EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

They all mean the same with certain essential differences.  When we make a MISTAKE that indicates that we had some previous knowledge of the context where and when we are making such mistake. There are several reasons that may lead us to make mistakes: forgetfulness, distractions, being careless, sadness, and others. Even the fact that we are humans can be listed because making mistakes is part of our human condition. So if I say: I have understand perfectly , that is a mistake if I have been explained the Present Perfect tense in a previous occasion. In other words, I knew how to use it but I did it wrong anyway perhaps due to any of the causes mentioned before with lack of concentration being the most likely reason. What if I was never explained how to use the Present Perfect before or at least not properly? Then that is not a mistake but an ERROR. I did not know how to use the verb understand in  the correct form so I chose my intuition only and I got it wrong. A...

Meet Julia Denning (Jessica Biel), a widow and a nurse in an old mining town that used to know better days before the mine was closed down. Now it languishes slowly and the inhabitants live a bitter existence since they have ended up impoverished and their future looks awfully bleak.  The town is not only attacked by economical urgencies but also by a mysterious figure that has been taking away the little children of the town who are never seen again. The mysterious figure is called The Tall Man and no one really knows who he is for real.  The story gets personal the day Julia's son is taken away and she begins a desperate search to recover the child. Eventually the truth behind what really is happening emerges and the audience goes from completely puzzled to somewhat concerned for the (social) reality that is exposed by this story. The point is that despite the way the film is promoted The Tall Man is not a horror movie but some sort of psychological thriller. The pu...

Let´s begin by saying that though similar they are not the same thing, not at least in English. A Box of Matches (Caja de Fósforos) is precisely this, usually  small, box made of cardboard  that contains matches. A matchbox is another thing entirely: it is only a box with no matches. but designed to hold matches inside, only it does not need to hold matches to be a matchbox. The same can be said about other objects as well such as a Box of Jewelry (it has jewelry in it) or  a Jewelry Box (that means only to the box) or a Glass of Wine which is not necessarily the same as a Wineglass. Again the problem is in Spanish since for us there is no real difference and a Caja de Fósforos is always a Caja de Fósforos regardless of its holding matches or not. ...

This is an animated movie based on a story written in the mid 80s by Frank Miller (the creator of the Sin City series). It tells you what happens in a future Gotham city years after Batman's retirement. None of Batman's enemies is operating either but a new threat has risen: hordes of young criminals calling themselves The Mutants are taking over Gotham just using their brutal ferocity and relentlessness. Bruce Wayne has aged and is no longer the man he used to be, but something inside him beckons him, a call he cannot deny. Gotham City needs to be saved and Batman is still the only man who can do the job. Once again he dons his costume and little by little he begins his campaign to defeat the Mutants even inspiring others such as Carrey Kelley, a young girl, who Batman saves from a Mutant attack. In return Carrey becomes the new Robin and helps Batman in his fight even saving him from getting killed by the Mutant leader. Batman defeats the Mutants by beating their leader i...

One of the things about English is that sometimes it is able to express ideas that would require a  more complex structure in order to be said if we are using Spanish and perhaps other languages as well.  To make my point I have picked these words"Be there or Beware" which is a funny way to warn others about not attending a certain event. Funny and everything there is one problem with this phrase: how do you put it into Spanish? I have come up with the following version: "Es mejor que vayas o atente a las consecuencias"  Obviously, the fact that is difficult to say it in exactly the same number of words as in English demonstrates that English has the "upper hand" here. And the real problem is that in Spanish since we never say something like: "Esté ahí o tema" and is even worse when we talk to a friend and we then "tuteamos" such person. That would imply saying something like "Estate ahí o Teme." We would prefer: "...

Apparently, there was a shortage of mannequins. O ne thing is for sure: that word is not SMOKING .  The reason why in Spanish we use the Spanish transcription of the word SMOKING as the name of that suit is a bit obscure. What we know is that the British were among the first to wear this suit back in the XIX century and that they preferred to wear it when smoking which probably explains one of its many names, SMOKING JACKET. It is perhaps for this name that in Spanish we use the term ESMOQUIN (which is how we pronounce the word SMOKING). It is also called DINNER JACKET these days, though its real name is TUXEDO or TUX for short.  And where does that name come from?  Well, the Americans must know since this evening outfit was first worn by the male members of an exclusive country club placed in Tuxedo Avenue somewhere in New York, apparently at some point in the 1890s. So, ESMOQUIN  in Spanish but TUXEDO in English. Unlikely but in the end, so true.

The number Three seems to have a certain charm or exert a certain fascination in our culture.  We make many things based on that number such as for example presenting a new idea just like Steve Jobs used to do when he was alive. Many of The things we like come in that number and thus it begs the question...Why Three precisely? There are several examples of how we organize our concepts (the  word concept  is used here in a very broad aspect) always in groups of three: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner (The three meals of the day) Health, Money and Love (the "recipe for happiness") Morning, Afternoon, Evening (the parts of the day) Joseph, Mary and Jesus (the Holy Family according to Catholics) The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (the aspects of God according to most, not all Christians) The Devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet (the Unholy Trinity) Red, White and Blue (the colors of the U.S. flag) The beginning, the middle and the end (the stages o...