Spanish language Q&A Forum

I have noticed from time to time, that "muy" can be placed in front of a noun to add emphasis to the nature of the noun it is modifying. For example: Marco es muy trabajador. Marco is a very hard worker.

                                          Laura es muy cirujana. Laura is a very skilled surgeon.

Is this a legitimate usage for muy?

Is there a way to eliminate vosotros from lessons and quizzes? It's not something I've ever studied or used.

El articulo explica como paso el dia, porque ce celebra, y como. Una cosa es que se origino en Mesoamerica prehispanica. Otra cosa es que celebran para recordar la familia muerta. Ce celebra dos dias. El primer dia se acen altars, o visitan el cementerio. El segundo dia se dice que la familia muerta regresa por un dia. En final, celebran con comida, musica, photos, altars, y ofrendas.

Yo no celebro Dia de los Muertos. Pero en mi opinion es dia importante. Yo tengo amigos que celebran. Es dificil perder familia y por eso ce celebra. Yo aprendi de mis amigos que tambien es dia para que se junten la familia y celebrar que estan juntos. En final, es dia bueno, es dia importante, y es dia hermoso.

I have some confusion (and frustration) around use of definite articles in Spanish generally. In this lesson, I noticed what appears to be an inconsistency with this rule.

A mí, se me da bien contar chistes.

My question is, why is it not, "A mí, se me da bien contar los chistes".

Also, my other question concerns highlight #5 and use of "a".

The first example notes: "Se me da bien el tenis". [I am good at tennis], then later there's the example, "A mí, se me da bien contar chistes" [I am good at telling jokes.].  My question is the subject of both examples is first person ("I"), so why wasn't the first example written as "A mí, se me da bien el tenis". ?

Thank you for a clear explanation of these two issues.

Regards,

Pati Ecuamiga

Surely both versions are about "how" the speaker feels:

Cada vez que veo esa película siento escalofríos. - Every time I see that movie it gives me the shivers. (lit: I feel the shivers)

versus: Rafael se siente mareado. ¡Trae un vaso de agua! - -Rafael is feeling dizzy. Bring a glass of water!
There must be a better way to determine which version to use, no?

Or is it that with sentir it's when an external force is affecting the speaker and with sentirse it's a matter of personal, internal sensation/emotion. It seems to be a very fine line of definition . . .

I think I've managed to wrap my head around how the passive works in a basic sense, but I'm wondering if anyone can offer, or refer me to, any guidance on WHEN to use different passive/impersonal forms, or how the nuances change? I know this is a rather broad question, so I'll try to narrow it down to a couple examples:

When is it prefered to use the true passive versus the se refleja form? for example, I was reading an article that said "las piedras habían sido extraídas de rocas que se formaron hace miles de millones de años." Here we have two different forms used in the same sentence! Could the writer have instead said "las piedras se habían extraído de rocas que fueron formado"--or some other combination--and if so are there different nuances?! Is one simply more formal? Or is there another specific reason the se pasiva wasn't use for one but it was used for the other? 

Also, I know this is a lot at once, but I'm struggling to grasp how the use of the passive with "se" differs from the use of the "ellos" impersonal construction. For example, if a house is under construction down the street, would you say "se construye una casa" or "construyen una casa" and if both are equally valid, how are the nuances different? And are there cases where one is possible but the other isn't? For instance, I've often noticed that when the object of an action is a person rather than a thing the action is often not expressed with se--the ellos form seems to be the choice in some cases like "le robaron" (but not "se robó"?). And yet... we do have "se buscan secretarias"? I can't quite see what is going on here...

Mil gracias in advance for any help on any of these questions... 

> My boyfriend is always asking me to be patient with him.

Translating this into the English subjunctive would be “My boyfriend is always asking that I be patient with him.” And that keeps the “que=that” part of things too!