Breakdown of Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección.
Questions & Answers about Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección.
In Spanish, many things that are states or feelings in English (using to be or to feel) are expressed with tener (to have).
Examples:
- Tengo hambre. – I am hungry. (literally: I have hunger.)
- Tengo frío. – I am cold.
- Tengo miedo. – I am afraid.
- Tengo una duda. – I have a question / doubt.
So Tengo cierta duda… literally means I have a certain doubt…, but functionally it’s like saying I’m a bit unsure… or I have a question….
Using estoy dudando sobre la lección (I am doubting the lesson) would sound more like you don’t believe the lesson is true, which is usually not what a student wants to say.
Cierta before a noun often means a certain, some, or a particular.
Tengo una duda sobre la lección.
Neutral: I have a doubt / question about the lesson.Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección.
Suggests something like:- I have a particular doubt about the lesson, or
- I have some doubt about the lesson (slightly vague, maybe not fully comfortable).
So cierta adds a touch of:
- vagueness (you’re not specifying exactly what yet), and/or
- softening (it can sound a bit more tentative or polite).
In many everyday situations in class, Tengo una duda is more common and straightforward.
Because cierta has to agree in gender and number with duda.
- duda is a feminine singular noun (la duda).
- So the adjective must also be feminine singular: cierta.
Patterns:
- Masculine singular: cierto
- cierto problema – a certain problem
- Feminine singular: cierta
- cierta duda – a certain doubt
- Masculine plural: ciertos
- Feminine plural: ciertas
Spanish can use either singular or plural here, with a slight nuance:
Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección.
Focuses on one overall doubt/uncertainty (even if it has several parts).
Roughly: I have a (particular) doubt about the lesson.Tengo ciertas dudas sobre la lección.
Implies more than one doubt, more like I have some doubts about the lesson or a few concerns.
In practice, speakers often use the singular una duda for “a question” in class:
- Profe, tengo una duda. – Professor, I have a question.
Both can come up in a classroom, but they’re not identical:
pregunta = a question (the thing you ask)
- Tengo una pregunta. – I have a question.
- ¿Puedo hacer una pregunta? – Can I ask a question?
duda = doubt, uncertainty, confusion (the state of not being sure)
- Tengo una duda sobre la lección. – You’re not clear about something and probably want it explained.
- ¿Tienen alguna duda? – Do you have any doubts / questions? (teacher checking for confusion)
In real life:
- Students often say Tengo una duda where in English we’d naturally say I have a question.
- Teachers often use duda(s) when asking if anything is unclear.
In this context, sobre means about / regarding.
- Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección.
= I have a certain doubt about the lesson.
Alternatives:
- acerca de – very close in meaning to sobre, a bit more formal:
- Tengo una duda acerca de la lección.
- de – sometimes used, but here it can sound a little less precise. Sobre or acerca de are more standard.
- con – in some Latin American speech you might hear:
- Tengo una duda con la lección.
It’s understood, but sobre or acerca de are generally preferred in careful or written Spanish.
- Tengo una duda con la lección.
For learners, sobre is a very safe, natural choice for about in this type of sentence.
La lección is the definite article + noun: the lesson.
- la indicates you and the listener know which lesson you mean (today’s lesson, the previous one, etc.).
- In many classroom contexts, la lección naturally refers to the current lesson.
You could say:
- Tengo una duda sobre esta lección. – I have a doubt about this lesson.
This explicitly points to the specific lesson right now. - Tengo una duda sobre la lección de hoy. – …about today’s lesson.
Leaving the article out (∗Tengo duda sobre lección) is ungrammatical in this sentence. Spanish almost always needs an article or determiner in front of a countable noun like lección.
No, that doesn’t work in standard Spanish.
Adjective position matters:
- cierta duda (adjective before noun) = a certain / some (unspecified) doubt
- duda cierta (adjective after noun) would mean something like a sure / true doubt, which sounds strange or almost philosophical.
In this specific meaning (a certain / some doubt), cierta must go before duda:
- ✅ cierta duda
- ❌ duda cierta (wrong in this context)
- ❌ duda cierta sobre la lección (not what you mean)
It’s neutral and perfectly fine to say to a teacher.
Register:
- It doesn’t sound slangy or rude.
- Slightly more careful/polished than Tengo una duda sobre la lección, because of cierta, but still very normal.
More typical in class, you’ll hear:
- Profe, tengo una duda.
- Tengo una duda sobre la lección.
But Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección is grammatically correct and polite.
The sentence Tengo cierta duda sobre la lección is fully understood and acceptable in both Latin America and Spain.
Some points:
- In Latin America, you’ll very often hear:
- Tengo una duda.
- Tengo una duda sobre…
- sobre meaning about is common in both regions.
- Some speakers (in various countries, including parts of Latin America) may say:
- Tengo una duda con la lección.
This is colloquial but understood.
- Tengo una duda con la lección.
So your sentence works fine for Latin American Spanish; it doesn’t sound regionally marked in any strong way.
It’s one good option, especially if you’re about to ask for clarification.
Other natural options:
- No estoy muy seguro/a sobre la lección. – I’m not very sure about the lesson.
- Todavía tengo dudas sobre la lección. – I still have doubts about the lesson.
- No me queda muy clara la lección. – The lesson isn’t very clear to me.
Use:
- Tengo (cierta) duda(s) sobre la lección when you want to highlight that you have a doubt/question.
- No estoy muy seguro/a… when you want to emphasize your state of uncertainty rather than having a specific question.