Spanish language Q&A Forum

Past tenses are confusing and these lessons do not have enough of an explainer.  In this Idefinite Past, I see:

Ella hizo una tarta para mi cumpleaños.She made a cake for my birthday.

But, under the Present Perfect lesson, I see:

He hecho un pastel de chocolate.I made a chocolate cake.

There is not enough information to distinguish between the two forms. I do not see the difference.  "I made a cake" and "she made a cake" are identical in format, yet different.  If both answers are correct- after all, there are often several ways to say the same thing, I think that needs to be reflected here if that is the case.

Can you explain?

Seems like I have seen hacer used in sentences like this. For example.  El hizo re hipotecar la casa.  Is this correct? Possible?

Hi,

Is there a way to replace the above pronouns when there is little context. For example, by using 'de él, de ella ...'?

Thanks.

Saludos,

Colin

Hello Lawless Spanish,

I JUST found your excellent web site. I've been using various means to learn Spanish over the last 1.5 years, but your site seems to be the best resource so far. I'm still at A1 however.

Here's a thought that I'd be interested to know your opinion on. Often while reading an English interpretation of a Spanish phrase or sentence, I think I would like to have the more literal translation rather than the Spanish being re-worded in order to be a grammatical English sentence. Because I don't care about English grammar or want my English reinforced when I'm trying to understand how a Spanish speaker constructs their thoughts linguistically. Do you know what I mean?

Take the example from the first exercise I happened to land on,  Corro para estar en forma. It would be helpful to see a more literal translation, then I get a better idea of the words and structure a Spanish speaker uses. In the example, "estar en forma" is re-interpreted as "to keep fit." That is quite a departure from the literal. I think an English speaker is quite capable of recognizing a more literal translation "to be in form" because it is identical to the common English phrase "to be in shape." So while I know authors are trying to be helpful with English re-interpretations, I often feel cheated out of knowing a more literal construction and wording, and in the process authors may even be making less-accurate interpretations (such as "to keep fit" instead of the better "to be in shape."). What do you think?  

It might have been helpful to include a little more information about El monumento al Encierro. I searched broadly but even Wikipedia had nothing on it other than that "Encierro" has to do with the running of the bulls in Pamplona. However, not wishing to be defeated, after much probing I found:

El encierro es una práctica dentro de la tauromaquia que consiste en correr (dentro de una vía urbana cercada) delante de una manada no muy abundante de toros, novillos o vaquillas. Los encierros son muy populares dentro de España y América Latina, en los lugares donde se celebran Fiestas Taurinas. El Monumento al Encierro es una gran escultura del artista Jalisciense Jorge de la Peña Beltrán, que representa a siete toros y un caporal a caballo camino a la corrida donde habrán de revelar su coraje. Es una obra fundida en bronce, donde cada toro pesa por lo menos media tonelada; el caporal 1,700 kg. El monumento mide 24 metros de largo por 10.5 de ancho y tiene una altura de 6.5 metros. Su existencia es un continuo homenaje a los ganaderos aguascalentenses ya que cada toro lleva marcado el fierro de una ganadería de la zona.

¡Eso es casi suficiente para que quieras ir a verla!

Are you going to launch an app soon?

No seas tonto.   It feels like we are describing a temporary condition. Why is ser used?

Hola Inma, 

The translation of the above is given as “Come up here without stepping on the white floor tiles.” This sounds like an imperative, so would it be one of the appropriate conjugations ¡Ve/Vea! etc? Or is it a typo?

Saludos. John

Hola Inma, 

Very comprehensive and has cleared up a lot of my confusion. Saludos. John