Set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language.
2
votes
2answers
174 views
What is the rule for cualquier, cualquiera, and cualesquiera?
I remember learning the rule for when to use cualquier, cualquiera, and cualesquiera, but was always confused about the exact differences. When should each be used, and what role do number, gender, ...
3
votes
1answer
44 views
Propogation of the subjunctive through clauses
Given the English sentence
Call us when you leave so that we know that you're on your way.
I understand that it would be translated as such:
Llámanos cuando salgas para que sepamos que ...
12
votes
4answers
494 views
Is “¿Qué hora es?” or “¿Qué horas son?” preferred?
Admittedly, it has been a very long time since I've studied Spanish, but I distinctly recall that we always used "¿Que hora es?" for "what time is it?".
However, on a trip to the Dominican Republic, ...
5
votes
2answers
94 views
In what cases are “de” and “para” interchangeable?
For example in these cases "de" and "para" seem to be interchangeable:
muebles de oficina / muebles para oficina
juguetes de niños / juguetes para niños
Are there any other cases where ...
0
votes
2answers
166 views
¿Me pueden ayudar a deconstruir las siguientes oraciones? Can you help me deconstruct these sentences? [closed]
Un artículo publicado en The Four Hour Work Week blog by Tim Ferriss llamado How to Learn (But Not Master) any Language in 1 Hour sugiere que la deconstrucción de un idioma es una de las cosas más ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views
¿Es correcto “siempre quieren y terminan sometiendo”?
Encuentro en una novela que estoy leyendo el siguiente texto:
De entre todas las manías, sin duda la más habitual es hacer el amor
por las mañanas. A esa hora los hombres siempre quieren y ...
4
votes
3answers
320 views
¿Cuál es el análisis gramatical de “Hay pan”?
¿Cuál es el análisis gramatical de la siguiente oración? ¿Qué tipo de oración es?
Es decir, ¿qué funcion gramatical cumplen cada una de las siguientes palabras?:
Hay pan.
Estoy buscando la ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
¿Doble complemento directo?
¿Cuál es la resolución o las resoluciones al análisis de la siguiente oración?
Consideramos a Pedro un buen maestro.
Claramente no hay Complemento u Objeto Indirecto porque los dos aceptan ...
10
votes
3answers
758 views
When to use “que” and “de que”
Español
En ciertas oraciones no sé si es más correcto usar que o de que. ¿Cuáles son las reglas para utilizar que/de que?
Ejemplos:
Estoy seguro que me fue bien.
Estoy seguro de que me ...
11
votes
3answers
188 views
Quizás or quizá, which one is preferred?
RAE redirects the definition of quizás to quizá but I wonder if there's any implicit, secret rule that I am not aware of as to whether quizás is preferred over quizá.
I've seen both forms used ...
8
votes
2answers
223 views
Acordar or recordar? What's the correct use? ¿Cuál es el uso correcto?
Español
Comunmente escucho gente decir "¿oye, te acuerdas de esa película?", así como también escucho "¿oye, recuerdas esa película?."
Siempre he creído que la acción de un recuerdo viene del verbo ...
7
votes
5answers
205 views
Forming a conditional clause in present and present tense
I just learend the conditional and past subjunctive. Here is an example:
If I had a million dollars, I would buy a big house.
Si tuviera un millón dolares, compraría una casa grande.
So I'm ...
8
votes
2answers
101 views
Usar puntuación extra para expresar incredulidad
En inglés a veces, se usa puntuación extra para indicar confusión o ira en una frase, como en:
He said what??
Are you serious?!
etc.
Porque se pone ciertos tipos de puntuación al principio y ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
What is the rule for forming fractional numbers?
What is the rule for forming fractional numbers (half, quarter, tenth, twenty-second, etc.) in Spanish? The small numbers are easy to find in a dictionary (tercio, octavo, etc.), but how would you ...
6
votes
4answers
160 views
What is the role of the “le” in the sentence “Miguel le dio a su novia un anillo.”?
The sentence "Miguel le dio a su novia un anillo." translates into
Miguel gave a ring to his girlfriend.
I would think that there would be no need for the "le", since the direct object (his ...
4
votes
2answers
95 views
Why “fiestas de árboles” and not “árboles de fiestas”?
I encountered the expression "fiestas de árboles" in a song by a Chilean singer whose lyrics are:
Tus ojos son fiestas de árboles, son mi ventana.
Son estrellas que guían mi caravana.
Google ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
Can someone help deconstruct the sentence “Hicieron usted su tarea para hoy?”
A possible translation of the sentence "Hicieron usted su tarea para hoy?" could be:
Did you do your homework (for) today?
That said, hicieron is the preterit of hacer for third person plural, ...
7
votes
2answers
140 views
Rules of style for Spanish
I know that there are several sources in English to check for commonly-accepted rules of style. This is, regarding how punctuation should look in non-common cases (eg., if the period should be used or ...
2
votes
1answer
616 views
lo ayudo vs. le ayudo (direct vs. indirect object)
When describing someone helping someone else, does ayudar take a direct or indirect object pronoun? In other words, is it:
¿Lo puedo ayudar? or ¿La puedo ayudar?
or
¿Le puedo ayudar?
If ...
6
votes
1answer
68 views
What's the function of “lo” in “lo que”?
Examples:
Lo que pasa es que el niño no fue a la escuela porque se fracturo el tobillo.
Lo que quiere es una computadora para hacer sus tareas.
Lo que dice es mentira.
Lo que no ...
3
votes
2answers
372 views
What exactly are the “passive se” and “impersonal se”?
