NationStates Jolt Archive

Perhaps this is just expression of a kid who is obsessed with his classes, but I am in Spanish 2 right now, and my Spanish teachers...sucks. She is nice, but she is fresh out of college and often makes mistakes. Although I have a 99% in her class, I have convinced myself that all this crap that I have been confused about as a result of mistakes she's made is going to bite me in the ass in Spanish 3 or some higher level of Spanish. What are your thoughts on this issue? Also, people may post grammar questions and any other questions they would like about the Spanish language here. I was also wondering if there are any Hispanics or Spanish people on this forum that would be willing to tutor me during the summer, in your free time :( ????

You should do what I did and not learn a smattering of French too. Then you can move on to Italian and Latin. I've made a great career out of not learning foriegn languages, and it has helped me immensely through life. For instance, I can say Tu eres un saco de mierda or Je ne parle pas Francais and yet have no real idea what the other person says in response.

In real life I am a Bilingual Special Education teacher concerned that the limited spanish of my youth has me less than fully prepared for my students. Though the Anglo administrators consider me capable, as a Hispanic (and very good looking) male, I hold myself to a higher standard.

For this reason I shall vacation this summer by taking a Spanish Immersion program in Guanajuato Mexico for one month. In addition to formal classes, I shall live, eat and breath the culture of my host familily provided by the academy. Total cost including air flight but not spending money is $1300.

Check it out... Its gonna Rock

For more info contact me directly through my nation cause I don't do this forum much.

Peace.

Mikeswill

Love Conquers Fear

I think you should take Latin. It's bliss.

Congratulations, you've discovered one of the essential truths in life: Your teachers often don't have a clue about what they're teaching. It's the inevitable result of a society that pays teachers poverty-level wages while expecting 80 hours of work a week from them. What's truly remarkable, given the circumstances, is that some of your teachers actually are quite good at teaching their subjects.

The lesson here is to keep an open mind, don't accept anything as true merely because your teachers say it is, and rely on yourself to educate yourself.

:p

Alright, so, what do you guys suggest I do? I considered retaking Spanish 2, but I have been told that with a 99% that would be a waste of time. I was considering purchasing the textbook and studying out of that in the summer, since, from my experience anyway, textbooks are a bit more trustworthy than some teachers. Here is an example of a mistake I think my teacher meade:

We are in chapter 11, I think, of the Paso A Paso book, and we are studying comparatives and superlatives right now.

She said that the sentence: "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" is more grammatically correct then, "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella". This makes sense, but what confuses me is that in the book it gives an example, "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", which contradicts with what she said, I thought it would be, "Sammy Sosa es un atleta peor que Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, in our book, it has the sentence "Rosa es buena estudiante", which confused me because I thought it would be the sentence, "Rosa es una estudiante buena.", and when comparing Rosa to Susana, it would be, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que Susana"

Sorry if that is a little confusing. Input will be greatly appreciated. :headbang:

Start reading spanish on your own, watching spanish television and finding a native speaker to talk to. It'll fill the gaps and make you more natural.

Do things in spanish when you can, turn on your SAP programing on your tv, do your ATM transactions in Spanish, etc.

These are all by proxy. A friend of mine is trying to bolster his French and that's what he's doing. I think he gets that from another friend who is a language guy.

Me? I can say "I don't know" in french really well....

She said that the sentence: "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" is more grammatically correct then, "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella". This makes sense, but what confuses me is that in the book it gives an example, "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", which contradicts with what she said, I thought it would be, "Sammy Sosa es un atleta peor que Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, in our book, it has the sentence "Rosa es buena estudiante", which confused me because I thought it would be the sentence, "Rosa es una estudiante buena.", and when comparing Rosa to Susana, it would be, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que Susana"

Sorry if that is a little confusing. Input will be greatly appreciated. :headbang:
It is a bit confusing, isn't it? As a general rule, when you use "un", "una" then you follow it by noun-adjective. If you ommitt it, then you use adjective-noun.

"Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella"
"Yo soy mejor estudiante que ella"

You could still say "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella", which sounds good, but not as gramatically correct.

I'm sure there's a reason, but I've been out of school for very long.

I have the same problem with my Spanish 2 teacher. Except it's the class that's a complete and hopeless failure. He needs to keep on reinforcing what they learned LAST YEAR.

For the past 2-3 weeks we've been doing packets that have taught us when to use el or la (For God's sake...), how to make words plural, etc. etc.

And I swear the vocabulary quizzes we take once a month are just photocopies of the same ones I took last year. Clothing, relationships, etc.

I might just start learning a little German during class now since I apparently will never learn spanish in this class.

I have the same problem with my Spanish 2 teacher. Except it's the class that's a complete and hopeless failure. He needs to keep on reinforcing what they learned LAST YEAR.

For the past 2-3 weeks we've been doing packets that have taught us when to use el or la (For God's sake...), how to make words plural, etc. etc.

And I swear the vocabulary quizzes we take once a month are just photocopies of the same ones I took last year. Clothing, relationships, etc.

I might just start learning a little German during class now since I apparently will never learn spanish in this class.

I'm suprised that the school would even allow that to happen. My teacher teaches us new stuff, the stuff we are supposed to be learning, her grammar just kind of sucks. If you aren't learning anything new AT ALL, you should talk to someone about that, like an administrator or something

I'm suprised that the school would even allow that to happen. My teacher teaches us new stuff, the stuff we are supposed to be learning, her grammar just kind of sucks. If you aren't learning anything new AT ALL, you should talk to someone about that, like an administrator or something
Well this guy is supposedly the best spanish teacher on campus for teaching spanish. But this is amongst the opinions of teachers, not students.

Thus far, this guy has just been a jerk to everyone. He refuses my passes signed by teachers when I'm late, he thinks I'm an idiot when in reality I just sleep all day because he's going over basic spanish stuff. I mean really. I think we've had one new vocabulary list and we only went over that for like 30 minutes or so.

Those Paso A Paso books kinda suck. Too many pictures and useless crap junking up the pages. I swear high school language textbooks get worse with every new edition...

My students I tutor learn more Spanish/French/etc. in the hour and a half I see them each week than they do in a week of their regular classes. :rolleyes:

Although seriously, in my local area high school students are allowed to take junior college classes if they get their school's permission. You might try to just take language courses there. The college level courses progress faster and there's less BS work.

I often catch the same thing with my french teacher (also fresh out of college). Luckily I have a french foreign exchange student in my class, and he constantly corrects the teacher. If there isn't a fluent spanish-speaker in your class, it probobly won't be hard to find one in your school.
(assuming you live in america).

Alright, so, what do you guys suggest I do? I considered retaking Spanish 2, but I have been told that with a 99% that would be a waste of time. I was considering purchasing the textbook and studying out of that in the summer, since, from my experience anyway, textbooks are a bit more trustworthy than some teachers. Here is an example of a mistake I think my teacher meade:

We are in chapter 11, I think, of the Paso A Paso book, and we are studying comparatives and superlatives right now.

She said that the sentence: "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" is more grammatically correct then, "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella". This makes sense, but what confuses me is that in the book it gives an example, "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", which contradicts with what she said, I thought it would be, "Sammy Sosa es un atleta peor que Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, in our book, it has the sentence "Rosa es buena estudiante", which confused me because I thought it would be the sentence, "Rosa es una estudiante buena.", and when comparing Rosa to Susana, it would be, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que Susana"

Sorry if that is a little confusing. Input will be greatly appreciated. :headbang:

Hey guys! I'm a native Spanish speaker, future teacher and experienced with French, German and Russian. If you have any questions about Spanish, French or Russian chances are I can answer them.

It is correct to say the following:

"Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella"
"Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio"
"Rosa es buena estudiante"
"Rosa es una mejor estudiante que Susana"

By the way, is your teacher not a native speaker, because it sure seems like it! I would suggest that if you have an option, you should definitely go with a native speaker. There are some cons though, as she probably will go at a faster pace and grade things more strictly. It all depends on how well you want to learn the language or if you just want to get by knowing basic stuff...it also depends on how much effort you're willing to put in. Good luck!

The reason most high school language teachers aren't very good teachers is that most of the people that really want to learn the language well enough to properly teach it major in that language, as opposed to majoring in teaching and taking just enough classes of the language to let them pass teaching certification for it and pad their resumee so as to find work easier. Most who are truly interested in the language that end up teaching it get at least a master's degree in it, if not a PhD, and teach in colleges.

If you get a chance to do any form of study abroad type thing, I strongly suggest it. Between my first and second years of college I went to Spain for a month with my school and, even though over half the students there spoke english as a first language (most were, like me, estadounidense), my basic grasp of Spanish improved greatly. I think most of the credit for that actually goes to my taking part in an optional activity to learn to dance the sevillanas (I think that's how to spell it), an old Andalucian dance. How did learning this old dance help me learn Spanish, you ask? Neither the instructor, a very short screaming woman whom I suspect drinks a bit too much coffee, nor my assigned partner, a girl from France named Celine, spoke any English at all. Celine's one grandfather was a spaniard though, and she spoke Spanish fluently. If I wanted to hang out with the cute french girl in the evenings I had to improve my Spanish skills as fast as possible. Now that is a motivation.

Barring a study abroad, I second the suggestions to watch movies in Spanish, try to look up some websites in Spanish, maybe get a few books that are in Spanish, etc. Just don't try reading Don Quixote in the original Spanish; it was written centuries ago and it is to modern Spanish what Shakespear is to modern English (very nice if you understand it, but you need to learn more before tackling that). And if you can manage to find a cute girl that speaks Spanish but not English and is willing to hang out with you, I assure you that it's a great way to learn.

Barring a study abroad, I second the suggestions to watch movies in Spanish
Oooh... watch "Nueve Reinas". That movie is awesome.

Don't read "El Cid" either. Anything by Borges, by all means.

I was also wondering if there are any Hispanics or Spanish people on this forum that would be willing to tutor me during the summer, in your free time :( ????

Me.

Perhaps this is just expression of a kid who is obsessed with his classes, but I am in Spanish 2 right now, and my Spanish teachers...sucks. She is nice, but she is fresh out of college and often makes mistakes. Although I have a 99% in her class, I have convinced myself that all this crap that I have been confused about as a result of mistakes she's made is going to bite me in the ass in Spanish 3 or some higher level of Spanish. What are your thoughts on this issue? Also, people may post grammar questions and any other questions they would like about the Spanish language here. I was also wondering if there are any Hispanics or Spanish people on this forum that would be willing to tutor me during the summer, in your free time :( ????

I can solve all your problems. Move to Spain to live for a couple of years. Alcala de Henaries is a nice suburb of Madrid. The weather there is very good, the people are wonderful, and the food is great. While living there I guarantee you will learn Spanish with a Castilian accent, won't have a Spanish teacher who confuses you with mistakes, won't have any tests, will have a wonderful time and won't need to take Spanish III.

Easy solution to this: ditch Spanish, learn Italian! :D
Much more pleasant language than Spanish! :D

Why learn italian when you can learn... chinese!

Chinese with it's million characters, several ways of writing each character, multiple intonations depending on background, multiple dialects due to region..

oh fuck it, let's not.

Alright, so, what do you guys suggest I do? I considered retaking Spanish 2, but I have been told that with a 99% that would be a waste of time. I was considering purchasing the textbook and studying out of that in the summer, since, from my experience anyway, textbooks are a bit more trustworthy than some teachers. Here is an example of a mistake I think my teacher meade:

We are in chapter 11, I think, of the Paso A Paso book, and we are studying comparatives and superlatives right now.

She said that the sentence: "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" is more grammatically correct then, "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella". This makes sense, but what confuses me is that in the book it gives an example, "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", which contradicts with what she said, I thought it would be, "Sammy Sosa es un atleta peor que Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, in our book, it has the sentence "Rosa es buena estudiante", which confused me because I thought it would be the sentence, "Rosa es una estudiante buena.", and when comparing Rosa to Susana, it would be, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que Susana"

Sorry if that is a little confusing. Input will be greatly appreciated. :headbang:

Your teacher may be right. Text books can be wrong. Check out another textbook in the library, or better yet ask your teacher.

Alright, so, what do you guys suggest I do? I considered retaking Spanish 2, but I have been told that with a 99% that would be a waste of time. I was considering purchasing the textbook and studying out of that in the summer, since, from my experience anyway, textbooks are a bit more trustworthy than some teachers. Here is an example of a mistake I think my teacher meade:

We are in chapter 11, I think, of the Paso A Paso book, and we are studying comparatives and superlatives right now.

She said that the sentence: "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" is more grammatically correct then, "Yo soy un mejor estudiante que ella". This makes sense, but what confuses me is that in the book it gives an example, "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", which contradicts with what she said, I thought it would be, "Sammy Sosa es un atleta peor que Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, in our book, it has the sentence "Rosa es buena estudiante", which confused me because I thought it would be the sentence, "Rosa es una estudiante buena.", and when comparing Rosa to Susana, it would be, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que Susana"

Sorry if that is a little confusing. Input will be greatly appreciated. :headbang:

Nah, really, people is not perfect. The book is correct. BTW, I would say "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", "Yo soy mejor estudiante que ella", "Rosa es buena estudiante" and "Rosa es mejor estudiante que ella"

It is always "Noun+verb+adverb+adjective"

Nah, really, people is not perfect. The book is correct. BTW, I would say "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", "Yo soy mejor estudiante que ella", "Rosa es buena estudiante" and "Rosa es mejor estudiante que ella"

It is always "Noun+verb+adverb+adjective"
Yeah, but there's also some wiggle room for effect. It's one of those nuances that make every language difficult to master even if they're not that hard to learn.

What really makes no sense, however, and I just realized, is why would anyone say "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo di Caprio"?

As long as you can read spanish you should be more or less okay in Spanish III. It's only once you get out of that range that you escape into the place where you have a greater chance of learning in class than through just Indept. Study.

An study said time ago that we learn in a classroom about 20% of the real language, while we learn up to 98% in the daily practice. ¡Asi que sal a la calle! :p

Estoy de acuerdo con lo que se ha dicho arriba.

Estoy de acuerdo con lo que se ha dicho arriba.

Yarghh! I did not understand anything past, "Estoy de acuerdo con"

Anyway, I have a lot more questions, so here they are:

PLEASE CORRECT ME ON ANY MISTAKES I MAKE
some of these questions are related, so if you have already answered one, just say, "see question # ..."

1. In our textbook, it had the sentence, "Me encantan los conciertos de Gloria Estefan. ¡Nadie canta mejor que ella" I was wondering if the double negative plays any role in this sentence. For instance, wouldn't it be, "Me encanta los conciertos de Gloria Estefan. ¡Nadie no canta mejor que ella." Also, why would it necessarily be canta and cantan

2. What is the past tense conjugation of the verb "tener"?

3. What is the past tense conjugation of the verb "querer"?

4. Shouldn't the question, "¿Cuántos programas deportivos da este canal esta noche?" be "¿Cuántos programas deportivos dan ellos de este canal esta noche?" ?

5. How would you say, "I like you" in Spanish? Would it be, "Me gustas tú"?

6. Abrir means to open and aburrir means to bore, correct? For instance, "Ella abre la puerta." and "Me aburre las telenovelas."

7. How would you say, "You scare me" in Spanish? Would it be, "Me das miedo tú."

8. How would you say, "We fascinate you in Spanish? Would it be, "A ti te fascina nosotros?"

9. Can you use "Yo" to mean I and me? Can you use "él" to mean him and he? Can you use "ella" to mean her and she? Can you use "nosotros" to mean we and us? Can you use "ellos/ellas" to mean they and them? If so, can you give me an example of an instance where you might mean me, ella might mean her, etc....

10. I have seen this, that, these and those (este, esta, ese, esa, estos, estas, esos, esas) with accents over the e(s) before in sentences. For example, "Ésa sudadera es buena" to mean, "That sweatshirt is good." Does anyone know the meaning significance of the accents or the word for sweatpants?

11. Is the question, "¿Cuándo es el almuerzo?" grammatically correct? Would you use ser or estar when refering to time? I was always taught that estar is only used when talking about locations and feelings. Also, what are the past tense forms of estar?

12. I have seen the words "quién", "qué", "dónde", "cuándo" and "cómo" used without accents in sentences as displayed. Is it a rule that if these words are in sentences, they do not have accents and if they are in a question, they do? Also, are there any other little words going along with these words, such as "Adónde", "Dedónde", "Quién", "Quiénes" ?

13. To say, "I am inside the supermarket.", you would say, "Yo estoy dentro del supermercado." Correct? Just like you would say, "Yo estoy dentro del cine" to mean, "I am inside of the movie theatre."

14. There was a question in my textbook that said, "¿Quién es la mejor actriz de cine?". Wouldn't it be more grammatically correct to say, "¿Quién es la mejor actriz del cine?" or "¿Quién es la mejor actriz de las películas?" Since actual movies are películas and the movie theatre es el cine. I was just wondering, why wouldn't movie theatre be "el teatro de las películas" or something along those lines, since el teatro is theatre.

