The word
actual is really complicated for Spanish learners of English, as they sometimes mistake it for the Spanish word 'actual' when, as a matter of fact, it is used in English to emphasize something that is true or exact. We can translate it as 'real, verdadero, propiamente dicho'. Here are some examples:
He cited actual cases (
citó casos reales)
The actual owner (
el verdadero dueño)
There was no actual agreement (
no hubo un acuerdo propiamente dicho)
The
Macmillan Dictionary blog published an entry on
actual in the section Language tip in November. You can read it by clicking on the picture below.
