Spanish language Q&A Forum

I always equate 'impersonal' with 'passive', as they seem to express the same thing. And, I've always used 'se' to express passive. So using third person is new to me, and I'm confused by this lesson and a question Kwiziq asked me to translate: 

'They took ages to build the hospital'

 among the choices were:

Han tardado mucho en construir el hospital (correct)

Se han tardado mucho en construir el hospital (incorrect)

Can someone explain why the second one is wrong.

Here are two other similar examples I found on Kwiziq that relate to this:

Tardaron mucho en construír los apartamentos = It took a long time to build the apartments.

Se tardó mucho en construir este hospital = It took (them, whoever built it) a long time to build this hospital.

What is the rule regarding seasons of the year. When do we use the definite article el and when not. En el invierno/en invierno.

Thank you

Hi, is despertar (Desperté) ever used for “I woke up”? I’ve seen it that way on some dictionary sites and wondered if it’s a mistake. Eg:

Many thanks, 

Shirley. 

The first person plural of present tense "to work" is nosotros trabajamos. The simple past is also nosotros trabajamos. Is the difference in translation based on context?  I may be overthinking this, but say it's noon and my mom asks me "how are you guys doing?" "Como estan?" and I reply "nosotros trabajamos."  Am I saying "we work (later) today" or "we worked (this morning)"?  I guess I'm supposed to follow this up with "esta manana" or "despues" to avoid confusion?

Why isn't it en EL verano?

Select the option with the verb in the correct form of the imperfect tense.

I am unsure why you choose imperfect for being able to see the view on that particular occasion. 

Can we use parar synonymously as dejar or are these terms used in different contexts?