15. My teacher said that the plural form of "la película de terror" is "las películas de terrores", when I'm about 99.9% sure that it would be "las películas de terror", since there is a "de" before the "terror".

16. The sentence, "Sí, pero empezó a las nueve y ya son casi las nueve y media." reads, "Yes, but it began at nine and it's already almost nine thirty." Correct? Also, are you allowed to put the "casi" before the "las nueve y media" ? I thought the sentence should read, "Sí, pero la película empezó a las nueve y ya casi son las nueve y media." ?

17. What are the past tense forms of estar?

18. On one of the pages in the book, there was a question that asked, "¿Va a ser largo el documental?". Could that be worded, "¿Es el documental va a ser largo?" ? The given response was, "Sí, dura una hora y media." Wouldn't they have to put "lo" in there to represent it, for instance, "Sí, lo dura una hora y media.". There was another given response stating, "No, es corto, Solamente dura una media.". Could you exchange the "solamente" with "sólo".

19. What is the difference between solamente, solo (-a, -as, -os) and sólo? To my knowledge sólo is only and solo is alone, though they seem the same and I don't know how they would be used differently in a sentence. For instance, how would you say, "the only chicken" or "the alone apples" ?

20. What is the verb "to get" in Spanish? The closest thing I can think of is "recibir". For instance, to say "I get it", you would say, "Yo lo recibo". Correct? My teacher made a worksheet a while back where she put, "buscalo" in one of her sentences. However, it say in the book that you can only attach "lo, la, los, las" to the end of an infinitive, and of course, busca is not an infinitive.

21. The ending to certain nouns only change when it could be a male or female, correct? Such as "gato" and "gata".

22. Do all the sports have an article of "el", such as "el tenis, el fútbol, el vóleibol" ?

23. When usually do you use double negatives? I'd be very pleased if anyone could provide me with some sentence examples.

24. When is the personal "a" used in Spanish? For instance, is the sentence, "Tú visitas a tu madre en el hospital" grammatically correct? I am not sure because the personal a is given the the direct object, or the person or people receiving the verb, and I am not sure if the mother is receiving the action.

25. What is the difference between an indirect and direct object? What is the difference between an indirect and direct article, too?

26. What is an indirect objective pronoun? What is a direct objective pronoun? What is a reflexive pronoun? If you know the answer to any of these, I would be happy if you provided a sentence example for me.

27. When saying, "Alex is the tallest person" would you say, "Alex es la persona más alto" or "Alex es la persona más alta." ? I believe it would be alta, since it is an adverb enhancing an adjective. This has always confused me, if there el chico, la chica, el gato, la gata etc... why isn't there el persono, la persona, los personos, las personas, in order to define gender?

28. How would you say, "He is the best at football (American football) in the world." in Spanish? Would it be "Él juega fútbol americano el mejor en el mundo." or would it be something else? I believe that, "Él juega fútbol americano el mejor." means he plays football the best, not he is the best at football.

29. Instead of saying, "Ella es la chica más emocionante." or "Ella es la menor chica" could you just say, "Ella es la más emocionante." and "Ella es la menor." ?

30.What is "would" in Spanish?

31. How would you say, "The Exorcist is the best horror movie that I have ever seen."? Would it be, "The Exorcist es la mejor película de terror que yo ______________."?

32. In many questions, I have noticed that the pronouns are often left out. For instance, "¿Tengo que lavar la ropa?" instead of "¿Tengo yo que lavar la ropa?" I think that it would be hard to tell if something is a question without the pronoun. When is the best time to leave the pronoun out and the best time to leave it in? Another example would be, "¿Debes ir al banco?" instead of "¿Debes tú ir al banco?"

33. What is the verb tener in the vosotros form?

34. I know su means his, her, or your (formal), and I know sus is used to refer to someone's possessions when they have more than one. For instance, "Me gusta él. Sus amigos son simpáticos." However, can "sus" also mean their?

35.To say "I have it", and "I have them", you'd say, "Yo lo tengo" or "Yo los tengo" Correct?

36. What is the difference between "a mí" and "para mí"? I have seen them used in similar ways but I am not sure when you would exactly use them differently. If you could provide examples I would greatly appreciate it.

37. "Ella cree que ellas son aburridas." reads, "She thinks that they (femine) are boring". Correct?

38. The plural form of "la película de ciencia ficción" is "las películas de ciencia ficción". Correct?

39. Is aprender to learn or to understand? Is comprender to understand? Does pensar mean to think or to believe? Is creer to think, also?

40. What is the difference between "por" and "para" ? They both mean for; are they used in different situations?

41. In various sentences, I have seen the phrases "para + infinitive" and "a + infinitive". I know that "para + infinitive" mean in order to but what does "a + infinitive" mean? Sentence examples provided will be greatly appreciated.

41. "a" in Spanish generally means "to" the or "at". It is also used in personal a situations. Are there any other times it is used?

42. Our teacher told us to use "mayor" and "mejor" instead of "más pequeño" and "más grande". Is it not grammatically correct to say, "más pequeño" and "más grande"? For instance, "Ellas son más pequeñas que ellos." or "Ellos son las personas más pequeñas que ustedes."

43. For superlatives, you can just cut the adjective out of the sentence, can't you? For instance, you can say, "Yo soy el más atrevido" instead of "Yo soy el estudiante más atrevido."

44. As a follow up to question 43, if that answer is yes, would the short sentence of, "Él es la persona más atrevida", be "Él es la más atrevida"?

45. Does "la mía" mean mine?

46. Is the sentence, "¿Son tus hermanos mayores que tú?" grammatically correct? Is the "son" placed in the correct place?

47. If you are giving an order to practice in the ustedes form, would it be, "practicen" or "practiquen"? If it is "practiquen", why would it be "practiquen" and not "practicen" ?

48.How would you say, "thanks to all" in Spanish?

49. Is "estar" used in the past tense, or do people just use, "fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis y fuieron"?

50. Going back to the "a" question, "Yo voy a ir a la escuela" means I am going to go to the school, so what is the value of the "a" in that sentence?

51. Is "this weekend" in Spanish, "el fin de semana."? For instance, "Yo voy el fin de semana". I know that "el lunes, el martes, etc"... means on Monday, on Tuesday and so on.

52. Is "tonight" in Spanish, "esta noche"?

53. I believe I already asked this, but I'm too lazy to go back and check...so what are the past tense verbs of estar and tener?

54. "Hacer" means "to do" and "recibir" means "to receive". Correct?

55. Another question I have relates back to the "a" followed by an infiniteve. What would something like, "a ver" or "a jugar" mean? For instance, does the sentence, "Yo quiero a cocinar el jueves." make sense? Should the "a" be before the "cocinar"?

56. The difference between "el cine", "la película" and "el teatro" is that "el cine" is the movie theatre, "la película" is the actual film and "el teatro" is the theatre. Am I right?

57. Does the plural form of the adjective/adverb joven have an accent over the o? Is "jóvenes" the proper way to spell it?

58. "El/la joven" is a young man/lady and "los/las jóvenes" are young men/ladies. Correct?

59. Is it possible to say, "el viejo, la vieja, los viejos, las viejas" refering to, "old man, old woman, old men, old women"? Are there any other verbs that you can put an article in front to make them a noun, such as, "el mejor, la mejor, los mejores, las mejores"

60. Would, "John is an old person." be "John es una persona viejo." or "John es una persona vieja." ?

61. When you are refering to liking/loving to do an activity, does the verb always end in a or an. For instance, would it be, "Me gusta escribir una carta." or "Me gustan escribir una carta." What about if you where writing more than one letter, would it be, "Me gustan escribir unas cartas." ?

62. I have noticed that for many verbs, you can add "ador" to the end to make it a person who preforms that act. For instance, "el jugador" and "el nadador". Does this apply to many of the verbs? Also, to make these verbs feminine, would it be, "la jugadora y la nadadora" ? To make it plural would it be, "los jugadores y las jugadoras" ?

63. "Coche" and "carro" both mean car, don't they?

64. Could you shorten the sentence, "Jorge is la mejor persona en el mundo." to, "Jorge es la mejor en el mundo."?

65. How would you say, "They are some of the best." ? Would it be, "Ellos son unos mejores." ? IF SO, THEN THE REASON THAT "YO SOY UN MEJOR ESTUDIANTE QUE ELLA" IS NOT AS GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT IS BECAUSE YO SOY UN MEJOR ESTUDIANTE CAN THEN BE PERCEIVED AS AN SUPERLATIVE ----IZTATEPOPOTLA

66. Which sentence is more grammatically correct, "Yo necesito trabajar." or "Yo necesito a trabajar".

67. Could you say, "Ella es la mejor en la escuela." to shorten, "Ella es la mejor jugadora en la escuela."

68. Would you say, "Él es el peor persona en el mundo." or "Él es la peor persona en el mundo."

69. When talking about an action that someone does better/worse than someone else, it goes after the action, correct? For instance, "Nosotros nadamos mejor que ellos." BTW, would it be mejor or mejores?

70. Are there any other nouns like "chicos y chicas" that can be both feminine and masculine by either changing the article, and/or the ending of the word?

71. Can you think of any other another adjectives/adverbs besides, "deportista" that always end in an "o" or "os" or any that always end in "a" or "as" ?

72. Is "atleta", meaning "athlete", masculine? Would it be "atleta" in masculine and feminine form, for instance, "la atleta" and "el atleta" ? Is it one of those nouns always has the same ending for masculine and feminine?

If you had the patience to read this and answer me questions, I not only appreciate it beyond all words, but also respect you.

Heck! It's a lot of questions. I'll answer what I can. I'm sure someone else is trying to answer at the same time and will be done before I am, but no matter, I have nothing to do right now. Let's see...
1. In our textbook, it had the sentence, "Me encantan los conciertos de Gloria Estefan. ¡Nadie canta mejor que ella" I was wondering if the double negative plays any role in this sentence. For instance, wouldn't it be, "Me encanta los conciertos de Gloria Estefan. ¡Nadie no canta mejor que ella." Also, why would it necessarily be canta and cantan
Ok, in the first place, the textbook is wrong because no one should like Gloria Estefan's concerts. Anyway, first it's "encantan" because you're talking about the concerts, it's the same as saying "los conciertos de Gloria Estefan (ellos) me encantan". And although the double negative is sometimes used in Spanish, this is not one of those cases. "nadie" is the same as "no one" so the negative is already there.

2. What is the past tense conjugation of the verb "tener"?
3. What is the past tense conjugation of the verb "querer"?

Yo Tuve
Tú Tuviste
El, Ella, Ello Tuvo
Nosotros Tuvimos
Vosotros Tuvisteis
Ustedes, Ellos Tuvieron

Yo Quise
Tú Quisiste
El, Ella, Ello Quiso
Nosotros Qusimos
Vosotros Quisisteis
Ustedes, Ellos Quisieron

4. Shouldn't the question, "¿Cuántos programas deportivos da este canal esta noche?" be "¿Cuántos programas deportivos dan ellos de este canal esta noche?" ?
It could, but it's redundant. When you say "este canal" everybody knows what you mean and can very correctly omit it.

5. How would you say, "I like you" in Spanish? Would it be, "Me gustas tú"?
Yes. Or simply "me gustas".

6. Abrir means to open and aburrir means to bore, correct? For instance, "Ella abre la puerta." and "Me aburre las telenovelas."
Yes. "Me aburren las telenovelas", you're talking about them.

7. How would you say, "You scare me" in Spanish? Would it be, "Me das miedo tú."
Or "me asustas". asustar, dar miedo = scare

8. How would you say, "We fascinate you in Spanish? Would it be, "A ti te fascina nosotros?"
"Te fascinamos". You're talking about "nosotros", so the verb should be conjugated for "nosotros". The reflexive "te" already means "to you", so you can omit "a ti".

9. Can you use "Yo" to mean I and me? Can you use "él" to mean him and he? Can you use "ella" to mean her and she? Can you use "nosotros" to mean we and us? Can you use "ellos/ellas" to mean they and them? If so, can you give me an example of an instance where you might mean me, ella might mean her, etc....
Only in the third person and the plural "I walked to him" = "caminé hacia él", but "he walked to me" = "caminó hacia mí".

10. I have seen this, that, these and those (este, esta, ese, esa, estos, estas, esos, esas) with accents over the e(s) before in sentences. For example, "Ésa sudadera es buena" to mean, "That sweatshirt is good." Does anyone know the meaning significance of the accents or the word for sweatpants?
You use the accent when you're using the word as a pronoun to completely substitute what you're talking about.
"Esta sudadera es verde y ésta amarilla"

11. Is the question, "¿Cuándo es el almuerzo?" grammatically correct? Would you use ser or estar when refering to time? I was always taught that estar is only used when talking about locations and feelings. Also, what are the past tense forms of estar?
It is correct. Is the same as "to be" the tricky part is when to use "ser" and when "estar". In this case is "ser" but I can't remember why.
The past tense for these two is tricky, so hold on:
Ser
Yo fui
Tú fuiste
El, Ella, Ello fueron
Nosotros fuimos
Vosotros fuisteis
Ustedes, Ellos fueron

Notice that it's the same as the past tense of "ir".

Estar
Yo estuve
Tú estuviste
El, Ella, Ello estuvo
Nosotros estuvimos
Vosotros estuvisteis
Ustedes, Ellos estuvieron

12. I have seen the words "quién", "qué", "dónde", "cuándo" and "cómo" used without accents in sentences as displayed. Is it a rule that if these words are in sentences, they do not have accents and if they are in a question, they do? Also, are there any other little words going along with these words, such as "Adónde", "Dedónde", "Quién", "Quiénes" ?
Yes, it's a rule, although you usually only accent the first one. Spanish admits something like "¿Cómo que quien?" ("What do you mean by who?") and similar crazy stuff. It is "A donde" ("where to"), "De donde" ("where from"). "Quienes" is the plural of "quien", just as "cuantos" is the plural of "cuanto".

13. To say, "I am inside the supermarket.", you would say, "Yo estoy dentro del supermercado." Correct? Just like you would say, "Yo estoy dentro del cine" to mean, "I am inside of the movie theatre."
Correct. But you can also say "Estoy en el supermercado" o "Estoy en el cine". "en" can be used in place of "dentro de" or "sobre de".

14. There was a question in my textbook that said, "¿Quién es la mejor actriz de cine?". Wouldn't it be more grammatically correct to say, "¿Quién es la mejor actriz del cine?" or "¿Quién es la mejor actriz de las películas?" Since actual movies are películas and the movie theatre es el cine. I was just wondering, why wouldn't movie theatre be "el teatro de las películas" or something along those lines, since el teatro is theatre.
The word "cine" came from the French "cinématheque" and was shortened, first to "cinema" and then to "cine". "Película" is the literal translation of "film". You're right that it would be more correct to say "¿Quién es la mejor actriz del cine?", since you're talking about the movie industry, and Spanish purists would applaud it, but everyone else would think you snobbish :)

15. My teacher said that the plural form of "la película de terror" is "las películas de terrores", when I'm about 99.9% sure that it would be "las películas de terror", since there is a "de" before the "terror".
You're correct. The difference is the preposition "de" in the middle of both words. If you had said "la película horrorosa", the plural would be "las películas horrorosas". There's a name for these grammatical constructions, but I can't remember it.

16. The sentence, "Sí, pero empezó a las nueve y ya son casi las nueve y media." reads, "Yes, but it began at nine and it's already almost nine thirty." Correct? Also, are you allowed to put the "casi" before the "las nueve y media" ? I thought the sentence should read, "Sí, pero la película empezó a las nueve y ya casi son las nueve y media." ?
Correct for both. You can say "ya casi son las nueve y media" or "son casi las nueve y media". But stick with the first if you feel the second is too confusing.

17. What are the past tense forms of estar?
This was question 11.

18. On one of the pages in the book, there was a question that asked, "¿Va a ser largo el documental?". Could that be worded, "¿Es el documental va a ser largo?" ? The given response was, "Sí, dura una hora y media." Wouldn't they have to put "lo" in there to represent it, for instance, "Sí, lo dura una hora y media.". There was another given response stating, "No, es corto, Solamente dura una media.". Could you exchange the "solamente" with "sólo".
You can't say "¿Es el documental va a ser largo?" because you're already using "ser" in the sentence. The additional "es" is redundant. You can say "¿es el documental largo?" or "¿es largo el documental?" to ask for the same information but using a different grammatical form.

In this case, since "lo" can only be used to substitute the indirect object, you can only use it to represent "largo". For example the answer can be "sí, el documental lo es". It's a bit confusing because English always includes pronouns in the sentence, but Spanish usually omits them. To know what you're talking about in the sentence try inserting the pronouns "él", "ella", etc. and see what it is that they should represent.

You can use "sólo".

19. What is the difference between solamente, solo (-a, -as, -os) and sólo? To my knowledge sólo is only and solo is alone, though they seem the same and I don't know how they would be used differently in a sentence. For instance, how would you say, "the only chicken" or "the alone apples" ?
"Solo" indicates a state of loneliness, and is usually only meant for people and animals (since things can't feel loneliness). "sólo" means only as in "only this time" or "for the only time. There's no "sóla".
"El pollo solo", "Las manzanas solas", but "sólo el pollo pudo" (only the chicken could). It takes practice.

