Spanish language Q&A Forum

Hi, 

HINT: serio = serious

Why does serio become seriecillo when it doesn't end with an e or a constant? 

Is it common in Spanish to have two words seriecilla / seriecillo that are almost similar yet so different in meaning? 

Thank you! 

Hi, is there some kind of rule with the verbs that stem change to ue or is it just a case of learning and remembering which ones do? 

Thanks :) 

In the recording the speaker says the word "fuera." But that answer was counted wrong and the correct answer was given as "fuese."

Another question from the quiz: "Las mamás quieren darles de mamar a sus bebés en el parque". In Spanish as spoken in Spain, wouldn't it be more common to use madres instead of mamás? Natives told me not to overuse mamá, papá, abuelito, mis papás etc. because they said it would sound childish.

 It depends where you live!  I live in the southern hemisphere. My answers would be different to someone living in the northern hemisphere. Por favor, I would like to suggest the name of the country is added to the question. So ... "Which adjectives could you use to describe Spain's weather in octubre?"  I hated getting marked "incorrect" when I was actually correct!  Gracias and I love this course.

Se comió ________ bocadillo. He ate half the sandwich.

medio was the correct answer. I put "el mitad de" which was marked wrong. 

EDIT: Maybe because I used "de" instead of "del"? Now it is being marked correct with that answer. If this is the case, shouldn't it show me that "el mitad del" is the correct answer? This is confusing.

In this lesson, peninsular Spanish is specified (however I am in the US and speak Spanish with Cubans, Mexicans, etc., so not only is this sort of new to me, it's not clear how useful it is). From what I've heard & read, there are many differences in the Americas in how the simple and compound past tenses are used (e.g., https://www.scribd.com/document/148697440/El-sistema-verbal-del-espanol-de-America-De-la-temporalidad-a-la-aspectualidad-Quesada-Pacheco-Espanol-actual-75-2001). If we include both peninsular and American (and other world) Spanish speakers, this is quite a range of variants. English speakers have a parallel set of past tenses in went/has gone. Obviously this is a false friend when compared to a specific dialect of Spanish such as the peninsular dialect (although I wonder how perfectly consistent this is across the peninsula). But is the English parallel any more “false” than the Ecuadorian, Peruvian, or Mexican one, relative to the peninsular one? How would a Spaniard respond if an American Spanish speaker consistently used the false English parallel to these tenses, compared to their response to an Ecuadorian, Peruvian, or Mexican speaker who consistently used their own native variant?

Thanks,

Greg Shenaut

Sorry, I get so hung up on details.

In the test question about Pideselas.. The aswers the computer listed were:

1. Order them for them

2. Order them for her

3. Order them for him.

I feel #2 and #3 answers are wrong. Would you please check of that.  I could be wrong myself.  Thank you.

I'm very confused by the explanation regarding the use of indirect and direct object pronouns with hacer + infinitive. The lesson says that indirect object pronouns are used with intransitive verbs, but shows direct object pronouns (lo) with the intransitive verb "arrodillarse". The lesson then says that direct object pronouns are used with transitive verbs, but then shows indirect object pronouns (les) with the transitive verb "pedir (pardón)". Is this a mistake, or am I misunderstanding?

I'm also confused by the difference between the example in the lesson and the example sentence further below:

The lesson teaches: 
Les ha hecho pedir perdón al profesor"
He made them apologise to the teacher.

But the examples sentences below show:

Los ha hecho pedir perdón al profesor.He made them apologise to the teacher.
I am completely confused :(