6 votes
Accepted

Learning to listen

Learning a language, like with learning most of other things it is not only about knowing what words mean and being able to express your thoughts. It has to come automatically and without having to ...
julodnik's user avatar
  • 671
6 votes

Which Spanish-speakers, if any, say "¿Cómo estuvo tu día" in Spanish?

"¿Qué tal tu día?" is ambiguous as to the time being asked about. It could mean: How is your day (going)? (asked as the day is going on) OR How did your day go? (asked at the end of the day) In my ...
Gustavson's user avatar
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6 votes
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Asking to top up a phone

The word you are looking for is recargar. This applies to teléfonos prepago (prepaid phones) that have to be recargados before you can make calls or use the internet. This applies to most of ...
DGaleano's user avatar
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5 votes
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Which Spanish-speakers, if any, say "¿Cómo estuvo tu día" in Spanish?

As a general inquiry I would use: ¿Qué tal (fue/estuvo/anduvo) tu día? ¿Cómo estuvo/anduvo tu día? Note how estar and andar work in the same way here, and sometimes ser as well. In the second ...
pablodf76's user avatar
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5 votes
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«¿Ah, sí?» o «¿Así?»: ¿Son posibles las dos?

En este caso solamente es correcta la primera forma: —Vivía en Chile. —¿Ah, sí? —Así es. Recordemos que ah es una interjección usada, según el DLE, para denotar pena, admiración, sorpresa o ...
fedorqui's user avatar
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4 votes
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How do you say, "How was your day?"

Como la mayoría de las respuestas que obtendrás aquí, depende enormemente del país. De todas maneras, creo que, aunque puedes decir "tu día", está más extendido "el día". De la misma manera que ...
MaríaCC's user avatar
  • 1,264
4 votes

¿Qué pasa? vs. ¿Qué tal? vs. ¿Qué onda?

¿Qué tal? It's the most general and formal in each Spanish-speaking country, although its use is only intended for someone known in advance, to gain confidence or start a conversation or to break the ...
Danielillo's user avatar
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4 votes
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Is "¿Nos juntemos?" well said?

No, I wouldn't say "¿Nos juntemos?" to ask someone to meet me. Although "juntemos" is the subjunctive form of the verb and therefore it expresses a possibility or a desire, it's not used that way. ...
Jaime Caffarel's user avatar
3 votes

Is "¿Nos juntemos?" well said?

This is oddly put. If it’s going to use a subjective inflection, it should probably be ¡Juntémonos! as a first-person imperative for a reflexive verb. That would mean ”Let’s get together!” But then ...
tchrist's user avatar
  • 2,050
2 votes

How do you say, "How was your day?"

En Argentina: ¿Cómo te fue? ¿Qué onda tu día?
Lobo-Eze's user avatar
  • 636
2 votes

How do you say, "How was your day?"

Para mí interpretar how was your day? corresponde simplemente a decir, idiomáticamente: ¿cómo te fue hoy? Algunas variaciones incluyen: ¿cómo estuvo tu día?, ¿qué tal estuvo el día? Interpretar esto ...
Schwale's user avatar
  • 5,610
2 votes

How do you say, "How was your day?"

As others already said, this can vary on the region/country, but at least in Colombia, these expressions are usual: ¿Qué tal estuvo tu día? ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? ¿Cómo te fue hoy? (No es una ...
Mauricio Martinez's user avatar
2 votes

Backchannels (listener responses) in Spanish

Here are some that would work well in Mexico: ¿Ah sí? No me diga/digas. ¿De veras? ¿En serio? Mmm (voice going up at the end) Pues sí / pues no (this affirms that the person's reaction was reasonable)...
aparente001's user avatar
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2 votes

¿Qué pasa? vs. ¿Qué tal? vs. ¿Qué onda?

All correspond to What's up? but not all are greetings. ¿Qué tal? is an informal greeting usable almost everywhere. It can also mean What do you think of this? in a situation, for example, when you're ...
Carlos Arturo Serrano's user avatar
2 votes

¿Qué pasa? vs. ¿Qué tal? vs. ¿Qué onda?

¿Qué onda? definitely feels the most informal of these to me, and so What's up? or something more slangy like How's it hangin'? is how I tend to translate it in my mind. (And the sometimes (and even ...
Max Starkenburg's user avatar
1 vote
Accepted

Making the transition to becoming conversational - stop thinking in English?

I am an adult learner who was fortunate to be able to spend various short periods in Spanish-speaking countries and became confident speaking, which I take it is what you mean by conversational. I am ...
mdewey's user avatar
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1 vote

Making the transition to becoming conversational - stop thinking in English?

My memory of this is dim. When I was six years old, my family moved to Chile. I started going to school where the school was run by British expatriates and most of the pupils were Chilean. In about ...
Walter Mitty's user avatar
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1 vote
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Pronunciacion de las frases como "he + e-verbo" y "ha + a-verbo"

Hice la prueba de grabarme diciendo cosas como “lo he hecho siempre así”, “lo hecho, hecho está” y otras, para observar después el espectrograma de lo grabado. Hay variación según dónde está ubicada ...
pablodf76's user avatar
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1 vote

«¿Ah, sí?» o «¿Así?»: ¿Son posibles las dos?

Concuerdo con que el "Así" es de una forma omanera como ser una persona enseñando a hacer algo a otra persona y la segunda imitando las indicaciones de la primera le pregunta "¿Así? ¿...
Gustavo's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote

How do you say, "How was your day?"

I live in Argentina and here we say: ¿Cómo te fue (hoy / el día)? ¿Que tal (tu día)? ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? ¿Cómo va tu día? In brackets optionals parts. To answer you can be very simple:...
Ender Look's user avatar
1 vote
Accepted

In the U.S., may I go up to strangers to practice Spanish, and if so, how?

The basic answer would be the same, even if you were a beginner. Yes. You may, indeed, strike up a conversation with a random stranger in the US. Sí, puedes entablar conversación con un desconocido ...
aparente001's user avatar
  • 10.7k
1 vote

How to ask someone -- stranger or my friend -- to do something?

Lambie's answer has lots of nice cultural touches. I will focus here on providing feedback for your first proposal. Good! But notice that cerrar ends in -ar, so with tú your choices are (a) ask a ...
aparente001's user avatar
  • 10.7k
1 vote

How to ask someone -- stranger or my friend -- to do something?

And yet, this depends on the region you are. I say, for example: —Cierra la ventana. Nothing else when it comes to speaking to a friend or family member; however, if you are talking to a ...
Schwale's user avatar
  • 5,610
1 vote

How to ask someone -- stranger or my friend -- to do something?

Formal: ¿Tendría [Ud] la bondad de cerrar la ventana?, por favor. Less formal but nice: Oye, ¿me cierras la ventana? Oye is to grab someone's attention when you know them. Hey or Listen. [Yes,I ...
Lambie's user avatar
  • 1,591
1 vote

How do you introduce yourself on the phone?

In Venezuela, I learned to always respond with the form "Habla José," even with friends and family. I think that the formality of the statement will vary from country to country, but grammatically, at ...
Forest's user avatar
  • 552

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