Spanish language Q&A Forum

Here in Mexico I've heard the use of the indirect form:  "No me dio ganas."  Is this generally common, and can we use it in different constructions, such as "Me da ganas viajar a Guatemala."?

Una pared de mi habitacion es rosa.   I thought that walls and rosas had to agree in number?  Adjective agrees with the noun in number??  I am new at this, so sorry if it sounds very elementary.

Thank you.

¡Hola! Am new here .I have a problem with the placement of 'usted'.For example ¿Usted tiene nietos?and ¿Tiene Usted nietos? Are both of the sentences correct? When or in what context do you use Usted before the verb or after.

Is there any guidance at all as to which of the accepted placement options is preferred in a given situation? Is the choice totally down to the speaker? Which option is/are most commonly used?

I was recently given this sentence: 

Eugenia (entender)  ______ que no podamos ir.

I got it correct and know the form of "entender" to be used, but I have a side question: Why is "podamos" in the subjunctive here? Why not the indicative?

Hola Inma,

I'm trying to understand better why the subjunctive is used. Are negative opinions like no creo que, no opino que, no pienso que, no parece que etc, always assumed to reflect an element of doubt on the part of the person i.e. "I don't think so .... but I may be wrong." 

If you are adamant that the negative opinion is correct [for example using one of the examples in the associated lesson] "I don't think María is jealous," couldn't that also be taken as a clear statement of my opinion without any doubt in my head at least? This would be possible in English. In which case would it be expressed differently in Spanish for example "Estoy seguro de que María no es celosa."

Saludos. John

You can't say we don't need to use and then need to use. You can either say:

We don't need to use you may / can use the infinitive or;

We don't need to "can't" use followed by must use the infinitive.

I'm just curious about the English translation. To be grammatically correct in English, I supposed you'd have to say, "the students with whom I partied." But no one talks that way, and it sounds very stuffy and formal. So I take it, you have decided not to follow English grammar to the letter, but rather the way people actually talk. I think that's a good decision. I take it you are descriptive rather than prescriptive grammarians? 

"Yo tomo el café con menos leche"--why is "tomo" shown as "have" in the English translation? It is a very common phrase in English to say "I take my coffee with . . . ," so was there a reason to change it to "here?"