Spanish-Influenced Grammar to Avoid

Level 5

Galician and Spanish look alike, but some Spanish sentence patterns are not standard Galician: Me chamo should be Chámome, and había chegado should be chegara.

How It Works

Most Galician speakers also speak Spanish, so Spanish patterns slip into Galician easily. The words are Galician, but the structure is Spanish. These four are the ones you will hear most often.

1. A pronoun at the start of the sentence

In Galician an unstressed pronoun such as me, te, lle or o cannot open a sentence. In a plain statement it goes after the verb: Chámome Uxía (my name is Uxía), not Me chamo Uxía. See pronouns after the verb.

2. Te instead of che

Spanish uses te for both 'you' as object and 'to you'. Galician keeps them apart: te is the direct object and che is the indirect object. So Díxenche a verdade (I told you the truth), not Díxente a verdade. See te vs che.

3. Había + participle

Standard Galician has no compound past tenses. For something that happened before another past event, it uses the one-word antepretérito: Cando cheguei, o tren xa saíra (when I arrived, the train had already left). Xa había saído is a Spanish copy. In the same way, use comín rather than hei comido for 'I have eaten'.

4. The -ra form as a subjunctive

In Spanish, tuviera and tuviese are both subjunctive. In careful Galician the past subjunctive is the -se form: Se tivese tempo, axudaríache (if I had time, I would help you). The -ra form is the antepretérito and some traditional uses. See the -ra and -se forms.

Why it matters. None of these patterns stops people from understanding you. But they mark writing as non-standard, so they are worth fixing in exams, formal writing and careful speech.

Examples (6)

  1. Chámome Uxía e son de Lugo.

    My name is Uxía and I am from Lugo.

    Word by Word: Call-myself Uxía and am from Lugo.

    The pronoun me goes after the verb, not at the start: chámome, not me chamo.

  2. Díxenche que viñeses cedo.

    I told you to come early.

    Che is the indirect object (to you). Viñeses is the -se subjunctive.

  3. Cando chegamos á estación, o tren xa saíra.

    When we got to the station, the train had already left.

    Saíra is the one-word antepretérito, used instead of había saído.

  4. Se tivese tempo, axudaríache coa mudanza.

    If I had time, I would help you with the move.

    After se, careful Galician uses the -se form tivese, not tivera.

  5. Hoxe comín cos meus avós.

    Today I had lunch with my grandparents.

    Galician uses the simple preterite comín where Spanish would say he comido.

  6. Pedinlle que me esperase na porta.

    I asked him to wait for me at the door.

    Here me comes before the verb because of que, and esperase is the -se subjunctive.

Common Mistakes

  • Starting a sentence with an unstressed pronoun.

    Me chamo Brais.
    Chámome Brais.

    In a plain statement the pronoun goes after the verb. A sentence never begins with an unstressed pronoun such as me, te, lle or o.

  • Using te where Galician needs che.

    Xa te dixen que non podo.
    Xa che dixen que non podo.

    Dicir takes an indirect object ("to you"), and the indirect object form for ti is che. Xa pulls the pronoun before the verb.

  • Building the past before the past with había + participle.

    Cando chegou, xa había marchado todo o mundo.
    Cando chegou, xa marchara todo o mundo.

    Standard Galician uses the simple antepretérito marchara, not a compound tense.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Spanish-Influenced Grammar to AvoidLevel 5

Learn This First

This review contrasts Galician clitic, object and tense patterns with common Spanish transfers.