Breakdown of A veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español para aprender mejor.
Questions & Answers about A veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español para aprender mejor.
A veces is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning sometimes. In Spanish, it is very common to put time expressions at the beginning of the sentence, so A veces comparo… is very natural.
You can also say:
- Yo a veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español…
- Comparo a veces mi idioma materno con el español…
All are correct. Starting with a veces slightly emphasizes the idea of sometimes. You cannot normally drop the a and say veces alone; a veces is the standard expression.
With the verb comparar, the usual pattern is:
comparar X con Y = to compare X with Y
So you say:
- Comparo mi idioma materno con el español.
- Compara estos precios con los de ayer.
Using a (comparar X a Y) is possible in some styles but is much less common and can sound literary or old‑fashioned. In everyday Latin American Spanish, comparar … con … is the normal, safe choice.
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like materno, rojo, interesante almost always go after the noun:
- mi idioma materno
- un coche rojo
- un libro interesante
Putting materno before (mi materno idioma) is not natural modern Spanish and would sound poetic, old‑fashioned, or simply incorrect in most contexts. So the normal word order is noun + adjective here.
- idioma: a specific language system (English, Spanish, Japanese, etc.).
- lengua: also a specific language; very common in expressions like lengua materna.
- lenguaje: more general; the concept of language or a type of language (e.g. lenguaje formal, lenguaje técnico).
In your sentence, these are all possible and correct:
- mi idioma materno
- mi lengua materna
- mi idioma nativo
- mi lengua nativa
All would be understood in Latin America. Lengua materna is very common in more formal or academic contexts; idioma materno is also fine in everyday speech.
Idioma is one of those nouns that look feminine but are grammatically masculine. That is why the sentence uses mi idioma materno, not mi idioma materna.
It follows the same pattern as other masculine nouns ending in ‑a, like:
- el problema
- el sistema
- el tema
- el clima
So you say el idioma, este idioma, mi idioma materno.
Talking about a language in general, Spanish very often uses the definite article:
- el español
- el inglés
- el francés
So comparo mi idioma materno con el español is the most natural form.
Sometimes the article can be dropped, especially after hablar:
- Habla español.
- Estudia francés.
But in your structure (comparar X con Y), the version with the article, con el español, is strongly preferred and sounds more natural than con español.
Para + infinitive is used when the subject of both verbs is the same:
- Yo comparo … para aprender mejor.
(I compare in order to learn better.)
Here, yo is the subject of comparo and also the implied subject of aprender, so para aprender is correct.
Para que + subjunctive is used when the subject changes:
- Comparo mi idioma materno con el español para que mis alumnos aprendan mejor.
(…so that my students learn better.)
In your sentence the subject does not change, so para aprender mejor is the right structure.
Mejor is quite flexible. All of these are possible, with small differences in focus:
- para aprender mejor – focuses on learning in a better way in general.
- para aprender mejor el español – focuses more directly on learning Spanish better.
- para aprenderlo mejor – uses lo as an object pronoun for el español, like to learn it better.
If you add lo, it almost always refers to el español in this sentence:
- A veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español para aprenderlo mejor.
This is very natural in Latin American Spanish and clearly means to learn Spanish better.
The basic verb is aprender: to learn. That is the normal form here: para aprender mejor.
You will also see aprenderse, especially in Spain and also in some Latin American speech, when the idea is memorize completely:
- Me aprendí la lista de verbos de memoria.
In your sentence, the idea is general learning, not memorizing something by heart, so aprender (without se) is correct and more neutral.
Spanish simple present (comparo) is commonly used for:
- habits
- repeated actions
- general truths
Here, A veces comparo… describes a habitual action you do from time to time, so the simple present is the natural choice.
Estoy comparando mi idioma materno con el español would sound more like I am currently comparing my native language with Spanish (right now), which is a different nuance from the habitual sometimes I compare.
You have some word order flexibility, but the original is the most natural:
- A veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español para aprender mejor. ✅
These are still grammatical, though less common or a bit marked:
- Para aprender mejor, a veces comparo mi idioma materno con el español.
(Emphasizes the purpose first.) - A veces, para aprender mejor, comparo mi idioma materno con el español.
(Spoken style, with pauses.)
Spanish tends to place purpose expressions like para aprender mejor towards the end, so the original order sounds the most neutral and natural.