More Natural Verb Usage

Hi, I'm new to this program, but have been taking formal spanish classes in through my elementary/middle/high school years, and the thing that has bothered me for the longest time is that very few of my teachers have been native Spanish speakers, and I have a few questions about verbs, if I wanted my speech to sound as least awkward as possible. 1. If I want to say a sentence, for instance "I will eat", from a native speakers viewpoint, would it be more correct to say: - Voy a comer, or, - Comeré 2. In my classes, we have always skipped over the "vosotros" conjugation of a verb, because "it's only used in Spain". Is that true? Even if it is only used in Spain, is it commonly used, or only rarely? 3. I've been taught the word "a" means "to" (and I've seen it used like "Doy un regalo a mi hermano"), but an infinitive verb like "escribir" also has the "to" in it, as "to write". If I want to say something like "I want to write a letter", is it correct to say: - Quiero escribir una carta, or - Quiero a escribir una carta Does using "a" change the meaning of the sentence, make it incorrect, or does it have to be used anyways? Gracias, Emma

I'm not a native Spanish speaker by any means, but from learning spanish and seeing and hearing the trends of how hispanics speak, I would agree that for your first question "voy a comer" would be correct. For the second question, it really is only Spain that uses it, not that other countries don't know it, it is just not a casual word to use and you would never be seen as wrong, unless in Spain, if you never use it. I still suggest you learn and understand it though. I never use it,...but I made sure I learned it incase I catch someone else using it, For the third question, "Quiero escribir una carta" would be correct from my understanding. Although if you did add the "a" before escribir, it wouldn't make you incorrect, but it just isn't needed. Unlike adding "yo" before "voy" in a sentence, I don't think it even adds any emphasis, so you might as well save yourself the brain power and just forget about using "a" on the verbs that already have "to" part of their make-up. Keep in mind I am no professional, Just a man desiring to be a professional and fluent speaker of this great language. Adios mi amigo

Further to whether to use the preposition "a" in the example "Quiero a escribir una carta", I agree with Adrian that it is not neccessary. You do however use "a" after verbs of learning, beginning and teaching such as aprender (to learn), empezar (to start) and enseñar (to teach). Adios.

Hola Emma! I can see that you have a very good understanding of the spanish language, muchas felicidades!!... The 1st question, well the 2 expression are correct, we can say that they are almost similar, as in "im gonna eat" or "i`ll eat"....both are correct and express the same idea...it really depends...in my case i use the "voy a comer", cause for me the "comere" sounds a little too "formal" for me... The 2nd one...well Spanish originated in Spain, and obviously the old spanish , spoken thousand of years ago, changed a little , just as the english spoken in England when Shakespeare was writing all of his masterpieces... "Vosotros" which is the same as "ustedes", come from the word "vos" which means "you" or the regular "tu" in standard spanish...the other word conforming "vosotros" is "otros" which mean others...."others and you" or something similar...for some reason in the "new world" a.k.a Latin America, the vosotros was changed for the "ustedes"... so it is currently only used in Spain....on the other hand the "vos" is still used in some countries like Argentina, El Salvador, and Uruguay, but the not the vosotros, only the vos... Other thing you must know about using the "vos" or "vosotros" is that the verb "to be" or "ser" is different!...instead of "Tu eres" and "Ustedes son" you would use "Vos sos" and "Vosotros sois"....yeah! i know it sounds wierd, but they speak like that in some parts of Spain and it is spanish!!! and if you use it in Mexico for example, they will understand you, but maybe they will look at you and say..."Oh! por lo que veo eres de España!"..(Ohh i can see you are from Spain") hahaha.. And finally the 3rd one, using the "a" in this specific sentence is not correct... ;) Hope all this info helps you a lot!!! ;) que tenga un excelente fin de semana!!!! Saludos desde Tijuana, Mexico!