Spanish language Q&A Forum

Why don’t “senderismo, escalada y snowboard” have definite articles?

I've read so many times about the difference between these tenses but It's like banging my head against a wall. "el taxi LLEGÓ veinte minutos tarde y el taxista ERA muy antipático. The taxi driver was unfriendly in the imperfect tense in the same taxi that arrived late in the preterite tense. This is so difficult. 

Can you sometimes omit the first subjunctive and just use e.g lo que sea instead of sea lo que sea ? Ive read some texts online and they don't seem to write the full version, does it have slightly different nuance/meaning?

Hi, in this example:

Ojalá encuentren la medicina adecuada para tratar su enfermedad.I wish they found the right medicine to treat his illness.

Doesn't the Spanish say "I hope they find the right medicine to treat his illness."? That is, "ojalá encuentren" is in the present tense expressing a hope, not the past tense expressing a lament ("I wish they (implied: had) found.")

Hi, sometimes a blue pencil appears when I submit a question. What does it mean? Thanks, Shirley. 

Una dicción muy clara. Un audio excelente y un relato que chido.

La vendimia comienza en el antiguo Egipto. Por qué no el pretérito comenzó?

In this question I answered "éramos" instead of "fuimos" since the text referred to "used to be."  Why was that wrong? I get that  the "completed action in the past" hint confused the situation. Shouldn't the question be clarified, or am I missing something here? 
Nosotros ________ muy buenos estudiantes.We used to be very good students.(HINT: Refers to a completed action in the past.)

From the lesson:

"Note that while "fue" is generally translated into "was" in English, "era" can be translated into "was", "used to be" and "would be"."

"Suelo ir al gimnasio todos los días, ________ soy socio.

I usually go to the gym every day because I am a member." 

One of the options here was "por". Is there a reason that would not be correct? It seems like "por" "que" and "porque" all mean pretty much the same thing. 

I'm confused why the answer for #10 is cierto when the translation is "some/a bit" and not "certain."