Breakdown of Cuando cometo un error, vuelvo a leer la explicación de mi mentora.
Questions & Answers about Cuando cometo un error, vuelvo a leer la explicación de mi mentora.
In Spanish, the natural collocation is cometer un error (“to commit an error / make a mistake”), not hacer un error.
Some common combinations with cometer are:
- cometer un error – to make a mistake
- cometer un crimen – to commit a crime
- cometer una falta – to commit a foul / an offense
Using hacer un error sounds like a direct translation from English and is not idiomatic Spanish. Native speakers almost always use cometer with error.
In Spanish, when you talk about what usually or habitually happens, you use the present indicative after cuando.
- Cuando cometo un error, vuelvo a leer…
= “When(ever) I make a mistake, I go back and read…”
This is a general rule you live by, not a specific future event.
If you were talking about a specific future event that hasn’t happened yet, you might see the subjunctive:
- Cuando cometa un error, te avisaré.
“When I make a mistake (in that future situation), I’ll let you know.”
In the original sentence, it’s a general habit, so cometo (present indicative) is correct.
This is mostly punctuation style, and it’s very similar to English.
When a dependent clause with cuando comes first, it’s common (and usually recommended) to put a comma before the main clause:
- Cuando cometo un error, vuelvo a leer…
If the cuando clause comes second, you normally don’t use a comma:
- Vuelvo a leer la explicación de mi mentora cuando cometo un error.
Volver a + infinitive is a very common structure meaning “to do something again” or “to do something once more / go back to doing something.”
- volver a leer – to read again, to go back and read
- volver a intentarlo – to try again
- volver a empezar – to start again
So vuelvo a leer = “I read again / I go back to reading.”
You could also say:
- leo otra vez la explicación…
- releo la explicación…
All are correct, but volver a + infinitive is extremely common in everyday speech.
Both mean “to read again,” but there’s a slight difference in feel:
- volver a leer is a more general, everyday expression.
- releer is a single verb meaning “to reread,” and can feel a bit more formal or “bookish,” though it’s also common in normal speech.
In this sentence, you could say:
- …vuelvo a leer la explicación…
- …releo la explicación…
Both are correct. Volver a leer might sound a bit more conversational in many contexts.
Spanish often uses a singular noun with an indefinite article (like un error) to talk about things in a general way:
- Cuando cometo un error… – “When I make a mistake (any mistake)…”
- Cuando tengo una duda, pregunto. – “When I have a question, I ask.”
You could say cuando cometo errores, but that emphasizes the idea of multiple errors.
Un error sounds more like “whenever I happen to make a mistake” (once each time).
La is the definite article (“the”). We use it because we’re talking about a specific explanation: the explanation given by my mentor.
- la explicación de mi mentora = “the explanation from my mentor”
If you said explicación de mi mentora without la, it would sound incomplete or incorrect here. In Spanish, you usually need the article in this kind of structure:
- la casa de mi amigo – my friend’s house
- el libro de la profesora – the teacher’s book
So la explicación is required to make it clear that it’s a specific explanation.
Spanish doesn’t have the English possessive style with ’s. Instead, it uses de:
- la explicación de mi mentora – “my mentor’s explanation”
(literally: “the explanation of my mentor”)
This noun + de + possessor structure is the standard way to show possession:
- el coche de mi hermano – my brother’s car
- la opinión de la doctora – the doctor’s opinion
Spanish usually uses possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su, etc.) with family members and close relationships or roles:
- mi mentora – my mentor
- mi profesor, mi jefe, mi amiga
La mentora would just mean “the mentor,” not specifically my mentor.
We still need la for la explicación because that’s a different noun:
- la explicación de mi mentora
“the explanation of my mentor”
Spanish marks grammatical gender, so many professions and roles have:
- a masculine form: mentor
- a feminine form: mentora
If the mentor is a woman, mentora is the natural choice, especially in modern usage in Latin America.
If the mentor were a man, you’d say:
- …la explicación de mi mentor.
Yes, mentora is understood and increasingly common, especially in professional and educational contexts.
Other possibilities (depending on context) could be:
- mi tutora – my tutor / advisor
- mi profesora – my teacher
- mi guía – my guide
But if the relationship is specifically a mentor–mentee relationship, mentora (for a woman) and mentor (for a man) are the most direct choices.
Explicación is pronounced roughly: ehx-plee-ka-SYON (with a soft “ks” for x).
The accent mark on ó shows that the stress falls on the last syllable:
- ex-pli-ca-CIÓN
Without the accent, by default the stress would be on -ción anyway because words ending in -n, -s, or a vowel are normally stressed on the second-to-last syllable.
However, almost all words ending in -ción carry an accent for historical and consistency reasons (e.g., nación, canción, explicación), and you must write it for correct spelling.