Spanish language Q&A Forum

I would add one other usage that took me by surprise when my Mexican students first corrected me, which is to use “cuál” with the verb “ser”.  “Cuál es tu restaurante favorito?” “Cuáles son los mejores restaurantes por aquí?”

“Normalmente cena con la familia por la noche.”  Not “mi familia”.  

We’ve learned this usage for body parts and for articles of clothing. Is the usage the same with family members?  Do we say, “Los lunes almuerzo con la hermana”?  Thanks.

Would “fuera de” be used in the same manner as “dentro de”?

I just realized something about English: the preposition depends on the verb. For verbs of placement, we use “into”: He puts the clothing into the box. For verbs of location, we use “in”: The clothing is in the box.  

Also we tend to say “on the beach” if we are nearby: Jorge is on the beach.  But we say “at the beach” if we are in a different city: My friends are at the beach. 

Hope this helps with your translations. When I teach basic English, the use of “in”, “on”, or “at” is one of the most challenging things for Spanish speakers.

I'd just like to point out for your newer students that the following example is in indirect form and not reflexive form:

Me duele mucho la cabeza.My head hurts a lot
We can tell the difference because it does not say "Me duelo", which would be reflexive form, in which the "yo" form of the verb would agree with "me".
Instead it says "me duele", which agrees with "la cabeza".  We can see this if we change the order of the words:"La cabeza me duele mucho." 
For students who do not know where the "me" comes from you can search for the lesson on Direct Objects.