Spanish language Q&A Forum

I've been saying "bolsa" for a year and a half but I just saw a lesson example that used "bolso." A search showed many instances of both. Is it a regional difference, or is there a grammatical rule in play?

Instead of using the 'double negative' in "espero que no haya ningún accidente porque si no ..." - could we also say: "espero que no haya ningún accidente porque si lo hay, será peor"? - i.e., arguing that it sounds clearer to word it as: "I hope that there is no accident, because if there is [one] then it will be [even] worse"...  In English, certainly, some thought would be necessary in order to work out the meaning of: "I hope that there is no accident, because if not then it will be [even] worse". I suppose this is really just a 'matter of taste' -[in both languages? - I have the impression that double negatives are a complicated topic in Spanish].

In the second example, Nosotros redecoramos la casa hace unos meses, given that the intended meaning is "our house," why isn't it written "nuestra la casa. . ?" Thanks.

It might be easier for an English speaker to think of "son" as "are" because it is not unnatural to say "two plus two are four," and to think of "igual a" as "equal to."

I just completed a translation exercise which included the following sentence:

"... we see the fireworks and we receive gifts from Father Christmas."

I translated the sentence as follows: "... vemos los fuegos artificiales y recibimos regalos desde Papá Noel". Kwiziq indicated that the correct translation should have been "... vemos los fuegos artificiales y recibimos los regalos de Papá noel."

I have two question about this: 

1) Why was it necessary to insert "los" in front of "regalos"? I do not understand fully the rule of when the definite articles (singular or plural) must be used. As you can see, I inserted it when  "the" was included before "fireworks" in the English translation, but omitted "los" when "the" was not included before "gifts" in the English translation. Again, what's the rule on this? When I practice the writing exercises seems use of articles is hit and miss.

2) I am confused about why "de" was used as translation of "from" instead of "desde". Seems "regalos de Papá Noel" would translate in English to Santa Claus's gifts. Please explain.

Thank you!

Pati Ecuamiga.

I was glad that my father came to see me=Me alegré de que mi padre viniera a verme but

I was glad because my father came to see me=Me alegré porque mi padre vino a verme

and

It saddens me that my father came to see me=Me entristece que mi padre viniera a verme

but

It saddens me because my father came to see me=Me entristece porque mi padre vino a verme

I have seen this with other expressions of feeling and when I put it into various translators I always get the same thing.  I realize that changing from "that" to "because" slightly changes the meaning but why does it go from subjunctive to indicative in going from "que" to "porque?"

"In Spanish, you use hubo whether it is followed by one item or many, unlike in English."

In Preterite, if third person singular is also used for plural, when is third person plural used?

¡Gracias!

Seth

I like the example Ellas trabajaron hasta tarde ayer because it is more clear than They worked late yesterday. Is it incorrect to say Ellas trabajaron tarde ayer (without "hasta")?

As an aside, I would never write "They worked late yesterday," because the tonal emphasis given to "late" and "yesterday" conveys subtle differences of meaning. 

Shout-out to María Virginia for her superbly enunciated reading!