Spanish language Q&A Forum

Gerunds are nouns formed from verbs.  The "ing" words you are translating here are called present participles.  Gerunds & present participles have the same form in English, but they are different in Spanish.  Eg. I like dancing=me gusta bailar. I am dancing= Estoy bailando. 

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For example: We were in Brazil with friends could easily also use estabamos, if it were the setting for when something happened:

Estábamos en Brasil con amigos cuando ella murió

La semana pasada, estuvimos en Brasil con amigos

It is possible, I believe, to form a [sort of?] passive with 'estar' - is it? … Do you have an exercise on that? (perhaps highlighting comparisons with the 'ser' passive).

I was just reading over the questions, and wondered about this one:

"with some adjectives like mucho/mucha, hambre would take the feminine form (mucha hambre). It works the same way as the word "agua": (el agua caliente, but mucha agua caliente)"

Is there a rule and  lesson that covers this? It certainly is a curious phenomena.

Nicole

¡Hola!

didn't need to (infinitive) & needn't have (past participle) are used to express the lack of necessity in the past, however

didn't need implies that the speaker didn't do something because he/she new that it was not necessary

needn't have means the speaker did something and then he/she knew that it had not been necessary

for example:

I didn't need to have an interview because I had worked there before

I needn't have cooked dinner. Just as it was ready, Chris and June phoned to say that they couldn't come to eat

(examples are taken from Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings)

How can I express it in Spanish?

Regards,

Alexander

In English, "to hear" is a passive act to the person.  It happens to them, whether they wanted it to or not.   "To listen" is an active effort by the person. "If one listens well, he will hear it."  The Spanish dictionary says that "oir" is to hear.  However, "escuchar" can mean "to listen" or "to hear".  Is that correct?

"La escuché cantando" could mean "I listened to her singing" or "I heard her singing".  ??

Is that right?

Thanks

Can we get a lesson on when to use which word? They seem to all be very similar in describing how long something takes.

Would it be correct to use Porque at the start of a sentence....e.g. instead of

Como estoy enfermo, no voy a ir al trabajo hoy.

Porque estoy enfermo, no voy a ir al trabajo hoy