Spanish language Q&A Forum

Quiz question: "Si envías un correo hoy, probablemente ________ respuesta mañana." The conditional is apparently wrong here, but I don't think I understand why. Wouldn't it translate as "If you send a letter today, you would probably get a reply tomorrow."? 

In the writing challenge we are asked to translate: "The Spanish guitar has 6 strings and consists of a wooden box, a neck and a fretboard". Kwiziq's answer is given as "La guitarra española tiene 6 cuerdas y está formada por una caja de madera, un mástil y un diapasón"  and "está hecha de una caja..." is given as an alternative answer. 

I used consistir en instead of estar formada por  or está hecha de. However, if the sentence had been "The Spanish guitar is made of..." I'm pretty sure I would have gone with está hecha de.

So, is my answer wrong? Or, could my answer be considered a third alternative? And could you explain the differences between the two forms, consistir en and estar formado por/estar hecha de, and in what contexts I might use one in preference to another.

Saludos 

Hi,

The translation given for the above sentence is 'They are saving money in order to buy a house.'

Money is not mentioned in the Spanish sentence, so has it been included in the translation for completeness or because it is inferred because something is being bought?

On an unrelated topic, could you please explain why all Spanish greetings such as 'Buenos Dias' are in the plural?

I am really enjoying learning Spanish using this site.  Others I have tried do not have the European pronuciation and sometimes use different words.

Thank you very much!

Best regards,

Colin

It might have been helpful to include a little more information about El monumento al Encierro. I searched broadly but even Wikipedia had nothing on it other than that "Encierro" has to do with the running of the bulls in Pamplona. However, not wishing to be defeated, after much probing I found:

El encierro es una práctica dentro de la tauromaquia que consiste en correr (dentro de una vía urbana cercada) delante de una manada no muy abundante de toros, novillos o vaquillas. Los encierros son muy populares dentro de España y América Latina, en los lugares donde se celebran Fiestas Taurinas. El Monumento al Encierro es una gran escultura del artista Jalisciense Jorge de la Peña Beltrán, que representa a siete toros y un caporal a caballo camino a la corrida donde habrán de revelar su coraje. Es una obra fundida en bronce, donde cada toro pesa por lo menos media tonelada; el caporal 1,700 kg. El monumento mide 24 metros de largo por 10.5 de ancho y tiene una altura de 6.5 metros. Su existencia es un continuo homenaje a los ganaderos aguascalentenses ya que cada toro lleva marcado el fierro de una ganadería de la zona.

¡Eso es casi suficiente para que quieras ir a verla!

It seems to me that there are examples of both Indicative and subjunctive  for the main clause in the lesson, yet when I use indicative in the tests it is always marked wrong. Please explain.