10
votes
Accepted
Using "están" vs "estás" when refering to "you"
The sentence given by memrise is correct, since the implied subject is "ustedes." Think of the case where a waiter was asking a group of patrons at a restaurant. I'm assuming your confusion is simply ...
- 156
8
votes
Accepted
When should I put the letter "a" in front of a name?
That usage of the preposition "a" is sometimes called a personal (personal "a"). It is used before all indirect objects, and before direct objects that refer to a person. It is ...
- 12.2k
7
votes
Accepted
When referring to a hypothetical person, does Spanish use second or third person?
Although the other answers are essentially correct, I think there are a couple of details left.
Your two sentences are grammatically correct:
La libertad de expresión es el derecho de decir lo que ...
- 39.6k
7
votes
¿Debo usar la 'a personal' con un personaje antropomorfo?
Sí. En todos tus ejemplos hay que incluir la "a". Se aplica a cualquier ser/personaje animado.
Apéndice: primer resultado en Google:
http://hispanoteca.eu/Gram%C3%A1ticas/Gram%C3%A1tica%...
- 4,814
7
votes
Using "están" vs "estás" when refering to "you"
Bear in mind that a question like
Are you ready to order?
depends heavily on the context when translating into Spanish, as there are four possible ways to translate it:
¿Estás listo/a para ...
- 77.8k
6
votes
Accepted
¿Debo usar la 'a personal' con un personaje antropomorfo?
Aunque se la llama habitualmente a personal, esta preposición se usa no sólo cuando el objeto directo es una persona, sino en la mayoría de los casos en que se trata de un ser animado, sea real o ...
- 39.6k
6
votes
'Yo sé' vs 'Yo me sé', are both correct? If so, what is their difference?
If Spanish is your native language, you are welcome to write in Spanish here if you wish.
Anyway, the only difference between:
(1) Yo sé la tarea.
and
(2) Yo me sé la tarea.
is that (2) sounds ...
- 32.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Faltaste vs. Te Faltaron
The key point here is that those sentences are using different meanings of the same verb faltar. You can see those meanings checking the DLE entry
faltar
1 - intr. Dicho de una cualidad o de una ...
- 9,236
5
votes
¿Por qué cambiar "usted" con "tú"?
Sin conocer el contexto es difícil responder. Usted generalmente expresa respeto, formalidad o distanciamiento, comparado con tú, pero en algunos dialectos es al revés y se usa de manera familiar.
Si ...
- 39.6k
5
votes
Why can the third person plural also mean ‘you’ like second person but never ‘we‘ like first person?
Maybe you're getting confused with the conjugation of the verbs, e.g.
Yo quedo.
Tú quedas.
Él/ella/Ud. queda.
Nosotros quedamos(e.g. we're unemployed)
Vosotros quedáis (e.g. "Os habéis quedado ...
- 2,067
4
votes
Why not this ? How are you in Spanish?
The thing is that translating the verb be to spanish, it has to be done with two verbs with different meanings: ser and estar. And they can't be used interchangeably. If you think about it, it's a ...
- 224
4
votes
Use of "Me está"
In this case the pronoun does not belong to the verb estar but rather to the verb entrar. Consider the following rephrasing of the sentence (it sounds really weird, but it is still correct):
El ...
- 1,776
4
votes
Accepted
What is the function of "le" in the sentence "El nombre le venía de la Colonia"?
Love In The Times Of Cholera. :-) The correct translation is, as you stated, "The name came to it from the (times of the) Colony (or from colonial times)". If you were to omit "le" ...
- 140
4
votes
Accepted
"¿En qué periodo usted suele ver televisión?" is the usted necessary?
It's not necessary, as subject pronouns are typically omitted except when they are required to prevent ambiguity, or to emphasize the subject. In this case, if it's clear that you are talking about "...
4
votes
¿Existen otras formas de referirse a uno mismo, aparte de "yo", registradas en el DLE?
Reúno en un post community-wiki las respuestas que habéis ido dando en los comentarios. Sentíos libres de ir añadiendo cualquier otra que se os ocurra:
Servidor. Usado por la persona que habla para ...
4
votes
Accepted
'Yo sé' vs 'Yo me sé', are both correct? If so, what is their difference?
We tend to use the reflexive form when we know something very well. So, if I say me sé el camino a la biblioteca, I would mean that I've learnt it and I can even repeat it by heart: you go straight, ...
- 10.4k
4
votes
Faltaste vs. Te Faltaron
"Faltaste a muchas clases" means "you were absent in many lessons". The person may have missed the lessons for voluntary or involuntary reasons (e.g. laziness or sickness, ...
- 32.6k
3
votes
¿Por qué cambiar "usted" con "tú"?
Creo que esas reglas no existen pero no podría asegurartelo. Lo que sí puedo es trasladarte esta definición que da el DLE de la palabra usted:
usted
3. pron. person. 3.ª pers. m. y f. pl. Forma que, ...
- 9,236
3
votes
Uso de "Ellos" como pronombre singular en tercera persona
Sin duda es una construcción interesante. Yo creo que el quid de la cuestión está en el hecho de que estas frases implican que no se conoce el número de personas que ejecutan la acción. En el caso de ...
- 77.8k
3
votes
Why can the third person plural also mean ‘you’ like second person but never ‘we‘ like first person?
It's because the formal second person plural (pronoun "ustedes") and any third person plural (pronoun "ellos") are conjugated in the same way, even if they are different persons, i....
- 364
2
votes
Using "están" vs "estás" when refering to "you"
The simple answer is "está listos para pedir" is not correct. "Está" is more like the formal form of "he" so the sentence makes no sense with "listos" which is a plural form.
- 141
2
votes
When should I use pronouns?
Subject pronouns are indeed used for emphasis so in your example you want to emphasise that it is you who eat. They are also used, especially in the third person, if otherwise it would be ambiguous ...
- 6,066
2
votes
Use of "Me está"
First, take está entrando as a verb phrase: it's the way of expressing the progressive aspect of entrar (progressive = ongoing action). The core meaning is that of entrar.
Second, forget the literal ...
- 39.6k
2
votes
Accepted
Use of "Me está"
The dictionary you consulted is giving an idiomatic use of the verb "entrar." Yes, ponerse (I think you had a tiny typo with poderse) or convertirse can indeed be used for transitions, such ...
- 10.7k
2
votes
Use of "Me está"
This is because "Me esta entrando sueño" is not the literal translation of "I'm getting drowsy".
The literal translation is "Me estoy poniendo adormecido/me estoy adormeciendo", and while the ...
- 3,294
2
votes
Accepted
¿Es correcto en algún caso decir "dar de mí" en lugar de "dar de sí"?
La acepción que equipara «de sí» a «de suyo» no es la que se aplica en este caso. Por el contexto se entiende que Anguita está hablando de dar de sí mismo, es decir, de su fuerza, su voluntad, etc., ...
- 39.6k
2
votes
¿Existen otras formas de referirse a uno mismo, aparte de "yo", registradas en el DLE?
Se puede agregar que se suele usar la prase "quien les habla" ver ejemplo en sustitución de yo
Estaba todos los profesores ahí y quien les habla
En Argentina contextualmente (y de manera ...
- 5,409
2
votes
Accepted
1)Se lo pierde . 2) se lo pregunto
Whenever "se" is used with another pronoun, this may be due to one of two reasons:
The pronominal nature of the verb.
The simultaneous appearance of a pronominal direct and a pronominal ...
- 32.6k
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