Spanish language Q&A Forum

Thank you Shui, Ana and Inma - well chosen - it is indeed part of an important era in Spanish history. I actually wrote a short essay on that period: http://www.dlmcn.com/AlfonsoSexto.html (for a local publication in Almería, drawing from the book "ALFONSO VI - Señor del Cid, Conquistador de Toledo" by Gonzalo Martínez Díez). It seemed worth highlighting the fact that one of Alfonso VI's wives - Zá'ida - is the only Muslim woman in the whole of history who became a Christian queen; (originally, she was the daughter-in-law of the Muslim Ruler of Seville).

When asked what she thought was "el peor momento de la historia de España", the Madrid historian María Lara Martínez replied:

"La batalla de Uclés contra los almorávides en el año 1108 marcó un "antes y un después". Murió Sancho Alfónsez, y Alfonso VI se quedó sin heredero varón. Sancho Alfónsez era un príncipe de dos sangres, pues su madre era la mora Zá'ida. ¿Qué habría pasado si este adolescente hubiera llegado al trono? ¿En qué medida su muerte truncó el proyecto de convivencia de judíos, cristianos y musulmanes?"

The film starring Charlton Heston and Sophía Loren was very well presented; unlike many modern-day productions it at least made an effort to comply with several facts presented in historical documents.

The relationship between the Cid and his King Alfonso VI was not always smooth: for example the Cid did not contribute to the conquest and occupation of the key fortress at Aledo (near Totana in the Region of Murcia, at that time lying deep within Muslim-held territory; my essay contains photos). And the Cid did not participate in the Battle of Uclés.

Hello Inma,

I have been having difficulty choosing between the two above, I have read the lesson and the questions here.

In the lesson it states "

If we use debido a que, it can never be followed just by a noun, it needs a phrase."

But in your answer to a question here, you mention "debido a que" needs a CLAUSE, which is slightly different from a phrase in the text book I use to understand these things.  In my book it says a PHRASE is any two or more words that don't contain a verb, but a CLAUSE needs to me able to stand by itself and be understood.  Would you take a look and see if PHRASE or CLAUSE is the most appropriate for this lesson?  Gracias.

The lesson should also explain whether the meaning is the same if these sentences use the future tense instead. Thank you. 

Why is the answer yo encuentro wrong and the correct answer is encuentro without the yo?

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

You should probably add this to the brainmap - I could only locate this by manually searching through the library

I had the correct answer to the question below........until I read the hint which totalaly confused me as "Retrasar" was present in gerundial form in one of the possible choices.

After 20 minutes of trying to hack through what I thought was an A2 exercise, and feeling very very stupid, I noticed that the B2 and A2 exercises have been placed on the wrong links!  Well I have learned that I'm definitely not at B2 level, and hopefully the A2 exercise will me more simple!