Many materials for learning Spanish, discuss the "impersonal se" (e.g. ¿Se puede tocar esto?) and "passive se" (e.g. Se habla español.).
What exactly are these forms grammatically? Is the se in both ...
0
votes
0answers
86 views
Spanish Grammar [closed]
I'm looking for a Spanish grammar. Sadly Khan academy doesn't have a Spanish grammar course but I'm looking for something friendly as that but is not necessary to be in video format, a PDF or a blog ...
2
votes
1answer
686 views
Grammar of tengo and tienes
I am having trouble understanding how to use tienes/tengo and other related "have" words.
For example, in my current lesson in Rosetta Stone, the following examples are used:
Tengo anteojos de ...
2
votes
3answers
162 views
Continuing education after high school [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Spanish After Mango Languages
Recently, I've been interested in learning a language. I took three years of Spanish in high school, and while I did better than the ...
4
votes
3answers
740 views
When should I use 'al'?
I am trying to tell the difference between 'al' and 'a' to refer to a place.
I know that you usually use a to refer to a country. But when should you use al?
I am trying to teach someone the ...
8
votes
3answers
299 views
Use of “Que” in “Que todo te vaya bien”
Que todo te vaya bien.
Que nos reunamos a las 6.
I've seen, and used, que in this form - it's as if the verb has been dropped, say, espero.
What is the origin of this usage? Is it ...
4
votes
1answer
175 views
Cannot use adverbs + possessives: “delante de ti” v/s “delante tuyo”
In Spanish there are some adverbs followed by de:
Delante de, atrás de, en frente de, etc...
When these adverbs are followed in a sentence by a declined pronoun, they are often "contracted" ...
4
votes
1answer
65 views
“Te elegimos a ti en concreto”. Isn't it pleonasm? When is it allowed?
I'm reading a book and there's this phrase:
Te elegimos a ti en concreto
I wonder in what situations should the objective pronoum be repeated this way. Or it's allowed to be repeated.
6
votes
3answers
465 views
Determining gender of words ending in “e”
When learning Spanish, there are basic rules taught about word gender: words ending in o are usually masculine, words ending in a are usually feminine.
What about words ending in e? Are there any ...
8
votes
1answer
111 views
Indirect object and “le”
La madre le lava la cara a la niña.
In that sentence, why is the word "le" there? The sentence already has a indirect object ("a la niña"), but removing the "le" makes the sentence to sound ...
9
votes
2answers
121 views
Unclear why to use “A vuestros hijos” instead of “vuestros hijos”
I have the following sentence in English
Do your children like to read?
Which translates to Spanish:
¿ A vuestros hijos les gusta leer?
To me it is unclear, why I have to use "A vuestros" ...
6
votes
2answers
552 views
“después que” vs. “después de que”
Along the lines of another question I asked, what is the difference between después que and después de que? Is the situation the same as for antes? When are they synonymous, and when is one correct ...
3
votes
1answer
283 views
“antes que” vs. “antes de que”
What is the difference between the phrases antes que and antes de que? When should each be used? Are there contexts where one is correct and one is incorrect, or are they completely synonymous?
4
votes
1answer
2k views
When should the subjunctive be used after “mientras”?
When should mientras or mientras que be followed by the subjunctive and when by the indicative? In both cases, how is mientras usually translated?
4
votes
1answer
97 views
What is the origin of word endings like -ducir, -vocar, -locar, -ludir, -mitir?
The word-endings -ducir, -locar, -vocar, -ludir, -mitir are quite common, each can take a lot of common prefixes to form real words, for example:
conducir, producir, introducir, aducir, inducir, ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Why is “buena” in different places depending on its use? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Significance of adjective placement
In these phrases below, why is the word "buena" in different places?
Are there good things? => ¿Hay cosas buenas?
Are there ...
2
votes
1answer
129 views
Using “qué” or “quién” when talking about people
Imagine for a moment you know who stole your car (some thiefs for example):
Sabemos qué personas lo hicieron.
The above sentence is the same as saying:
Sabemos quiénes lo hicieron. (Persons ...
3
votes
5answers
134 views
Translation of 'I was the one who did it'
What's the correct way to translate 'I was the one who did it'? By a literal translation it would be:
Yo fui el que lo hizo.
However, I know in Spanish the verb is often made to agree with the ...
4
votes
1answer
555 views
Spanish phrasal verbs
The most difficult feature of English language (at least for myself) are "Phrasal verbs".
Today I stumbled upon one sentence from a newspaper that made think about Phrasal verbs in Spanish. If we ...
5
votes
1answer
84 views
What is an expression in parentheses in the middle of a phrase called?
While I was reading the newspaper today I stumbled against something that is quite common and a bit obscure in writing in spanish.
It comes from this opinion column. (The opinion and debate exposed ...
4
votes
5answers
668 views
“¿Qué te interesa?” or “¿Qué te interesan?”
To ask somebody about their interests in Spanish I understand you should say:
¿Qué te interesa?
Would it ever be appropriate to say:
¿Qué te interesan?
As if I was to ask such a general ...
7
votes
1answer
304 views
What is the correct order of object pronouns?
I know that there are (at least) three types of personal pronouns in Spanish (well, and English): direct, indirect, and reflexive. In cases where all three (or at least two) are present, what is the ...
2
votes
2answers
72 views
Infinitive instead of past participle in Maná's “El Verdadero Amor Perdona”
In Maná's song "El Verdadero Amor Perdona" one of the verses contains the lines:
Cómo pude haberte yo herido / engañarte y ofendido
I'd think it should be "Como pude haberte yo herido / engañado ...