20. What is the verb "to get" in Spanish? The closest thing I can think of is "recibir". For instance, to say "I get it", you would say, "Yo lo recibo". Correct? My teacher made a worksheet a while back where she put, "buscalo" in one of her sentences. However, it say in the book that you can only attach "lo, la, los, las" to the end of an infinitive, and of course, busca is not an infinitive.
The book failed to mention that you can also attach "lo, la, los, las" to imperatives.
"to get" is a very flexible verb in English, which means that there's not one single word in Spanish that encompasses all the same meanings. It could mean "recibir, entender, recoger, atrapar" and perhaps a couple more.

21. The ending to certain nouns only change when it could be a male or female, correct? Such as "gato" and "gata".
Most nouns change like that. Others such as "buitre", "águila", don't.

22. Do all the sports have an article of "el", such as "el tenis, el fútbol, el vóleibol" ?
I had not thought about this one. I think so. Unless you have a preposition before it, "el campo de fútbol", "la pelota de basquetbol".

23. When usually do you use double negatives? I'd be very pleased if anyone could provide me with some sentence examples.
It's one of those nuances that you just have to get a feeling for. "No me gusta nada" for example would be "I don't like nothing" but means "I don't like anything" or "I like nothing" or "I don't like it at all".

24. When is the personal "a" used in Spanish? For instance, is the sentence, "Tú visitas a tu madre en el hospital" grammatically correct? I am not sure because the personal a is given the the direct object, or the person or people receiving the verb, and I am not sure if the mother is receiving the action.
"a" is not a pronoun, it's a preposition, roughly equivalent to "to". I think prepositions are used to clarify the recipient of the action.

25. What is the difference between an indirect and direct object? What is the difference between an indirect and direct article, too?
The direct object receives the action of the verb, while the indirect object is only kind of involved. "Yo llevé a mi mamá al hospital", "a mi mamá" is the direct object, because I'm taking her. The hospital is not really receiving the action, I didn't take the hospital, but is involved that's where I took my mom.

Your English teacher can also help you with these concepts, they share the same grammatical structure.

I don't know what you mean by direct and indirect article? "Lo, la, los, las"?

26. What is an indirect objective pronoun? What is a direct objective pronoun? What is a reflexive pronoun? If you know the answer to any of these, I would be happy if you provided a sentence example for me.
Direct pronouns: "Lo, la, los, las" are used to replace the direct object in a sentence: "yo llevé a mi mamá al hospital" -> "yo la llevé al hospital" (of course, previously you would have mentioned your mom got sick)
I'm not aware of indirect pronouns. I guess you could use some other pronouns like "yo lleví a mi mamá ahí" or "yo vi a mi mamá entonces". I'm not sure, though.
Reflexive pronouns, when the verb acts on the actor or on someone not the direct object (kinda): "me, te, le, nos, les"
"Yo me metí", literally "I took myself inside"
"El le abrió la puerta", "He opened the door for her"

27. When saying, "Alex is the tallest person" would you say, "Alex es la persona más alto" or "Alex es la persona más alta." ? I believe it would be alta, since it is an adverb enhancing an adjective. This has always confused me, if there el chico, la chica, el gato, la gata etc... why isn't there el persono, la persona, los personos, las personas, in order to define gender?
No reason. That's just the way they are. Irregular nouns they're called. You're correct with "alta".

28. How would you say, "He is the best at football (American football) in the world." in Spanish? Would it be "Él juega fútbol americano el mejor en el mundo." or would it be something else? I believe that, "Él juega fútbol americano el mejor." means he plays football the best, not he is the best at football.
Not all forms can be directly translated between both languages. You can say "El es el que mejor juega fútbol americano" -> "He is the one who best plays American football" Sounds weird in English, doesn't it? Even thoug it's grammatically correct.

29. Instead of saying, "Ella es la chica más emocionante." or "Ella es la menor chica" could you just say, "Ella es la más emocionante." and "Ella es la menor." ?
You can, if you already made clear you are talking about "las chicas".

30.What is "would" in Spanish?
An completely different conjugation form that I'm not sure you want to get into right now. It's called copretérito.

31. How would you say, "The Exorcist is the best horror movie that I have ever seen."? Would it be, "The Exorcist es la mejor película de terror que yo ______________."?
"he visto jamás". I don't know if you have already covered perfect tense conjugations. They work basically the same as in English. And for added spicyness "jamás", in this case, is used the same way as "ever".

32. In many questions, I have noticed that the pronouns are often left out. For instance, "¿Tengo que lavar la ropa?" instead of "¿Tengo yo que lavar la ropa?" I think that it would be hard to tell if something is a question without the pronoun. When is the best time to leave the pronoun out and the best time to leave it in? Another example would be, "¿Debes ir al banco?" instead of "¿Debes tú ir al banco?"
You would usually only leave it in for emphasis and take it out in all other situations. The verb conjugation will tell you who you're talking about, and the "¿qué? ¿quién? ¿dónde?" will tell you it's a question. For other cases, that's what the opening question mark was invented for!

33. What is the verb tener in the vosotros form?
present: tenéis, past: tuvisteis, future: tendréis.

34. I know su means his, her, or your (formal), and I know sus is used to refer to someone's possessions when they have more than one. For instance, "Me gusta él. Sus amigos son simpáticos." However, can "sus" also mean their?
Yes. And it can be confusing in some sentences, so you may need to clarify:
"¡Atrapé a Godínez haciendo el amor con su esposa!"
"Eso está bien, es normal hacer el amor con la esposa."
"¡No! ¡Con la esposa de usted!"

35.To say "I have it", and "I have them", you'd say, "Yo lo tengo" or "Yo los tengo" Correct?
Yes.

36. What is the difference between "a mí" and "para mí"? I have seen them used in similar ways but I am not sure when you would exactly use them differently. If you could provide examples I would greatly appreciate it.
Prepositions, that's the hardest thing to master in Spanish or English. A fast rule would be that if you can say "for me" instead of "to me" and still make sense, then it's "para mí".

37. "Ella cree que ellas son aburridas." reads, "She thinks that they (femine) are boring". Correct?
Yes. Note that if you changed it to "están aburridas" it would mean "they are bored".

38. The plural form of "la película de ciencia ficción" is "las películas de ciencia ficción". Correct?
Yes. Similar to the terror movie above.

39. Is aprender to learn or to understand? Is comprender to understand? Does pensar mean to think or to believe? Is creer to think, also?
Yes to aprender and comprender (entender also means understand). Pensar is to think as in using your brain to get understanding or to believe when expressing an opinion: "yo pienso que la economía debe crecer más" (I think the economy must grow more); creer is to believe, having conviction, or to hold an impression: "¡Creí qué estaba muerto!" (I thought he was dead!)

40. What is the difference between "por" and "para" ? They both mean for; are they used in different situations?
I tell you, prepositions are tough. "Por" is mostly used to mean by, or in some cases through, althoug in other cases for would also be correct.

41. In various sentences, I have seen the phrases "para + infinitive" and "a + infinitive". I know that "para + infinitive" mean in order to but what does "a + infinitive" mean? Sentence examples provided will be greatly appreciated.
The only examples I can think of are in the form or "ir + a + verb", which would meant "to go + infinitive". "Voy a pintar", "vas a comer": I'm going to paint, you're going to eat.

41. "a" in Spanish generally means "to" the or "at". It is also used in personal a situations. Are there any other times it is used?
Personal a? I'm not aware of other situations.

42. Our teacher told us to use "mayor" and "mejor" instead of "más pequeño" and "más grande". Is it not grammatically correct to say, "más pequeño" and "más grande"? For instance, "Ellas son más pequeñas que ellos." or "Ellos son las personas más pequeñas que ustedes."
Yeah. My teacher also told us the same, as well as using stuff like "paupérrimo" instead of "el más pobre"; but no one listens to them, so what's one gonna do? It's the same when they tell you not to end an English sentence with a preposition.

43. For superlatives, you can just cut the adjective out of the sentence, can't you? For instance, you can say, "Yo soy el más atrevido" instead of "Yo soy el estudiante más atrevido."
Again, depends on how clear it it that you're talking about the group of students.

44. As a follow up to question 43, if that answer is yes, would the short sentence of, "Él es la persona más atrevida", be "Él es la más atrevida"?
Since the first sentence already made it clear, the second can omit it.

45. Does "la mía" mean mine?
Yes.

46. Is the sentence, "¿Son tus hermanos mayores que tú?" grammatically correct? Is the "son" placed in the correct place?
Yes, because it's a question. If it had been made clear that you were talking about "tus hermanos" you could omit that too. "Tus hermanos son guapos. ¿Son mayores qué tú?"

47. If you are giving an order to practice in the ustedes form, would it be, "practicen" or "practiquen"? If it is "practiquen", why would it be "practiquen" and not "practicen" ?
Funny little thing happened to the Spanish "c". When it's next to an a, o, or u it's hard like k, when it's next to e, or i, it's soft, like z. "que" and "qui" are always hard. Why? Don't ask me, it was already like that when I got here.

48.How would you say, "thanks to all" in Spanish?
Gracias a todos.

49. Is "estar" used in the past tense, or do people just use, "fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis y fuieron"?
Yes, there's a past tense. It's in one of the questions above. And it's used.

50. Going back to the "a" question, "Yo voy a ir a la escuela" means I am going to go to the school, so what is the value of the "a" in that sentence?
See q. 40.

51. Is "this weekend" in Spanish, "el fin de semana."? For instance, "Yo voy el fin de semana". I know that "el lunes, el martes, etc"... means on Monday, on Tuesday and so on.
Yes. Or "este fin de semana".

52. Is "tonight" in Spanish, "esta noche"?
Yes.

53. I believe I already asked this, but I'm too lazy to go back and check...so what are the past tense verbs of estar and tener?
Yes, both are above. Also check here: http://www.verbolog.com/igca.htm

54. "Hacer" means "to do" and "recibir" means "to receive". Correct?
"To do" or "to make". Yes to recibir.

55. Another question I have relates back to the "a" followed by an infiniteve. What would something like, "a ver" or "a jugar" mean? For instance, does the sentence, "Yo quiero a cocinar el jueves." make sense? Should the "a" be before the "cocinar"?
No, it shouldn't. Only in the cases like question 40.

56. The difference between "el cine", "la película" and "el teatro" is that "el cine" is the movie theatre, "la película" is the actual film and "el teatro" is the theatre. Am I right?
Yes. "El cine" can also mean the movie industry. "Película" can be the film (the physical plastic strip) or the movie itself.

57. Does the plural form of the adjective/adverb joven have an accent over the o? Is "jóvenes" the proper way to spell it?
Yes. When you add that extra sillable to make it plural, the strong sillable becomes the third one and when that happens there's always an accent.

58. "El/la joven" is a young man/lady and "los/las jóvenes" are young men/ladies. Correct?
Yes.

59. Is it possible to say, "el viejo, la vieja, los viejos, las viejas" refering to, "old man, old woman, old men, old women"? Are there any other verbs that you can put an article in front to make them a noun, such as, "el mejor, la mejor, los mejores, las mejores"
Yes to viejos. Verbs can only end in -ar, -er or -ir. Mejor doesn't which means it's not a verb, but a pronoun (or an adjective, depends how you're using it). So, the answer is no, you can't turn verbs into nouns. Not like that, anyway, see below.

60. Would, "John is an old person." be "John es una persona viejo." or "John es una persona vieja." ?
Since the adjective would be applied to "persona" it should be "vieja".

61. When you are refering to liking/loving to do an activity, does the verb always end in a or an. For instance, would it be, "Me gusta escribir una carta." or "Me gustan escribir una carta." What about if you where writing more than one letter, would it be, "Me gustan escribir unas cartas." ?
The form "reflexive gusta infinitive noun" is always gusta, no matter how many after the infinitive. The other form is "reflexive gust(a/an) noun" then you use gusta or gustan depending on the number: "te gustan las cervezas", "te gusta la cerveza".

62. I have noticed that for many verbs, you can add "ador" to the end to make it a person who preforms that act. For instance, "el jugador" and "el nadador". Does this apply to many of the verbs? Also, to make these verbs feminine, would it be, "la jugadora y la nadadora" ? To make it plural would it be, "los jugadores y las jugadoras" ?
Yes to plural and femenine. "-dor" can be used to most verbs: "tejer -> tejedor", "repartir -> repartidor", "cazar -> cazador". Pretty much like "-er" in English. But there are some exceptions: "actuar -> actor (although in some technical fields, actuador is used)".

63. "Coche" and "carro" both mean car, don't they?
Yes. "Auto" is also used.

64. Could you shorten the sentence, "Jorge is la mejor persona en el mundo." to, "Jorge es la mejor en el mundo."?
By taking out "persona" you have to use the gender of the noun. "Jorge es el mejor del mundo."

65. How would you say, "They are some of the best." ? Would it be, "Ellos son unos mejores." ? IF SO, THEN THE REASON THAT "YO SOY UN MEJOR ESTUDIANTE QUE ELLA" IS NOT AS GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT IS BECAUSE YO SOY UN MEJOR ESTUDIANTE CAN THEN BE PERCEIVED AS AN SUPERLATIVE ----IZTATEPOPOTLA
No, precisely because of that gramatical "not-so-correct"ness you can't say "son unos mejores", in fact, it doesn't make much sense in Spanish. You say "Son algunos de los mejores", or (again, "not-so-correctly" but still used) "Son de los mejores" or "son unos de los mejores".

66. Which sentence is more grammatically correct, "Yo necesito trabajar." or "Yo necesito a trabajar".
First one. Same case as in q. 40.

67. Could you say, "Ella es la mejor en la escuela." to shorten, "Ella es la mejor jugadora en la escuela."
Again, if you know already what you're talking about.

68. Would you say, "Él es el peor persona en el mundo." or "Él es la peor persona en el mundo."
"persona" is there, so femenine.

69. When talking about an action that someone does better/worse than someone else, it goes after the action, correct? For instance, "Nosotros nadamos mejor que ellos." BTW, would it be mejor or mejores?
Mejor, because it's modifying the verb. If it was modifying a noun, the it would be pluralized: "nosotros somos mejores nadadores que ellos". Notice that you could say "nosotros somos mejores que ellos" but only once you knew what you were talking about.


70. Are there any other nouns like "chicos y chicas" that can be both feminine and masculine by either changing the article, and/or the ending of the word?
Nouns always change gender by changing the ending, the article follows the gender. There are exception to the gender-ending rule, but they aren't many. Mostly professions.

71. Can you think of any other another adjectives/adverbs besides, "deportista" that always end in an "o" or "os" or any that always end in "a" or "as" ?
Ay,ay,ay. Deportista is a noun, not an adjective or adverb. But there are some nouns that you can use as adjectives. They would of course end in "a" or "o" and change gender accordingly "amarillo", "rojo", "bueno", "bonito", "barato". "El deportista bueno", "La deportista buena".

72. Is "atleta", meaning "athlete", masculine? Would it be "atleta" in masculine and feminine form, for instance, "la atleta" and "el atleta" ? Is it one of those nouns always has the same ending for masculine and feminine?
Yes. Most professions are like that. See "deportista" above. There are exceptions of course: "el actor, la actriz, el arquitecto, la arquitecta, el profesor, la profesora".

If you had the patience to read this and answer me questions, I not only appreciate it beyond all words, but also respect you.
I had nothing better to do. I'm sad like that.

Holy hell, Vashutze...that's a lot of questions, but I will answer as many of them as my four years of high school Spanish and the Yorkie in my lap will allow.

1. The double negative plays no part in this sentence. "Nobody sings better than her." "Nadie canta mejor que ella." Also, apologies for the lack of accent marks, tildes, or upside-down punctuation in my post; I don't feel like looking up ASCII characters right now.

2. Tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvis, tuvieron for the preterite tense...tenia, tenias, tenia, teniamos, teniais, tenian (accents on all the "i"s, of course) for the imperfect.

4. Either one would work. One asks, "How many sports programs does this channel offer tonight?" The other asks, "How many sports programs do the people operating this program offer tonight?"

5. "Me gusta tu" would work. "Gustar" is only conjugated as "gusta" or "gustan" depending on what the thing is that's pleasing (the verb "gustar" means "to be pleasing" or "to please", so you would say, "You are pleasing to me", which makes sense in Spanish but is clumsy in English.)

6, 7, and 8. You're about right. "Tu me das miedo" would probably flow a bit better.

9. To say "I play soccer," you would say, "Yo juego al futbol." To say, "My dog is on top of me," say, "My perro esta al lado de mi" with an accent on the "i" in "mi." You would not use "Yo" and "tu" as objects; instead use "mi" and "ti" with accents. Other words, such as "nosotros" and "ustedes", are OK to use as object pronouns.

