19
votes
Accepted
Would you use "llamarse" for an animal's name?
While one of the uses of se is indeed to make a verb reflexive, it has a number of other uses. One of those other uses is — in third person — to make the verb passive. Thus,
El perro se llama ...
- 30k
18
votes
Are there any more informal ways of saying "thanks" than "gracias"?
I think that gracias is the most basic, standard way to say thank you in Spanish. If you want more options, you have to seek upwards:
Muchas gracias (thanks a lot).
Muchísimas gracias (thank you very ...
- 77.8k
16
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "temporada" and "estación"?
You have to use "estación" when you refer to one of the four seasons of the year: summer, fall/autumn, winter or spring.
The word "temporada" will be used to refer to some period during which an ...
- 32.6k
15
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "regresar," "volver," and "retornar"?
As you yourself have observed, the verbs are mostly interchangeable (in the strictest sense: the meaning is the same), and the difference is in the frequency of use, which in part has to do with ...
- 39.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Is there more concise way to say "tomorrow morning" than "mañana por la mañana"?
If abbreviating (to mañ.) is something unwanted, then instead of what you have
Mañana por la mañana
You'll gain 2 spaces with
Mañana a la mañana
Or even a 4 char gain, writing
Mañana temprano
...
- 5,409
11
votes
What is the difference among "perdón", "disculpa" and "lo siento"?
"Disculpe" is used more when you want to ask something. If you want to be polite, talking to someone you don't know you can say:
-Disculpe, me podría decir la hora, por favor.
-Sorry, could you ...
- 111
10
votes
Age range of niño, chico, muchacho, joven, etc
This answer is primarily Spain based, particularly south Spain (Andalucía), although there are a few words included here that i don't usually hear in my surroundings.
Diego mijelshon's answer is ...
- 820
10
votes
Accepted
Armpit: sobaco vs. axila
I am adding this summary following what was discussed in Juntemos en respuestas wiki las respuestas cortas específicas de regiones / Let's use community wiki to summarize set of short region specific ...
10
votes
¿Cómo traducir "Sidekick"?
Adlátere
Alterac. del lat. a latĕre 'al lado', por confusión de las preps. lats. a 'desde' y ad 'junto a'.
1. adj. Dicho de una cosa: Aledaña o supeditada a otra. U. t. c. s.
2. m. y f. ...
- 81
10
votes
Accepted
La oración con más homófonos
3 repeticiones
¿Que cómo como?, pues como como como.
Basada en una respuesta a otra pregunta previa. Usa el verbo comer (tres veces) más otras dos acepciones de la misma palabra.
5 repeticiones
...
- 77.8k
10
votes
Accepted
How do you say "he caught a fish?"
Se suele usar con mayor frecuencia el verbo atrapar. Puedes encontrar varios ejemplos de uso con una búsqueda rápida en Google como este artículo "Cómo atrapar peces sin una caña de pescar" ...
- 48.2k
10
votes
How would "The dog is older than the child" be translated?
I think both are technically correct, provided that the context (comparing ages) is understood, but I would definitely favor the first one ("El perro es más viejo que el niño"). There is ...
- 48.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between "mayormente" and "principalmente"?
While the formal definition of mayormente simply refers to principalmente, and for the most part they can be used synonymously, it seems in actual usage mayormente translates as "largely" or "mostly". ...
- 39.6k
9
votes
Accepted
¿Cómo se le llama a un grupo de flechas disparadas?
Hice una búsqueda y me di cuenta que esta terminología está muy presente en los videojuegos de batallas. Veo referenciadas la descarga de flechas, así como lluvia de flechas.
Siguiendo cona la ...
- 34.1k
9
votes
Are there any more informal ways of saying "thanks" than "gracias"?
In Chile we also say "te pasaste" to thank and congratulate. But beware, because in other countries it probably means the opposite ("you have exceeded negatively").
- 16.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Translate “But how far?” so that the dialogue flows naturally
In Spanish we can use two different constructions when we want someone to be more precise. They are pretty much equivalent, usage depends on the area. In Spain we normally use cómo de, while in most ...
- 10.4k
9
votes
“Should” (not must)
The best and most precise translation for "should" is debería(s), it's important to mention that debería(s) and deber are actually different.
Deber is used and conjugated when something is mandatory, ...
- 191
9
votes
Accepted
Why use "con que" instead of just "que"?
According to the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, the verb encontrar, used with the meaning of "finding someone or something unexpectedly or by chance", can be used in two ways:
As the usual ...
- 77.8k
8
votes
Understanding ya vs. todavía vs. aún
Ya = something changed
Todavía = aún = something stayed the same
Sometimes todavía and ya map neatly onto still/yet and already respectively:
Are you still here? — Todavía estás aquí?
She ...
- 19.5k
8
votes
¿Quiénes son los más afectados por el ustedeo?
Chiste que muestra la amplia diferencia entre "usted" y "tu":
El director general de un banco se preocupaba por un joven director estrella que después de un periodo de trabajar junto a él, sin ...
- 1,372
8
votes
¿Cuál sería la traducción al español más aproximada para el "bento" japonés?
Soy una mujer de 61 años, cuando yo era pequeña o muy jovencita mi padre se iba a trabajar, bien fuera turno de día o de noche, mi madre, mi hermana o yo misma, siempre le preparábamos bocadillo de ...
- 81
8
votes
How to say 'can' in Spanish? What is the difference between "lata" and "bote"?
Relevant RAE definitions are:
Lata: Envase hecho de hojalata (can made of tin)
Bote: Recipiente pequeño, comúnmente cilíndrico, que sirve para guardar tanto líquidos como objetos. (small can, often ...
- 803
8
votes
Informaciones vs. información - when to use which?
As I told you on that other answer Informaciones sounds wrong. I've heard it a lot from Brazilians that learned Spanish so I guess in Portuguese it is fine.
If you look at most definitions on RAE ...
- 10.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How would you say "to time a race"
Indeed medir is the common verb:
Tienes que repetir la carrera, se me olvidó medir(te) el tiempo
El tiempo is often needed because medir by itself just means to measure and could equally apply to ...
- 30k
8
votes
Accepted
How can you say "to be cold" in Spanish? Usage of 'hacer', 'tener', 'estar'
It's more or less as you said, although that's not the whole picture.
For the weather we say
Hace frío. | Hace calor.
These are impersonal sentences; they have no grammatical subject, and the ...
- 39.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Can a person "agarrar" something? / ¿Puede una persona "agarrar" algo?
Agarrar is a perfectly good word for English "take" in the sense of physically getting hold of something or someone (and also, depending on context, also "grab" and "grasp"). There are a few synonyms ...
- 39.6k
8
votes
Accepted
¿Cómo se puede traducir «look up from...»?
Dado que en español no existe una forma habitual de añadir a los verbos una indicación de movimiento en cierta dirección (como es posible en inglés usando phrasal verbs del tipo de look up, look down, ...
- 39.6k
8
votes
¿Qué significa "corriente"?
Aidan, gran labor la que estás realizando.
La acepción de corriente empleada en tu caso es perfectamente válida, tal y como recoge el DLE
corriente
3. adj. Que está en uso en el momento presente o lo ...
- 9,236
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible