Spanish language Q&A Forum

Is there a rule for using the definite article in Spanish? It often trips me up. It doesn’t always follow the same pattern as English, eg in Castles text: …visitar castillos (no ‘los’, where in English there would be no ‘the’), but then:… la historia de los castillos medievales (in the  English version there is no ‘the’, the history of medieval castles; the history of the medieval castles is not incorrect it just has a different meaning).  Maybe, as in English, it’s very much about common usage and there’s no absolute rule.?

Hola,

what about words that start with "hie-"? The o changes into u or not?

Está hecha de madera o/u hierro?

Muchas gracias

Ελισάβετ

Can you explain the function of “lo” in Ella lo huele todo? Is it because oler needs an object?

This test question confused me.  I thought that a number under 200 used "unos" but the test answer says it should be unas tres horas.

The journey lasts about three hours. : El viaje dura ___ horas.

1. Qué música te gusta más?

What music do you like the most?

2. Cuál universidad es mejor?

Which university is better?

Is Qué + noun used when the universe to chose from is large?

Is Cuál + noun used when the universe to chose from is small?

Would you say Cuál universidad es más mejor or Qué universidad es más mejor?

Which university is the best?

Hi there! One of the quizzes asks for the correct phrase in the following sentence:

Las aceitunas ________ en septiembre. (The olives must be harvested in September.)

Would it not be possible to use "han de recolectar" here instead of "deben ser recolectadas"?