11. Correct; the word "ser" is used for time, such as "Son las nueve y media de la noche." The same rule applies here, so "El almuerzo es a mediodia." Also, the past conjugations of "estar" are: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvis, estuvieron for the preterite, and estaba, estabas, estaba, estabamos, estabais, and estaban for the imperfect (accents go on the first "a" for the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms of the imperfect, and I believe for the other forms of the imperfect as well.)

12. That's a pretty good rule. If those words are used as question words ("Who was that?") then it takes an accent, but in other sentences ("Those who worked hard...") it doesn't. Also, the other little words determine what kind of sentence it is ("De donde eres" is "Where are you from?")

13. That would work, but you could say "Estoy al cine" to say "I am at the movie theater" unless you specifically want to convey that you are inside the movie theater.

14. "Teatro" is derived from "theater", referring to the live stage type of theater. "Cine" is derived from "cinema", which specifically refers to a movie theater. You could ask who the best actress of the movie theaters is and refer to all movies shown in theaters, or you could ask who the best actress is in the movies, and it would be correct.

15. I think you're right; it would be "las peliculas de terror." If "terror" were used as an adjective instead of a noun, it would be "las peliculas terrores," but I don't see how that could be correct.

16. I would read the sentence as you read it last, with the "casi" before the "son las nueve y media."

18. I don't think they would need "lo" there is "dura una hora y media." I also would imagine that "solamente" is necessary, since "solamente" is an adverb and therefore it is needed to modify a verb. "Solamente dura una media hora."

19. "Solamente" is an adverb. "Solo" with an accent is, I believe, "only" and "solo" without an accent is "alone"; you're right.

20. I believe that the closest verb for "to get" in Spanish is "sacar." It's conjugated as a normal -AR verb.

21. It can, and "gata" or "perra" would refer to a specific female cat or dog, usually a pet. There are cases where the last letter of the word does not change, such as "el policia" or "la policia" both referring to police officers.

23. "No me gusta la cerveza nunca" means "I never like beer." The "no" and "nunca" are both negatives, and this is considered a correct negative sentence.

24. The object is, in a way, receiving the action, and the "a" is only used if the object is a person or animal. You would say, "Yo visito a mi hermano" to say you are visiting your brother. However, to say you are visiting Chicago, you would say, "Yo visito Chicago" with no "a."

25. A direct object is a direct recipient of an action; an indirect object is, shall we say, an extra beneficiary of an action. If I say, "I gave a treat to my dog," the treat is the direct object and the dog is the indirect object. As for direct and indirect objects, "el", "la", "los", and "las" are direct objects, used to refer to specific objects. "El perro" means "the dog", referring to a specific dog." "Un perro" refers to a non-sepcific dog.

27. "Alex es la persona mas alta" is correct, since "persona" is a feminine noun and "alta" refers to it. Just because the person referred to is male doesn't change the gender of the noun. I don't know why "persona" or "gente" doesn't change by gender, but it doesn't.

28. Either of those would work; after all, you can say, "He is the best football player in the world" or you can say, "He plays football the best." Either is appropriate.

29. You can say "Ella es la chica mas emocionante" to mean "She is the most excited girl." You can say, "Ella es mas emocionante" to mean "She is the most excited." One refers to her being a girl; the other does not.

30. To make "would" out of any verb, add "ia" with an accent on the "i" to the end of the infinitive. "Me gustaria un perro" means "I would like a dog." It's not a perfect system; I believe the "would" form of "hacer" is "haria."

32. Pronouns are left out of the conjugation of the verb implies the subject and the speaker isn't trying to make a special point of mentioning who the subject is. "Tienes que ir al trabajo" means "You have to go to work." Following it by saying, "Yo no tengo que ir al trabajo" would mean "I don't have to go to work" and the "Yo" is included in this case to make a special point of who the object is. It's like saying, "You have to go to work. **I** (with emphasis on the "I") don't have to go to work."

33. Teneis, with an accent on the second "e".

34. Not specifically. To say, "Their house is beautiful", you would still say, "Su casa es hermana." The fact that you are referring to a single possession of more than one person does not change that it's still one possession.

35. Correct.

36. "A mi" is "to me." "Para mi" is "for me." "Me toca a mi" means "It's up to me." "Este es para mi" means "This is for me."

37. Correct.

38. Correct.

39. "Aprender" is "to learn." "Comprender" is "to undestand." "Pensar" is "to think" with reference to thinking about something. "Creer" is "to think", or more accurately, "to believe."

40. In such situations as "by the pound", "per pound," or "in exchange for", or "in the afternoon," the word "por" is appropriate. "Compre un coche nuevo por veinte mil dolares" means "I bought a new car for $20,000." For "para", it more refers to "in order to", such as "Aprendi ingles para sacar trabajo" meaning "I learned English in order to get a job."

42. "Mas grandes" and "Mas pequenos" refers to bigger and littler, sizewise. "Mayor" and "menor" refers to older and younger, agewise.

43. If you want to say, "I am the smartest student," you would say, "Yo soy el estudiante mas inteligente." If you just say, "Yo soy el mas inteligente," you are saying, "I am the smartest" without regard to being a student.

46. That sentence is correct.

47. It is "practiquen" so as to preserve the pronunciation. If it were "practicen", it would be pronounced "Prack - tee - SEN."

48. I would say, "Gracias por todos."

50. "Voy a" is "going to" in this situation. I don't know how to describe it better than this, except it's basically just an expression.

51, 52, and 54. Yes to all three.

55. In the sentence, "Yo quiero a cocinar", the "a" is unnecessary. Simply say, "Yo quiero cocinar."

56 and 57. Exactly right.

58 and 59. Pretty good. You can say "el viejo" to refer to an older person. I would not say "un mayor" to refer to an older person. A noun would be necessary here. The best explanation I can think of is that this is a comparative adjective.

60. "John es una persona vieja." However, I would think they would say, "John es un hombre viejo" in this case.

61. The verb "gustar" is always conjugated as "gusta" or "gustan." For verbs, it is always "gusta." Never say, "Me gustan cocinar."

62. This is where words like "matador" come from; the word "matar" means "to kill." Lots of verbs can be used in this manner.

63. Both "carro" and "coche" are appropriate.

64. You could, but if you want to emphasize that you were referring to people, you would need to include the word "persona."

66. "Yo necesito trabajar" is correct.

67. Remember, you would need the word "jugadora" to emphasize that you were referring to players; otherwise that would be unclear.

68. It would be "la peor persona", since "persona" is feminine no matter what the gender of the person referred to is.

69. I would use "mejor" but I am not entirely sure. I believe that "mejores" only refers to nouns.

70. Muchacho/muchacha comes to mind, and that's about it.

72. I think this can go either way - "el atleta" and "la atleta" would both be appropriate.

I answered the ones I could; there were several I did not know the answer to.

Estoy de acuerdo con lo que se ha dicho arriba.

It means "I agree with what was said above".

Breakdown:

Estoy de acuerdo - I agree
lo que - that which/what (relative constructions)
se - used here to avoid passive (this often happens in Spanish)
ha dicho - perfect of "decir" in "él/ella" form so "has said"
arriba - above

You put the parts together, alter the English wording slightly and there you go...

Thank you guys,

Does "ciclista" meaning "cyclist" have an article of "el" or "la" infront of it? Or is it one of those nouns that doesn't change endings, just the article? My teacher had a sentence that sayid, "Nosotros somos buenos ciclistas pero tú eres el mejor." Would whether it is "el mejor" or "la mejor" rely on what gender the person is or whether "ciclista" is masculine or feminine?

All I know about Spanish is that its really useful.

Heh, I thought the same thing about my French IIIH teacher - the good one quit at the end of the 1st semester, and I got stuck w/this guy who constantly tried to ram an anti-Bush agenda down our throats and how socialist France is better than capitalist US.

I love Spanish, and have been taking it since 1st grade (I'm in 8th now). I think the most important lesson I learned was by accident. One day, we were all in class, when this guy who's rather flustered and accidentally says "buenos dias senorito" instead of senor. He almost got sent to the principal. Unbeknownst to him, Senorito is Mexican slang for transvestite!:p

I love Spanish, and have been taking it since 1st grade (I'm in 8th now). I think the most important lesson I learned was by accident. One day, we were all in class, when this guy who's rather flustered and accidentally says "buenos dias senorito" instead of senor. He almost got sent to the principal. Unbeknownst to him, Senorito is Mexican slang for transvestite!:p


HAHAHHAHA

Anyway,

Does "ciclista" meaning "cyclist" have an article of "el" or "la" infront of it? Or is it one of those nouns that doesn't change endings, just the article? My teacher had a sentence that sayid, "Nosotros somos buenos ciclistas pero tú eres el mejor." Would whether it is "el mejor" or "la mejor" rely on what gender the person is or whether "ciclista" is masculine or feminine?

Also, I heard somone that if a c is next to an a, o, or e in SPanish that it gets changed to que or qui. I was taught that the past tense conjugations of practicar were practiqué, practicaste. practicó, practicamos, practicisteis, practicaron. As a result, "We practiced our Spanish yesterday." would really be, "Nosotros practicamos nuestro español ayer"

HAHAHHAHA

Anyway,

Does "ciclista" meaning "cyclist" have an article of "el" or "la" infront of it? Or is it one of those nouns that doesn't change endings, just the article? My teacher had a sentence that sayid, "Nosotros somos buenos ciclistas pero tú eres el mejor." Would whether it is "el mejor" or "la mejor" rely on what gender the person is or whether "ciclista" is masculine or feminine?

Also, I heard somone that if a c is next to an a, o, or e in SPanish that it gets changed to que or qui. I was taught that the past tense conjugations of practicar were practiqué, practicaste. practicó, practicamos, practicisteis, practicaron. As a result, "We practiced our Spanish yesterday." would really be, "Nosotros practicamos nuestro español ayer"

-"Ciclista" means cyclist. Ciclista won't need "el" or "la" further than Cyclist in english. "Nosotros somos buenos ciclistas pero tú eres el mejor" shows that everybody there are men.

Always, to sound like "k", word are written "ca, que, qui, co, cu". To sound like "th", it is "za, ce, ci, zo, zu".

NOTE: "th" is the way to pronounce it in Spain. In any other country, the sound is "z".

The past tense of practicar would be "Practiqué, practicaste, practicó, practicamos, practicasteis, practicaron".

Nah, really, people is not perfect. The book is correct. BTW, I would say "Sammy Sosa es peor atleta que Leonardo DiCaprio", "Yo soy mejor estudiante que ella", "Rosa es buena estudiante" and "Rosa es mejor estudiante que ella"

It is always "Noun+verb+adverb+adjective"z

So you can't say, "Rose es una estudiante buena." ?

I'm pretty sure, "Rosa es una estudiante buena" and, "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" would also be correct, but, hey.

I am a male so, if you were saying, "Yo soy una persona más alta." when you shorten it would it be, "Yo soy la más alta." or "Yo soy el más alto." ???

Similarly, if you were saying, "Yo soy la mejor persona." would its shorten form be, "Yo soy la mejor." or "Yo soy el mejor." ???

Yeah, since there is a past tense of the verb estar, in the sentence, "I saw my friend leave in the plane and I was sad." You'd probably use estar and not fui? Could someone please tell me what that sentence would be then?

z

SO you can't say, "Rose es una estudiante buena." ?

I'm pretty sure, "Rosa es una estudiante buena" and, "Yo soy un estudiante mejor que ella" would also be correct, but, hey.

I am a male so, if you were saying, "Yo soy una persona más alta." when you shorten it would it be, "Yo soy la más alta." or "Yo soy el más alto." ???

Similarly, if you were saying, "Yo soy la mejor persona." would its shorten form be, "Yo soy la mejor." or "Yo soy el mejor." ???

Yeah, since there is a past tense of the verb estar, in the sentence, "I saw my friend leave in the plane and I was sad." You'd probably use estar and not fui? Could someone please tell me what that sentence would be then?

- No, "Rosa es buena estudiante" is the correct sentence.

Rosa=noun, es=verb, buena=adverb, estudiante=adjective

- The other phrase would be correct if you say: "(Yo) soy mejor estudiante que ella".

-"Alta/alto": You can use both. Use "alta" if you are referring to "a person": "A taller person". Use "alto" if you are defining yourself as Vashutze.

Personally, I rather the second one. I would also say "Yo soy el mejor".

We use to define the gender in the phrase, just for comfort. So, "Yo soy el mejor" would mean that a guy is talking, while if somebody says "Yo soy la mejor", we think we're talking to a woman.

- The absolute correct phrase would be "Ví a mi amigo marcharse en el avión y me puse triste".

But, applying to your doubt, it would be "estaba", not "fui", because "fui" is the past tense of "ir" (to go). And the action says you are not going nowhere, but you are talking about your feelings. So, we say: "Estaba nervioso", "Estaba enamorado" or "Estaba atontado".

Greetings.

- No, "Rosa es buena estudiante" is the correct sentence.

Rosa=noun, es=verb, buena=adverb, estudiante=adjective

- The other phrase would be correct if you say: "(Yo) soy mejor estudiante que ella".

-"Alta/alto": You can use both. Use "alta" if you are referring to "a person": "A taller person". Use "alto" if you are defining yourself as Vashutze.

Personally, I rather the second one. I would also say "Yo soy el mejor".

We use to define the gender in the phrase, just for comfort. So, "Yo soy el mejor" would mean that a guy is talking, while if somebody says "Yo soy la mejor", we think we're talking to a woman.

- The absolute correct phrase would be "Ví a mi amigo marcharse en el avión y me puse triste".

But, applying to your doubt, it would be "estaba", not "fui", because "fui" is the past tense of "ir" (to go). And the action says you are not going nowhere, but you are talking about your feelings. So, we say: "Estaba nervioso", "Estaba enamorado" or "Estaba atontado".

Greetings.


Hmmm, perhaps what I was thinking about when I said, "Yo soy un estudiante mejor" was actually the noun-adjective relationship. Since the adjective also comes after the noun, "las sillas buenas", "los zapatos azules". I confused - adjective-noun with adjective-adverb. It would have been nice if they class had actually showed us the difference between those...

Doesn't "fui" also mean, "I was" ?

I thought the sentence, "I saw my friends leave in the airplane and I was sad." would be "Yo le vi mi amigo sale en el avión y yo fui triste."

Also, can the noun/adjective "animal" change with gender, "el animal, la animal, las animales, los animales." ?

To say, "I am the tallest." would you say, "Yo soy el más alto." or "Yo soy más alto."

Lastly, is this annoying anyone because somehow I have a feeling it is?

:confused:

"Rosa es buena estudiante"
"Rosa es una mejor estudiante que Susana" Actually, if you use 'una', that sentence should be 'Rosa es mejor estudiante que Susana.'

By the way, is your teacher not a native speaker, because it sure seems like it! I would suggest that if you have an option, you should definitely go with a native speaker. There are some cons though, as she probably will go at a faster pace and grade things more strictly.
Just to offset this, just as native English speakers do not always have a strong grasp of their own grammar...knowing what is right without being able to explain it, native speakers of Spanish are not always the best ones to break down the grammar for you.

HAHAHHAHA

Anyway,

Does "ciclista" meaning "cyclist" have an article of "el" or "la" infront of it? Or is it one of those nouns that doesn't change endings, just the article?Right. It doesn't change the ending. Like poeta can be 'la poeta' or 'el poeta'.



Also, I heard somone that if a c is next to an a, o, or e in SPanish that it gets changed to que or qui. Hmmm...no. It's actually changed if the 'c' is going to be followed by an 'e' or an 'i'. The 'c' in Spanish is like a hard 'k' sound unless followed by 'e' or 'i', when it changes to a soft 's' sound. So, for the verb 'practicar', you can have 'practico, practicas, practica' etc, but when you need to change it to the preterit, you can't spell it 'praticé' because that would sound like prac-tee-say. It changes to 'practiqué' in order to maintain the 'k' sound.

Hmmm, perhaps what I was thinking about when I said, "Yo soy un estudiante mejor" was actually the noun-adjective relationship. Since the adjective also comes after the noun, "las sillas buenas", "los zapatos azules". I confused - adjective-noun with adjective-adverb. It would have been nice if they class had actually showed us the difference between those...
You're getting mixed up, but don't worry. It's a complicated thing. You're actually talking about a few different things...adjective-noun agreements, comparatives and superlatives.

Adjective-noun agreements: adjectives generally come after the noun. Exceptions can change the meaning:

After noun:
antiguo - ancient
gran/grande - large
pobre - needy, poor
nuevo - brand new
único - unique
viejo - elderly

Before noun:
antiguo - former
gran/grander - great
pobre - deserving of pity
nuevo - new to owner...not brand new
único - only
viejo - old, long-time

Comparatives:
You can compare things that are equal, or inequal. Let's just deal with the inequalities. The comparative words always preceede the quality being compared:

mejor (better)
peor (worse)
más (more
menos (less)
mayor (older)
menor (younger)
más grande (bigger)
más pequeño

Yo soy mejor que ella. Yo soy mejor estudiante que ella.
Ella es menor que yo.
Christian es peor guitarrista que ella.

