Spanish language Q&A Forum

1. cuantos años tiene mafalda? How old is Mafalda?

How old is Mafalda?

I did struggle to understand why "se recordaba" was in the singular in "... solo se recordaba a los difuntos el 1 de noviembre" [= "the deceased were only remembered on November 1st"].

At first, I was tempted to make it plural to agree with "difuntos". As a passive construction, I thought it could be compared with "se venden apartamentos de lujo en la playa" - (given as one of the examples in Forming the Spanish passive with se (la pasiva refleja) ... which is the lesson we get referred to).

Anyway, I was also "scratching my head" regarding the use or non-use of the "personal 'a' " in a passive sentence of this nature - [Compare "Se buscan secretarias con experiencia" in that^ same lesson] ..

I then looked in my grammar book [by Butt and Benjamin], and discovered that this is part of a construction which evolved comparatively recently in the Spanish language - in which the use of the "personal 'a' " makes a singular verb necessary even when the [passive] subject is in the plural.  

The note says quedarse can be used as emphasis of end results. So does that mean ‘se queda inmóvil’ meaning he ended up motionless ? Or is this meaning of quedarse different ?

Please add “los anocheceres” to the lesson as an exception. 

Only “Los amaneceres” is mentioned.

I'm breathless from just listening to the vocal race to the end. I'll bet there was some turrón waiting  . . .

In the quiz question with the answers "We have to be patient with our teenage children.

We need to be patient with our teenage children." 

As a native English speaker, I don't understand the distinction being made between these two options. They seem synonymous. 

QWhat Is the difference between estuve/estaba/era/fui

In the beginning of the story, using present perfect was clear because she is saying that her best friend has come to visit.  Afterwards, when she is narrating what they did each day, we have specific time (the day mentioned) and what they did which to me seems to be how we use preterite for a specific time (day) in the past, so it is confusing to see present perfect for specific time events in the past.  Can you please explain why you continued to use pr. perfect and did not switch to another tense. To me (the "has come" in the beginning) would have been more appropriate with what they are going to do in the future since she mentions that "they have made tons on plans."

The "hint" for the last sentence was quite misleading.  Clearly, the "lit" English translation is not "what information so interesting."

Qué taninformación tan interesante información!

You could also say:

¡Qué información más interesante!

Can "lo malo de . . ." in the last sentence also be translated as "la mala cosa . . ."?