Bridging the Gap Challenge: #003

<p>This is a deliberate practice exercise to help you bridge the gap between the Spanish you <strong>don't know</strong> and the Spanish you <strong>could know</strong> after spending some time in focused mode.</p><p>The three sentences below contain <strong>10 mistakes in total</strong>.</p><p>Each mistake has a corresponding <strong>reference sentence</strong> that contains the correct usage.</p><p>You only need to do three things <strong>to get value</strong> from this exercise:</p><ol><li><strong>Pore over the reference sentences</strong> until you think you've noticed their subtleties.</li><li><strong>Try your best</strong> to find the 10 mistakes in the three sentences.</li><li><strong>Match every mistake</strong> with its corresponding reference sentence.</li></ol><p>Example:</p><div class="translation"><p><span class="sp">M0: ¿Cuál es <span class="sp mistake">la</span> problema?</span></p><p><span class="sp">R0: Tengo <strong>un</strong> problema.</span></p><p><span class="sp">Answer: ¿Cuál es <strong>el</strong> problema?</span></p></div><p><strong>Post your attempt in the comments</strong> and I'll send you the answer key.</p><p>Have fun!</p><h2>Reference sentences</h2><div class="translation"><p><span class="sp">R1: La verdad es que Pedro es bastante menos antipático de lo que me habían dicho.</span><br><span class="en">The truth is that Pedro is way less unpleasant than what I had been told.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R2: ¿Cómo vais de trabajo? Hasta arriba, ¿no?</span><br><span class="en">How's work going? Super busy, right?</span></p><p><span class="sp">R3: Como os sigáis concentrando os va a salir humo por las orejas.</span><br><span class="en">If you (guys) continue concentrating (like that), smoke is going to come out of your ears.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R4: Cuando vino a contarme la historia, yo ya me la sabía entera.</span><br><span class="en">When he came to tell me the story, I already knew the whole thing.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R5: ¿Qué frase es la que más te gusta?</span><br><span class="en">What sentence is the one you like the most?</span></p><p><span class="sp">R6: No me creo que no tengas ninguna pregunta.</span><br><span class="en">I can't believe you don't have any questions.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R7: No me digas que es la primera vez que vas a la playa.</span><br><span class="en">Don't tell me that it's the first time you go to the beach.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R8: Qué pena no haber tenido más sitio en mi hotel para alojaros.</span><br><span class="en">What a shame not having had more space in my hotel to accommodate you.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R9: Lo que más siento es no poder ir contigo.</span><br><span class="en">What I feel (bad about) the most is not being able to go with you.</span></p><p><span class="sp">R10: Si necesitas algo más, avísame.</span><br><span class="en">If you need anything else, let me know.</span></p></div><h2>Mistaken sentences</h2><div class="mistake translation"><p><span class="sp">M1: Hoy no puedo concentrar, porque estoy mucho más cansado que pensaba. Y lo peor es que estoy hasta las narices de trabajo.</span></p><p><span class="sp">M2: No tuve que buscar nada palabra para escribir el frase anterior. Sabia todas.</span></p><p><span class="sp">M3: Lo siento que no tenía tiempo para decírtelo antes, pero próxima vez te dejo saber con más tiempo.</span></p></div><h2>Pro tips</h2><ul><li><p><strong>The faster you finish, the less you'll learn</strong>. Use this exercise as an excuse to slow down and get good at noticing.</p></li><li><p>The point is not to find all 10 mistakes; the point is <strong>to notice something you would have normally missed</strong>.</p></li><li><p>You can <strong>rely on your gut</strong> for the first pass, but I also encourage you to Google anything you're not sure about (and to use <strong>spell check</strong>). If you're confused, <strong>go back to the reference sentences</strong>.</p></li><li><p>You can also ask natives, but <strong>figuring it out on your own is much more satisfying</strong> (and easier to remember) than being told the right answer by someone else. However, once you're done, feel free to <strong>check out other people's attempts</strong>.</p></li><li><p>If you learned something doing this exercise, <strong>sign up</strong> below and I'll send you the next one on Thursday.</p></li></ul>