Spanish language Q&A Forum
Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert Spanish teachers
6,077 questions • 9,950 answers • 1,035,756 learners
I'll be right with you...
Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert Spanish teachers
6,077 questions • 9,950 answers • 1,035,756 learners
First, my dictionary has ser/estar(Spain) viudo, but I think it's even more complicated than a dialect issue. Here's a relevant discussion: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-be-a-widow.596749/
Note that the discussion extends to several other relationship-like words such as soltero (but like viudo, these words are to my mind not relationship words, but rather civil/personal status words, which is why I think ser is often correct with them).
“no se puede concentrar”, why se puede and not puede?
Thanks,
Shirley
Why is the answer documental not documentario?
What is the difference between empezar and comenzar? Are they synonyms or does one or the other apply in different situations?
I encountered the following question during an exercise at A1 level:
"Yo ______ mis manos en el agua. (I plunge my hands in the water.)"
It is my understanding that mi/mis should not be used with body parts or clothing. Could you please advise?
Thanks
An example given in the lesson Dejar vs Dejarse suggests the following:
Dejad que os explique mis planes = Let me explain my plans to you
Firstly, I guess subjunctive is being used here because it adds an extra level of politeness to this request?
However, if I was asked to translate this from English to Spanish I would probably use the indicative: Déjame explicarte mis planes.
So, is my translation wrong? Or is it, let's say, simply less refined? If so, would my translation be quite acceptable if I was talking to a close friend for instance?
Saludos
I have encountered real-life examples using both indicative and subjunctive with "una vez que..." and I'm just hoping to confirm or correct my understanding of how this works, please...? For examples, In an article about animals' senses of smell, in discussing the properties of volatile scent compounds I read "Una vez que se vaporiza, puede extenderse rápidamente por el aire" and in a tutorial for making tortillas mexicanas I found "Una vez que sepas cómo hacer tortillas..." I'm thinking that the first takes the indicative because its describing something factual understood to happen routinely, whereas the second takes the subjunctive because it's referring to something that from the writer's point of view hasn't happened yet or is more a hypothetical idea. Is this an accurate way to understand this or am I missing something...? If this is accurate, does it generally hold true with other, similar constructions like those discussed in this lesson? Thanks in advance, as I appreciate the help!
I thought that Habrian is in the future, but I have seen it used many times as not in the future. Are these two interchangeable?
Find your Spanish level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your Spanish level