"de"

¿Una cuenta de ahorros o una cuenta corriente? Should there be a "de" before corriente? There is a "de" before ahorros. Maybe there is some kind of a rule in a case like this.

It seems like there should be since both parts of the sentence have exactly the same structure.

Google translate agrees with both of you. I also think "de" is required in both places.

"No me acuerdo la última vez que yo fui al cine." I have "caught" quite a few of these and flagged them accordingly. You all are correct in as much as we are talking about written Spanish. The reality is, however, that people talk like this. I included an email response from Laura below. Hi Steven, Thanks for your email. This is a tricky one: the correct way to write the phrase should include "de", however it is common in oral Spanish to omit it. Below is the official information from the Real Academia Española: "Cuando significa ‘tener presente algo en la memoria’, en la lengua general culta funciona como intransitivo pronominal y va seguido de un complemento con de (acordarse DE algo): «¿Te acordás DE que lo hablamos unas cuantas veces?» (Benedetti Primavera [Ur. 1982]); «¿Os acordáis DE cuando a Miguel se le rompió el micrófono?» (Montero Amo [Esp. 1988]). Aunque ya desde antiguo es frecuente omitir la preposición de cuando el complemento es una oración subordinada, especialmente en la lengua oral y coloquial (Me acordé que..., ¿Te acordás cuando...?), se recomienda mantenerla en la lengua escrita. Los verbos acordar y recordar comparten este significado, pero en la lengua general culta se construyen de modo diferente: acordar, como se acaba de explicar, es intransitivo pronominal (acordarse DE algo), mientras que recordar (→ recordar(se), 2a) es transitivo (recordar [algo])." In other words, the proper written phrase should include the "de", however it is OK to ommit it when talking. Since the phrase is the transcription of the dialogue, it is not incorrect; however if you were to write a text you should include "de" for it to be correct. I hope this helps! Kind regards Laura Carone Rocket Languages Ltd

Hola Steven, Gracias por esto es muy interesante y informativo. Saludos, Ricardo

Thanks for all your terrific help, Ricardo. It is really appreciated. I come from a bilingual English-French background and French is INCREDIBLY picky when it comes to correlating masculine/ feminine objects, articles to use, etc. Hey, this is the language of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, ... So for me it's just a reflex to pick up EVERY little discrepancy. And while not even the French are always grammatical when they speak, the comment will invariably be "Il parle mal français" - quite an insult. So it helps to know that if you're writing in Spanish, ok, take the time to get it straight. But if you're speaking, hey, be cool!

Hola Steven, I am glad to hear that I have been of help. I feel somewhat humbled about the praise, as I am just a student, trying to share and learn. I also want to get it right and I welcome you and others pointing out discrepancies and providing information as it helps me in my quest . A bit of an aside, I have a brother in-law that lived in México for 10 years that speaks and understands Spanish quite well, far better than I do, but he avoids and dances around the subjunctive and other things that I want to know and feel in my "Spanish Mind". It must be quite helpful learning Spanish coming from a bilingual background as you do. My brother - in law initially studied French when he was in High School and was an exchange student and stayed with a family in France many years ago before moving to México. He has said that studying French helped him somewhat in learning Spanish. Saludos Ricardo

Absolutely. The subjunctive is used more and is a bit more complicated in Spanish, but otherwise is pretty much the same. That said, it never ceases to amaze me how different the two languages are. I thought learning Spanish was going to be a snap but it still requires a lot of work...

I am glad to hear someone, especially someone who knows French, to say how different French and Spanish are. When comparing how phonetic Spanish is with how many letters are placed in French words and then not used, it is hard for me to believe the two are sister languages. Back to written vs. spoken Spanish, I think the same is true in English. We often leave out words in spoken sentences assuming the listener will understand our message in context, drop letters, and make weird contractions... "I'm gonna kick your butt you say that agin!"

I suspect that American English is the absolute worst when it comes to written vs. spoken. - Who says? "Would you like to go and eat?" - We say one word: "Wannagoeat?" ! Regarding letters which are not pronounced in French, I think the great writers like Hugo and Dumas influenced the language and got paid by the letter...