Dequeísmo and Queísmo – Avoid These Mistakes (2024)

When learning a language you do not want to imitate native speakers’ mistakes, but in order to avoid this, my nice defenceless learner, you need someone who will let you know when what you hear or read is incorrect. I would like to be the person to teach you about two widespread mistakes that you should not imitate:el dequeísmo y el queísmo.

I am sure you have met native speakers of your language who use incorrect sentence structures… A native speaker is not necessarily an accurate speaker, and speaking badly is not the way to make a good impression. You know this from your own language, but it applies to the language you are learning too.

Dequeísmo is when someone incorrectly starts a clause withde queinstead of withque. Queísmo is the opposite: incorrectly usingquewhen it should bede que. Both of these mistakes are commonly made by some native Spanish speakers, so you are at risk of accidentally learning them yourself.

I will explain in more detail, but first I need to introduce the concept of a subordinate clause:

Subordinate clause

Dequeísmo and queísmo are both mistakes that occur in sentences with a subordinate clause. You might already know what a subordinate clause is, but in case you don’t, here’s an example in English and in Spanish:

So we have a clause “Carla dice” (Carla says), followed by another clause that is introduced with “que”. The second clause is dependent on the first clause. Therefore, the second clause is a subordinate clause – a group of words with a verb that cannot stand alone.

Dequeísmo

Dequeísmo is the incorrect use of the prepositiondeimmediately beforeque, when introducing a subordinate clause:

• Carla diceque{estará en casa después de las 6} √ correcto
• Carla dicede que {estará en casa después de las 6}X incorrect dequeísmo

How do you know it’s wrong? Because the verb introducing the subordinate clause isdecir(to say), anddecirnever requires adeafter it.

For example, in Spanish we could say “Ella dice muchas mentiras”, but we would never say “Ella dicedemuchas mentiras”.

So why would anyone add adeafterdecirwhen introducing a subordinate clause? Well, the native speaker does not do it on purpose. It’s a bad habit they probably picked up from someone else, and now they speak with dequeísmo unconsciously.

I have been in groups many times where someone was telling a story and using dequeísmo unconsciously. Often about 70% of the group are looking at each other wondering whether it would be rude to correct the speaker, whilst the remaining 30% are probably not even aware of the mistakes.

Comedy sketches often have people talking with dequeísmo when they want to portray them as uneducated or stupid. I always wonder how many people watching such sketches do not find them funny because they are unaware that dequeísmo is wrong.

Common examples of dequeísmo

Pensar + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Piensoque gritar no es bueno √ correcto(I think yelling in not good)
• Piensode que gritar no es bueno X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Es fácil/necesario/útil(you can use many different adjectives here)+ que + {subordinate clause}:

• Es fácilque te equivoques √ correcto(It’s easy to make a mistake)
• Es fácilde que te equivoques X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Resulta + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Resultaque quizás cambie de trabajo pronto √ correcto(It so happens that I might change jobs soon)
• Resultade que quizás cambie de trabajo pronto X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Suponer + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Supongoque ya te has enterado de la noticia √ correcto(I suppose you have already heard the news)
• Supongode que ya te has enterado de la noticia X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Another form of dequeísmo

Sometimes there are verbs that do need a preposition, likeconfiar en,fijarse en, orinsistir en:

• Confíoentu palabra (I trust your word)
• Me fijéensus ojos (I noticed/sensed his/her eyes)
• Lucas insistióensu idea (Lucas insisted on his idea)

If you add a subordinate clause after these verbs, you still need that preposition. Unfortunately dequeísmo can rear its ugly head here too, as some people erroneously usedeinstead ofen:

Confiar en + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Confíoen que me estés contando la verdad √ correcto(I trust that you are telling me the truth)
• Confíode que me estés contando la verdad X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Insistir en + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Manuel insistióen que no sabía nada sobre Julio √ correcto(Manuel insisted he knew nothing about Julio)
• Manuel insistióde que no sabía nada sobre Julio X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Fijarse en + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Me fijéen que Julia no llevaba abrigo √ correcto(I noticed that Julia was not wearing a coat)
• Me fijéde que Julia no llevaba abrigo X incorrect
• dequeísmo

Unfortunately, some of these verbs can also suffer queísmo (though not at the same time as dequeísmo). I’ll explain queísmo next:

Queísmo

The opposite error occurs when the speaker leaves out the preposition required by the verb – most commonlyde– before thequeand the subordinate clause. This is known as queísmo and it is another unconscious error that sounds ugly and can easily confuse an innocent Spanish learner. Some examples:

Alegrarse + de que + {subordinate clause}:

• Me alegrode que estés contenta en tu trabajo √ correcto(I am glad that you are happy in your job)
• Me alegroque estés contenta en tu trabajo X incorrect
• queísmo

Acordarse + de que + {subordinate clause}:

• Me acuerdode que estuve en esa plaza hace muchos años √ correcto(I remember that I was in that square many years ago)
• Me acuerdoque estuve en esa misma plaza hace muchos años X incorrect
• queísmo

Estar seguro/a + de que + {subordinate clause}:

• Estoy segurode que dejé la cartera en casa √ correcto(I am sure that I left the wallet at home)
• Estoy seguroque dejé la cartera en casa X incorrect
• queísmo

When the same verb can be a victim of dequeísmo or queísmo

Iexplained aboveabout a form of dequeísmo on verbs likeinsistir enwhere people erroneously replace the required preposition (en) with adewhen it is followed by aqueand a subordinate clause. Well some of these verbs likeinsistir enandconfiar enoften fall victim to queísmo when the required preposition (en) is erroneously dropped instead:

Insistir en + que + {subordinate clause}:

• Manuel insistióen que no sabía nada sobre Julio √ correcto(Manuel insisted he knew nothing about Julio)
• Manuel insistióque no sabía nada sobre Julio X incorrect
• queísmo

Confiar + en que + subordinate clause

• Confíoen que me estés contando la verdad √ correcto(I trust that you are telling me the truth)
• Confíoque me estés contando la verdad X incorrect
• queísmo

How to avoid these mistakes

Remember that dequeísmo is erroneously putting adebefore aque, whilst queísmo is leaving out a requiredde(or another preposition) before aque. So how do you know which option is correct? Todeor not tode– that is the question!

Well, it all depends on the verb you are using. Remember my example withdecir? Well,decirshould not have adebefore aqueand a subordinate clause (e.g. “Ella dicequelo hizo” is correct). In contrastalegrarseshould (e.g. “Me alegrode queestas contenta” is correct).

Fortunately if you look up a verb in a dictionary you will always find examples of how to use the verb in context. These examples will show you whether you should include adeor not.

Achieving fluency in a language relies on knowing what you should not repeat as well as what you should repeat. Maybe you will eventually become so fluent that can correct native Spanish speakers… Why not?!