Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): La candidata está nerviosa antes de la entrevista, pero quiere hablar con calma. - The candidate is nervous before the interview, but she wants to speak calmly.

Está nerviosa = she is nervous right now, in this situation (temporary state).
Es nerviosa would mean she is a nervous person in general, as part of her character.

Here we are talking about how she feels before the interview, so está nerviosa is the natural choice.

Why do we say antes de la entrevista and not just antes la entrevista?

After antes (before) you generally need de when it’s followed by a noun:

antes de la entrevista ✅
antes la entrevista ❌

Structure:

antes de + noun → antes de la entrevista, antes de la cena, antes del examen

What is the difference between antes de and antes de que?

antes de + noun:
- antes de la entrevista = before the interview
antes de que + verb (subjunctive):
- antes de que empiece la entrevista = before the interview starts

So:

antes de la entrevista (before the interview)
antes de que la entrevista empiece (before the interview starts)

You use antes de que when a verb/action follows, not just a noun.

Why do we say hablar con calma instead of something like hablar calmamente?

Spanish often prefers preposition + noun instead of an adverb in -mente.

hablar con calma = speak calmly / in a calm way
hablar calmamente is grammatically correct but sounds more formal or less natural in everyday speech.

In everyday European Spanish, con calma is very common and sounds more natural.

Does hablar con calma mean “speak slowly” or “speak calmly”?

Primarily it means speak calmly, without stress or agitation.

Depending on context, it can also imply:

speaking more slowly,
taking one’s time,
not rushing the conversation.

But the core idea is emotional calm, not just speed. If you want to emphasize slowness, you’d usually say hablar despacio.

Could we say pero quiere hablar calmada instead of pero quiere hablar con calma?

Not in the same way.

calmada is an adjective, so it must describe a noun, usually a person:
- Ella está calmada. = She is calm.

If you say quiere hablar calmada, it sounds like “she wants to speak while being calm”, which is understandable but not the most natural phrasing.

To describe how she wants to speak (the manner of speaking), quiere hablar con calma is the idiomatic choice.

Why do we use pero and not sino here?

Pero = but (adds contrast)
Sino = but rather / but instead (corrects or replaces something negative)

Example:

Está nerviosa, pero quiere hablar con calma.
She is nervous, but she wants to speak calmly. (contrast, both are true)

Sino would be used like:

No está nerviosa, sino tranquila.
She is not nervous, but rather calm.

Here we are not correcting a negative statement, so pero is correct.

Can we move con calma to another position, like quiere con calma hablar?

You have some flexibility, but not every position sounds natural.

Most natural options:

… pero quiere hablar con calma. ✅ (most common)
… pero quiere, con calma, hablar. (possible, but more marked/emphatic)

Quiero con calma hablar is understandable but sounds awkward and very unusual. After the verb (hablar) is the default and most natural place for con calma.

Why is there a la before entrevista? Can we say antes de entrevista?

In Spanish, singular countable nouns usually need an article (el / la) when you are talking about a specific instance:

antes de la entrevista = before the interview (a specific, known interview)

Antes de entrevista is not idiomatic here; it would sound incomplete. You almost always say:

la entrevista, la reunión, el examen, etc., when it’s a specific event.

Is this sentence typical for Spain, or does it sound Latin American?

The sentence is completely neutral and natural in Spain.

Words like candidata, entrevista, estar nerviosa, and the expression hablar con calma are standard and widely used in Peninsular Spanish. No element here is specifically Latin American.