Hot answers tagged verbos
18
When you're speaking about the location where an event takes place then the verb "ser" is the one you have to use:
El partido será en el estadio.
El partido estará en el estadio.* (Incorrect)
El concurso de monólogos es en el pabellón número 5.
El concurso de monólogos está en el pabellón número 5.* (Incorrect)
if it's not an event (it's ...
13
The examples you wrote about are not phrasal verbs. I don't think there is such a thing as phrasal verbs in Spanish.
They are verbs that sometimes change their meaning totally. For example, the verb "to take" means that you grab something with your hands and you lift it up (an example). The verb "to take after" doesn't mean that you grab later, or at least ...
13
First of all: the meaning of gustar goes well beyond the romantic interest. This is something you have to bear in mind.
If we see the RAE dictionary definition of gustar, we get these meanings (acepciones):
tr. Sentir y percibir el sabor de las cosas.
tr. experimentar (‖ probar).
intr. Agradar, parecer bien.
intr. Dicho de una persona: Resultar ...
13
Español
De hecho, puedes encontrar rastros de ese tipo de coincidencias también en inglés.
Un savant es una persona que sabe mucho. A pesar de que es un préstamo del francés, se usa bastante en inglés. Un sage es también una persona sabia, alguien que sabe mucho.
Un plato savoury es un plato salado o condimentado, lo cual se refiere al sabor.
Los dos ...
11
I think a possible explanation (and how I understand it) is "Está hecho de..." refers to the object being "manufactured with" so the verb refers to the fact that the object was manufactured and "es de madera" refers to the permanent fact that the table is made of wood. Actually you can't say (or is not exactly correct) "el árbol está hecho de madera" "the ...
11
The compound verb "ir a" is roughly the same as "going to" in English: we primarily use it when talking about the immediate future.
¿Va a comprar un coche nuevo?
Are you going to buy a new car? (= Have you decided to buy a new car?)
Here you can find a detailed analysis of different ways to express the future. They do not elaborate on regional ...
10
The difference is simple:
Deber + infinitive is used to express obligation:
You must do it as soon as possible.
Deber de + infinitive is used to express probability or supposition:
It must be very early.
Sometimes, in the second case the preposition "de" is omitted, so it might be confusing. So the first case could also be interpretated as the ...
10
Español
Lo he oído explicado así:
El pretérito de "ser" viene de la versión del latín de esse, que usa la raíz 'fui'.
La historia va de que "ir" es irregular en el sentido de que estaba compuesto de múltiples verbos, y por tanto toma su pretérito del latín "esse".
El presente, pretérito, subjuntivo del latín vadere.
El infinitivo del latín ire.
El ...
10
Use the pronoun when it clarifies an ambiguity:
Leería el libro.
This is vague without further context. It could mean "I would read the book" or "He/she would read the book." So the addition of a pronoun (or other context) is necessary.
Or use a pronoun for emphasis.
Él leyó el libro. Yo leí la revista.
"He read the book. I read the ...
8
As Randolf Rincón-Fadul says, it depends.
Here is a page where it shows some of the possible cases of translating 'to become'.
Edit: I found a PDF file titled
23 Ways to Translate Become in Spanish, check it out.
8
In Spanish you use the singular second person to refer to yourself in the imperative way.
for Think! you will say ¡Piensa! (or ¡Pensá! in some regions of South America).
You cannot say that for the first person, so you always refer to you in the second person for the imperative (I think in English is the same).
8
El niño debe hacer su tarea.
This sentence means obligation: The kid must do his job.
A similar sentence could be "El niño tiene que hacer su tarea."
El niño debe de hacer su tarea.
The construction "deber de" means supposition or possibility. I'm not sure this usage applies to your example as is. But another example can be:
Deben de ser ...
8
In Spanish the subject is not placed always in front of the verb. So you can say:
Me gusta la historia de tu amigo
La historia de tu amigo me gusta.
or in the past
La historia de tu amigo me gustó.
Me gustó la historia de tu amigo.
and in the four sentences the subject of the sentence is "la historia de tu amigo".
Don't get confused ...
8
En esta página, del señor Justo Fernández López dedicada a los verbos pronominales, he encontrado una descripción que me parece apropiada, así que la transcribo aquí:
comer – comerse
La forma no pronominal comer significa "ingerir
alimento", "deglutir un alimento sólido", "tomar la comida".
La forma
pronominal comerse significa: "omitir ...
7
The difference is very clear-cut. You use the preterite for an action that happened at a distinct point in time. So to expand on your examples:
Comí tacos ayer.
I ate tacos yesterday.
Besé a una chica en la fiesta anoche.
