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Richard A.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Ser sometimes used for temporary states?

Hello,

Can anyone please explain the use of ser in these 2 examples? Both are describing temporary states (I think.) They are from a video that has many sentences to translate.. This seems not to accord with the normal use of ser.

1. No sea tonto. (I would tanslate this as "Don't act silly." We are not saying "You are a silly person."}
2. Era obvio que el conductor no había sido lo suficientemente cuidadoso. (I don't think this is a passive construction. Shouln't this be "no había estado"?)

Asked 2 years ago

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Shirley S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Meaning of verse hereSe pusieron a ver una película muy violenta sin estaracostados los niños.They started to watch a very violent movie while the children were still up. [lit: without the children being in bed]Hi, does verse here mean “found themselves” ? .. watching a movie.

Asked 3 years ago

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Shirley S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

“La llamaría, pero no contesta.” “La llamaría, pero no contesta.” Hola, I’m confused. I would/should/could call her but she doesn’t answer. If he called and she didn’t answer it seems “La llamé, pero no contesta” makes more sense. Muchas gracias, Shirley.

Asked 2 years ago

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B. M.A1Kwiziq community member

You should fix yoiur website.

So ¿cómo está? is an incorrect answer for a child?

Don't remember ever hearing that one, only that it is okay to use the informal version with them.

Also you site is jumping past questions when I give the answer to a previous question, I know I should notice but your site shouldn't do that either.

It's happened a couple of time and I think I've done well on a test only to find out I didn't answer a couple of the questions.

Also there are drop downs that don't show some of the answer and lo and behold one of them is apparently the correct answer, which only confuses me because I end up picking the best sounding incorrect answer.

Asked 4 years ago

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Claire N.C1Kwiziq community member

Hay un error ortográfico

En inglés, se escribe 'indifference' ;-)

Asked 4 years ago

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Kevin C.C1Kwiziq community member

Why is the verb singular rather than plural

Part of a sentence in the above exercise says "Donde se encerraba a los enemigos del castillo" Should encerraba not be plural i.e. encerraban? Is it singular because " a los enemigos" is indirect? I'm confused. Why not fueron encerrados?

Asked 4 years ago

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Leslie F.A0Kwiziq community member

Is it okay to use your sentence in my video?

Hi Inma,

Wonderful information you have here! Me gusta mucha mucha (ok to say?)

Asked 5 years ago

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Joey H.A1Kwiziq community member

muy / mucho

Hace mucho frío en Canadá.

I don't understand why " mucho" is used here.

Asked 3 years ago

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D. A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Translation question

Why is "pasar" shown to mean "have" when English speakers just as often say "to spend?" Wouldn't it be truer to the Spanish to say it means "to spend?" Also, that will help me learn the actual meaning of "pasar." To say it means "have" I would think may sow some confusion.

Asked 3 years ago

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Shirley S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Sorprende instead of es sorprendente Mi hermano ________sorprende a veces. My brother is so clumsy that it's surprising/shocking sometimes.es tan torpe hastatiene un torpe quees de un torpe queHola, is there a lesson on using the 3rd person singular indicative instead of ser + adjective? Eg sorprende vs es sorprendente. Muchas gracias, Shirley.

Asked 2 years ago

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