Spanish language Q&A Forum

I am confused after getting an answer wrong in a test and then reviewing the subsequent lesson.   

In a recent test, this sentence was given to complete.   "No me gusto nada hacer ejercicio _____________."  My answer was "después de comer," when in fact the answer was "después de comiendo."   

I went back to review the lesson and the lesson states that after the preposition "de" comes the infinitive form of the verb to say the "ing" form of the verb.    Now I am confused as to why my answer of "después de comer" is not correct.   When do you use the infinitive?  and when do you use the present participle (i.e. ending "ando" or "iendo") after the preposition de?

Does usted/tú have to be after the verb, or could it also be in front of the verb?

which of these are allowed:

¿Dónde vive usted?

¿Dónde usted vive?

¿Dónde vives tú?

¿Dónde tú vives?

It sounds to me as if the the letter "c" is variously pronounced "th" or "s" or "k".  What are the rules for pronunciation of the letter "c".

In what area of the Spanish speaking world is "genial" pronounces "hen yen"?

I'm almost 2 years into learning Spanish and I get lost after hearing a couple of words if I close my eyes.  I watch shows and listen to Spanish podcast, and my ear for Spanish has not developed at all.  What could I possible do to change this?

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

Escucho y uso "De qué se trata?" cuando pido más información sobre un libro o película.

Así por qué no se usa "De qué trata?"? A veces veo "este libro se trata de..." también. No es correcto en absoluto? 

Gracias!

Hola Inma,

I'm wondering if sin que se (lo) enterara is also valid in this case.

Saludos

Ελισάβετ

I came across a sentence in a book I was reading and it said, 

"ya no se sienten ganas de beber"

I understand "ganas" as a noun meaning that they are stating they do not have the "desire" to drink I think. 

Why is sentirse used instead of sentir when "ganas" is the direct object?

Thank you

During the translation process, these possible answers were displayed:

>

The best answer is:

La prosperidad es representada por el buey [> thus, my answer "está representada" was marked wrong]

You could also say:

La prosperidad es representada con el buey, 

Or also:

La prosperidad es simbolizada por el buey, 

Or also:

La bonanza está representada con el buey,

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It seemed to me that this particular passive construction focussed on the *result* rather than the action, so I used "estar"... It is interesting that you do allow the use of an "estar" passive with "bonanza", but not with the others; (is there therefore something different about the word "bonanza"?)

- . - . - . -

However, in the opening sentence: "El año chino es representado cada año con un animal", I think I can see how in this particular sentence we are focussing on the action (rather than the result).

- . - . - . -

We discussed this point in the Q&A of Forming the Spanish passive voice with ser + participle (+ por) (passive - simple tenses) - and I mentioned it again in Forming the Spanish passive voice with ser + participle (+ por) (passive - simple tenses)