Some of the best advice you can get when you start translating to and from English or Spanish is to translate for meaning rather than to translate words. Sometimes what you want to translate will be straightforward enough that there won't be much difference between the two approaches. But more often than not, paying attention to what someone is saying — not just the words the person is using — will pay off in doing a better job of conveying the idea that someone is trying to get across.
One example of an approach you might take in translating can be seen in the answer to a question that a reader raised via email: