Spanish language Q&A Forum

"Algunas compradoras se gastan mucho dinero en las rebajas." means...

Why not "Algunas compradoras gastan mucho dinero..." There is no passive voice here; "Some shoppers" is the subject of this sentence.

This problem arises often in my readings of Spanish, and I would love to understand it. Is this a passive, reflexive, or accidental use of "se"?

In your example on the use of tanto...como, one of your sentence  has left me uncertain about the translation. Tanto cuando son pequeños como majores, los hijos siempre preocupan a los padres. The English translation in your example is: Whether they are young or grown-up, children are always a worry for their parents. The use of the personal "a" before the word "los padres" suggests that the children worry about the parents, except that the verb should have been "se preocupan"..If it was intended to mean that the parents always worry about the children whether young or grown-up, in my opinion, the words "los hijos" and "los padres" should be interchanged, with the verb se preocupan. Otherwise  " están ocupados" should have been used instead of "preocupan"  and or used before los padres. Please advise.

Could we hide parenthesized hints when it is time to test without them? I am reaching the level where learning is becoming ingrained such that I feel that I know the answers without being told, for example,. "refers to a past action that has been completed".

Can I say menos tiempo instead of menos? Can I also say se tarda mucho menos tiempo (it takes much less time)?

Hi,

In the above sentence could 'ir' replace 'irse'?  If not, why not?

What is the meaning of 'irse' if not 'to go'?  And, when would it be used?

Thank you.

Colin