Indicative vs subjunctive: comparing meanings The subjunctive is one of the most fun things to me about Spanish. I'm interested what I can do with it, and how it can work for me!
Is it right to assume that the meaning of pretty much the same conditional sentence in English can be switched from 'likely' to 'unlikely' in Spanish simply by applying the subjunctive? For instance......
LIKELY?: Si nos tomamos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain
UNLIKELY?: Si nos tomáramos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain (but that's just wishful thinking!)
I mean, am I right that the second sentence in Spanish would suggest that actually getting some time off from work is highly unlikely?
...... es un poco dificil pero, si supiéramos utilizar el subjuntivo, podríamos expresarnos mucho mejor en español! ¿Verdad?
Saludos
Why does árbol become arbolillo, but corazón becomes corazoncillo? They both end in consonants.
The explanation above says both that "If the original noun ends in a consonant, it usually keeps the last letter (árbol → arbol-illo)", but also that "when the noun ends in a consonant...we tend to keep the whole word and add -cillo, -cilla, -cillos, -cillas".
So why isn't it arbolcillo?
Thanks!
In an A2 test the answer to "We gave the boys some sandwiches." was "nosotros dimos a los niños unos bocadillos".
I´m still learning indirect object pronouns, why doesn't this have "les" before dimos?
Is usamos wrong here instead of llevamos?
In the sentence:
La bruja le maldice todos los años. (The witch curses him every year)
I expected it to read "lo maldice" to say "to curse him" where "him" would be the direct object. Why is it le?
Hola Inma,
"haciendo la vida más fácil al usuario" and "costará a los gobiernos millones de dólares".
I wonder if it would be wrong to say haciéndole la vida más fácil al usuario and les costará a los gobiernos millones de dólares, instead.
Saludos
Ελισάβετ
The subjunctive is one of the most fun things to me about Spanish. I'm interested what I can do with it, and how it can work for me!
Is it right to assume that the meaning of pretty much the same conditional sentence in English can be switched from 'likely' to 'unlikely' in Spanish simply by applying the subjunctive? For instance......
LIKELY?: Si nos tomamos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain
UNLIKELY?: Si nos tomáramos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain (but that's just wishful thinking!)
I mean, am I right that the second sentence in Spanish would suggest that actually getting some time off from work is highly unlikely?
...... es un poco dificil pero, si supiéramos utilizar el subjuntivo, podríamos expresarnos mucho mejor en español! ¿Verdad?
Saludos
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
Puede explicar con mas detalle cuando se usa el preterito imperfecto y cuando se usa el preterito perfecto, por favor?
Could it ever be correct to say "Compré un nuevo ordenador nuevo" to express that it was both new to me and brand new? If not, how would you express that. This can be confusing in English as well.
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