“We should get together some time”

“It was in fashion some time ago”

It is a tendency to translate “sometimes” or “some time” in each of those examples as “algún tiempo” or “algunos tiempos”, which is incorrect. What should be used is “a veces”, “algún momento” and “algún tiempo” depending on the context.

For example:

“Sometimes I like to eat ice cream” is “a veces me gusta comer helado“. This is the most common usage for “sometimes” (one word).

“We should get together some time” is “debemos reunirnos en algún momento“. This use of “some time” is some time or unknowable point in the future.

“It was in fashion some time ago” is “fue de moda en algún tiempo“. “Some time” is used as some unspecified but determined time period in the past.

As you can see from our initial example, the two words are used in different situations where the English word satisfied is used. Here’s why:

Satisfacer, Satisfecho (first person), is used in the sense of fulfill or fill, meet certain requirements. So in the case of being or feeling full with food, then satisfecho would be used “estoy satisfecho.”  It also is correct to use the word in the context of meeting something with approval: “Ella esta satisfecha con su ropa”, she is happy with her clothes. It is more than just satisfied, it is satisfied and being happy about it.

Contentar, Contento (first person), is more used in the sense of feeling pleasure or being happy. It sounds like content in English, but, unlike the English word, contentar means much more than just content. It means being happy, more than satisfied. It is synanomous with feliz, alegre. “Estoy contento con mi esposo” is like saying “Estoy feliz con mi esposo” (both mean I am happy with my husband.)

In English, if you say “I am content with…” or “I am satisfied with…” can be taken as “I’m ok with…”. In other words, you’re not necessarily happy with something but you go along with it. In Spanish, if you say “Estoy contento con…” or “Estoy satisfecho con…” means you are happy or pleased with something.

In English the verb to ask has a wider range of usage than the Spanish verb generally considered its equivalent, preguntar.

For example, in English you can say (1) I asked about the price and (2) I asked for a credit. In both cases the verb to ask was used. But in Spanish, preguntar is correct in example (1), so you’d say: Yo pregunte sobre el precio, but in example (2) the form of the verb pedir must be used, so you would say: Yo pide un credito. This is because in (1) I asked about and in (2) I asked for. Ask for is a verb on its own: pedir.

The correct way is to leave out “to” or “a” as in:
“quiero comer” and “necesita dormir”.

Why? Remember that in English all verbs in the infinite are preceded by “to”, like “to eat” or “to sleep”.
In Spanish the infinite forms of the verbs don’t contain the additional word. It’s just “comer” or “dormir”.

Molestar means to bother, to bug or upset someone. So Tú me molestas means basically you bug me. It can be meant either as a joke or a serious statement. How do you know which? Sense the tone.

The Spanish equivalent to to molest is abusar which is to abuse and in English is synanomous with to molest.

As already mentioned, Familiar can mean the same as familiar in English but also this:

1. Family, as in vida familiar – family life.

2. Relative or relation, as in ella es mi familiar – she is my relative.

So add Familiar to your list of useful words and by learning this one word, you are practically learning an equivalent of 3 (or more).

Both of these verbs mean “to try”. However, when used in the past tense,
tratar is more often used with a negative connotation, while intentar
with a positive. For example, “Yo intent