Spanish language Q&A Forum

This article talks about using El Presente to express general facts, simple enough... 

... however my qualm is with the use of Ser vs Estar. My understanding was that ser would be used to generally describe things which don’t change over a prolonged period of time, eg. Relationships, jobs, generally accepted facts etc. 

Therefore I was terribly confused when the correct response to one of your questions was: 

“Francia está en Europa”.

Whereas the example on this page states:

“Roma es la capital de Italia.” 

Both of these seem like general facts with a geographical theme... where do I draw the line? 

Apologies for the essay! Haha

I used 'murieron' instead on 'murió' and was marked wrong.  So, I assume that 'ejército' is always considered singular in spanish?

Hi,

I don't understand why some of these phrases have "de" or "que" in parentheses - what does this mean? 

 antes (de) que (before), con tal (de) que (provided that), mientras (que)

Are there certain times when you would use the words in parentheses or not use them? I'm confused as to why this isn't explained.

Thank you!

In the test, we are asked to translate 'Also, Ken Follet used it (to write his literary works)'. At first, I translated it as 'Ken Follet la usa', but then I noticed I was being specifically asked to construct a sentence using 'se'. Assuming a passive sentence was required, I put 'Además, se usó por Ken Follet', but was corrected with 'Además, Ken Follet la usó'. Surely, there is something not quite right here?

Why is it "Han salido" and not "Salieron"

Thank you! 

This was a really fun exercise for me...

My daughter and I spent last Christmas in Burgos, where all my father's family and ancestors are from. Whilst there we visited the beautiful cathedral and we saw Papamoscas! He certainly is a funny little man :) You do need either good eyesight or binoculars to see him as he is really high up! 

Hi, Why do you say: “Como es usted”  instead of: “Como esta usted”!? Gracias, Arabelle

Not really a question, but a statement! Now that I am halfway through level A2 I feel that the information that I need to form whole sentences is being taught, I have used other software in the past, but the depth of the courses in Kwiziq are amazing.
Please keep adding the content like you do, I feel I will be a lifetime client :-)

Hi there, I notice contar wasn’t in this list? Or is it always the case that an -ar-  verb ending in “ontar” will change its stem? 

Let's see when you find a good job! -- I think that this could be answered with either form of cuando/cuándo depending on context:

Let's see (at what point in time - cuádo) you find a good job.

Let's see (when (if) you find a good job - cuando)

I chose the latter and was marked wrong.