All Questions
6
votes
3answers
428 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
305 views
Differences betwen “ahí”, “allí”, y “allá”
I am confused with the uses of "ahí", "allí" and "allá".
It seems they are used according to different situations.
Could you please tell me what are the differences and provide some examples?
Thanks!
4
votes
5answers
196 views
“Fall in love with” (non-romantic)
English:
In English, you can use the phrase "to fall in love with" with people who you aren't literally in love with. For example, when talking about children, you might say:
You just fall in ...
3
votes
3answers
294 views
“Septiembre” or “setiembre”?
Setiembre is only used in Peru, AFAIK, but I wonder if there are any other countries where setiembre, as opposed to septiembre, is also valid.
RAE links the definition of setiembre to the definition ...
3
votes
1answer
241 views
Latin /f/ to Spanish /h/
Many (most? all?) Spanish words containing the letter h come from corresponding Latin words containing the letter f. Through what process did /f/ get softened to /h/? During what time period did this ...
15
votes
1answer
445 views
¿Por qué es la palabra «mano» femenina?
En español, tenemos una regla en la cual, generalmente, se puede tener fé. Si una palabra termina con -o, es masculina. Sin embargo, palabras que terminan en -e o -a también pueden ser palabras ...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
“True” meaning of “por cierto”
I have always thought of the expression of "por cierto" as meaning "certainly" or "surely." It certainly "looks" that way (for certainly). And even Google Translate gives it that meaning, as well as ...
10
votes
2answers
617 views
Bueno as hello or greeting?
In the US State I live in, I sometimes hear Spanish speakers greet one another by simply staying "Bueno". I didn't hear this when I was recently in Mexico, although I realize I may just have not ...
9
votes
4answers
583 views
How to translate the idiomatic expressions “I wish!” and “You wish!”
What's the best way to say "I wish!" as in...
A: I hear you're a good dancer.
B: Ha! I wish!
Or...
A: Will you help me move this piano?
B: Ha! You wish!
What is the best way to ...
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 ...
8
votes
2answers
583 views
Are there any nouns with irregular plurals in Spanish?
In English, some nouns have regular plural forms ending in -s or -es and fewer are irregular. Fish in the plural is still fish while child becomes children.
In Spanish, nearly all nouns are regular, ...
7
votes
2answers
92 views
¿En qué países se utiliza la expresión “colgar el sambenito”?
Como resultado de una pregunta anterior relacionada con el concepto de culpabilidad (guilt trip), surgió la expresión (frecuente en España) "colgar el sambenito", que significa "culpar a alguien ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Is “me gustas” ever right?
We have been taught that gustar is an unusual verb and that you only ever use gusta or gustan depending on whether you like singular or plural things. Would you use "me gustas" to say "I like you"?
7
votes
1answer
440 views
“Te va (a) encantar” - is “a” necessary?
Is the "a" necessary when using "ir a" to convey future meaning?
Google gives 17m results for "te va a encantar" but also 1.5m for "te va encantar". Does this rule vary according to formality?
6
votes
2answers
250 views
When is “al” not interchangeable with “a el”?
This is a clear case where "al" cannot be replaced with "a el":
Al mirarlo, sonrió.
Are there any other cases?
6
votes
1answer
145 views
How are words with “ps” or “pt” pronounced?
Here are a few examples:
psicología
ptosis
Ptolomeo
Interestingly is that "sicología" is also found in the RAE but most of the time I've seen it written as "psicología".
How are they ...
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
164 views
What is the meaning of “que” and “cual” without an accent mark?
What does "que" and "cual" mean without an accent mark? How do they compare when to each other? How do they compare to their accent-marked form?
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 ...
6
votes
5answers
414 views
Definition of escuela and colegio
Spanish has two generic words for school: escuela and colegio. I have heard different explanations for what phases of schooling each word refers to. For example, I've been told that colegio refers ...
6
votes
3answers
170 views
Regional use of “genial”
What parts of the Spanish-speaking world regularly use the word genial? Is it only encountered in Spain, or is it common in other regions as well?
Edit: It seems like it's more widespread than I ...
5
votes
3answers
123 views
¿“Ahí” y “allí” son distinguibles cuando usadas en países donde se usa mayormente el yeísmo?
La pronunciación me parece muy similar, y me pregunto se en la conversación normal se las pueden distinguir o si hay artificios o sinónimos que se usan para llegar a los mismos objetivos.
5
votes
2answers
146 views
Counterpart of “John Doe, Joe Public”?
In English these names are used as a substitute for the average guy. Or as a specimen when filling out a passport form.
What names/expressions are used in Spanish for this purpose?
5
votes
1answer
115 views
Usage of “donde la espalda cambia de nombre”
In this answer to this previous question of mine, the answerer used the phrase
Antonio se hirió donde la espalda cambia de nombre.
as an example of a milder version of
Antonio se hirió en ...
