All Questions
4
votes
2answers
544 views
Translating “If (request), that would be great.”
In English, I often use the formula, "If (request), that would be great."
For example:
If you could go to the supermarket after work, that would be great.
If it's possible for you to finish ...
3
votes
3answers
324 views
Connotations of “mortal” (slang)
What does the Spanish word mortal mean when used as slang? Does it have a positive or negative connotation towards the thing being described?
6
votes
4answers
84 views
Usage of plural in collective objects?
Even being a native speaker, I find it hard to know what's the correct way to announce in a sentence a thing that is a collection of other things, specifically in how to arrange adjectives and ...
7
votes
1answer
223 views
Why does “toalla” sound like “tualla”?
I am a native speaker from Mexico and I just noticed that the word "toalla" when pronounced sounds as if it has an "u" instead of an "o" as if you were pronouncing "tualla". This also happens with ...
3
votes
2answers
123 views
In referring to a website's appearance, how would I say Skin or Theme?
What the title says, pretty much. This is for a website with a formal tone.
11
votes
3answers
649 views
How do you say “I'm gonna get you!”?
When I'm chasing my baby around the room, I frequently tell him, "I'm gonna get you!" and catch him and tickle him. Is there a similar expression in Spanish? I'd love to find something that can be ...
6
votes
2answers
243 views
What's the meaning of the Mexican expression “se te va el avión”?
Example:
Te lo dije tres veces y de todos modos no lo hiciste. A ti ya se te va el avión.
¿No te acordaste de tu cumpleaños? La verdad es que a ti ya se te va el avión.
What does it mean?
...
-5
votes
2answers
200 views
What is English translation of this short audio file in Spanish ? [closed]
Please help to translate this simple audio file.
audio file on soundcloud
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
66 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
1answer
229 views
What's the plural of “suéter”?
What's the plural of "suéter"?
In Mexico, most of the times is called "sueters".
Is it "sueters" or "suéteres"?
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
173 views
Is “versus” a Spanish word?
RAE says no, wordreference says yes. Is it used or understood by the Spanish speakers?
5
votes
2answers
228 views
What is the correct way to say the days of a month?
People refer to the days of the month as following:
1 de enero = uno de enero o primero de enero.
2 de enero = dos de enero.
3 de enero = tres de enero.
...
Example:
Hoy es primero de enero.
...
5
votes
2answers
214 views
forever: por siempre vs. para siempre
I have seen "forever" translated as both por siempre and para siempre. What is the difference? Are there contexts where you must use one or the other?
2
votes
3answers
111 views
What is the preferred word to use to know if the partner is grasping what you are explaining?
Suppose that you are explaining something to someone. Which of these is more appropriate to use?
¿Me entiendes?
¿Me explico?
If you use "me explico" it could be interpreted as if you are ...
7
votes
1answer
122 views
Is “mas sin embargo” a pleonasm?
I've seen and heard "mas sin embargo". My questions are:
Is it correct to use "mas sin embargo"?
Is it a pleonasm?
Example:
Mario tiene que hacer mucha tarea, mas sin embargo está jugando.
...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Difference between “mas” and “más”
What's the difference between mas and más?
What rules should I follow to know which one to use?
Could you provide examples showing their uses?
3
votes
3answers
186 views
Translating “Help!” (interjection)
In English, if there is any kind of emergency or urgent assistance needed, we use the interjection, "Help!" In Spanish I've seen several:
¡Socorro!
¡Auxilio!
¡Ayuda! or ¡Ayúdame!
Which of these is ...
1
vote
2answers
112 views
Translating “wise” (not referring to a person, e.g. “wise decision”)
As I understand it, wise is normally translated as sabio when referring to a person. What about when not referring to a person? For example:
I don't think that would be a very wise decision.
...
2
votes
1answer
605 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 ...
6
votes
7answers
2k views
How might you say a child is “cute” in Spanish?
Suppose you see a mother with a laughing little 2-year-old. In English, we might exclaim, "how cute!"
I've had trouble saying this in Spanish. The word "cute" means something like "beautiful", but it ...
4
votes
2answers
109 views
Why, when, and how did vowels E and I get special treatment from consonants like C,G & Q?
I think this question may involve more than Spanish, and may include Romance languages or even Latin.
I wonder why, when, and how did vowels E and I get special treatment from consonants like C, G, ...
5
votes
3answers
207 views
Translations of 'anyway'
I spoke with a friend that I haven't spoken to in a long time. He started with a question about a test he is having. After I answered the question, I wanted to ask him:
"How have you been anyway?"
...
3
votes
1answer
354 views
Difference between “está” and “esta” or “esté” and “este”?
How do I know if I have to use the one with accent and not the one without accent? Could you provide examples?
4
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the difference between “De nada” and “No hay de qué”?
I am learning Spanish and ran across "De nada" and "No hay de qué". Both mean "You're welcome" . What's the difference?
