Spanish language Q&A Forum

Hello, 

I am reading a fairly reputable bilingual version of Sherlock Holmes. On one sentence it says 'Iba vestido discretamente con un traje de mezclilla de lana....'

The translation (and my own reading of the context) suggests that this means 'He was discretely dressed....'

But if that's the case why have they used 'iba'? Is that incorrect? The man was not 'going to do' anything. He just 'was'. My searching online and using Google translate suggests that only estar (or possibly ser) in the past tense are valid here, not ir.

Thanks!

Hi,

In many lessons and responses to questions, I have read that when deciding if you are to use imperfecto or indefinido, it is up to how the speaker thinks about the event. If the speaker thinks the event had a clear start and end, you should use indefinido, and if not you use imperfecto. Does this mean that it is entirely up to the speaker to decide which past tense is correct? I understand that there are situations where it is clear which is right and wrong, but I feel like in many cases it is a bit more ambiguous. 

Would it be correct to use the word “solo” like this:  

No me queda mucho dinero; solo tengo para dos cervezas más. 

It’s just that we might say it this way in English.

Also in general can the word “solo” be used with clauses of limitation?

I have seen llevarse and tomarse used more frequently than tardarse and demorarse.  Is this the more common colloquial way of saying "to take time", or is this perhaps a regional difference? For example --

Me llevó un poco más de tiempo que de costumbre dormirme.

Me tomé un tiempo para pensarlo.

Le llevó mucho tiempo para elegir un sombrero.

Nos llevó media hora montar la tienda.

Hello!  I wrote "lo pasarán bien" instead of "se divertirán mucho" and I believe the feedback advised me to use the verb in the reflexive form ("se lo pararán bien"). In the past,  I had encountered "pasarlo bien" as meaning "to have a good time" without using "se."  Can you please clarify?  Thanks so much.

I'm puzzled. I guess the Nunca has to go first?

(1) Most of the adverbs on the list are used with adjectives:  demasiado verdes, muy estricta, un poco cansadas, bastante ruidoso, tan rápidamente.  

(2) But mucho is different as it is used with verbs:  te quiere mucho, no dormí mucho.  And it wouldn’t seem to work with adjectives, for example, los platanos están mucho verdes needs to be stated as muy verdes. 

(3) Tanto is different again, as it functions as a direct object.  No puedes comer tanto. 

 Are these differences important, and should we learn more about these different categories of adverbs?  Thanks.

Yesterday I was visiting my friend Jimena.

The best answer is:

Ayer estuve visitando a mi amiga Jimena.

Is it incorrect to say    estaba visitando  OR   visitaba   ?

I can't find any lessons on the differences.

Gracias

Is there a comprehensive rule for when to use (or not use) PARA before an infinitive? I sometimes encounter examples where para is used without the sense of "purpose" that is supposed to trigger the use of "para."  In other words, I can't use the rule "in order to" to translate these sentences.

Cuándo estaba en Australia, tenía muchos problemas para hablar inglés.

Tuvimos muchas dificultades para encontrar la parada de autobús.

Fue un día demasiado bueno para quedarse adentro.