Translations using the expression "... in the process of ..."Looking at the questions asked by Huw and by Ian - I wondered if it might be worth using an expression like "in the process of …" to distinguish between the two cases.
e.g. "Los libros estaban siendo colocados en las estanterías" >
> means (more or less?): "the books were in the process of being placed on the shelves"... It really does need some kind of special treatment, because there is not always a directly translatable equivalent in English (although here, we could actually say: "the books were being placed on the shelves"). The above sentence could usefully be compared with
Los libros fueron colocados en las estanterías
and
Los libros eran colocados en las estanterías
and
Los libros han sido colocados en las estanterías.
and [maybe !]
Los libros habían sido colocados en las estanterías.
Of course, each of those^ alternatives carries a different meaning.
[… What about: "Los libros estuvieron siendo colocados en las estanterías"? !]
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In your example: "The strawberries had been in the process of being collected" is probably a better illustration for my suggestion.
No entiendo por qué el Rey hizo eso. Él lo hizo porque quiso
Unless the Spanish have a definition of "conjunction" that differs from the one I've always understood, both "por qué" and
"porque" are both being used as conjunctions in those sentences. It is the sense of their use which differs.
Can these two uses be distinguished in spoken Spanish and if so, how?
Hola Inma y equipo,
As part of the 'All related grammar and vocab' list for this exercise, would I be right in saying that Inma's excellent lesson, that I've included here, should also be listed?
Using tener + participio to express the completion of an action (perífrasis verbal).
Gracias
Clara
Hola Inma,
I have a question about present tense opinions of completed past actions. I know the for the English phrase, "I don't think we have done anything wrong to regret", one says, "No creo que hayamos hecho nada malo para arrepentirnos." However, if one changes the English phrase to, "I don't think we had done anything wrong to regret", shouldn't the translation change to, "No creo que hubieramos hecho nada malo para arrepentirnos"? Google does not change el preterito perfecto de subjuntivo to el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo for this nuance. I think it should. Don't know if this is addressed anywhere else on this site. Can you comment for my benefit?
Saludos,
Wylie
How do you use the above expression ,how is it conjugated? For example, how would I say " the situation got out of hand " ? Where does "alguien" come into it? Thank you
This lesson needs a lot of work. If you put expressions with "desde hace" and "hace" in an online translator they ALL come back with the same sentence in English. It's nearly impossible to tell when you're supposed to use "desde hace." More examples are needed. In fact I can't even tell from the lesson why I would ever use "desde hace" when "hace" works just fine for the same meaning. Moreover I talk to natives every single day and no one has corrected me to say "desde hace" instead of "hace." So maybe I'm crazy but maybe this lesson needs work.
what can i do to work on my spanish.
Hola,
So with a specific date, is the construction
Desde hace + specific date + que + verb in preterite
Desde hace 2010 que terminé mis estudios
?
Gracias,
El turista espera que los autóctonos le traten bien durante su estancia.
Doesn’t “le” mean “to/for” him?
Thank you,
Shirley.
In English these are sometimes interchangeable. Could one say "However much it costs.../ Whatever it costs..." using either 'cueste lo que cueste...' or 'cueste como cueste...' ?
Looking at the questions asked by Huw and by Ian - I wondered if it might be worth using an expression like "in the process of …" to distinguish between the two cases.
e.g. "Los libros estaban siendo colocados en las estanterías" >
> means (more or less?): "the books were in the process of being placed on the shelves"... It really does need some kind of special treatment, because there is not always a directly translatable equivalent in English (although here, we could actually say: "the books were being placed on the shelves"). The above sentence could usefully be compared with
Los libros fueron colocados en las estanterías
and
Los libros eran colocados en las estanterías
and
Los libros han sido colocados en las estanterías.
and [maybe !]
Los libros habían sido colocados en las estanterías.
Of course, each of those^ alternatives carries a different meaning.
[… What about: "Los libros estuvieron siendo colocados en las estanterías"? !]
-----------------
In your example: "The strawberries had been in the process of being collected" is probably a better illustration for my suggestion.
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