🍅 García Márquez on trust [Day 3]

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Morning! 😃 ☕️ 

You're halfway through the week. 35% of the words are now gone... and today you'll learn the one word choice that instantly reveals whether you learned Spanish from natives or from apps.

In today's email…

• 📱 Day 3: 35% of the words disappear - test your memory

• 🌟 The formality mistake that makes Spanish speakers cringe

• 🏃‍♂️ When this quote becomes inappropriate (and what to say instead)

📧 subscribe here \ yesterdays newsletter 📆

MEMORIZE 🧠

"Siempre habrá ___ ___ te lastime, ___ que ___ que ___ ___ hacer es seguir confiando y ___ ser más cuidadoso en ___ confías dos veces."

As always, the answer key and audio are at the bottom of this email.

CULTURAL MOMENT 🍅

Here's the mistake I see constantly: Americans learn this García Márquez quote, then use it with their Spanish-speaking housekeeper, their kid's soccer coach, or the guy at the taquería.

They think they're showing cultural knowledge. Spanish speakers think they're showing off.

The formality level of this quote matters more than the words themselves. García Márquez quotes belong in specific contexts: professional settings, educated conversations, or moments when literary references fit naturally. Use this quote with your company's VP from Colombia? Perfect. Use it with your neighbor's teenage son? Weird.

Spanish has formal and informal registers, but it also has a cultural register that textbooks never teach. This quote sits in the "educated adult conversation" register. When you use it incorrectly, Spanish speakers don't think you made a grammar mistake. They think you can't read social situations.

WORD SPOTLIGHT 🔍️ 

Gente (people) is one of those words that feels simple but trips up English speakers. It's singular in Spanish - "la gente" - even though it means multiple people. You say "la gente es" (people are) not "la gente son." When this word disappears from the phrase, your brain has to remember that "habrá gente" is talking about people in general, not one specific person.

Tienes comes from "tener" (to have), but in "tienes que hacer" it means "you have to do." This is called a verbal periphrasis - using "tener que" to express obligation. English speakers often forget "tienes" because we'd just say "you must do." Spanish speakers use "tener que" constantly for obligations. "Tienes que ver esta película" (you have to see this movie), "tienes que probar esto" (you have to try this).

Solo here means "just" or "only," not "alone." This is the mistake that reveals textbook Spanish. "Solo" without an accent means "only." "Sólo" with an accent used to mean "only" too, but modern Spanish dropped the accent requirement. Either way, context tells you it means "only" when paired with actions. "Solo ser más cuidadoso" = just be more careful, not "be more careful alone."

Quién (who) with an accent mark indicates a question or uncertainty. "En quién confías" = in whom you trust. Without the accent, "quien" means "who" in statements. García Márquez chose "quién" because there's implicit uncertainty about who deserves trust twice. That accent mark carries meaning - it signals the question of judgment that trust requires.

HEAR THE SPANISH AUDIO 🍅

Pro tip: Listen three times.

Once for general meaning.

Once following along with the text.

Once with your eyes closed, focusing purely on pronunciation and rhythm.

ANSWER KEY ✅

Spanish: "Siempre habrá gente que te lastime, así que lo que tienes que hacer es seguir confiando y solo ser más cuidadoso en quién confías dos veces."

English: "There will always be people who hurt you, so what you have to do is keep trusting and just be more careful about who you trust twice."

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See you tomorrow! - 🍅 The Phrase Café Team