Superlatives:
These are the 'ultimate'...you know how we go from being good, to being better, to being the best? The first is just an adjective, the second is a comparative, the last is a superlative.

Superlatives use the article (el, la, los, las) and the comparative word. For example, to say you are the oldest, you say, "Yo soy el mayor". To say you are the best, you say, "yo soy el mejor" (assuming you are male, I'd use 'la'). To say you are the biggest, you'd be "el más grande".


Doesn't "fui" also mean, "I was" ? The verbs 'ir' and 'ser' are conjugated exactly the same in the preterit. So yes, 'fui' could mean 'I went' or 'I was'. But you have to understand the difference between SER and ESTAR, as well as the difference between the preterit and the imperative.

I thought the sentence, "I saw me friends leave in the airplane and I was sad." would be "Yo le vi mi amigo sale en el avión y yo fui triste." When expressing an emotion or a feeling, you always use 'estar', and in the past tense, you use the imperfect, not the preterit. I'll give you a link in a second to go further into that.

Also, can the noun/adjective "animal" change with gender, "el animal, la animal, las animales, los animales." ? Yes. Some nouns don't need to change their spelling except when pluralised. Usually nouns ending in consonants.

To say, "I am the tallest." would you say, "Yo soy el más alto." or "Yo soy más alto." Yo soy el más alto. Yo soy más alto just means 'I am taller'.

Here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9475344#post9475344) are some specific lessons on grammatical points in Spanish...I hadn't gotten to the past tense though. Make sure you look at SER versus ESTAR (http://www.lingolex.com/ser/leftmenu.htm). Here (http://tchaidze.com/spangram/tenses_ind.html#preterit) is another link just briefly going over when to use the preterit and when to use the imperfect, and which verbs (http://tchaidze.com/spangram/useful.html#preterite%20meaning) change meaning depending on your choice.

Okay, I need this cleared up once and for all

Aplastaland says you cannot say, "Rosa es una estudiante buena", he says it would be, "Rosa es buena estudiante" Similarly, could you say, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que yo."

If you were saying, "Higgins is a quieter cat then Hannah." would it be, "Higgins es el gato más callado que Hannah." ? I wasn't sure because I thought, "Higgins es el gato más callado." means, "he is the quietest cat."
Perhaps the sentence would be, "Higgins es un gato más callado que Hannah."

I personally thought that it could be both, my teacher does too. Not to mention that I thought that because we have been taught to form things in this manner. "Las sillas antiguas" "las telenovelas abburidas" "Los perros grandes"

Ponders...

Does anyone know of some really GOOD Spanish textbooks that cover Spanish 1 ,2, and maybe some of 3? Ones that give many examples so you aren't left wondering what somethings is? In other words, ones not like paso A paso - a book that focuses too much on vocabulary, and not enough on grammar.

I want a book that mainly focuses on grammar, works from the ground up, etc...

I don't know, sometimes I think I should just go with the flow and just move on to Spanish 3, with a native speaker, who might correct my mistakes, while other times I feel obligated to retake the class, with a different teacher. I have a 99%, though, and while she does make more grammar mistakes than I think she should, most other kids really don't care. Just the kids like me, plus she doesn't make them ALL the time. Your thoughts, please.

You know. I have been in spanish for like 5 yrs now...(4 yrs of hs and 1 yr in 8th grade) And i am currently enrolled in span 326...third year spanish class in college...I have always maintained AN "a" avg., yet i feel so unprepared and what not when i want to speak it. However I am good at writing it. But i think for people that are learning a second language, immersion is the best way to go.. So what i suggest is find spanish tv channel or radio station..or get spanish cd and what not and just listen to it...or go to a sp. speaking country for a few weeks. Thats what i am doing over summer....like guada-something another in Mexico

Okay, I need this cleared up once and for all

Aplastaland says you cannot say, "Rosa es una estudiante buena", he says it would be, "Rosa es buena estudiante" Similarly, could you say, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que yo."


You are talking about three different things though.

The second one doesn't quite mean 'Rosa is a good student' however...in a sense, 'Rosa es una estudiante buena' means that she is one of a group of good students that exist, while the second 'Rosa es buena esudiante' is specific to Rosa being a good student, as in, that is one of her qualities. You CAN say both, but the meaning is altered slightly. Don't worry about it too much.

"Rosa es una estudiante mejor que yo" means "Rosa is a student, better than me". It doesn't necessarily mean she's a better STUDENT than you, just that she happens to be a student, and happens to be better than you. It's vague, and weird.

"Rosa es mejor estudiante que yo" is correct, and directly comparing the quality of being a better student.


If you were saying, "Higgins is a quieter cat then Hannah." would it be, "Higgins es el gato más callado que Hannah." ? I wasn't sure because I thought, "Higgins es el gato más callado." means, "he is the quietest cat."
Perhaps the sentence would be, "Higgins es un gato más callado que Hannah."

It would be, "Higgins es un gato mas callado que Hannah." The other sentences means "Higgens is the quietest cat than Hannah" or "Higgens is the cat that is quieter than Hannah". It doesn't quite make sense.

Okay, I need this cleared up once and for all

Aplastaland says you cannot say, "Rosa es una estudiante buena", he says it would be, "Rosa es buena estudiante" Similarly, could you say, "Rosa es una estudiante mejor que yo." I have heard it both ways. As for the last one, its not really the same sentence as the first two.


If you were saying, "Higgins is a quieter cat then Hannah." would it be, "Higgins es el gato más callado que Hannah." ? I wasn't sure because I thought, "Higgins es el gato más callado." means, "he is the quietest cat."
Perhaps the sentence would be, "Higgins es un gato más callado que Hannah."
The first sentence is correct. Usually most spanish speakers(the ones i have come across anyways) avoid using "un" or una a lot in sentences
like that.

I personally thought that it could be both, my teacher does too. Not to mention that I thought that because we have been taught to form things in this manner. "Las sillas antiguas" "las telenovelas abburidas" "Los perros grandes"
Well either way is correct from what i understand.

Ponders...

Does anyone know of some really GOOD Spanish textbooks that cover Spanish 1 ,2, and maybe some of 3? Ones that give many examples so you aren't left wondering what somethings is? In other words, ones not like paso A paso - a book that focuses too much on vocabulary, and not enough on grammar.

I want a book that mainly focuses on grammar, works from the ground up, etc...

I don't know, sometimes I think I should just go with the flow and just move on to Spanish 3, with a native speaker, who might correct my mistakes, while other times I feel obligated to retake the class, with a different teacher. I have a 99%, though, and while she does make more grammar mistakes than I think she should, most other kids really don't care. Just the kids like me, plus she doesn't make them ALL the time. Your thoughts, please.


That last part I really can't help you with much.. Like i said previously, immerse yourself in the spanish language..Watcha spanish soap opera if it comes down to it....But yeah..hope i could of been of some help

I hate Spanish because it is fucking up my country. I see it as a lazy and dumb langugage considering the speakers and learners. You can't order a Big Mac without saying "Comprende?"

I hate Spanish because it is fucking up my country. I see it as a lazy and dumb langugage considering the speakers and learners. You can't order a Big Mac without saying "Comprende?"
A lazy and dumb language? Racista tonto. A language can't fuck up a country. Give me a break.

I hate Spanish because it is fucking up my country. I see it as a lazy and dumb langugage considering the speakers and learners. You can't order a Big Mac without saying "Comprende?"
Right. So that's question one on your 'is your language intelligent quiz'?

A lazy and dumb language? Racista tonto. A language can't fuck up a country. Give me a break.
It sure can. People cant comprende me-e.

I hate Spanish because it is fucking up my country. I see it as a lazy and dumb langugage considering the speakers and learners. You can't order a Big Mac without saying "Comprende?"

One of the reasons I work so hard at being good at Spanish, I don't want to end up like ^^^^ Even though they really should speak English if they move to America, to say the "language" itself is dumb is just ignorant. Considering the fact that Europeans are pretty much forced to learn English at a very young age.

Anyway, can "el animal" be changed to "la animal, los animales y las animales" when talking about a female animal?

Is "cerca" feminine, because my teacher had a question that said, "¿Quién vive la más cerca de MHS (the initials of my school)?" That's all I can think of for now...I'm sure I will think of more, though

Based on the knowledge I've displayed, and the fact that I have a 99%, even though my teacher makes more mistakes than she really should, do you think I would get an A if I moved on to Spanish 3?

Anyway, can "el animal" be changed to "la animal, los animales y las animales" when talking about a female animal?
No. You have to say "el animal hembra" o "los animales hembras".

Is "cerca" feminine, because my teacher had a question that said, "¿Quién vive la más cerca de MHS (the initials of my school)?" That's all I can think of for now...I'm sure I will think of more, though
"Cerca" meaning "fence" is feminine. However, in this case it's being used as "close" and therefore has no gender whatsoever, not even being a noun.
"¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" is the correct sentence. Probably your teacher was translating "Who lives the closest to MHS?" a bit to literally.

Based on the knowledge I've displayed, and the fact that I have a 99%, even though my teacher makes more mistakes than she really should, do you think I would get an A if I moved on to Spanish 3?
No idea, I don't know anything about high school Spanish courses.

Anyway, can "el animal" be changed to "la animal, los animales y las animales" when talking about a female animal?

"Animal" is always male (http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?LEMA=animal&TIPO_HTML=2&FORMATO=ampliado&sourceid=mozilla-search).

Is "cerca" feminine, because my teacher had a question that said, "¿Quién vive la más cerca de MHS (the initials of my school)?" That's all I can think of for now...I'm sure I will think of more, though

"Cerca" is an adverb and does not have gender. You can say "¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" but no "¿Quién vive la más cerca de MHS?". Also you can say "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?", but in this case "la" is not a article, but a personal pronoun, and does not refer to "cerca".

On a somewhat related side note, that you might already know about agreements.

Usually nouns that end in "ma" are male. El systema y El programa.

It's good to see your not only trying to pass the class, but are really trying to learn the language.

"Animal" is always male (http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?LEMA=animal&TIPO_HTML=2&FORMATO=ampliado&sourceid=mozilla-search).



"Cerca" is an adverb and does not have gender. You can say "¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" but no "¿Quién vive la más cerca de MHS?". Also you can say "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?", but in this case "la" is not a article, but a personal pronoun, and does not refer to "cerca".

What role does the "la" play in the sentence, "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?" What does the sentence actually mean


"On a somewhat related side note, that you might already know about agreements.

Usually nouns that end in "ma" are male. El systema y El programa."

What exactly is an agreement? I am not to the point yet in high school where I know all the English sayings off the top my head, though I know the most obvious ones (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc...) I'm only a freshmen :(

Uh, I always thought that nouns ending in "o" or "os" where masculine. "Chicos"

Does "deportista" mean sportsmen or sporty?

is, "on the weekends", "los fines de semana" or "en los fines de semana". I was wondering because I know "el lunes" means this Monday while "los lunes" means on Mondays, just wondering if the same can apply. Can you say, "en el llunes pasado." or "en los lunes pasados." BTW would it be "pasados". Would this past weekend be, "en el fin de semana pasado."

Can "demasiado", meaning "too" change endings? "Hay demesiadas personas aquí." ?

Is action an adjective? Can you change, "la acción" to "el acción, los acciónes." ?

I know "girl" is a noun, but can it also be considered an adjective, seeing as how you can use it as one. "Ella es una chica."

Is the sentence, "Dura una hora y media." correct, or would it be, "dura una hora y una media hora." How would you say, "lasts 5 hours and 53 minutes." ? Would it be, "dura cinco horas y cincuenta y tres minutos." ?

How would you say, "very pretty"..."muy bonito -a -as -os" ?

Has anyone taken Spanish 4 A.P. in high school?

I'm thinking of, after finishing Spanish 2 this year, doing the equivelent of Spanish 3 in my local community college over summer.

Giving me a choice of either doing A.P. Physics in my junior year or Spanish 4 A.P.

I'm thinking AP Physics because it'll be easier for me to do it that year but I don't know if I'll remember all my spanish. I guess if I keep using at home with mom...(who is a native spanish speaker), then I'll keep it up.

I love spanish! It can't ruin a country:rolleyes: You're overreacting as to the number of non-english speakers. Nobody likes a llama.(the non-animal meaning)

Tu madre es un burro feo y tu padre es una patata frita radioactiva!;)

What role does the "la" play in the sentence, "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?" What does the sentence actually mean

Imagine you are speaking to several women. "La" is used to refer to them. This sentence can be traslated as "Who of you live closer of MHS?". In case you are speaking to several men or to a group of men and women, you would say "¿Quién es el que vive más cerca de MHS?". "¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" can be used in both situations.

"On a somewhat related side note, that you might already know about agreements.

Usually nouns that end in "ma" are male. El sistema y El programa."

What exactly is an agreement? I am not to the point yet in high school where I know all the English sayings off the top my head, though I know the most obvious ones (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc...) I'm only a freshmen :(

In Spanish, article, noum and adjetive must "agree" in gender. You cannot say "La burro cansada", since "La" and "cansada" are femenine and "burro" is masculine. "El burro cansado" or "La burra cansada" are correct.

Uh, I always thought that nouns ending in "o" or "os" where masculine. "Chicos"

Usually, but not always. "Radio" can be femenine (radio) or masculine (spoke, radius).

"Se rompió el radio de la bicicleta"
"El diámetro de una circunferencia es dos veces el radio multiplicado por el número pi".
"Ayer me compré una radio nueva"

Does "deportista" mean sportsmen or sporty?

Both.

is, "on the weekends", "los fines de semana" or "en los fines de semana". I was wondering because I know "el lunes" means this Monday while "los lunes" means on Mondays, just wondering if the same can apply. Can you say, "en el llunes pasado." or "en los lunes pasados." BTW would it be "pasados". Would this past weekend be, "en el fin de semana pasado."

Better "los fines de semana" and "el fin de semana pasado", but "En el fin de semana pasado" is also OK (but it sounds weird). If you say "el lunes pasado" you are speaking only of the last Monday. "Los lunes pasados": the last Mondays. But is better is you don't use "en" (as I said before it sounds weird)

Can "demasiado", meaning "too" change endings? "Hay demesiadas personas aquí." ?

Yes.

Is action an adjective? Can you change, "la acción" to "el acción, los acciónes." ?

It is a noum (http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltObtenerHtml?TIPO_HTML=2&IDLEMA=81810&NEDIC=Si). And it is always femenine (singular "acción", plural "acciones").

I know "girl" is a noun, but can it also be considered an adjective, seeing as how you can use it as one. "Ella es una chica."

Chicha can be a noum ("Ella es una chica") and and adjetive ("Esta casa es chica").

Is the sentence, "Dura una hora y media." correct, or would it be, "dura una hora y una media hora." How would you say, "lasts 5 hours and 53 minutes." ? Would it be, "dura cinco horas y cincuenta y tres minutos." ?

"Dura una hora y media." is correct.
"Dura cinco horas y cincuenta y tres minutos" is also correct.

How would you say, "very pretty"..."muy bonito -a -as -os" ?

"Muy bonito", "muy bonita", "muy bonitos", "muy bonitas".

Perhaps this is just expression of a kid who is obsessed with his classes, but I am in Spanish 2 right now, and my Spanish teachers...sucks. She is nice, but she is fresh out of college and often makes mistakes. Although I have a 99% in her class, I have convinced myself that all this crap that I have been confused about as a result of mistakes she's made is going to bite me in the ass in Spanish 3 or some higher level of Spanish. What are your thoughts on this issue? Also, people may post grammar questions and any other questions they would like about the Spanish language here. I was also wondering if there are any Hispanics or Spanish people on this forum that would be willing to tutor me during the summer, in your free time :( ????

First, how old are you?

Second, you should realize people make mistakes and work on your own if the class is too slow for you. I can guarentee not everyone in that course has a 99%. This sounds like a highschool course so that means the teacher gets paid shit and it has to accomodate many kids who don't give a shit to try.

Thirdly, if you want to actually learn a language fluently you should spend time in a country that speaks it and take classes there. If you plan on going to college (which it sounds like you must) than this is very easy to do at most universities and won't interrupt other studies.

Lastly, you need to learn that highschool means nothing and if it is too slow you need to study on your own or with a tutor.

In real life I am a Bilingual Special Education teacher concerned that the limited spanish of my youth has me less than fully prepared for my students. Though the Anglo administrators consider me capable, as a Hispanic (and very good looking) male, I hold myself to a higher standard.

Very good looking? :p How does that fit into the equation?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vashutze
What role does the "la" play in the sentence, "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?" What does the sentence actually mean?

Imagine you are speaking to several women. "La" is used to refer to them. This sentence can be traslated as "Who of you live closer of MHS?". In case you are speaking to several men or to a group of men and women, you would say "¿Quién es el que vive más cerca de MHS?". "¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" can be used in both situations.
Imagine you are speaking to several women. "La" is used to refer to them. This sentence can be traslated as "Who of you live closer of MHS?". In case you are speaking to several men or to a group of men and women, you would say "¿Quién es el que vive más cerca de MHS?". "¿Quién vive más cerca de MHS?" can be used in both situations.

