Speaking in longer sentences
I was wondering if anyone had tips on developing longer sentences when communicating in Spanish. The longest sentences I can say are about 5-6 words and then it gets really confusing for me. Thanks for the help!
7 Answers
Heliotropeman is spot-on, like always (he is pretty much the master of communication with shorter sentences, so that's no surprise). My communication philosophy is that there is no 'sentence' in spoken Language. There are 'pauses', 'breaks' and 'ums'.
My advice: Cut down on 'um's by practising a few stock phrases till you've practically got them stuck to the front of your face. 'No quiero [action] porque tengo que [action] [day]', for example.
Use conjunctions and relative pronouns (I think that's what they are called) to fit together related sentences. You've already done this in English with 'however....' + pause + 'the problem is ', for example, or 'I'd love to go.... but + excuse + and also...'.
Learn stock time obtaining phrases (crutch words, basically). Being a non-native speaker of English, I frequently say 'Well, look at it this way', 'To be honest' (don't overuse this), 'You know' (the most dangerous crutch word in English, arguably. I've been snubbed thrice so far) etc. Do they make it easy to communicate in English? Of course!
Spanish probably also has 'Pues' (you can draw that 'e' really long, as far as I know), 'creo que' (works fine as 'What I think is that') etc. Learn these well, and imprint these in your head so you can use these as and when needed.
Arguably, better you speak like:
Tengo dos gatos pueeees y no los gusta beber leche... nada creo que no son gatos reales jejeje
Than:
Tengo dos gatos.... uh, no los gusta beber leche que me ha.... me hace pen... pensar que no son gatos reales (blush)
And conversations in a new language are as much about understanding the speaker as speaking yourself. Work on your listening comprehension of anything you learn to say.
Good luck!
Me too. That being said .Why not concentrate on concise sentences.Communication in any language is built on a series of phrases anyway. With time you will put them together and you will be speaking in long drawn out sentences like I am always doing and am doing right now.Buena suerte.
¿Cuántas palabras debe tener una frase para ser considerada "larga"?
Poder construir frases largas demuestra conocimiento y gusto por la lengua (idioma). En este tipo de frases es importante dotarlas de las pausas adecuadas, usualmente mediante el uso de comas, para facilitar la correcta comprensión de lo que se quiere comunicar.
Pero tampoco hay que abusar. Poner frases largas muy seguidas puede llegar a cansar al lector.
Quizás un buen ejercicio consistiría en construir una frase "larga" intentando enlazar varias frases cortas, siempre que estén relacionadas, claro.
It comes by itself,in time, as you get more sure of yourself.
Keep it simple and don't worry, it just happens.
The two best ways I know to make longer, more complex sentences is with conjunctions or relative pronouns. The conjunctions should be easy for you to pick up and use and you can certainly use relative pronouns too. Here are the articles on each at Span¡shD!ct:
Thank you all for the help! This really helped a lot!
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