Stop saying that is my Shorts series about the words English speakers overuse in Spanish: el tiempo for every kind of time, la calle for every road, decir for every way of speaking, yo pienso que before every opinion. In each video I show you the habit and 3-5 alternatives natives use every day. I'm Profe Fer, and this page is the full word bank for the series, one row per Short, so you can practice what you saw in the video.
Word bankThe word you overuse and what natives say instead
| Basic word | What natives say instead | Example (ES — EN) |
|---|---|---|
| yo pienso que (I think that) | creo que, me parece que, opino que, diría que, a mi modo de ver | Me parece que va a llover. — I think it's going to rain. |
| el tiempo (time) | el clima (weather), la hora (clock time), la época (era), el rato (a while), la vez (occasion) | Nos vemos en un rato. — See you in a bit. |
| estoy bien, gracias (sounding like a student) | ¿Qué más? (Col), ¿Qué onda? (Mex), ¿Qué tal?, todo bien, ahí vamos | —¿Qué más, parce? —Todo bien, ¿y vos? — What's up, buddy? All good, and you? |
| el trabajo (job, work) | la chamba (Mex), el camello (Col), el laburo (Arg), el curro (Spain), la pega (Chile) | Tengo mucha chamba esta semana. — I have a lot of work this week. |
| la fruta (fruit) | el mango, la papaya, la guayaba, el maracuyá, la guanábana | Un jugo de maracuyá, por favor. — A passion fruit juice, please. |
| la calle (street) | la avenida, la carrera (Col), la cuadra (block), el callejón, la vía | Vivo a dos cuadras del parque. — I live two blocks from the park. |
| el vaso (glass) | la copa (stemmed glass), la taza (mug), el pocillo (Col, small cup), la jarra (pitcher), el tarro (Mex, Col) | ¿Me traes una copa de vino tinto? — Can you bring me a glass of red wine? |
| decir (to say) | contar, comentar, susurrar, gritar, chismear | Ella me contó todo lo que pasó. — She told me everything that happened. |
| comer (to eat) | desayunar, almorzar, cenar, picar (snack), devorar | Almorzamos a la una. — We have lunch at one. |
| muy bueno (sounding like a beginner, I) | buenísimo, genial, chévere (Col, Ven), padre (Mex), guay (Spain) | La película estuvo buenísima. — The movie was really good. |
| el grupo (group) | el equipo, la banda, la pandilla, el montón, la multitud | Vino un montón de gente al concierto. — A ton of people came to the concert. |
| el cabello (hair) | el pelo, la melena, el vello (body hair), las canas (gray hair), el mechón | Tiene una melena larga y negra. — She has long black hair. |
| suave (soft) | liso, terso, sedoso, tenue, delicado | La tela es sedosa al tacto. — The fabric is silky to the touch. |
| un pedazo (a piece) | una rebanada (bread), una tajada (Col, fruit), una loncha (Spain, ham), un trozo, una porción | Dame una rebanada de pan. — Give me a slice of bread. |
| yo… at the start of every sentence (sounding like a beginner, II) | drop the pronoun, a mí me…, pues…, o sea…, bueno… | Tengo hambre, ¿comemos? — I'm hungry, shall we eat? |
One row per Short. Regional labels show where I hear the word most; all of them are understood across the Spanish-speaking world.
PracticeHow to use this word bank
Say the example aloud before you read the translation. The overused word is a reflex, and reflexes only change with your mouth, not your eyes. Read the Spanish, say it, then check the English. Do the whole table in five minutes.
Pick one region. Chamba in Mexico, camello in Colombia, curro in Spain. Choose the country you actually talk to and learn its word first. You can collect the others later.
Connect the word to the grammar. Several rows come straight from lessons: me parece que often opens the door to the subjunctive I cover in cuando and the Spanish subjunctive; el rato, la hora and la época live inside Spanish prepositions of time; cuadra, avenida and callejón are the nouns you place with Spanish prepositions of place. And both "beginner" rows are fixed by the verb endings in the Spanish present tense: once the ending carries the subject, yo becomes optional. You will find these and the rest in all 33 free Spanish lessons.
Do not try to stop saying decir or comer. Try to add one alternative a week. Overused words are not enemies; they are placeholders. Every time you swap one for contar or almorzar, the placeholder shrinks on its own, and your Spanish sounds a year older overnight.