Umm, if you were speaking to more than one woman, wouldn't it be "las"? Even then, I didn't think "la" meant "you". To my knowledge "el, la, los, las" are articles and, "lo, la, los, las" mean it or them, and as a result, can't mean "you" or anything of that nature.



In Spanish, article, noun and adjective must "agree" in gender. You cannot say "La burro cansada", since "La" and "cansada" are femenine and "burro" is masculine. "El burro cansado" or "La burra cansada" are correct.

Exactly, so how would most things that end in "ma" be masculine?



Better "los fines de semana" and "el fin de semana pasado", but "En el fin de semana pasado" is also OK (but it sounds weird). If you say "el lunes pasado" you are speaking only of the last Monday. "Los lunes pasados": the last Mondays. But is better is you don't use "en" (as I said before it sounds weird)

If it isn't too much trouble, could you provide some examples of using, "el fin de semana, el lunes, el martes etc...el lunes pasado, los lunes pasados, el fin de semana pasado and los fines de semana pasados" ? To say, ''I went to the store on Saturday and Sunday last weekend.' would it be "Yo fui a la tienda el sábado y el domingo el fin de semana pasado." ?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Vashutze
Can "demasiado", meaning "too" change endings? "Hay demesiadas personas aquí." ?

Yes.

Is demasiado an adjective/adverb then?



Chicha can be a noun ("Ella es una chica") and and adjetive ("Esta casa es chica").

According to previous posters, in a sentence such as "Ella es una chica" Ella would be the noun and chica would be the adjective.

If girly is, "chico", then what is manly? Would the sentence, "Yo soy chico" mean "I am girly." ?


"Muy bonito", "muy bonita", "muy bonitos", "muy bonitas".

Would body parts change with who you are talking about? "Ella tienes ojas bonitas." ???


What does felicidad mean?

To say, "a prosperous year", would it be "un año espero" or "un espero año" ? If it is the second, why woud it be this?

Similarly, would you say, "un año nuevo" or "un nuevo año" ?

How are "lo, la, los, las" used? I know what they mean, but I do not know how they would fit into the different types of sentences.

In the sentence "Rosa es una buena chica" Rosa is the noun, chica is the adjective and buena is the adverb, correct? BTW, could you say, "una buena chica" or would it just be "buena chica" ? If you were saying, "La chica es buena", however, would "la chica" be the noun and "buena" be the adjective? To say, "She is the good girl." would you say, "Ella es la buena chica." ? It seems to very to be very similar to saying, "Ella es la mejor chica."

Is bathroom "el cuarto be baño" or "baño" ? I was always taught that it was baño, but I've heard otherwise.

If estar is to feel (and location), to say, "I feel like a cat" would you say, "Yo estoy de un gato."? Is there any other verb that means "to feel"? To say, "I am like a cat" would you say, "Yo soy de un gato"?

Lastly (for now :) ), is there some verb "esperrar" or something similar to it, because for some reason I think there is. Is there also a adjective/adverb "esperro" or something like it?

¡Feliz navidad y felices fiestas!

Umm, if you were speaking to more than one woman, wouldn't it be "las"? Even then, I didn't think "la" meant "you". To my knowledge "el, la, los, las" are articles and, "lo, la, los, las" mean it or them, and as a result, can't mean "you" or anything of that nature.
Only one of them lives the closest, so "la" is the correct word to use.

According to previous posters, in a sentence such as "Ella es una chica" Ella would be the noun and chica would be the adjective.
"Chica" in this case is a noun, used as a direct object in the sentence. If you were to say "Ella es chica", then that would be an adjective, and, to make matters only more confusing, it would mean that she is small, not a girl.

If girly is, "chico", then what is manly? Would the sentence, "Yo soy chico" mean "I am girly." ?
"Chico" is not girly, it simply means boy. To mean girly you could use the femenine of the word applied to a masculine: "Él es una chica."

To mean manly you could say "macho" or "hombruno".

Would body parts change with who you are talking about? "Ella tienes ojas bonitas." ???
Body parts don't change gender: "Ella tiene ojos bonitos, él tiene piernas largas."

What does felicidad mean?
Happiness. What's happiness? That's an entirely different topic.

To say, "a prosperous year", would it be "un año espero" or "un espero año" ? If it is the second, why woud it be this?
"Un próspero año". Just because it sounds better. You could say "un año próspero" and be more grammatically correct.

Similarly, would you say, "un año nuevo" or "un nuevo año" ?
Either. Usually you place the adjective before the noun when you want to emphasize that characteristic. If we want to empasize the newness of the year we say "un nuevo año."

Is bathroom "el cuarto be baño" or "baño" ? I was always taught that it was baño, but I've heard otherwise.
Depends on the region. In Mexico we use "baño" but other countries may say something different. Kind of like bathroom in the US and washroom in Canada.

If estar is to feel (and location), to say, "I feel like a cat" would you say, "Yo estoy de un gato."? Is there any other verb that means "to feel"? To say, "I am like a cat" would you say, "Yo soy de un gato"?
"Estar" is not to feel. To say "I feel sad" you normally say "Estoy triste" (I am sad) just because that's the more familiar use. But you could just as well say "me siento triste."

To say "I am like a cat" would be "Yo soy como un gato." "Yo estoy de un gato" doesn't make sense.

Lastly (for now :) ), is there some verb "esperrar" or something similar to it, because for some reason I think there is. Is there also a adjective/adverb "esperro" or something like it?
"Esperar." It means either "to wait" or "to hope". "Esperado" (awaited) or "esperanzado" (hopeful) would be the 'adjectivized' forms.

¡Feliz navidad y felices fiestas!
¡Igualmente!

"Chico" is not girly, it simply means boy.

Sometimes, speaking in a familiar way, "chico/a" may mean "pequeño/a", too.

should pick something more easier lanague to learn or just make one up then you would be perfect

Sometimes, speaking in a familiar way, "chico/a" may mean "pequeño/a", too.

So saying something like, "Él es chico" could mean "He is small"? Or would you use like so, "Él es un chico." and him being a small boy would be implied?

1. Can you say, "¿Qué es el tiempo como?" to ask, "What is the weather like?", or would you just say, "¿Qué tiempo hace?"? Also, would there be an accent over "como" or not? "Como" means "like", while "Cómo" means "which", correct?

2. To say, "What time is it?" could you say, "¿Qué es tiempo es lo?" or would you just stick with the standard, "¿Qué hora es?"?

3. Could you say, "¿Qué es el tiempo?" to mean "What is the time?" or would you just say, "¿Qué tiempo hace?"?

4. If weather and time are both, “el tiempo”, then how do you differentiate between questions like, “¿Qué es el tiempo?” where it could be either?

5. Does "el tipo" mean "type"? If so, is the sentence, "La gata de Jack es el tipo de gata quien tiene ojos malos." a grammatically correct sentence? Would it be "gato" or "gata", and why?

6. If anyone has the time or patience, I was wondering if you could list all the "who, what, where, when, why, how, which" words such as "Cuál". Also, if there are extensions to them such as "Dónde" has the related words, "De dónde" and "A dónde". Would there be spaces between them? Also, what are the sentences when used in a question and in a sentence, (IE: Cómo and como, Cómo means which, como means like)?

7. The sentence, "I did it for the military" would be, "Yo lo hago para el ejército.", wouldn't it? Also, would it be "PARA" or "Por". If you are talking about an undefined "it", is it always "lo"?

8. A mí has an accented "i", doesn't it? Also, "a ti" does not have an accented "i" ?

9.What are the different types of pronouns? For instance, "Yo le compro un regalo a usted", the "le" is an indirect objective pronoun. However, in "¿Cómo te sientes?" the "te" is a reflexive pronoun. What is the pronoun "Me" in "Me gustan gatos azules."? Does anyone know of any additional types of pronouns?

10. Is it possible to use phrases like "A mí, a ti, a él, a ella, a usted" in sentences that do not involve pronouns? For instance, does "A mí estoy bien" make sense?

11. What is athlete in Spanish? I know "deportista" means sportsmen, BTW is "deportista" feminine, "la deportista"? If so, can you switch it to, "El deportisto"?

12. Does "equipo" mean "team"? If so, does "el equipo de sonido" mean "sound system"? I know that radio in Spanish is "la radio" but what is "stereo" in Spanish?

13. Does "muchas gracias" mean "thank you a lot" or "thank you very much"? If it is the first, how would you say, "thank you very much"? Also, why would it be "MUCHAS gracias" and not "mucho gracias" since "to thank" is a verb, and when you are using a verb, you use "mucho", for example, "Yo lo veo mucho". BTW, wouldn't "muchas" go after "gracias"? Is "gracias" in the "tú" form? Please, clarfiy.

14. How would you say, "One of us" in Spanish? Would it be, "uno de nosotros"? Since nosotros can be used as "us" at times.

15. When are "mal" and "malo" used? They both mean the same thing, so I was wondering when they were used, (much like por and para). Would you say, "Este restaurante es muy mal." or "Este restaurante es muy malo."?

16. In Spanish is it "NOUN + ADJECTIVE" like I think it is or is it "Adjective + Noun" which I severely doubt, because I have seen things written as, "comida sabrosa, lápices largos, feliz navidad, feliz cumpleaños, próspero año" and I am very confused. What is the general rule for describing? What are the exceptions?

17. Next we have describing a person as something. For instance, "Ella es buena estudiante" I have heard that "ella" is the noun, "es" the verb, "buena" the adverb and "estudiante" the adjective. However, I have heard that estudiante is a noun. If "estudiante" is a noun, however, why would the sentence not be, "Ella es una estudiante buena"? How does the rule "Noun + verb + adverb + adjective" apply here? Would the sentence, "Los bebés tienen ojos verdes" make sense, or would it be, "Los bebés tienen verdes ojos" Why? In the sentence, "Hoy es la navidad", what is "hoy" and "navidad" regarding nouns and adjectives?

18. What is "will" in Spanish? How would you say, "I will go home after this baseball game."? Would it be, "Yo voy a ir a mi casa luego este partido de béisbol"?

19. Can you say, "gracias tanto"? What does it mean?

20. Does, "Yo deco" mean, "I say"? What is the past tense conjugation of "decir" meaning "to say"? Decí, decisite, deció, decimos, decisteis, decieron???

21. What is the difference betweeen por and para? How do you determine which to use?

22. I came across a book title, "Expréselo todo en Inglés". What is the meaning of "Expréselo todo en Inglés"? Express everything in English? What does "Expréselo" mean; is there any special meaning for the "lo" on the end? Also, I never thought you used the word "todo"...at all. I thought it was implied by saying "everything" that there was more than one. What does, "todo -a" mean and how are they used in sentences?

23. "¿Quién es la que vive más cerca de MHS?" Does "la" sort of mean "the one", like "Who es the one who lives closest to MHS?" Is it possible to say, "la uno" to refer to "the one" if you are talking to girls? If you are talking to males, can you say, "el uno"?

24. If you were talking to a group of people, how would you ask, "Who is going to cook?", would it be"¿Quién va a cocinar?" or, "¿Quién de ustedes va a cocinar?" If you were expecting more than one person to cook, would it be , "¿Quiénes van a cocinar?"?

25. How do you say, "anyone" in Spanish?

26. This is a question I've had for a while, but how would you say, "the blue one", would it be "el uno azul and la uno azul"? Can you use "la" with the article"? Can you use an indefinite article, also? For instance, to say, "I want a red one", would you say, "Yo quiero una uno roja." Am I just confusing myself? Is it just, "el azul, la roja, una roja, etc..."????

27. I know, "Me lastimé el brazo" means "I hurt my arm", but can you say, "Te lastimé or Le lastimé"; or is there some other grammatical factor I am not including? What does "Me lastimé" literally mean, because could you saying something like, "Yo (verb that means to hurt conjugated) mi brazo"?

28. What does "allí" mean? Does "allí" mean "there"? "Aquí" means "here", so to say "here/there he is", it would be, "aquí/allí él está"; or would you just ommit the "él"?

29. If you were saying, "My feet hurt", I know you would say, "Me duelen los pies", but could you say, "Me duelen mis pies", to mean the same thing?

So saying something like, "Él es chico" could mean "He is small"? Or would you use like so, "Él es un chico." and him being a small boy would be implied?

1. Can you say, "¿Qué es el tiempo como?" to ask, "What is the weather like?", or would you just say, "¿Qué tiempo hace?"? Also, would there be an accent over "como" or not? "Como" means "like", while "Cómo" means "which", correct?

It is "¿Qué tiempo hace?" or "¿Cómo está el tiempo?"

2. To say, "What time is it?" could you say, "¿Qué es tiempo es lo?" or would you just stick with the standard, "¿Qué hora es?"? "¿Qué hora es?"

3. Could you say, "¿Qué es el tiempo?" to mean "What is the time?" or would you just say, "¿Qué tiempo hace?"?

About clock time? "¿Qué hora es?. About weather= "¿Qué tiempo hace?"

4. If weather and time are both, “el tiempo”, then how do you differentiate between questions like, “¿Qué es el tiempo?” where it could be either?

We never say "¿Qué es el tiempo?". It sounds more like a metaphysical question.

5. Does "el tipo" mean "type"? If so, is the sentence, "La gata de Jack es el tipo de gata quien tiene ojos malos." a grammatically correct sentence? Would it be "gato" or "gata", and why?

What an annoying phrase. I would contract it into "La gata de Jack es de las que tienen malos ojos". I give preference to "malos" to make it sound better. The opposite -ojos malos- is correct, but sounds worse. Too annoying phrase...

7. The sentence, "I did it for the military" would be, "Yo lo hago para el ejército.", wouldn't it? Also, would it be "PARA" or "Por". If you are talking about an undefined "it", is it always "lo"? It is "por". And, yes, it is always "lo".

8. A mí has an accented "i", doesn't it? Also, "a ti" does not have an accented "i" ? "A tí" should be accented, too.

9.What are the different types of pronouns? For instance, "Yo le compro un regalo a usted", the "le" is an indirect objective pronoun. However, in "¿Cómo te sientes?" the "te" is a reflexive pronoun. What is the pronoun "Me" in "Me gustan gatos azules."? Does anyone know of any additional types of pronouns?

Kinds of pronouns: adjective, demostrative, undefined, undetermined, interrogative, personal, possesive, and relative.

10. Is it possible to use phrases like "A mí, a ti, a él, a ella, a usted" in sentences that do not involve pronouns? For instance, does "A mí estoy bien" make sense? No. It should be "Yo, tú, él, nosotros, vosotros, ellos."

11. What is athlete in Spanish? I know "deportista" means sportsmen, BTW is "deportista" feminine, "la deportista"? If so, can you switch it to, "El deportisto"? "Athlete" is "Atleta". "Deportista" is both for man and woman; "deportisto" doesn't exist.

12. Does "equipo" mean "team"? If so, does "el equipo de sonido" mean "sound system"? I know that radio in Spanish is "la radio" but what is "stereo" in Spanish? Yes. And yes. Stereo in spanish is accepted by the RAE as anglicism, it is "estéreo".

13. Does "muchas gracias" mean "thank you a lot" or "thank you very much"? If it is the first, how would you say, "thank you very much"? Also, why would it be "MUCHAS gracias" and not "mucho gracias" since "to thank" is a verb, and when you are using a verb, you use "mucho", for example, "Yo lo veo mucho". BTW, wouldn't "muchas" go after "gracias"? Is "gracias" in the "tú" form? Please, clarfiy. "Gracias" is a noun here. Muchas palomas, muchas gracias, muchas llaves. It is "Thank you very much"; the other would be "un montón de gracias" -BTW misused-. It is MUCHAS because the adverbs are applied to the noun, and in this case, the noun is femenine and plural. To thank means "agradecer".

14. How would you say, "One of us" in Spanish? Would it be, "uno de nosotros"? Since nosotros can be used as "us" at times.

yes

15. When are "mal" and "malo" used? They both mean the same thing, so I was wondering when they were used, (much like por and para). Would you say, "Este restaurante es muy mal." or "Este restaurante es muy malo."? It varies with the verb, it depends if it is "ser" or "estar". With ser we write "malo" (es muy malo); with "estar" we say "mal" (está muy mal). It has not practical difference.


16. In Spanish is it "NOUN + ADJECTIVE" like I think it is or is it "Adjective + Noun" which I severely doubt, because I have seen things written as, "comida sabrosa, lápices largos, feliz navidad, feliz cumpleaños, próspero año" and I am very confused. What is the general rule for describing? What are the exceptions?

Always, always, always, like I said, "noun + adjective".

Exception: We invert the verbs in poetry.


17. Next we have describing a person as something. For instance, "Ella es buena estudiante" I have heard that "ella" is the noun, "es" the verb, "buena" the adverb and "estudiante" the adjective. However, I have heard that estudiante is a noun. If "estudiante" is a noun, however, why would the sentence not be, "Ella es una estudiante buena"? How does the rule "Noun + verb + adverb + adjective" apply here? Would the sentence, "Los bebés tienen ojos verdes" make sense, or would it be, "Los bebés tienen verdes ojos" Why? In the sentence, "Hoy es la navidad", what is "hoy" and "navidad" regarding nouns and adjectives?

