Words that start with "S"

Question

In high school, my Spanish teacher told me that Spanish speakers don't say words that start with "S", yet there are many verbs and nouns that start with S.

Anyone know if he was talking about a cultural thing?

? what about sinceridad, sencillo, siempre? - Marsviking, May 20, 2011

Answer 1

What your teacher probably meant to say is that Spanish people don't use a liquid S, i.e. an S followed right away by another consonant. We don't have that combination.

Most spanish speaking people who don't understand english can't speak a word that starts with and "s".

What I don't understand is why English is so irregular. You have "special" and "especial", "spouse" and "espouse", all pairs with the same sound, and yet "stimulus" but no "estimulus". Isn't that "estrange"? Why is "strongen" wrong, but "estrogen" right, like in Spanish? Why not "stuary" instead of "estuary", like in Spanish? Why can't you "stimate", instead of "estimate"? Why is the spelling "stablish" disappearing, while "establish" is becoming the norm?

At least we are consistent.

Escrap, escrap, escrap... - afowen, May 20, 2011

Esarcasm? - lorenzo9, May 20, 2011

Scrap, scrap, scrap was commonly heard when I was nobbut a schoolboy, on anticipation of an ensuing rumble. Scrap meaning fight. I just Spanished it up for sake of relevance... - afowen, May 20, 2011

Answer 2

It's not a cultural thing... Most words start with an "es" in spanish that start with a 's' in english.. escuela/school .. especial/special ... spanish/espanol... Most spanish speaking people who don't understand english can't speak a word that starts with and "s".

I've noticed that all native Spanish speakers are unable to say "soy". In fact, the word "ser" is never used in most tenses. - lorenzo9, May 20, 2011

I'm not understanding this: All Spanish speakers are unable to say "soy"? The word "ser" is never used in most tenses? Are you sure? Or am I misunderstanding something here? - 002067fe, May 20, 2011

I'm being sarcastic :) - lorenzo9, May 20, 2011

That's right! Subjuntivo, soporte, soprano, sordo, sorpresa, suave, subasta, sol, soñar, sombra, solvente, son, sopa, soplar, solo, sociedad are never spoken - 005faa61, May 20, 2011

Not sarcastic, he is just being ironic. And maybe facetious. - Lector_Constante, May 20, 2011

I could have said most Spanish speakers can't count to 10 because of 6 and 7. . . - lorenzo9, May 20, 2011

Lorenzo is well sarcy. Many espanish espeakers find it hard to pronounce words that start with an s followed by a consonant, an e is often added to ease pronunciation. - afowen, May 20, 2011

*facepalm* Lorenzo... :-) you got me, amigo! hehehehe! - 002067fe, May 20, 2011

Answer 3

I suppose most questions answered would be in the negative if Spanish speakers are unable to say "sí".

Answer 4

Yes I will add to the list, estupido/stupid, estilo/style, and estudio/study.

Answer 5

A lot of Spanish speakers drop s's and d's, but not so much when its the first letter. . .for the last letter it's really common. And native Spanish speakers say words that begin with 's' quite frequently.

Answer 6

I've heard people from Spain speak before and they said, "Thoy de Ethpaña." instead of "Soy de España". Maybe your teacher was trying to tell you that people from Spain speak like they have a lisp.

Answer 7

Thank you all! You've jogged my memory back to that particular lesson. It's crazy how much you forget in 4 years

Answer 8

No it is not common,at least in the north of México. "s" is pronounced in all cases.