Grammatically Correct Spanish: Ultimate Guide To Speak Spanish Like A Native

So, during many of our lessons, we get comments with this feeling: 

• Según la RAE, esta expresión es coloquial y no se ampara en las reglas de la gramática.  (According to the RAE, this expression is colloquial and does not follow the rules of grammar.)
• No se conocen casos en los que el uso de esta expresión prohíba su comprensión (There are no known cases in which the use of this expression prohibits its understanding.)
• Es posible utilizar esta frase de esta forma, puesto que las reglas gramaticales lo permiten.   (It is possible to use this phrase in this way, because the grammatical rules allow it.)

And guys, you’re not wrong: we teach Spanish that doesn’t always follow the grammar rule book. And we’re proud of it! Why?

We made a video on whether you should learn grammatically correct Spanish?

So, grammar freaks, watch out: in this lesson, you’ll discover why we’re okay teaching “grammatically incorrect Spanish”, and why we’ll always continue doing so!

1. Learn the true shortcuts of Spanish

In language schools and in language class, the teacher and textbooks often start with teaching grammar, but is that really the best way to learn a language?

The problem with that is, that spoken language is not perfect. We, native speakers, shorten words, use grammatically incorrect phrases, slang and illogical sentence structure.

Plus shortcuts for everyday situations like the one in the role play.

We would’ve never said so much to ask for the time, and we would certainly know this person learned Spanish from a book. Which, definitely, isn’t a bad thing, but it is less natural.

In native speech, this is how it could’ve gone:

Ahora, por supuesto, depende de cada quien. (Now, of course, it’s up for everyone to decide.)

Some people don’t want to learn the Spanish that is spoken in the streets of Spanish-speaking countries, they would rather just be communicating in grammatically correct phrases.

However, we at Spring Spanish strive to teach the native speech.

2. Learn Spanish slang and unstructured language

We believe in the increased practicality of learning to speak like the natives, even if in a textbook these might not pop up at all. That’s also why you will find a ton of videos on our Spring Spanish YouTube channel with slang or how natives say things. 

By learning this way, you won’t be blindsided when something like this happens:

I don’t even know what textbooks would say in this case, but I’m sure half of this isn’t in there. And this is precisely how we actually talk. So much so, that it leads us to a:

We don’t really have alternatives to this. We always use this when we want to say someone does something simply because they want to, without cause or reason. 

Remember to check the link in this description to access our free Essential Spanish Chunking Kit and get many more chunks as common as this one!

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3. So you know when grammatically correct Spanish isn’t as correct in real life

Here is one example of this: Paulisima made a video recently about the expression “puedo tener” and how it is incorrect in Spanish.

Several people challenged her in the comments, saying that while it is not a common way to ask for something, it is indeed grammatically correct and people will understand.

Yes, that’s true, people will understand, and it is grammatically correct, but a native speaker will never say that to ask for something.

This little role-play is my way of telling you that, grammatically correct or not, if you use this expression to ask for something, it sounds like you might be translating “could I have?”. At least, it does to me, but it’s up to you to decide whether it is important or not to you.

Saying the following would be far more natural:

Again, of course, it’s up to you to decide if you just want to be understood. You want to speak with grammatically perfect Spanish even if the natives don’t speak like that, or, maybe, you want to learn to speak like the natives. To each its own! 

4. So you know Spanish is a universe with many different rule systems

While you may never speak the exact same Spanish that natives do, without an accent for example (or you may, who knows), we, at Spring Spanish, still think it’s something that is worth striving for. 

Among other things, it’ll help with something deadly important if you’re interested in Spanish as a second language. That is, understanding, accepting, and embracing that no set of rules will apply to all of the cultures, countries, and societies which speak Spanish perfectly. 

I can tell you that as a Venezuelan who did a Master’s in Madrid, I ran into a bunch of situations where our “rules” differ from each other.

Also, you would be missing out on one of the best parts of speaking Spanish: the many colors that compose it and the freedom each “Spanish” can enjoy. I promise it is something most of us deeply enjoy.

By the way, if anybody ever tells you there’s such a thing as a country with “better” or “more correct” Spanish, do me a favor, would you?

Compassionately, tell them there’s not such a thing and that it is very sad, small minded, and boring to think so. Nobody owns Spanish!