2
votes
3answers
158 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
1answer
231 views
Why does “mostrar a” mean “to show” and not “to show to”?
Tengo una biblia bilingüe. En el 14 capítulo de Juan, cuenta así una conversación entre Jesús y uno de su discípulos:
--Señor-- dijo Felipe--, muéstranos al Padre y con eso nos basta.
...
1
vote
2answers
121 views
Origin of 'r' in 'rencontrar'
The Spanish equivalent of the English word "encounter" is "rencontrar." Why does the Spanish version have the beginning "r" when the English one doesn't?
The source is the Spanish version of "Tea ...
1
vote
0answers
157 views
Good News/Chat/Cultural Podcasts in Spanish? [closed]
I spoke Spanish fluently, but it's been 10 years since I lived in Mexico. I'm definitely past the learn Spanish podcasts listed here.
Are there good news podcasts available? I'm looking for something ...
5
votes
2answers
79 views
Convention for group-recited, gender-specific, self-referencing pronouns
What convention (or conventions) exist for words that are recited by a group of people, but refer to oneself using gender-specific pronouns? The most common context is probably group worship in a ...
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
3answers
256 views
Why is sport in Spanish 'deporte' and not 'esporte'?
One would expect that the Spanish word for 'sport' would be esporte (as in special => especial, spaghetti => espagueti, Spain => España, etc.). But it's actually deporte.
Why does it begin with de- ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
Is there a trick to remembering 'llevar' and 'traer'?
After years of living in a Spanish-speaking country, and speaking mostly only Spanish all day, I still struggle with 'llevar' and 'traer'. The rules are clear and all, but it is just very difficult to ...
16
votes
3answers
412 views
Ser and estar for location
The edge-cases of ser and estar still seem to get me. My understanding is that when speaking of a location, I should use estar.
La biblioteca está aquí.
However, a student I am tutoring had a ...
4
votes
3answers
660 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
68 views
Word : se quedaban
Please read the below sentence:
Ya que los mayores iban a el campo a trabajar, los niños se quedaban y jugaban juntos.
In English it means: Since the older went to work in the field, the ...
3
votes
3answers
156 views
Throughput in Spanish?
I just wanted to know the best (preferably a single-word) translation of the English word throughput. Would you opt for capacidad, rendimiento or función de transferencia?
Thanks
Artur
8
votes
3answers
185 views
How does one chain noun adjuncts in Spanish?
A noun adjunct is a noun that modifies another noun. For example, the word "baby" in the phrase "baby food" is a noun adjunct. In this simple case, you can translate it into Spanish as "comida de ...
1
vote
2answers
72 views
Difference between “susto” and “aprensión”
Del susto y la aprensión, el rujido ha cesado.
What are the differences between "susto" and "aprensión"?
Both mean fear, no?
Or they have different degrees of fear?
4
votes
3answers
112 views
6
votes
1answer
210 views
Difference between “oreja” and “oído”
What is the difference between oreja and oído?
Both mean ear, no?
10
votes
4answers
495 views
When is uppercase used in English but lowercase in Spanish?
There are many cases where English uses capital letters (e.g. January) but Spanish uses lowercase (e.g. enero). Grammar or orthography books have long lists of all the cases where capital letters are ...
5
votes
3answers
173 views
feliz vs. alegre vs. dichoso
I recently heard dichoso used to mean feliz. Looking up dichoso in a dictionary shows it means "happy" (or "blessed"). What is the difference between dichoso, feliz, and alegre to mean "happy"? Are ...
4
votes
1answer
108 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
158 views
Word usage: “caminamos” VS “caminábamos”
Please read the below sentence which is in the past tense.
Can I replace "caminamos" to "caminábamos" to describe a continued action?
Así que caminamos de tienda en tienda para comprar las ...
2
votes
2answers
58 views
Difference between “enterar por” and “enterar de”
Please read the following sentences:
Nos enteramos por las noticias que las flores valían más caras que los años anteriores.
Al comenzar este invierno me enteré de la noticia de que haría/iba a ...
4
votes
2answers
105 views
Difference between “un poco de” and “un poco”
What is the difference between the use of "un poco de" and "un poco"?
Why can't we say "Es un poco de moreno"(He has a little dark skin.) but "Es un poco moreno."??
Could you please provide some ...
6
votes
3answers
98 views
pensaban que no había suficientes habitaciones VS no pensaban que hubieran suficientes habitaciones
Algunas personas pensaban que no había suficientes habitaciones
para acomodar a tantos visitantes.
VS
Algunas personas no pensaban
que hubiera suficientes habitacions para acomodar ...
1
vote
3answers
362 views
Singular and plural of pants, shorts, jeans, etc
In English, words like pants, shorts, and jeans appear to be in the plural but really refer to one item of clothing (I don't know what the technical term for it is). To be more specific, you can say ...
