En resumen (the short version)
- At intermediate level you can say what you mean. Advanced Spanish is about saying how much, how sure and to whom.
- Four things make the difference: grammar that adds nuance, words for degrees, switching between casual and formal Spanish, and fixing the mistakes you no longer notice.
- You can work on the first three on your own. For the last one, you need someone who listens closely.
¡Hola aventurero!
You order, you chat, you follow most of a Spanish TV series with subtitles. People tell you ¡Hablas muy bien!… and you smile, because you know it's not quite true yet 😅
If you've been wondering how to get from intermediate to advanced Spanish, here's the honest answer from my teacher side: it's not about learning more Spanish. It's about learning different Spanish.
Let's look at what actually changes, and what to practise for each part.
What changes between intermediate and advanced
At intermediate level, your Spanish gets the message across. At advanced level, it gets the message across exactly. Here's what that looks like in practice:
| Intermediate | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Talking about the past | Fui a la estación. El tren salió. | Cuando llegué a la estación, el tren ya había salido. |
| Giving an opinion | La película es buena. | La película está bastante bien, aunque no me convenció del todo. |
| Asking for something | ¿Puedes mandar el archivo? | ¿Me mandas el archivo cuando puedas? |
| Talking about plans | Cuando tengo tiempo, te llamo. | Cuando tenga tiempo, te llamo. |
The intermediate versions aren't wrong (except the last one, we'll get to that). They're just flatter. The advanced ones show the order of events, how strongly you feel and how polite you're being.
So that's the plan: grammar for nuance, words for degrees, and the right register for the right person.
The grammar that adds nuance
Teacher bit 🤓 You've probably studied these tenses already. The jump to advanced comes from using them in normal conversation, without stopping to think.
| Structure | Example | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Pluscuamperfecto (había + participle) | Cuando llegué, ya se había ido. | Shows what happened before something else in the past |
| Cuando + subjunctive | Cuando tenga tiempo, te llamo. | Talks about a future moment that hasn't happened yet |
| Ojalá + subjunctive | Ojalá haga buen tiempo el sábado. | Says what you hope for |
| No creo que + subjunctive | No creo que lleguemos a tiempo. | Shows doubt |
| Es importante que + subjunctive | Es importante que descanses. | Gives advice without bossing people around |
Look at the cuando one, because it's the mistake I hear most at this level. Cuando tengo tiempo means "whenever I have time" (a habit). Cuando tenga tiempo means "when I have time" (a future moment that isn't real yet). Spanish uses the subjunctive for things that haven't happened, and that one change makes you sound much more natural.
If storytelling in the past still feels wobbly, start with Spanish past tenses explained before you add the pluscuamperfecto.
Words for degrees, not just yes or no
Intermediate learners tend to speak in extremes: me gusta or no me gusta, bueno or malo. Real opinions are usually somewhere in the middle, and Spanish has lots of little words for that middle.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bastante | quite, fairly | El hotel está bastante bien. |
| algo / un poco | a bit, somewhat | Estoy algo cansada hoy. |
| más bien | rather, more like | Es más bien caro para lo que es. |
| no del todo | not completely | No me convenció del todo. |
| casi | nearly | Casi me olvido de tu cumple. |
| nada (after a verb) | not at all | No me gustó nada. |
No me convenció del todo is one of my favourites. It's a polite way to say "I didn't love it", and you'll hear it a lot in Spain when people review a restaurant or a film.
Next time you give an opinion in Spanish, add one of these words to it. Está bien becomes Está bastante bien. No me gustó becomes No me gustó nada. Small change, very different sound.
Casual Spanish and formal Spanish
At intermediate level, most people have one way of speaking for everyone. Advanced speakers switch: one way with friends, another with a landlord, a doctor or a boss.
| With friends | More formal | |
|---|---|---|
| Asking for something | ¿Me mandas el archivo? | ¿Me podría enviar el documento? |
| Saying you're busy | Voy a tope esta semana. | Esta semana tengo mucho trabajo. |
| Disagreeing | ¡Qué va! | No estoy del todo de acuerdo. |
| Saying it's great | ¡Qué pasada! | Me parece una idea excelente. |
| Ending a message | Un beso / Besos | Un saludo / Atentamente |
Notice the formal column uses podría (the conditional) and usted forms. In Spain, tú is very common, even with strangers, but with older people and in formal emails, usted is still the safe choice.
Besos at the end of a message is completely normal between friends in Spain, even between two men. In a work email, though, stick to Un saludo.
The mistakes you don't notice anymore
Here's the tricky part of being intermediate: some mistakes have been with you for so long that they sound right to you. People understand you, so nobody corrects them, and they stay. Teachers call these fossilised mistakes.
These are some of the most common ones I hear:
Ayer he ido al cine. In Spain, he ido is for today or this week. With ayer, you need the preterite.
Ayer fui al cine.
Soy de acuerdo.
Estoy de acuerdo.
Depende en el tiempo.
Depende del tiempo.
Es importante que practicas.
Es importante que practiques.
Pienso de mudarme.
Pienso mudarme a Valencia (I'm planning to move to Valencia).
The hard part is that you can't fix a mistake you can't hear.
Record yourself talking for two minutes about your week. Then write down every word, exactly as you said it, mistakes included. Read it back the next day. You'll spot things you never notice while you're speaking.
That catches some of them. For the rest, you need someone else's ears. A teacher who hears you for twenty minutes will usually find the two or three mistakes that come up again and again.
Listening at real speed
The last big jump is listening. At intermediate level, you understand people who are talking to you. At advanced level, you follow people talking to each other: fast, with slang, and often all at once.
- Watch a Spanish TV series with Spanish subtitles, then watch the same scene again without them.
- Listen to Spanish radio shows or podcasts where three or four people discuss something. In Spain they interrupt each other a lot, which is great practice.
- Pick up one new expression each time and use it that week.
If it feels like you've been at the same level for ages, have a look at how fast you can really learn Spanish for what each level means in real life.
Your plan for the next month
Pick one structure from the grammar table
For example, cuando + subjunctive. Use it every day this week in sentences about your real plans: Cuando llegue a casa, voy a hacer la cena.
Add a degree word to every opinion
Use bastante, más bien or no del todo each time you say what you think about something, like El libro está bastante bien, pero el final no me convenció del todo.
Find your fossilised mistakes
Record two minutes, write it down, and look for mistakes like Ayer he ido or Soy de acuerdo. Then get someone else to listen too.
Recap ✨
- Advanced Spanish isn't more Spanish. It's more precise Spanish: how much, how sure and to whom.
- Use grammar that adds nuance, like Cuando tenga tiempo and ya se había ido.
- Add degree words like bastante, más bien and no del todo to your opinions.
- Switch between casual and formal Spanish depending on who you're talking to.
- Find the old mistakes you no longer hear, by recording yourself and getting feedback.
If you'd like someone to listen and find your fossilised mistakes for you, book a 1:1 session with me. We'll find the few things that are holding your Spanish back and work on those first ☕
Now I'm curious 👀 Which of the mistakes in this post did you recognise in your own Spanish? Cuéntame in the comments!
Lucía ✨
Lucía · Linguist, translator, Spanish teacher and author of the Visual Spanish Grammar Book.
Come and learn Spanish with me and other aventureros like yourself at skool.com/learnspanish 🎉