No debes lamentar tus errores; lo importante es aprender de ellos.

You must not regret your mistakes; the important thing is to learn from them.

Breakdown of No debes lamentar tus errores; lo importante es aprender de ellos.

• ser: to be
• importante: important
• aprender: to learn
• de: from
• ;: semicolon
• deber: must
• tus: your
• lamentar: to regret
• el error: the mistake
• ellos: them

Questions & Answers about No debes lamentar tus errores; lo importante es aprender de ellos.

Why do we use No debes rather than No deberías in this context?

Using No debes sounds more direct and firm, meaning You must not, whereas No deberías (you should not) is slightly softer and suggests a recommendation. Both forms are correct, but No debes adds a stronger sense of obligation.

How does lamentar work here, and could it be reflexive as lamentarse?

Lamentar is a regular -ar verb meaning to regret or to be sorry about. You can use the reflexive form lamentarse (to complain or to express sorrow), but in this sentence, lamentar is used transitively to emphasize the action of regretting something specific (lamentar tus errores).

What does lo importante mean, and why do we add lo here?

Lo importante literally translates to the important thing. In Spanish, adding lo before an adjective ("importante") turns it into an abstract noun, meaning what is important or the important part. It's a common way to express the idea of the main point is....

Why do we say aprender de ellos instead of something like aprenderlos?

We use aprender de ellos (learn from them) to indicate that you're gaining knowledge or lessons about your mistakes, not simply learning them as objects. If you said aprenderlos, it would sound like you're memorizing or studying the mistakes themselves, rather than drawing lessons from them.