Spanish language Q&A Forum

I noticed a pattern in the examples.  Articles are always used with the subject of a sentence, but articles are only used some of the time with direct objects.

ARTICLES NOT USED WITH DIRECT OBJECTS

hoy no hay clase de español, tienes peces de colores, he comprado vasos de plástico, no tengo disfraz de Halloween

ARTICLES USED WITH DIRECT OBJECTS

ver la ropa de niño, voy a contarte un cuento de hadas, tengo que guardar mi ropa de verano, prefiero el vestido de flores, quieres un helado de fresa

QUESTION:  Is there a rule for when to use articles with the direct object?

Cheers,

Marcos

Puede explicar con mas detalle cuando se usa el preterito imperfecto y cuando se usa el preterito perfecto, por favor?

At first glance, I thought efectivo is an adjective (meaning effective) but it actually means cash. Is there an obvious ending to nouns in spanish like there is in english?

In one quiz there was a sentence:   Hace calor.  Saldré al jardin un rato.   Voy a salir  sounds more natural and is what I hear more often from South Americans. Is the use of the future tense more common in Spain?

I understand the line ' .. para realizar el sueno de crear una marca de aceite oliva referente en calidad y sabor' to mean '  in order to realize the dream of making a brand of olive oil that is a benchmark in quality and flavour. 

Why is there no other connection words between oliva and referente? 

Thanks!

The correct translation is con su mejor amigo. Why is it wrong to say con su amigo mejor?

How do I find answers to my questions.

How do I type  an inverted  ?. 

In the example sentence, “ Tengo que ir al supermercado. Me falta fruta y carne.”, should the verb be faltan, since the subject of the sentence is fruta y carne?

I've been reading a book in print and they have "este" (no accent) as the demonstrative adjective and "éste" (accent) as the demonstrative pronoun:

esta casa (adj.)
ésta es mi casa (pron.)

But I don't see that in this lesson. Is it out of date/RAE stuff or is it only included when ambiguous and my book is being overzealous?

Also, there was a really cool little fact in the book that said that "aquél" and "éste" are used in the same way that "former" and "latter" are in English. I'm still confused as to whether the accent is necessary or optional for pronouns, however.