"estudiante" is adjective here, not noun; it is adjective because "ella" -pronoun- is occupying the place of the noun. You are saying what is she, you are describing her: She is (a good) student. The rule does not vary.
It is "Los bebés tienen ojos verdes". Adjective closes the nominal syntagm (sp?). The translation of "Hoy es la Navidad" would be "Today is the Christmas", so the correct way to say it is "Hoy es Navidad".


18. What is "will" in Spanish? How would you say, "I will go home after this baseball game."? Would it be, "Yo voy a ir a mi casa luego este partido de béisbol"? As in english, it indicates future. "I will go home after this baseball game" would be "Me iré -you know, the verb "ir" is strange- a (mi) casa después de éste partido de béisbol". "After" means "después de".

19. Can you say, "gracias tanto"? What does it mean? It has no meaning, it does not exist.

20. Does, "Yo deco" mean, "I say"? What is the past tense conjugation of "decir" meaning "to say"? Decí, decisite, deció, decimos, decisteis, decieron??? "Decir" is irregular. "Yo DIGO".
Dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron.

21. What is the difference betweeen por and para? How do you determine which to use? Examples: "por" is for something, "para" is for a place. An expert will teach you better.

22. I came across a book title, "Expréselo todo en Inglés". What is the meaning of "Expréselo todo en Inglés"? Express everything in English? What does "Expréselo" mean; is there any special meaning for the "lo" on the end? Also, I never thought you used the word "todo"...at all. I thought it was implied by saying "everything" that there was more than one. What does, "todo -a" mean and how are they used in sentences?

Yes, that's it. I don't wanna bother you with Indirect Complements rules, so I just say you that "Expréselo" is the correct way to write it. "Todo" means "all".

"Todos/todas" mean "everybody, everyone".

23. Does "la" sort of mean "the one", like "Who es the one who lives closest to MHS?" Is it possible to say, "la uno" to refer to "the one" if you are talking to girls? If you are talking to males, can you say, "el uno"? We never say "la una, el uno", but just "la, el".

24. If you were talking to a group of people, how would you ask, "Who is going to cook?", would it be"¿Quién va a cocinar?" or, "¿Quién de ustedes va a cocinar?" If you were expecting more than one person to cook, would it be , "¿Quiénes van a cocinar?"?

Yes, "¿Quién/es va/n a cocinar?" are correct. "¿Quién de ustedes va a cocinar?" would mean "Which one of you is going to cook?"

25. How do you say, "anyone" in Spanish?

"Cualquiera".

26. This is a question I've had for a while, but how would you say, "the blue one", would it be "el uno azul and la uno azul"? Can you use "la" with the article"? Can you use an indefinite article, also? For instance, to say, "I want a red one", would you say, "Yo quiero una uno roja." Am I just confusing myself? Is it just, "el azul, la roja, una roja, etc..."???? As seen before, it is only "el/la".


27. I know, "Me lastimé el brazo" means "I hurt my arm", but can you say, "Te lastimé or Le lastimé"; or is there some other grammatical factor I am not including? What does "Me lastimé" literally mean, because could you saying something like, "Yo (verb that means to hurt conjugated) mi brazo"? "(Yo) Me lastimé/herí (verb "herir") el brazo", "(Yo) Te lastimé/herí el brazo (to you-singular)", "(Yo) le lastimé/herí el brazo (to him/her/it)

28. What does "allí" mean? Does "allí" mean "there"? "Aquí" means "here", so to say "here/there he is", it would be, "aquí/allí él está"; or would you just ommit the "él"? Yes, "allí" means "there". You should ommit "él", but if you say it has to be placed after "estar".

29. If you were saying, "My feet hurt", I know you would say, "Me duelen los pies", but could you say, "Me duelen mis pies", to mean the same thing?
Yes.

Greetings.

Back on the main topic, I find that the teachers at my school at least (private Catholic high school) do well at teaching Spanish- though the vast majority are not native speakers, they all know what they're doing. I'm currently taking Spanish III, next year trying to decide between AP and normal Honors Spanish IV- we're using the En Espanol series of textbooks, which frankly suck compare to the old series (Buen Viaje), namely because this one is so disorganised..

The main problem is, though, not the individual schools themselves, but the attitudes of society as a whole. Society believes that Science and Math are more important than language (both English and foriegn languages), thus liberal arts programs tend to suffer- for example, at my school, there used to be three modern languages taught- French, Spanish, and German. The German program was dropped in the early 90s, and the French program is on the verge of extinction- while at the same time, the amount of science and math programs doubled. So the problem is society's attitudes towards language.

On that note, my advice to fellow Spanish students: Stick with it, when this country goes bilingual (an unfortunate reality), you'll do well in job interviews. But, if Spanish bores you, do like me and start taking French once you get a free period. :D

What an annoying phrase. I would contract it into "La gata de Jack es de las que tienen malos ojos". I give preference to "malos" to make it sound better. The opposite -ojos malos- is correct, but sounds worse. Too annoying phrase...

So, you can say, "adjective + noun" in cases where you want to emphasise, and in poetry?

It is "por". And, yes, it is always "lo".
Any special reason why? WHen is "por" used in a sentence as opposed to "para"?

"A tí" should be accented, too.
Are you sure? I am pretty sure you the "i" wouldn't have an accent. "Yo te compro un regalo a ti" for instance, a mí, a ti, a él, a ella, a usted, etc...

Kinds of pronouns: adjective, demostrative, undefined, undetermined, interrogative, personal, possesive, and relative.
Thanks, though I don't know half of them, I am sure they will come in handy, when I am study the course on me own.

"Athlete" is "Atleta". "Deportista" is both for man and woman; "deportisto" doesn't exist.
Is it like "la persona", where it is always the article is always feminine, or can it be, "el atleta, el deportista, los atletas, los deportistas"?

Yes. And yes. Stereo in spanish is accepted by the RAE as anglicism, it is "estéreo".
RAE? Anglicism? Estéreo is not an acception of anything, is it? Estéreo is of course, masculine, correct? What nouns, that are not related to people, have exceptions? I know most of the time ones that are exceptions, "las personas, deportista" etc...generally relate to people.

"Gracias" is a noun here. Muchas palomas, muchas gracias, muchas llaves. It is "Thank you very much"; the other would be "un montón de gracias" -BTW misused-. It is MUCHAS because the adverbs are applied to the noun, and in this case, the noun is femenine and plural. To thank means "agradecer".
What makes it gracias and not "gracia". Also, what makes it able to change from masculine to feminine? What is the masculine form? Gracias then automatically has the "you" implied, since muchas means a lot or very much? Could you say, "Muchas gracias a ti" or would that just be wrong?

It varies with the verb, it depends if it is "ser" or "estar". With ser we write "malo" (es muy malo); with "estar" we say "mal" (está muy mal). It has not practical difference.
So are you able to say, "Yo estoy muy malo" or "Tú eres muy mal"? Is is it that huge of a deal?

Always, always, always, like I said, "noun + adjective".
Exception: We invert the verbs in poetry.
Can't you also do it for emphasis, "feliz navidad, malos ojos (like you posted earlier)"?

"estudiante" is adjective here, not noun; it is adjective because "ella" -pronoun- is occupying the place of the noun. You are saying what is she, you are describing her: She is (a good) student. The rule does not vary.
It is "Los bebés tienen ojos verdes". Adjective closes the nominal syntagm (sp?). The translation of "Hoy es la Navidad" would be "Today is the Christmas", so the correct way to say it is "Hoy es Navidad".

Even if it was a name, "estudiante" would still be the adjective. "Jessica es una estudianta mala" Jessica = noun, es = verb, estudiante = adjective, mala = adverb, is that correct? In the dictionary, it says that student is a noun, always, though I am not sure. Could you say, "Jessica es mala estudiante"? Could you say, "Jessica es una mala estudiante"? Or, "Jessica es la mala estudiante"..."the bad student"? WHich could you say, "Jessica es mala estudiante" or "Jessica es la/una estudiante mala"? Could you say, "Jessica es la mala estudiante" and "Jessica es una mala estudiante"?

As in english, it indicates future. "I will go home after this baseball game" would be "Me iré -you know, the verb "ir" is strange- a (mi) casa después de éste partido de béisbol". "After" means "después de". "Me iré" means "I will go", in future tense, of course, correct?

"Decir" is irregular. "Yo DIGO".
Dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron.
Present tense would be, "digo, dices, deci, decimos, decís, dicieron", correct? Decir means to say, correct?

Examples: "por" is for something, "para" is for a place. An expert will teach you better.
I can probably find it on google.

Yes, that's it. I don't wanna bother you with Indirect Complements rules, so I just say you that "Expréselo" is the correct way to write it. "Todo" means "all". "Todos/todas" mean "everybody, everyone".
So, "todo/toda" means all, "todos, todas" means every?


Yes, "¿Quién/es va/n a cocinar?" are correct. "¿Quién de ustedes va a cocinar?" would mean "Which one of you is going to cook?"
Can either be used, however? "¿Quién/es va/n a cocinar?" to mean, "Who is going to cook?" and "Whom es going to cook?", and "¿Quién de ustedes va a cocinar?" to mean, "Which of you all is going to cook?"?



"Cualquiera".
If you were saying, I am not able to see anyone, would you say, "Yo no puedo mirar nadie." because of double negatives? Also, if you have the patience, post a sentence or two using "cualquiera"

As seen before, it is only "el/la".
Are you able to say, "una roja, uno verde, unos blancos, unas negras" things like that, with the indefinite articles?


"(Yo) Me lastimé/herí (verb "herir") el brazo", "(Yo) Te lastimé/herí el brazo (to you-singular)", "(Yo) le lastimé/herí el brazo (to him/her/it)
Alright, so the "mé" on "lastimé" wouldn't change if you were saying "I hurt myself"? Also, why would it be "(Yo) Te lastimé/herí el brazo (to you-singular)"
Why would you say, "yo" or "herí" if you were saying, "You hurt your arm"??? Sorry, I didn't catch that one at all.

Yes, "allí" means "there". You should ommit "él", but if you say it has to be placed after "estar".
So, "allí está él" to mean, "there he is"? If you were saying, he is there, would it be, "él está allí"?

A second set of questions:

1. To say, "I didn't do anything." would you say, "Yo no hago nada." because of double neagatives?

2. If you were asking, who is the best player of football, but were directing it to boys and girls, it would be, ¿Quién es el mejor jugador de fútbol? Correct? Likewise, the response could be, "Yo soy la mejor jugadora de fútbol.", if that was grammatically correct?

3. To say, "I want more, I want less" you'd say, "Yo quiero más, yo quiero menos", correct?

4. To say, "I have stomach aches.", would you say, "Yo tengo dolor de estómago." correct? Why would it be "de estómago" and not "del estómago"?

5. What is "whatever" in Spanish? What is "without" in Spanish?

6. How would you say, "You are in here next to me."? Would it be, "Tú estás (quedas) dentro de aquí, al lado de yo."? What is "me" in Spanish, or would you just use, "yo".

7. I saw a book titled, ¡El Último Secreto!, and I was wondering if it would be "¡El Secreto Último!, or would you put "Último" before because of emphasis since it is a book title?

8. Does, "¿Lo sabes bien?" mean, "Do you know it well?" ? Could you put the "lo" after the sabes?

9. To say, "a one story house", would it be, "una casa de uno piso", or would it be, "una casa de un piso"?

10. What is "similar to" in Spanish? What is just "similar" in Spanish?

11. Sometimes I get when to use, "de, que, and a", mixed up when using them in a sentence. If you could provide a brief meaning of each, and a two or three sentences as how they are used, I would be very pleased.

12. Is there any rule to accents of words (specifically nouns, but sometimes adjectives) as to when the accents change, or do you just have to learn as you go on? For instance, "el sillón, los sillones" for a noun example, and "joven, jóvenes" as an adjective example. BTW, does, "joven" change to "jóvenes" in it's noun and adjective form, "el joven, los jóvenes"?

13. Does "el viejo, los viejos" mean, "the old one, the old" or "the old man, the old men."? Can it mean both? Could you say, "los hombros viejos" to mean, "the old men" too?

14. Can you add, "el, la, los, las" to ANY adjective to make it mean, "the (insert adjective) one"? "Me gusta los prudentes" to mean, "The prudent ones pleasure me."???

15. If #14 is right, then how do you differentiate between words like, "la cómoda" meaning "dresser" and "cómodo -a -os -as"??? How would you differentiate between "the dresser" and "the comfortable one" if the "one" is feminine? How would you know if, "Yo quiero la cómoda" means, "I want the dresser" or "I want the comfortable one"?

16. To say, "It is green", would you say, "Lo es verde"? TO say, "they are green", would you say, "Los son verdes"? Also, talking about OBJECTS, instead of using "los" or "las" to mean them, can you use, "ellos" and "ellas"?

17. What are the different possession words?
Are they:

Mine = mi, mis our = nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras
Your(s) = tu, tus Y'all's = vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras
His/her/your(s) = su, sus Their, y'all's = Su/sus

How would you differentiate between the two sets of "su/sus" if I am correct?

Would "their dog" be "Su perro" and "Their cars" be "Sus coches (carros)"?

18. Is "face" in Spanish, "la cara"? Is "car" in Spanish, "el carro/el coche"? Is "expensive" in Spanish, "caro -a -os -as"?

19. Saw another book titled, "Mis primeras palabras", is the "primeras palabras" for emphasis since it's a book title? "Mis palabras primeras" would be more grammatically correct, wouldn't it?

20. Does, "los muertos" refer to just the dead people? What is the adjective for dead? How would you say, "The dead babies"? What is "the death" in Spanish? "Death" is a noun, correct?

21. The rule, "noun + adjective" is more gramatically correct than, "adjective + noun", correct? You use, "adjective + noun" in poetry, in titles and when you want to emphasis that adjective, correct?

22. How would you say, "I don't want you to eat that" in Spanish? Would it be, "Yo no quiero tú comer lo."?

23. I was wondering about how conjugated verbs changed when turning them into orders. My teacher told me that "ir" and "er" verbs generally turn into "ar" . What do "ar" verbs turn into? Also, what happens to irregular verbs such as "ir, estar, ser, volver, etc..."? Also, would you have to change some things because of the "g followed by e" rule, the "z followed by e" rule and the "c followed by e" rule? For instance, would "Ustedes sacquen", "Ustedes lleguen" and "Ustedes empecen" be correct? Would there be accents anywhere, would "empequen" be, "empiequen" or "empiequén"? State the rules, exceptions, what happens to irregular verbs and other information would be greatly appreciated.

24. Are "station" and "season" both, "la estación"?

25. In the statement, "Yo no lo sabía", would "lo" mean "that"? I thought "that" was "ese/esa"

26. What words (mainly nouns and adjectives) change based on wether their plural or feminine? (IE. ones like la joven, las jóvenes) BTW, would it be, "la joven, las jóvenes", are those spelled correctly with all necessary accents?

27. What types of adjectives can become nouns by adding an article? Can that occur with all adjectives? Could you say, "el pequeño" to mean "the little one"? If that is true, then why is "el viejo", "old man" in Spanish, and not, "the old one"?

28. To say, "He is the best person in the world", would you say, "Él es la mejor persona en el mundo"? To say, "he is a better person than her", would you say, "Él es mejor persona que ella" or, "Él es una mejor persona que ella."? Could you say both? Also, if you were saying, "He is a good person", would you say, "Él es buena persona" or "Él es una persona buena."? Could you say both? Next, does, "Él es la persona buena." mean, "He is the good person."?

29. Could you reply, "Yo quiero el amable" meaning, to the question, "¿Quieres tú la gata antipática o el gato amable?"? What I am asking if you can say, "la" or "una" plus the adjective to mean, "the (insert adjective here) one."?

30. If in any Spanish sentence or question or are refering to an unknown audience, it could be plural or singular, would you use the "tú" form for the verb or the "ustedes" form of the verb?

31. If you were saying, "We hurt our eyes" would it be, "Nos duelen los ojos." or "Nos duelen nuestros ojos."?

32. Similarly, would you say, "Te duele tu nariz" or "Te duele la nariz"? Can you use both?

33. What is "above" in Spanish?

34. In our book, there was a statement, "Para no tener dolor de muelas, visita al dentista regularmente.". Why would it be "visita" and not "visite" if it was an order? Why would there be the "al"? Is it because of the personal "a" plus the "el dentista"? You default to masculine if it isn't specified, correct? Why does "el dentista" need the "personal a" in this sentence. Are "dentists" alone a specific enough group to get a personal "a"? How "specific" of a group deserves the "personal a"?

35. What are the rules for conjugated an order? (PREVIOUSLY POSTED QUESTION?)

36. To play is "jugar", player is "el jugador" or "la jugadora" and game is "juego", correct? Would it be grammatically correct to say, "El juego de fútbol" instead of "el partido de fútbol"?

