Spanish language Q&A Forum

HELP:  Translation of "He goes to his friend's house" 

1 Va a la casa de su amigo

2 Va a casa de su amigo

Is the definite article "la" casa necessary or does it make no difference?

Are both correct with no subtle difference in meaning?

I have searched the internet and KWIZIQ and can find no answer.

Many thanks,

Ian

Ian

In the A0 lesson "Expressing dates in Spanish" the definite article is used: "El 7 de febrero de 1986", but in this lesson it isn't: "Hoy es 25 de septiembre". Is the definite article only used when the date isn't preceded by "ser"?

Que tal,

How interchangeable are tras and detrás? Is one preferred over another, and if so, does it vary by country or age or context?

I'm think about basic use meaning 'behind,' such as "El niño se escondía tras (detrás) las cortinas."

Thanks!

Que Onda

I've been studying Spanish for a while and this concept has still eluded me. I was taught that the structure "creo que..." triggers indicative because the speaker believes it to be true while "no creo que..." is subjunctive because it is not a belief asserted by the speaker. However, in English, we might say "I think..." in two different scenarios with different meanings. 

"I think..." could signify me asserting my belief about something such as, "I think the best designer is Gucci," where one could replace, "I think" with "In my opinion" to create a sentence with the same meaning. This example more or less aligns with what I believe the function of the indicative is. 

However, we often use "I think..." to indicate our speculation or doubt about a situation. For example, if someone asks "Hey, did Joe leave already" I might respond "I'm not sure, I think so." In this case, I'm expressing doubt by using "I think" in this context. I'm not trying to say "I [definitely] think Joe left" because I'm not sure if he actually did, and I'm not necessarily sure if I'm giving the right information so I want to imbue this statement with doubt, wait...

While writing this I'm realizing that all the examples I've written could be written in another way that is conducive to the formula for using the subjunctive. Rather than translating "I think that..." as in my second example with Joe, it would be better for me to use a structure that starts with "dudo que..." or "es posible que..." to better convey the meaning of uncertainty or doubt that I'm intending to. I suppose the issue I had was that "creo que" always meant to me "I think" or "I believe" when really a better translation would be just "to believe" since "to think" has some ambiguity in its meaning when translated to English. 

I know this is post was pretty drawn out and I've already answered my question, but I'll still post it anyway just in case someone more knowledgeable wants to add on or correct something I've said. Or, maybe someone else will find it useful.

Saludos

Nathan

Nosotros estamos arriba. (We are arrived) . The answer is estamos instead somos. I thought estamos only use in place. Can you please give an example. 

Los adultos compran este calendario para los niños porque tienen chocolates y son deliciosos.

Tienen is plural while calendario is singular. So who have the chocolates? The adults or the children? Neither makes sense.

This sentence is funny in a way because you could read as the children have chocolates and the children are delicious. I guess the adults buy the calendar to lull the children, to capture them and eat them. Yum, delicious children:-)

First of all, how to decide when to use despertar and when despertarse?

Second question, why can't we use levantarse in place of despertarse?

Is it interchangeable to say something like

Just as 'tal vez' and "quizás" are interchangeable, with no fast rules on them, is it the same for using quizá and quizás or is there some guide for when they can/can't be used?

also, is it impossible to use quizá/quizás/tal vez using future tenses? 
examples:

"Quizá iré a la biblioteca pasado mañana"
"Tal vez conocerás aquel varón cuando venga"
"Quizás recibiré una mejor evaluación cuando mejore mis debilidades en mi trabajo"