Subject/Verb orderAdded by Kent to his previous question [posted about six days ago] entitled Word Order > He went on to ask: "What about noun verb order? An example would be Aquí la gente sale mucho por la noche - or Aquí sale la gente mucho por la noche".
From David M - [an attempt to throw some light on the matter]:
My grammar book [by Butt & Benjamin] devotes the whole of its chapter 37 to discussing word order, in addition to mentioning it several times elsewhere.
It says: "Adverbial phrases of place especially favour the 'Verb before Subject' order" - which would suppport the option: "Aquí sale la gente mucho ...".
It also says: "When the verb is intransitive, inversion is usual"; [i.e., verb first].
It adds that these 'rules' are not rigid.
Reply from Kent:
More good info David. Gracias otra vez. Claramente hay algunas áreas grises
Hola))
What is a Spanish equivalent for needn't have (done)?
Added by Kent to his previous question [posted about six days ago] entitled Word Order > He went on to ask: "What about noun verb order? An example would be Aquí la gente sale mucho por la noche - or Aquí sale la gente mucho por la noche".
From David M - [an attempt to throw some light on the matter]:
My grammar book [by Butt & Benjamin] devotes the whole of its chapter 37 to discussing word order, in addition to mentioning it several times elsewhere.
It says: "Adverbial phrases of place especially favour the 'Verb before Subject' order" - which would suppport the option: "Aquí sale la gente mucho ...".
It also says: "When the verb is intransitive, inversion is usual"; [i.e., verb first].
It adds that these 'rules' are not rigid.
Reply from Kent:
More good info David. Gracias otra vez. Claramente hay algunas áreas grises
Hola Inma,
I can' t understand the use of él here: ¿Que nunca has oído hablar de él?
Sounds like referring to a male person. Why don't you use ello here, since it's about a mountain?
I've seen this stuctrure elsewhere, but still don't understand it. Can you, please, explain?
Un salulo
Ελισάβετ
Regarding complex grammatical explanations: flowcharts and decision trees would be incredibly helpful adjuncts to the explanations given. The human brain responds more easily to visual representations of complex logic than it does to textual explanations. That is why they are so prominently used in science and mathematics. Just sayin'
James
Do the grammar rules for "nunca" here also apply for "tampoco". Consider the following four sentences.
Ella no pudo entender tampoco la pregunta.
Ella no pudo entender la pregunta tampoco.
Ella no pudo tampoco entender la pregunta.
Ella tampoco pudo entender la pregunta.
Ponme en la lista de las personas que quieran a estudiar italiano si haya tal lista.
(o portuguesa)
Saludos, James
Que Onda
This is one of the nuances of usted that I still haven't quite figured out. At my retail job, I often assist Spanish-speaking customers. However, I am not sure if these situations warrant using more formal language. In English, I address my customers politely with "Sir" or "Ma'am" but the language I use otherwise as I'm assisting them is more informal. I want to maintain the same tone of politeness yet casualness in Spanish as English but I don't know if it comes across as too formal. For context, I am in my early twenties and the customers I've spoken to are almost always older than me ranging from their thirties to more elderly people. Obviously, for my older customers, I would use usted but would it be necessary to use usted for people who are not that much older than me? I don't know if there is anybody here who can shed some light on this topic. In Spanish-speaking countries do retail employees typically address their customers with more formal, usted language?
Thank You
Nathan
I don't understand the first example:
Lo he visto a él primero, y después a ella.
I understand the 'lo' to match the 'a él', but why doesn't the 'a ella' have a corresponding 'la'?
thanks
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