Spanish language Q&A Forum

I do find this confusing even though I understand the grammatical logic behind it. But my (temporary) solution is to get away from thinking in English and adopt the Spanish viewpoint. So I think “I please you” (te gusto); “you please me” (me gustas); “he pleases them” (les gusta) etc. , rather than "you fancy me"......

I believe it’s better as a general principle to try to think in the target language, rather than translate from your own language into the target language.

Hope this helps.

I’m not quite clear about the use of the ‘se tardan’ plural. The examples given are with a plural number of hours/minutes. Are the time units the ‘subject’ of the passive?  In other words if the time was one hour or one minute, could you still use the plural verb? Or is there some other rule that indicates singular or plural?  Or are they just equivalent?

If estar is to be used with a location, why use ser to discuss where one is from?

I have read through the explanations and have tested, but I really can't not differentiate the type of sentence between the two uses or concepts. Is there any other way to explain this, or some cue that might help me?

Thanks!

The lesson says: "We use the construction no + verbo + ningún (a, os, as) to say any." When do you use ningún vs nada for "not any"?

Hola,

Is there a reason why "cuento" cannot be used for "story."

My translator says that "cuento" is used for a fictional tale and "historia" is used for a narrative account. I always thought that they were more or less interchangeable.

Kind Regards

John

In an example above you say, "Ellos estan delgados". I thought SER was used to describe physical characteristics i.e. "El es alto." To say Ellos estan delgados would imply they are thin now but they didn't used to be thin. Or that they appear thin. Or am I wrong?

I have seen llevarse and tomarse used more frequently than tardarse and demorarse.  Is this the more common colloquial way of saying "to take time", or is this perhaps a regional difference? For example --

Me llevó un poco más de tiempo que de costumbre dormirme.

Me tomé un tiempo para pensarlo.

Le llevó mucho tiempo para elegir un sombrero.

Nos llevó media hora montar la tienda.

why is "pretérito perfecto" translated as "present perfect"? 

"Preterite" means past tense, ¿verdad?

Gracias