Plural subject (passive construction), but with a singular verb - because it includes a "personal a"
I did struggle to understand why "se recordaba" was in the singular in "... solo se recordaba a los difuntos el 1 de noviembre" [= "the deceased were only remembered on November 1st"].
At first, I was tempted to make it plural to agree with "difuntos". As a passive construction, I thought it could be compared with "se venden apartamentos de lujo en la playa" - (given as one of the examples in Forming the Spanish passive with se (la pasiva refleja) ... which is the lesson we get referred to).
Anyway, I was also "scratching my head" regarding the use or non-use of the "personal 'a' " in a passive sentence of this nature - [Compare "Se buscan secretarias con experiencia" in that^ same lesson] ..
I then looked in my grammar book [by Butt and Benjamin], and discovered that this is part of a construction which evolved comparatively recently in the Spanish language - in which the use of the "personal 'a' " makes a singular verb necessary even when the [passive] subject is in the plural.
Estoy wondering que es la differencia entre Español spoken ayer than in Latin American. I know “ll” is a hard L ( ama-re-lia) instead of a soft double LL as used in la palabra “amarillo” in Latin America. What are some other differences?
Correct me please in the video below at 10:00 she says, Se te olvido el nombre. The name forgot you?
Is this a way of accidental as well, something accidently forgot itself to you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI19K0Zv8m0&ab_channel=EasySpanish
The sentence " Nosotros pongamos musica mientras trbajamos. I put ponemos. Which is correct and why. Thank you.
I wrote "las velas son tambien ..." but the correction answer was "la velas tambien son ...". Upon re-listening to the recording various times, I feel pretty certain the readers say "las velas"; moreover it is following by "son". Did I hear wrong? What is the reason for the use of "la" and not "las" with "velas"?
Sinceramente,
Pati Ecuamiga
I used "Cuál" thinking that what's on television is a limited, although large, selection. Like the example: "Cuál es tu flor favorita".
Why is "Qué" used here?
The word "any" can have a nuance of uncertainty.
"We opened our doors to those who wanted to come in."
--> We opened our doors to anyone who wanted to come in.
"People who booked in advance may go to this desk."
--> Anyone who has booked in advance may go to this desk.
It's not always appropriate, but could help sometimes.
I did struggle to understand why "se recordaba" was in the singular in "... solo se recordaba a los difuntos el 1 de noviembre" [= "the deceased were only remembered on November 1st"].
At first, I was tempted to make it plural to agree with "difuntos". As a passive construction, I thought it could be compared with "se venden apartamentos de lujo en la playa" - (given as one of the examples in Forming the Spanish passive with se (la pasiva refleja) ... which is the lesson we get referred to).
Anyway, I was also "scratching my head" regarding the use or non-use of the "personal 'a' " in a passive sentence of this nature - [Compare "Se buscan secretarias con experiencia" in that^ same lesson] ..
I then looked in my grammar book [by Butt and Benjamin], and discovered that this is part of a construction which evolved comparatively recently in the Spanish language - in which the use of the "personal 'a' " makes a singular verb necessary even when the [passive] subject is in the plural.
I would also like to know what the upside down question mark at the beginning of a sentence means, and even exclamation marks. As you may have correctly guessed, I'm a total newbie. Thanks
Can I say in the following ? 1. No es mi culpa, 2. ha sido su culpa 3. Es culpa de Juan, 4. No tengo culpa
i have just learned about llevar + gerund, which also used to say how long has someone done something. is this structure the same as the one in this lesson where we use present tense + desde hace?
llevo estudiando español 6 meses
estudio español desde hace 6 meses.
If they are not equal, what is the difference then?
Appreciate any answers or replies! muchas gracias
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