Spanish language Q&A Forum

It would be great to have the english version as well so it is easier to understand unfamiliar words.

This article talks about using El Presente to express general facts, simple enough... 

... however my qualm is with the use of Ser vs Estar. My understanding was that ser would be used to generally describe things which don’t change over a prolonged period of time, eg. Relationships, jobs, generally accepted facts etc. 

Therefore I was terribly confused when the correct response to one of your questions was: 

“Francia está en Europa”.

Whereas the example on this page states:

“Roma es la capital de Italia.” 

Both of these seem like general facts with a geographical theme... where do I draw the line? 

Apologies for the essay! Haha

There seem be so many ways to say this in Spanish: "fuimos a dar un paseo" is one I hear a lot.  "Hemos paseado" (or "hemos caminado") translates as "we have walked" rather than "went for,.".   It's very confusing! 

Hi,

I'm learning Spanish to keep up with my family (mixed origins from spain, latin america, south america, etc.) and I've noticed that I don't quite understand when the people I'm talking to prefer that I use formal or informal.

Are there any general guidelines or standards as for when one is more appropriate? Like if it's someone who is your senior or based on how close you are to each other? Or is this maybe not as big a deal these days as it might have been in the past?

Thanks, Dawn.