📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 13 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 3 · La frase cuidada
Dequeísmo y queísmo
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 13 of 30: . On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
pienso que
I think that
PYEHN-soh keh
me alegro de que
I am glad that
meh ah-LEH-groh deh keh
darse cuenta de que
to realize that
DAR-seh KWEHN-tah deh keh
estoy seguro de que
I am sure that
ehs-TOY seh-GOO-roh deh keh
el dequeísmo
the extra de (a common slip)
ehl deh-keh-EES-moh
el queísmo
the missing de (a common slip)
ehl keh-EES-moh
la preposición sobrante
the preposition too many
lah preh-poh-see-SYOHN soh-BRAHN-teh
la preposición que falta
the preposition too few
lah preh-poh-see-SYOHN keh FAHL-tah
yo me doy cuenta de que es tarde
I realize that it is late
yoh meh doy KWEHN-tah deh keh ehs TAR-deh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The two commonest slips in educated Spanish are a preposition too many and a preposition too few. Dequeísmo adds a de that does not belong: pienso DE que (wrong) for pienso que. Queísmo drops one that does: me alegro que (wrong) for me alegro de que.
Y también · And also
The test is to replace the clause with eso: ¿pienso eso? — yes, so no de. ¿Me alegro eso? — no, me alegro DE eso, so de que. Darse cuenta de que, estar seguro de que, a pesar de que all keep their de.
Ojo · Watch out
Replace the que-clause with eso to hear the preposition: me alegro DE eso, so me alegro de que; pienso eso, so pienso que. darse cuenta de que and estar seguro de que keep their de — dropping it is queísmo.
darse cuenta, presente — the table
yo me doy cuenta · tú te das cuenta · él/ella/usted se da cuenta · nosotros nos damos cuenta · ustedes se dan cuenta · ellos/ellas se dan cuenta
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with pienso que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out darse cuenta, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.