A veces dudo de mi progreso en español.

Sometimes I doubt my progress in Spanish.

Breakdown of A veces dudo de mi progreso en español.

• yo: I
• en: in
• mi: my
• de: of
• español: Spanish
• a veces: sometimes
• el progreso: the progress
• dudar: to doubt

Questions & Answers about A veces dudo de mi progreso en español.

What does a veces literally mean, and how is it different from other frequency expressions like siempre or a menudo?

A veces literally means “at times” and is best translated as “sometimes”.

Some related expressions:

• siempre = always
• casi siempre = almost always
• a menudo / frecuentemente = often, frequently
• rara vez / casi nunca = rarely, almost never
• nunca = never

A veces suggests that something happens on some occasions, but not regularly or frequently. It’s neutral and very common in everyday speech.

Why is it dudo de mi progreso and not just dudo mi progreso?

In Spanish, the usual pattern is dudar de + noun/pronoun, not dudar + noun.

• dudar de algo/alguien = to have doubts about something/someone
  
  • Dudo de mi progreso. = I doubt / I have doubts about my progress.
  • Dudo de él. = I doubt him / I don’t fully trust him.

Using dudar directly with a noun object (like dudo mi progreso) is not natural in modern everyday Spanish. Native speakers almost always include de when the next word is a noun or pronoun.

So:

• ✔ Dudo de mi progreso.
• ✘ Dudo mi progreso. (sounds wrong)

What form of the verb is dudo, and where is the subject yo?

Dudo is:

• Verb: dudar
• Tense: present
• Person: first person singular (I)
• Meaning: I doubt

In Spanish, the subject pronoun yo (I) is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the subject:

• (Yo) dudo de mi progreso.
• (Yo) hablo español.
• (Yo) estudio todos los días.

Including yo is possible but not necessary here. You would only add it for emphasis, for example:

• A veces yo dudo de mi progreso en español.
  (Maybe implying that other people don’t doubt it, but I do.)

Why is it dudo de mi progreso and not dudo que progreso or dudo que estoy progresando?

Spanish uses two different structures with dudar:

1. dudar de + noun/pronoun

   • Focus: you doubt a thing (a fact, a quality, a concept).
   • Example: Dudo de mi progreso.
     → You doubt the existence or quality of your progress.

2. dudar que + clause (and that clause normally takes subjunctive)

   • Focus: you doubt that something is true.
   • Example: Dudo que esté progresando.
     → You doubt that you are progressing.

So you could also say:

• A veces dudo que esté progresando en español.
  (Sometimes I doubt that I am making progress in Spanish.)

But:

• A veces dudo que progreso en español. → sounds wrong
  After dudo que, you typically need subjunctive:
  • Dudo que progrese en español. (formal / more written style)
  • Dudo que esté progresando en español. (very natural)

The given sentence uses the simpler dudar de + noun pattern.

Could you also say A veces dudo sobre mi progreso en español?

A veces dudo sobre mi progreso en español would be understood, but it’s less natural than dudo de mi progreso.

• The most idiomatic option is:

  • A veces dudo de mi progreso en español. ✔

• dudar sobre tends to sound more like:

  • Dudo sobre qué hacer. = I’m unsure what to do.
  • Dudo sobre si aceptar el trabajo. = I’m hesitating about whether to accept the job.

With a noun like mi progreso, native speakers strongly prefer dudar de.

Why is it mi progreso and not mío progreso?

Spanish has two different kinds of possessives:

1. Short (unstressed) possessive adjectives – placed before the noun

   • mi progreso = my progress
   • tu libro = your book
   • su casa = his/her/their/your (formal) house

2. Long (stressed) possessive pronouns/adjectives – usually after the noun or used alone

   • el progreso mío = my progress (more emphatic / unusual here)
   • el libro tuyo = your book
   • la casa suya = his/her/their/your house

In your sentence, you’re simply saying my progress, so you need the short possessive before the noun:

• ✔ mi progreso
• ✘ mío progreso

You would use mío like this:

• Ese progreso es mío. = That progress is mine.
• Estoy orgulloso de mi progreso. El progreso mío es real. (emphatic, a bit marked)

What exactly does progreso mean here? Could I say mi español instead?

Progreso here means improvement / progress / how much I’m advancing.

Some alternatives, with slightly different nuances:

• A veces dudo de mi progreso en español.
  → Neutral, focuses on the process of improvement.

• A veces dudo de mi español.
  → More general: you doubt the quality of your Spanish, not specifically the progress.

• A veces dudo de mi nivel de español.
  → Focus on your level (A2, B1, etc.).

• A veces dudo de mi aprendizaje de español.
  → Possible, but sounds more formal / abstract.

All are understandable, but for the idea of “how much I’m improving,” mi progreso en español is very clear and natural.

Why do we say en español and not de español or con el español?

In Spanish, en + language is used to mean “in [that language]”, especially when talking about:

• speaking/writing/reading in that language
• communication or content in that language
• context or area where the language is used

Examples:

• Hablo en español. = I speak in Spanish.
• Escribí el correo en español. = I wrote the email in Spanish.
• Mi progreso en español. = my progress in Spanish.

Other prepositions have different meanings:

• de español

  • profesor de español = Spanish teacher
  • clase de español = Spanish class
    (It’s more like “of Spanish” as a subject.)

• con el español

  • Tengo problemas con el español. = I have problems with Spanish.
    (More like “with Spanish” in a general sense, not “in Spanish” as a medium.)

So for “progress in Spanish (as a language)”, en español is the natural choice.

Why is español not capitalized in this sentence?

In Spanish language names and nationalities are written with lowercase:

• español, inglés, francés, chino
• soy español, soy mexicana

So:

• A veces dudo de mi progreso en español. ✔
• A veces dudo de mi progreso en Español. ✘ (capital E is wrong in standard Spanish)

However, country names are capitalized:

• España, México, Francia, Estados Unidos

Can I change the word order, like Dudo a veces de mi progreso en español or Dudo de mi progreso en español a veces?

Yes, Spanish word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

1. A veces dudo de mi progreso en español.
   → Very natural; a veces at the beginning is common.

2. Dudo a veces de mi progreso en español.
   → Also correct; just shifts the rhythm slightly.

3. Dudo de mi progreso en español a veces.
   → Also fine; a veces at the end feels a bit more like an afterthought, but still natural.

The meaning doesn’t really change; you’re just moving the adverbial a veces to different positions. The original version is probably the most typical in everyday speech.

Is this sentence specifically Latin American Spanish? Would it sound different in Spain?

A veces dudo de mi progreso en español is perfectly natural both in Latin America and in Spain. There is nothing region-specific in:

• a veces
• dudo de
• mi progreso
• en español

The only potential regional variation would be the word for the language:

• In most of Latin America: people just say español.
• In parts of Spain, people might sometimes say castellano (Castilian), especially when contrasting with other languages spoken in Spain.

So in Spain, you might also hear:

• A veces dudo de mi progreso en castellano.

But español is also widely used there, so the original sentence works everywhere.