5
votes
3answers
432 views
¡Buenas! greeting in morning
Another question brings up the fact that in many countries, ¡Buenas! is used as a greeting (as an abbreviation of Buenas tardes or Buenas noches). In regions where this is the case, what should be ...
5
votes
1answer
227 views
When should you use the preterite or the imperfect to express past time?
There are two ways to express simple past time actions and conditions in Spanish. One is the preterite,
Comí tacos. (I ate tacos.)
Besé a una chica. (I kissed a girl.)
and the other is the ...
5
votes
4answers
276 views
Names of letters “b” and “v”
The letters b and v have several possible names in Spanish. Is there an official, language academy-sponsored name for these letters? If not, what are the most common and standard names?
5
votes
2answers
146 views
Proper spelling of “beisbol”
I had the privilege of attending the 2011 Panamerican Games last month, and went to the brand new baseball stadium in Lagos de Moreno. The stadium said in big letters:
Estadio de Beisbol
My ...
4
votes
5answers
293 views
Translation of “guilt trip”
How can I translate the concept of a "guilt trip" into Spanish? The Free Dictionary provides this definition:
guilt trip
n. Informal
A usually prolonged feeling of guilt or culpability.
...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
¿Cuál es la diferencia entre “por lo tanto” y “por tanto”?
Según la RAE:
por lo ~.
loc. adv. Por consiguiente, por lo que antes se ha dicho, por el motivo o las razones de que acaba de hablarse. U. t. c. loc. conjunt.
por tanto.
loc. adv. Por lo que, ...
4
votes
3answers
282 views
How formal is cuán? What are the informal alternatives?
How formal is the Spanish word cuán? When is it appropriate to use, and when does it seem out of place? How are sentences using cuán normally expressed in informal speech?
4
votes
2answers
171 views
Understanding “desde ya”
I have heard the phrase "desde ya" used to mean "in advance." Literally, it means "since already." How is it understood to mean "in advance," or is it simply an idiom with a nonsense literal meaning? ...
4
votes
1answer
539 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
5answers
269 views
Translation of “should have”
What are the possible translations of "should have", as in "I should have told you earlier"? What are the differences between "debería (de)", "debí (de)", "debiera (de)", "debía (de)", etc.?
3
votes
2answers
1k views
¿Es correcto abreviar “visto bueno ” como “VoBo.”?
Muchas veces he visto que lo abrevian así por ejemplo dentro de la compañía donde trabajo, sin embargo no sé si realmente es correcto.
Actualización:
Lo que me parece extraño de la abreviación es ...
3
votes
3answers
327 views
Las palabras definidas como genero ambiguo como “internet” ¿se deben utilizar con artículo femenino o masculino?
Para el caso de la palabra "internet", tenía un profesor en preparatoria que comentaba que debería ser "la internet" puesto que "internet" es "la red de redes". Sin embargo aquí en México cuando ...
3
votes
1answer
273 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?
2
votes
1answer
104 views
Los valores de SE
Encontré unas preguntas cuando estuve haciendo los ejercicios sobre los valores de SE. ¿Podrían ayudarme?
1, SE le trató muy bien. (Creí que es Verbo Pronominal por tratarse, pero la correcta es, ...
2
votes
1answer
123 views
¿Qué es una “máquina de coser para costura over”?
A friend is asking me to check the price for a maquina de coser para costura over in the U.S., to see if it's worth bringing with me to Mexico when I visit soon. I don't know what that is. She ...
2
votes
1answer
184 views
Translation of the idiom: “To wind (somebody) up”
My question is similar to that of jrdioko's "to wind up (doing something)"
However the expression I'm looking for is: "To wind (somebody) up"
I know this is an idiomatic expression so there may or ...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
Jumping between pronunciations of “y” in Spanish songs
I've heard a few songs (off the top of my head, A Dios Le Pido) where they pronounce "y" both with a y-sound and an English j-sound at times. In some songs, the different pronunciations occur when ...
1
vote
2answers
131 views
me/te/nos hace falta / passive form
So after reading this question I came up with a really bad doubt.
In the past I was using quite often "(no) se hace falta" to say for instance, that "it is (not) necessary to", but I've by then been ...
1
vote
3answers
364 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
114 views
What is the best way to refer to those of Spanish descent or language?
In English there are several ways to refer to people who speak Spanish or are from a Spanish-speaking country: Hispanic, Latin, Latino, Chicano, Spanish-speaking, etc.
What equivalent terms exist in ...
0
votes
3answers
367 views
Interpretation of quotes or famous sayings [closed]
I know you can't translate everything directly, sometimes it doesn't make sense, specially when it comes from quotes.
What would be the best intepretation of the following quotes?:
What goes ...
