Spanish language Q&A Forum

Although I understand this lesson, the quiz question  "What is the gender of the word ____" seems to vague.  My understanding is that, with living things, the gender of the word is determined by the gender of the person/animal etc it refers to.  Therefore, without a pronoun or phrase to clarify, it seems to me the correct answer should be "don't know".  Obviously, except in some very rare situations, "both" seems inaccurate.  Would it be more "on point" to ask thequestion using a phrase?

Finding this lesson on Kwiziq has proved a real revelation for me!  I've been learning Spanish for the last 3-4 years through online courses geared toward Latin American Spanish and wasn't aware of this difference. I've always been aware of some regional vocabulary differences but, since I've geared my learning toward Peninsular Spanish (which I need), I'm now finding quite a few grammatical differences too. I had seen the perfect used in this way in El País articles and books etc but I'd not been able to find any resource that actually explained it... until now! 

Could you answer how specific times might influence choose of tense? 

I spoke to him at 3am this morning 

His flight left at 6pm today

These specific times seem to indicate start and finish times. Do they point toward preterite?

I'm guessing it's because it's the adverb of understand, not because it's the adjective of gente? Thank you!

You give:- Ha venido quejandose hasta hoy = He's been complaining until today.    Then:- Sospecho que desde aquel dia viene ocultamdome...- he's been hiding...

Same tense in English but different in Spanish.  Why, please?

The subjunctive is one of the most fun things to me about Spanish. I'm interested what I can do with it, and how it can work for me!

Is it right to assume that the meaning of pretty much the same conditional sentence in English can be switched from 'likely' to 'unlikely' in Spanish simply by applying the subjunctive? For instance......     

LIKELY?: Si nos tomamos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain 

UNLIKELY?:  Si nos tomáramos unas vacaciones, podríamos ir a España = If we took some holiday, we could go to Spain (but that's just wishful thinking!)

I mean, am I right that the second sentence in Spanish would suggest that actually getting some time off from work is highly unlikely?

...... es un poco dificil pero, si supiéramos utilizar el subjuntivo, podríamos expresarnos mucho mejor en español! ¿Verdad?

Saludos

Are these translations also valid:

"It was magnificent!" = "¡Qué magnífico!"
"I arrived in just two hours!" = "¡Tardé solo dos horas en llegar!"
"We also drank cava!" = "¡Bebimos cava también!"

Also, can "Después" be changed with "Luego"?