doesn’t make me feel too bad as i have noticed some native speakers also slipping with it too!

Comment from Brian

Ben, how anyone could be so quick to judge on the basis of a minor error is beyond me. To suggest that you’ve lots your credibility is simply silly.

I’ve learned tons from you guys, and in re-listening to the various podcasts and playlists from gold 1 & 2 and the advanced, I continue to learn more.

And even though you speak great spanish, Marina corrects you when you make the odd mistake — and we learn from those too.

I hope gold 3 is coming out soon.