Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento, porque practico en voz alta todos los días. - Over time I keep improving my accent, because I practice out loud every day.

Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento, porque practico en voz alta todos los días.

Over time I keep improving my accent, because I practice out loud every day.

Breakdown of Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento, porque practico en voz alta todos los días.

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Questions & Answers about Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento, porque practico en voz alta todos los días.

What does con el tiempo literally mean, and how is it different from just saying con tiempo?

Con el tiempo literally means “with the time”, but idiomatically it means “over time / as time goes by / gradually, as time passes.”

Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento
= Over time I’m improving my accent.

Con tiempo without el means something else: “with (enough) time” / “in advance.”

Si lo haces con tiempo, no vas a estar nervioso.
= If you do it in advance / with enough time, you won’t be nervous.

So for the meaning “over time / as time passes,” you specifically need con el tiempo.

Why is it voy mejorando and not just mejoro or estoy mejorando?

Spanish has several ways to talk about ongoing or gradual change:

Simple present: mejoro
- Con el tiempo mejoro mi acento.
  = Over time I improve my accent.
  This is correct and natural, and describes a fact or habit.
Progressive with estar: estoy mejorando
- Con el tiempo estoy mejorando mi acento.
  Emphasizes the ongoing process around now, similar to English “I am improving.” It’s also correct.
Progressive with ir: voy mejorando (used in the sentence)
- Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento.
  Ir + gerund often suggests gradual progress over time, step by step.
  Nuance: “Little by little, I keep improving my accent as time goes on.”

All three are possible; voy mejorando focuses most clearly on the gradual, progressive nature of the improvement.

Could I just say Con el tiempo mejoro mi acento instead? Does it sound natural?

Yes, Con el tiempo mejoro mi acento is grammatically correct and natural.

Con el tiempo mejoro mi acento
= Over time I improve my accent.

Compared with voy mejorando:

mejoro: more neutral, a statement of fact or habit.
voy mejorando: highlights the ongoing, step-by-step improvement.

Both are fine in everyday speech; the original sentence just adds that nuance of gradual progress.

Why is it mi acento and not el acento?

Both can exist, but they mean slightly different things:

mi acento = my accent, specifically the way I speak.
el acento could mean:
- “the accent” in general (as a linguistic feature), or
- a specific accent previously mentioned in context.

In this sentence, the speaker is clearly talking about their own accent, so mi acento is the natural choice.

Compare:

Con el tiempo voy mejorando mi acento.
Over time I’m improving my accent.
Con el tiempo voy mejorando el acento de mis estudiantes.
Over time I’m improving my students’ accent.

Why is there no yo in voy mejorando or practico?

In Spanish, the verb ending usually makes the subject clear, so subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often dropped unless needed for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Voy mejorando mi acento.
= I am improving my accent. (Subject understood from -oy.)
Practico en voz alta todos los días.
= I practice out loud every day. (Subject understood from -o.)

You can add yo for emphasis or contrast:

Yo voy mejorando mi acento, pero él no practica.
= I am improving my accent, but he doesn’t practice.

But in neutral sentences like this one, omitting yo is more natural.

Why is porque written as one word here, and how is it different from por qué, porqué, and por que?

Spanish has four similar-looking forms with different uses:

porque (one word, no accent)
- Meaning: because (introduces a reason).
- Used in the sentence:
  …voy mejorando mi acento, porque practico…
  I’m improving my accent because I practice…
por qué (two words, accent on qué)
- Meaning: why (in questions).
- ¿Por qué practicas en voz alta?
  Why do you practice out loud?
el porqué (one word, with article el)
- Meaning: the reason / the why (a noun).
- No entiendo el porqué de esta regla.
  I don’t understand the reason for this rule.
por que (two words, no accent on que)
- Less common; appears in certain fixed structures (e.g., after some verbs or prepositions).
- You don’t need this one for the sentence in question.

In porque practico en voz alta…, you need the “because” meaning, so porque is correct.

What does en voz alta mean literally, and how is it used?

Literally, en voz alta is “in a loud/high voice,” but idiomatically it means “out loud / aloud”.

It’s a fixed expression used especially for reading or speaking:

Leo en voz alta.
I read out loud.
Practico en voz alta todos los días.
I practice out loud every day.

You normally say en voz alta, not a voz alta or con voz alta for this meaning.

Why is it practico en voz alta, not something like me practico?

In this context, practicar is a regular, non‑reflexive verb meaning “to practice (something).”

Practico en voz alta todos los días.
= I practice (speaking) out loud every day.

You only use a reflexive form (practicar(se)) in very different, less common senses, not for “practicing a skill.” So:

me practico for “I practice myself” is not natural in this meaning.

Instead, you might specify what you practice:

Practico mi pronunciación en voz alta.
Practico hablar en voz alta.

Could I move todos los días earlier in the sentence? For example: porque todos los días practico en voz alta?

Yes. Time expressions like todos los días are flexible in Spanish word order. All of these are acceptable:

…porque practico en voz alta todos los días.
…porque practico todos los días en voz alta.
…porque todos los días practico en voz alta.

The meaning is basically the same. Some nuances:

At the end (…practico en voz alta todos los días) is very common and neutral.
At the beginning of the clause (…porque todos los días practico…) places a little extra emphasis on the frequency (“every single day I practice…”).

What’s the difference between todos los días and cada día?

Both can translate as “every day.”

todos los días
- Very common, neutral: “every day / each day.”
- Practico en voz alta todos los días.
  I practice out loud every day.
cada día
- Also “every day,” sometimes with a nuance of “day by day” or a bit more emphasis on each individual day.
- Cada día practico más.
  Every day I practice more.

In this sentence, todos los días is the most natural, everyday choice, but cada día would also be understood.

Why is practico in the simple present, not in some continuous form like English “I’m practicing”?

Spanish often uses the simple present for habits and regular actions, where English might use either simple present or present continuous.

Practico en voz alta todos los días.
= I practice out loud every day.
(A regular habit.)

You could say estoy practicando if you want to focus on what you’re doing right now:

Ahora mismo estoy practicando en voz alta.
Right now I’m practicing out loud.

But when you add todos los días, you’re clearly talking about a habit, so practico (simple present) is the natural choice.

Can I say me voy mejorando mi acento?

No, me voy mejorando mi acento is not correct.

Reasons:

mejorar here is used transitively (you improve something):
- Voy mejorando mi acento.
  I’m gradually improving my accent.
The reflexive mejorarse usually means “to get better / to improve oneself” in terms of health or general condition:
- Después de la operación, me voy mejorando.
  After the operation, I’m gradually getting better.

So you can say:

Voy mejorando mi acento. ✅
Me voy mejorando. (meaning “I myself am getting better” in a general sense) ✅
Me voy mejorando mi acento. ❌ (incorrect combination of reflexive + direct object here)