I kissed a girl at the party last night.
These were both specific points in time.
The imperfect is used for actions that ...
7
Indeed you can also say the same sentences with the verb "ser" instead of "estar" with a difference in meaning:
Él es gordo: he is a fat person.
Él está gordo: He is fat right now (he can lose weight in a future or he's fatter than usual).
Él es viejo: he is old.
Él está viejo: He looks old.
El coche es caro: this model of car is expensive (in general).
El ...
7
I understand the difficulty.
Dar a conocer is actually an idiom or a figure of speech that is always interpreted as To make it known
This same figure can also be used as Dar a saber which has the same meaning.
So in this case the translation of your passage would be:
... y con un grande alboroto de pitos y timbales daban a conocer los nuevos ...
7
In the examples you provide they can all be translated as ha estado or he estado, except the third one:
It has been raining a lot recently = Ha estado lloviendo mucho últimamente (or maybe better "ha llovido mucho últimamente")
I have been thinking about the exam all week = He estado pensando en el examen toda la semana
I have been very busy ...
7
It is a regional variant of "haya" (first and third singular person, subjunctive present of the verb "haber"). You will hear that word from some people with low education in a natural manner, and also from well-educated people in an informal conversation, either trying to make a joke or just put emphasis on the word by pronouncing it incorrectly (especially ...
6
The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas explains that there are two major types of voseo:
Reverential voseo: archaic and ceremonial usage. Spanish speakers in the Americas are familiar with this type of voseo from historic and religious texts.
American dialectal voseo: the different forms of voseo from the Spanish dialects of the Americas.
The Diccionario ...
6
Parar/detener are the most literal translations from stop (although detener also means often to arrest).
Dejar is "to leave" in general, only the form "dejar de" is stop (basically it means stop doing a continuous action).
Acabar is pretty equivalent to finish (i.e. you can say "acaba tu plato" -> "finish your dish"), suspender matches suspend, impedir is ...
6
llevar = to take (to go to someplace and carry something with you.)
traer = to bring (to come to someplace and carry something with you.)
Examples:
Llevale estas manzanas a tu abuela.
Trae unas cervezas para la fiesta de la noche.
As a side note, an interesting thing is that in Japanese the corresponding verbs are made up of two verbs:
...
6
Como comenta Javi, es un error de la aplicación. Puedes checar en la RAE que las formas correctas son:
yo adelgace
tú adelgaces
él adelgace
nosotros adelgacemos
vosotros/ustedes adelgacéis / adelgacen
ellos adelgacen
6
It's a shorten form of "pongamonos a comer".
The verb is "poner" in its imperative form:
tú:
ponte a + infinitive
nostros:
pongamonos a + infinitive
ustedes:
ponganse a + infinitive
Examples:
¡A trabajar!
¡Ponte a trabajar!
¡Pongamonos a trabajar!
RAE defines this use:
poner:
41 . prnl. Comenzar a ejecutar una ...
5
As you say "Supo" means "found out" and "Sabía" means "Knew" which are not the same. But, answering your question, it's about if the action has a stated timeframe.
María lo supo ayer. = Maria found out yesterday.
This means a completed action.
Juan sabía que María venía. = Juan knew that Maria was coming.
This doesn't provide definite beginning ...
5
They mean almost the same
Carecer = Tener falta de algo.
Faltar = Consumirse, acabar, fallecer.
Now, carecer its used followed by the preposition de so if you want to say (i.e.) I don't have any money, you just say:
"carezco de dinero"
Saying that is like saying that you don't have it AT ALL.
Now, faltar is reflexive:
me falta algo
...
5
Yes, It has an additional meaning. De, a, hacia, desde, etc are prepositions, and they are used to fine tune the verb they are with.
De usually points to the passive recipient of the action (I don't know the actual term). For example:
Escaparse de la policia - To escape from the cops
In this case you're doing the escaping, but the cops are being the ...
5
Asentar(se) seems the most apt word to me.
I just got back, I'm still settling in.
Recién regresé, todavía me estoy asentando. (or: estoy asentándome).
Other related words: aclimatar(se) (to adapt to new environments), adaptar(se) (to adapt, in general), acomodar(se) (to make yourself confortable)
5
According to RAE, they can both be used interchangeably, but:
if what follows is a noun, normally de is used
if what follows is a sentence, any of them can be used
5
Imperfect, always.
That is the correct tense to use whenever you have an habitual action in the past.
Edit:
As César mentioned, a possible literal translation of your example would be
Ellos solían viajar todos los días
Whether you use solían, and cada día vs. todos los días will depend on how the sentence continues and what is the main point you ...
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