Habla con calma en la entrevista.

Speak calmly in the interview.

Breakdown of Habla con calma en la entrevista.

• en: in
• hablar: to speak
• la entrevista: the interview
• con calma: calmly

Questions & Answers about Habla con calma en la entrevista.

Why is it habla and not hablas or hablar?

• Habla here is the affirmative imperative (command) for tú (informal singular “you”).
• Hablas is the present indicative (you speak):
  
  • Tú hablas español. = You speak Spanish.
• Hablar is the infinitive (to speak):
  
  • Quiero hablar contigo. = I want to speak with you.

So in a direct instruction to one person you know as tú, Spanish uses habla:

• Habla con calma en la entrevista. = Speak calmly in the interview.

How do I know habla is a command and not “he/she speaks”?

The form habla can mean either:

1. (Él/Ella) habla = He/She speaks (present indicative)
2. ¡Habla! = Speak! (tú command)

You know which one it is from context and punctuation:

• As a statement:
  
  • Él habla con calma en la entrevista. = He speaks calmly in the interview.
  • You usually see a subject (él/ella) or know from context who you’re talking about.
• As a command:
  
  • Habla con calma en la entrevista. = (You) speak calmly in the interview.
  • No subject, directive tone, often at the start of a sentence, sometimes with an exclamation mark: ¡Habla con calma…!

In your sentence, it’s clearly advice/instruction, so it’s the imperative.

Where is the word for “you”? Why don’t we say Tú habla con calma…?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often omitted because the verb form already shows the subject.

• Habla con calma en la entrevista.
  The form habla already tells us it’s an instruction to tú (informal “you”).

If you say Tú habla con calma…, it sounds:

• Unusual or incorrect in standard Spanish, because with commands we normally don’t use the subject pronoun in that way.
• To emphasize you specifically, you’d say:
  
  • Habla tú con calma en la entrevista. (You — not someone else — speak calmly.)

So:

• Neutral command: Habla con calma…
• Emphatic: Habla tú con calma…

Why is it habla for “you” if hablas is the usual “you speak” form?

Spanish uses different forms for “you” in statements and in commands:

• Present indicative (statements), tú:

  • Tú hablas muy rápido. = You speak very fast.
  • Form: hablas

• Affirmative imperative (commands), tú:

  • Habla más despacio. = Speak more slowly.
  • Form: habla

So even though hablas refers to tú in normal sentences, commands use a special form: habla. This is just a feature of Spanish verb conjugation.

What’s the difference between habla and hable?

Both are imperative forms, but they address different kinds of “you”:

• Habla – informal singular (tú):

  • Used with friends, family, people you’re on tú terms with.
  • Habla con calma en la entrevista. (to a friend)

• Hable – formal singular (usted):

  • Used with usted (polite “you”) in Spain.
  • Hable con calma en la entrevista. (to your boss, someone you address formally)

So:

• To a friend: Habla con calma…
• To a stranger in a formal setting: Hable con calma…

How would I say this to more than one person in Spain?

In Spain, you distinguish vosotros (informal plural) from ustedes (formal plural):

• Informal plural (vosotros):

  • Command: hablad
  • Hablad con calma en la entrevista. = You all speak calmly in the interview. (to a group of friends)

• Formal plural (ustedes):

  • Command: hablen
  • Hablen con calma en la entrevista. = You (all) speak calmly in the interview. (to a panel, students, etc., formally)

In much of Latin America, ustedes is used for both formal and informal, and the command would be Hablen con calma… in all plural cases.

Why is it con calma and not something like calmamente?

Spanish does have adverbs ending in -mente, but:

• calmamente exists, but is rare and sounds quite formal or unnatural in everyday speech.
• The natural way to say “calmly” here is con calma or tranquilamente.

Common options:

• Habla con calma en la entrevista.
• Habla tranquilamente en la entrevista.

Both mean roughly “Speak calmly in the interview.”
Con calma is idiomatic and very common.

Is there a difference between con calma, tranquilo, and despacio here?

Yes, they focus on slightly different things:

• Con calma – with calmness, without stress or nervousness.

  • Emphasis: your attitude and emotional state.

• Tranquilo / tranquila – calm, relaxed.

  • Habla tranquilo en la entrevista. = Speak while being calm/relaxed.
  • Often used to reassure someone: Tranquilo, no pasa nada. (“Relax, it’s fine.”)

• Despacio – slowly.

  • Habla despacio en la entrevista. = Speak slowly in the interview.
  • Emphasis: speed of speaking, not necessarily emotional calm.

So con calma is more about not being nervous/anxious, not necessarily speaking slowly (though people often do both).

Why is it en la entrevista and not en entrevista or durante la entrevista?

• En la entrevista = in the interview (a specific one).

  • The article (la) is normal because it’s a specific, known event.
  • Very natural: Habla con calma en la entrevista.

• En entrevista (without article) sounds odd in Spanish in this context.

  • You might see en entrevista in journalistic contexts like “speaking in an interview” (as a sort of fixed expression), but it’s not what you’d say giving this kind of advice.

• Durante la entrevista = during the interview

  • Also correct, and emphasizes the whole duration:
    
    • Habla con calma durante la entrevista.

Both en la entrevista and durante la entrevista are fine here; en la entrevista is very standard and maybe a bit shorter/more neutral.

Could I change the word order and say En la entrevista habla con calma?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct:

• Habla con calma en la entrevista.
• En la entrevista, habla con calma.

Both are fine. Differences:

• Habla con calma en la entrevista.

  • Neutral, common order: verb + complements.

• En la entrevista, habla con calma.

  • Puts more emphasis on “in the interview”, as a setting.
  • Could sound like: “In the interview (not elsewhere), speak calmly.”

In everyday speech, the original order is slightly more common, but both are fully natural.

How do I make the negative version, like “Don’t speak so fast in the interview”?

For negative commands, Spanish does not use the same form as the affirmative tú imperative. Instead, it uses the subjunctive:

• Affirmative tú: Habla con calma.
• Negative tú: No hables tan rápido.

Examples for your sentence:

• No hables tan rápido en la entrevista.
  = Don’t speak so fast in the interview.
• No hables nervioso; habla con calma en la entrevista.
  = Don’t speak nervously; speak calmly in the interview.

So:

• Affirmative tú: Habla
• Negative tú: No hables

Is calma feminine? Why not con calmo?

Yes, calma is a feminine noun:

• la calma = calm, calmness

In con calma, calma is used as a noun, not as an adjective. Literally: “with calm(ness).”
That’s why you don’t change it to calmo or calma depending on the speaker; it just stays calma:

• Habla con calma. (with calm)
• Trabaja con calma. (with calm)

You’d only use calmo / calma as adjectives with a noun:

• Un mar calmo. (a calm sea – rare in everyday speech; more common is un mar en calma or un mar tranquilo.)

In the expression con calma, it’s fixed as calma.