Set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language.
32
votes
3answers
791 views
Why is “agua” masculine in singular form and feminine in plural? “El agua” / “Las aguas”
English
Is there any rule that says that feminine nouns that start with "A" are converted to masculine or is it just done for phonetic (ie beauty) reasons?
Does this happen in all Spanish speaking ...
12
votes
4answers
476 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, ...
11
votes
2answers
259 views
Significance of adjective placement
In Spanish, adjectives typically come after the noun they modify. However, there are some cases when the adjective comes before the noun, and usually (always?) with a change in meaning. Example:
...
11
votes
3answers
187 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 ...
10
votes
3answers
732 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 ...
9
votes
3answers
4k views
What's the “ísimo” in the following words?
What's the "ísimo" doing on the following adjectives?
What rules should be applied to convert the adjectives to the corresponding "ísimo" adjective?
Can this be applied to all adjectives or just a ...
9
votes
2answers
120 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" ...
8
votes
5answers
216 views
Why is “voy” used in “voy perdiendo” instead of “estoy”?
Apparently "Voy perdiendo" means "I'm losing." But I thought the present participle was formed using estar. I am confused!
8
votes
2answers
71 views
“Sensación de que sucede algo”, ¿es dequeísmo?
Ayer escribí la siguiente frase humorística:
No hay devaluación. Es solo una sensación de que la moneda nacional es papel higiénico.
(es una referencia a expresiones como "es sólo una sensación ...
8
votes
2answers
131 views
Duda entre “sino” y “si no”
Hace poco he leído un libro donde se empleaba el sino. Al principio pensaba que era un error de ortografía, pero me resulta un poco extraño que se equivocaron en poner sino y no separado si no. ...
8
votes
3answers
289 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 ...
8
votes
2answers
99 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 ...
8
votes
3answers
416 views
“You look good” versus “You smell good”
It is my understanding that "you look good" translates as, "te ves bien" and that you see well (as in, your vision is good) can be said as "tu ves bien."
However, saying you smell good and your ...
8
votes
2answers
208 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
109 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
168 views
Forma correcta de escribir una pregunta de la que sospechas la respuesta
Spanish
En una pregunta donde inquirimos sobre algo de lo que sospechamos saber la respuesta, cual sería la forma correcta de colocar el signo de interrogación final:
Necesitaré un número de ...
7
votes
1answer
90 views
“Soy yo el que vine…” or “soy yo el que vino…”?
What is often heard is
"Soy yo el que vine ayer a ... "
(I am the one who came yesterday to...) but I think that
"Soy yo el que vino ayer a ... "
is the correct sentence because the ...
7
votes
1answer
259 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 ...
7
votes
5answers
198 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
138 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 ...
6
votes
4answers
158 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
80 views
¿Es correcto anidar paréntesis en una frase?
Si quiero anidar pensamientos con paréntesis (tiendo a abusar de ellos sin querer (deformación profesional)), ¿es correcto en español?
6
votes
2answers
254 views
¿Cuál es el diminutivo de mano, foto, moto, etc.?
Para las palabras que son femeninas pero terminan en o, ¿cuál es la forma diminutiva? O sea, ¿es el diminutivo de foto fotito o fotita? Y para mano, ¿es manito o manita? En el caso de mano, creo que ...
6
votes
2answers
144 views
Gramática: no te hagas el bobo
No te hagas el bobo = Don't act like a fool
No te me hagas el bobo = Don't act like a fool (but it has a different emphasis that is impossible to explain)
Could anyone please explain the ...
6
votes
3answers
95 views
¿La hora de salida es …?
Ha surgido una duda en la oficina sobre la hora de salida, hay varias posibilidades:
La hora de salida es a las seis. (Suena bien).
La hora de salida es las seis. (Suena raro).
La hora de salida son ...
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 ...
6
votes
3answers
436 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 ...
6
votes
2answers
472 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 ...
6
votes
2answers
133 views
Why is 'estoy' used when saying “I'm related to”
I understand
I'm related to David, he's my grandad.
translates as
Estoy relacionado con David, él es mi abuelo.
Why is estoy used and not soy?
It seems to me that the relationship is ...
5
votes
2answers
92 views
¿Donde se crió? o ¿Donde crió?
I was listening to a conversation and heard the question, '¿Donde se crió?', and the reflexive caught me by surprise. Checking my dictionary didn't help much. Although 'criar' and 'criarse' are both ...
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 ...
5
votes
2answers
127 views
¿Si hay muchas personas que se llaman Jesús juntas, cómo debo designarlas?
Eran varios Jesús a la vez
Eran varios Jesúes [Jesuses (!) ] a la vez
Me parece que no es como Paco o Pepe.
Muchos Pacos; muchos Pepes.
Aún que Pepe sea el padre de Jesús, no creo que sea lo ...
5
votes
2answers
234 views
¿Es correcto decir “salir afuera”?
Asumiendo que se está en un edificio con muchas oficinas, ¿es correcto decir
"salí afuera de la oficina"? Porque si se dice "salí de la oficina" no se sabe si la persona esta dentro del edificio pero ...
5
votes
2answers
97 views
“¿Me lo puedo probar?” vs “¿Lo puedo probar?”
¿Qué diferencia hay entre las oraciones siguientes?
¿Me lo puedo probar?
¿Lo puedo probar?
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
3answers
216 views
Is it important to place question and exclamation marks at the start of sentence?
I'm very much new to Spanish. I'm seeing exclamation and question marks are being placed on both the places, at the start and at the end of the sentence (the one at the start is upside down to the ...
4
votes
5answers
629 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
541 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 ...
4
votes
3answers
680 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 ...
4
votes
6answers
172 views
Why do you use “al” before a verb?
I understand that al is a combination of a + el when used before a noun, however in what situations would you use it in front of a verb, for instance
'Al llegar al tercer semaforo...'
4
votes
5answers
101 views
Linguistic Use of Spanish Characters Keyboard Layout
After looking at the Spanish Keyboard thatcomes in Windows I have come to notice that are 5 Dead Keys on the Spanish Keyboard layout.
Name Example
´ ACUTE ACCENT más
¨ ...
4
votes
1answer
94 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, ...
4
votes
1answer
164 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
3answers
290 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
85 views
¿Hay alguna diferecia importante entre los dos subjuntivos?
Estoy encantado con estas dos formas del lenguaje, pero ninguno de los materiales disponibles ha clarificado la diferencia entre las dos formas:
Si hubiese sabido que iba a llover, me habría ...
4
votes
1answer
64 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.
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
40 views
¿Es posible omitir “que” en “supongo que irás”?
Tengo el vicio de escribir
"supongo irás mañana"
o bien
"creo te queda bien ese color".
Sé que es correcto decir "supongo que irás mañana" y "creo que te queda bien ese color", pero no sé ...
4
votes
1answer
46 views
4
votes
3answers
138 views
Practicamos hablando
Hicimos muy pocos ejercicios y casi nunca practicamos hablando en español.
Hicimos muy pocos ejercicios y casi nunca practicamos hablar en español.
Dice que "practicamos hablando" no está ...
