Spanish language Q&A Forum

What is the difference between these two sentences?

Las fresas habían estado siendo recolectadas.

Las fresas habían estado recolectadas.

If they both mean 'The strawberries had been collected.', under what circumstances are the two sentences used?

What about "llegar a ser", a common way of saying become in some contexts?

Also, what about when become, unlike in all the examples above, is not to do with people? E.g. The weather is becoming cold. The situation became very serious. I think these can be more difficult to resolve than the ones about people.

What about reflexive verbs as ways of saying become, e.g. enfadarse (to become angry)?

Hi. I remember learning that when we almost do something in the past, then we use the present tense, so that ¡casi me desmayé!  would be ¡casi me desmayo! 

Is this right or wrong or an acceptable alternative in speaking or writing?

Thanks

Stuart

hi the Link to the wider lesson on this isnt working. When will it be available?

Im currently working on the idea that (in Spain) spaniards use the present perfect (when English would use the simple past) when there is a sense that the verb happened in the recent past, or otherwise related to the present in some way. e.g  you SAW the film THIS week, we SAW your parents (maybe THIS morning), or they SAW the sunrise (last night).

is this right? 

The question is: “_____ los formularios el bolígrafo se quedó sin tinta.”

I chose “Mientras yo llenaba” since the translation was “While I was filling out the forms, the pen ran out of ink.”

Kwizbot says that “rellenando” is also correct, and I’m not sure why. The sentence “Rellenando los formularios el bolígrafo se quedó sin tinta” sounds as though the pen was doing the filling out—there’s no other subject expressed.

I looked at the comments regarding quería and querría .  But I do not see anyone asking abut Quisiera as I translation for "I would like".  Would that also be translated in the present.

Also, I thought that when the speaker says what she would like, that part of the sentence would not be subjunctive.Although, I think that when an English speaker says "I would like you to .. . ." as opposed to "I want you to..." the former is softer, I just have a lot of trouble with the subjunctive and to be sure I understand this part of it