Spanish language Q&A Forum

Can I use tener ganas with past and future tenses?

Hi,

I am confused by the above.

I would have thought that 'yo gusto' = I like.  Can anyone explain please?

Thanks.

Colin 

Me gusta esta historia porque soy un granjero!

"Me llamo Juan". I am confused because there is no verb.   Is it incorrect to say "Me llamo es Juan"?  Where else in Spanish are verbs omitted?

Gracias

I [incorrectly] made "mejor" plural - to agree with "they" - by writing: "Eran aún mejores que en mis sueños". [Or could it also be correct with "mejores"?]

Perhaps we have to regard "mejor" as an adverb here, not as an adjective - so we should not make it plural - despite the fact that (in English) it looks like a complement of the verb "eran".

My grammar book (by Butt and Benjamin) seems to confirm that^ by giving the example "Aquí estamos mejor" = "We're better [off] here".

It seems that we need to be careful in deciding whether a particular word in Spanish should be treated as an adverb rather than an adjective. In particular, we should avoid the temptation of trying to judge it according to its grammatical context in English. [A well known example of that, is of course "Está bien"].

I shared this example with my Spanish teacher, as I have never heard the conditional used in this way. She said that this form is not commonly used in Mexico. Is it more specific to Spain and/or other countries?

"It can be used in the singular, for example se tarda, se tardó or in the plural, for example se tardan, se tardaron. Se tardó dos horas en llegar. = Se tardaron dos horas en llegar. It took two hours to arrive."

So both examples mean precisely the same thing? Is there a situation where the meaning would change?

I don't understand why the English translations of the historical present are not in the English historical present. For example, "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies in 2013." would be perfectly acceptable in a historical context. To use the past tense in the English examples is just confusing, since the point of the lesson is that the same tense exists in Spanish as well.

I feel like in modern English, we don't say 'one' does something, but rather, it's expressed using 'you' in the sentence without being a personal statement or piece of advice. 

Would this be a reasonable translation/interpretation?

Se duerme mejor con la conciencia tranquila.

- One sleeps better with a clear conscience.

- You sleep better with a clear conscience. 

The second sentence is not necesarily a personal statement. It can also be said impersonally like a general statement. 

I find that when I'm speaking Spanish, I over use 'you' too much in phrases like this because the sentence structure of 'one should...' doesn't occur to me. However, I can recognize the statement is impersonal while I'm saying it. 

It would be helpful to know if this is the structure I should be using in these situations. 

PS. I'm not referring to passing the quizzes but more for the knowledge of how to use this better in real communication. 

Gracias!