37. Why is it that some sentences, statements, and words have, "de (noun)" without any articles involved, no "del, de la, de las, de los"? For instance, "El actor de cine" and "El partido de béisbol".

38. I had questions about some nouns. What are some examples of nouns that change endings and articles (IE: El médico, la médica), nouns that do not change article or ending, (IE: la persona) and nouns that do not change ending but change article, (IE: el deportista, la deportista)? BTW, can you change the article of "deportista" like I just did?

39. In the sentence, "She is a good student", what is the noun, adjective and adverb. I have gotten mixed responses, so I don't know. Is it, "Ella = noun, es = verb, estudiante = adjective, buena = adverb"? Would the sentence be, "Ella es una estudiante buena." or "Ella es buena estudiante."? Could it be either?

40. TO say, "She is a very good student.", would you say, "Ella es una estudiante muy buena", or "Ella es muy buena estudiante"? I am leaning more towards the first one.

41. "Simpático" is nice, "amable" is kind, and "cariñoso" is loving, correct? Can "cariñoso" also mean "caring? Can "amable" also mean, "nice"?

42. What is the verb for "awesome" in Spanish? I mean "awesome" in its true English sense, such as mezmorizing.

43. To say, "You have big arms", would you say, "Tú tienes brazos grandes." or "Tú tienes grandes brazos."? Are both gramatically correct, or would it depend on if you wanted to emphasis, "grandes"?

44. Sorry about my inappropriate choice of a noun, but is "tetas", feminine and plural?

45. What is "soon" in Spanish? What is "after" in Spanish? Is "after", "luego"? How would you say, "Long time, no see"?

46. What is the meaning of "Cuál" as opposed to, "Cómo"? What is the meaning of "Cómo" as opposed to "como"? What is the meaning of "Cuál" as opposed to "como"?

47. Would, "I eat too much" in Spanish be, "Yo como demasiado mucho"?

48. Would, "Which cat is it?" in Spanish be, "¿Cuál gato es lo?"? Could it be, "¿Cuál gato lo es?" or, "¿Cuál gato eslo?"?

49. Where can "lo, la, los, las" be positioned in the sentence? After the verb, before the verb, on the end of the verb?

50. Would, "thank you for me gifts." be, "Gracias por mis regalos." in Spanish? Would it be "por" or "para"? Why?

51. Are the sentences, "Tú me vas a comprar un regalo a mí." and "Tú vas a comprarme un regalo a mí." both gramatically correct?

52. How would you say, "I will go on the day of the 6th"? BTW, what is "will" in Spanish? I get myself confused a lot because I am not sure if you put "en" when saying, "I went on monday, on Tuesday, on the weekend, in the week, etc..." Would someone please post some examples of different periods of times, and how "en" would apply to them in different situations, if you have the time. Also, what would "6th" be in Spanish, in the masculine form? What is the general rule for placement, and what are the exceptions, if there are any? Do all placements work like, "primer", that is, "primer, primera"?

53. What is "part" in Spanish? Is it, "el parte" or "la parte?"

54. How would you say, "I want to watch you"? Would it be, "Yo quiero mirar tú." or, "Yo te quiero mirar a ti."?

55. "Mirar" means "to watch", while "ver" means, "to see", correct?

I just looked up how to say, "I love you"...I thought it would be, "Yo amo tú", not "Yo te amo". "Yo te amo" can is the short form of "Yo te amo a ti", "I love to you". THat does not make sense. "A ti" means to you or for you. Yo amo tú is simply "I love you". WHy wouldn't it be that? So saying, "I want her", "I want us", would you then say, "Yo le quiero a ella." and "Yo nos quiero a nosotros"? That does not make sense, at all. Please someone help. Could you say, "Me encantas tú" to mean, "I love you" also?

Someone, Please, HELP

La revolucion no se televisara!

It sounds like you need more than just a little help here. Your questions are ranging all over the grammatical map. There is no point in answering them one by one without explaining the concept behind each question...which would be akin to a full-length course.

Okay, no rush I suppose,

I just looked up how to say, "I love you"...I thought it would be, "Yo amo tú", not "Yo te amo". "Yo te amo" can is the short form of "Yo te amo a ti", "I love to you". THat does not make sense. "A ti" means to you or for you. Yo amo tú is simply "I love you". WHy wouldn't it be that? So saying, "I want her", "I want us", would you then say, "Yo le quiero a ella." and "Yo nos quiero a nosotros"? That does not make sense, at all. Please someone help. Could you say, "Me encantas tú" to mean, "I love you" also?

Someone, Please, HELP

It sounds like you think you can directly translate an English sentence into Spanish simply by changing the words for their Spanish equivalents.

Helpful point: This isn't true for any language.

La revolucion no se televisara!
Uh, ya hasta están repitiendo los capítulos.

Anyone want to check this little 15 sentence paragraph I have to turn in tomorrow. The subject is what you did over break.

If I will put question marks if I need help saying something.

Yo no hice mucho en el descanso (??Over break???). Yo jugué videojuegos en mi sala de estar. Yo recibí muchos regalos por navidad (???On christmas, for christmas, la navidad or just navidad???). Yo dormí en mi cama hace nueve horas todos los días (??? For nine hours, or nine hours ago???). Yo vi la película de "King Kong" en el cine el sábado (on saturday, en sábado or el sábado???). Mis abuelos, mis tíos y mis primos nos visitaron a mis hermanos, mi madre y yo. Yo leí un libro sobre las comidas españoles (???can be used as adjective???). Yo hice ejercicio cuando yo no estuve cansado (???Really wanted to say, "when I was bored.", but, didn't know how???). Yo miré el dibujo animado de "Family Guy". Yo escuché a la música de Rammstein (???a la, correct???). Yo trabajé mucho para recibir dinero. Yo ayudé mi madre en la casa a veces. Yo fui a la iglesia la mañana de navidad (???on christmas morning, en la mañana de...???). Yo comí muchas comidas sabrosas (???Comida means meal & food, correct???). Yo les di unos regalos a mis amigos. Estuve triste el día antes escuela (???I think the grammar for this setence if really bad, I was sad on the day before school???)

How would you say, "I laugh at you?". Would it be, "Yo te (to laugh conjugated) a ti."?

Why would "I love you" be, "Yo te amo" and not "Yo amo tú"?

I never got that completely, if you would you use, "a mi, a ti, etc..." in those situations or just "yo, tú, etc..."

When using, "te and a ti" or any of those for that matter, "me, a mí", can you use both? "Yo te doy un regalo a ti."? If that is the case, then "Yo te amo" could be, "Yo te amo a ti.", and why would you love, "to somebody"?

Lastly, does, "Yo estuve triste ayer porque yo no fui a poder descansar." make sense? "I felt sad yesterday because I was not going to be able rest."?

Would, "Yo no fui" properly mean, "I was not going."? Fui could mean I was, or I went, and "I was not going." kind of combines the two, so I am not sure.

Does, "voy" mean "I go, or I am going", or either?

I went through the whole Public School Spanish riggamaroll in middle and early high school. I went up to Spanish III during my sophomore year and then stopped. Over the summer I worked with a lot of guys from Mexico and although I didn't remember any Spanish at the beginning of the summer, when I left for college last fall I was able to place into the intermediate level. The language program at my school is based on discussion and my confidence in my ability has increased tenfold. I really do believe that discussion, not just constructing short sentences, is the way to go. When you talk to a fluent speaker (or even just watch lots of telemundo!) you begin to notice patterns and when you speak you will eventually learn to hear what SOUNDS right. And even if you arent using perfect grammar, you are still thinking about the language, and the person you are talking to can help correct any reoccuring errors.

I know that I speak to myself in Spanish all the time. Just narrating what I'm going. Like, "Ahora, voy a cepillar mis dientes...."

In my book, it says that, "el chocolate" means "hot chocolate", doesn't it just mean, "chocolate"?

"Friends, I have to tell you that last night I received a phone call from beyond the grave-eh. It was our departed friend, Kennih! Calling from the depths of hell! And he described what hell is like in horrid detail-uh. He said that in hell, the smell is awful. He said that in hell, everyone speaks Spanish. He said there is water in hell, but if you drink it you pee blood out your ass for seven hours-uh! And perhaps worst of all, in hell, there are dozens and dozens of little trinket stores! But they all have the same little trinkets in them-eh!"

Would, "I received presents for Christmas." be, "Yo recibí regalos por navidad" or "para navidad"? I think it would be por, not sure though.

In my book, it says that, "el chocolate" means "hot chocolate", doesn't it just mean, "chocolate"?
It can be both the drink or the sweet.

Would, "I received presents for Christmas." be, "Yo recibí regalos por navidad" or "para navidad"? I think it would be por, not sure though.
"Por" is the correct one to use, because it is the reason why you got the presents.

Anyone want to check this little 15 sentence paragraph I have to turn in tomorrow. The subject is what you did over break.

Hi there,
Spanish is my natural language, so I may help... and you really need help! First of all, unless your teacher told you to write that way, there's no need to start every sentece with "yo"... Spanish is not like English in that sense... you don't need to say "yo" each time you start a new sentence, it sounds repetitive and even if it's not wrong, it sound bizarre.

Yo no hice mucho en el descanso (??Over break???).

"No hice demasiadas cosas durante el receso" would be better.

Yo jugué videojuegos en mi sala de estar. Yo recibí muchos regalos por navidad (???On christmas, for christmas, la navidad or just navidad???).

"Recibí muchos regalos en Navidad"
("en la Navidad" would be OK too...)

Yo dormí en mi cama hace nueve horas todos los días (??? For nine hours, or nine hours ago???).

"Dormí, en mi cama, nueve horas todos los días"
(by the way, to clarify that you slept "in your bed" sounds a bit weird in Spanish... it would be better to say "dormí nueve horas todos los días", there's no need to clarify that you did it in your bed).

Yo vi la película de "King Kong" en el cine el sábado (on saturday, en sábado or el sábado???).

That's perfect, I would simply delete the "yo"... as I've said, you don't need to say "Yo" in each sentence.

Mis abuelos, mis tíos y mis primos nos visitaron a mis hermanos, mi madre y yo.

"... nos visitaron a mis hermanos, a mi madre y a mi"
(you need an "a" before each noun here... and it's "a mi", never "a yo").

Yo leí un libro sobre las comidas españoles (???can be used as adjective???).

Yes, it can be used as an adjective, but it has to match the genre of the noun... hence "las comidas españolas"). "comida" is female!

Yo hice ejercicio cuando yo no estuve cansado (???Really wanted to say, "when I was bored.", but, didn't know how???).

"Hice ejercicios cuando me sentía aburrido"
or
"Hice ejercicios cuando estaba aburrido".

Yo miré el dibujo animado de "Family Guy". Yo escuché a la música de Rammstein (???a la, correct???).

"Escuché la música de Rammstein" (no "a la" is not correct).
I'd say that "escuché discos de Rammstein" would sound more natural.

Yo trabajé mucho para recibir dinero. Yo ayudé mi madre en la casa a veces.

The second sentence has a problem... you are saying that you helped your mother "in the house" (the house as a place)... whilst "a veces" is similar to "often", but it's more related to an habit and you are talking about what you did in a specific moment (the break)... hence:

It would be better to say: "Ayude a mi madre con la limpieza de la casa algunos días".

Yo fui a la iglesia la mañana de navidad (???on christmas morning, en la mañana de...???).

"...en la mañana de navidad" is better. and remember that you don't need to say "yo" in each sentence! It sounds too bizarre.

Yo comí muchas comidas sabrosas (???Comida means meal & food, correct???).

That's perfect!

Yo les di unos regalos a mis amigos. Estuve triste el día antes escuela (???I think the grammar for this setence if really bad, I was sad on the day before school???)

Ouch! Yes, the grammar is bad.
"Estuve triste el día anterior a que comenzaran las clases en la escuela"
or
"Estuve triste el día antes de volver a la escuela" (and you can add "tras el receso")

OH well, it's funny to correct Spanish sentences.

Hello, to Zos-Kia, or anyone else for that matter

My MSN messenger is tutni111@yahoo.com, and I will be on all day tomorrow, so if any of you have free time tomorrow, I would be very pleased if you could spare 20 to 30 minutes with me, thank you

So, I guess I'm just kind of...screwed, for now, alrighty,

Whatever, I don't blame you, this thread was probably deep in the archives anyway.

Okay, I have some questions, and these are going to be on a quiz I have Friday, so these aren't just me being paranoid...
Anyone know of any links that explain what I am asking below?
Currently we are working on commands in the "tú" form. We are also talking studying the present progresive (Yo estoy bailando)

1. Do you keep irregulares in the present progresive, for instance, "Él está juegando", or would it just be "jugando" because it is still considered irregular?

2. My teacher said that "I am going" would be, "Yo estoy iendo", but I do not think it would be "iendo", I think it would be some irregular.

3. Would, "We are sleeping" be "Nosotros estamos dormiendo" or "Nosotros estamos durmiendo"? If it is the second, why would the u change to an o?

4. Are stem changes kept in affirmative commands and negative commands? We are currently studying just the tú form, so would, "Return it" be "Lo vuelve" or something else?

5. Would, "They are having be" be "Ellos están teniendo?". I suppose I just have a bit of trouble with irregulares, or what I think are irregulares. If you have the time, what are some common irregulares when dealing with present progresive?

6. Would, "Sleep" as a command in the you form be, "Duerme" or "durme"? If it is "durme", why would there be just the u? Thirdly, are stem changes kept in affirmative and negative commands?

7. What does "llorar" mean?

8. Does "pasear" mean, "to walk"? If so how does, "Pasear en bote" apply?

9. Is it proper Spanish to say (these are all negatives BTW), "No practiques, no empieces, no digas, no pongas, no tengas, no vuelvas, no leas, no hagas" when telling someone not to do something? I'm not sure, our teacher only told us about 5 irregular verbs for this, so I don't know. She did tell us, that stem changes are kept...and I have heard "digas" before in the phrase, "No me digas"

10. What is the difference between "aprender" and "comprender". If you are ordering someone in the ellos, ellas, or ustedes form, and in the affirmative form, would it be, "comprendan " and "aprendan"? I thought you only changed the endings to the opposite verb ending in the negative form, "No comas".

I might have more tomorrow, they won't be too long though, probably similar to these ^^^^^

Okay, I have some questions, and these are going to be on a quiz I have Friday, so these aren't just me being paranoid...
Anyone know of any links that explain what I am asking below?
Currently we are working on commands in the "tú" form. We are also talking studying the present progresive (Yo estoy bailando)

1. Do you keep irregulares in the present progresive, for instance, "Él está juegando", or would it just be "jugando" because it is still considered irregular?
El esta jugando, juegando no existe

2. My teacher said that "I am going" would be, "Yo estoy iendo", but I do not think it would be "iendo", I think it would be some irregular.
Ni uno ni otro y ademas nadie dice eso, las formas que usan son arcaicas

3. Would, "We are sleeping" be "Nosotros estamos dormiendo" or "Nosotros estamos durmiendo"? If it is the second, why would the u change to an o?
Estamos durmiendo, dormiendo no es una conjugacion posible por las reglas gramaticales

4. Are stem changes kept in affirmative commands and negative commands? We are currently studying just the tú form, so would, "Return it" be "Lo vuelve" or something else?

Of course not! de hecho el sentido de la frase debe traducirse de forma coloquial

5. Would, "They are having be" be "Ellos están teniendo?". I suppose I just have a bit of trouble with irregulares, or what I think are irregulares. If you have the time, what are some common irregulares when dealing with present progresive?
Is there "they are having be" a correct form?
Yo estoy teniendo
Tu estas teniendo
El esta teniendo
Ustedes estan teniendo

....nadie habla asi pero...

6. Would, "Sleep" as a command in the you form be, "Duerme" or "durme"? If it is "durme", why would there be just the u? Thirdly, are stem changes kept in affirmative and negative commands?
Durme no existe
Se dice duerme
7. What does "llorar" mean?
cry

8. Does "pasear" mean, "to walk"? If so how does, "Pasear en bote" apply?
ni siquiera en ingles se dice pasear, se dice ride on a boat, asi que igual en español no puedes conjugar un verbo que hace alusion a algo que haces caminando

9. Is it proper Spanish to say (these are all negatives BTW), "No practiques, no empieces, no digas, no pongas, no tengas, no vuelvas, no leas, no hagas" when telling someone not to do something? I'm not sure, our teacher only told us about 5 irregular verbs for this, so I don't know. She did tell us, that stem changes are kept...and I have heard "digas" before in the phrase, "No me digas"
Supongo que si, no me hagas mucho caso...lol

I might have more tomorrow, they won't be too long though, probably similar to these ^^^^^

Hope it helps you

Hope it helps you


Uh, somewhat, not to be rude at all, but I didn't understand 70% of that.

I know if you were saying, a red one, or the red one, you'd say, "el rojo, la roja, una rojo, una roja".... but can you say, "uno rojo/uno roja", or is that just bad grammar?

Also, if you were ordering someone to, "Take one of his pencils", would you say, "Toma uno de sus lápices"?