Spanish language Q&A Forum

I have some confusion (and frustration) around use of definite articles in Spanish generally. In this lesson, I noticed what appears to be an inconsistency with this rule.

A mí, se me da bien contar chistes.

My question is, why is it not, "A mí, se me da bien contar los chistes".

Also, my other question concerns highlight #5 and use of "a".

The first example notes: "Se me da bien el tenis". [I am good at tennis], then later there's the example, "A mí, se me da bien contar chistes" [I am good at telling jokes.].  My question is the subject of both examples is first person ("I"), so why wasn't the first example written as "A mí, se me da bien el tenis". ?

Thank you for a clear explanation of these two issues.

Regards,

Pati Ecuamiga

Ustedes __________ la lección. has the correct answer (comprendieron) as two answer choices but only gives credit for one of them.

Thanks.

Why do you say que interesante and not como interesante

I was reading along and halfway through it struck me that I was understanding every word easily. Wow! I was so pleased with my progress and then . . . I realized I was reading the Background segment which is in English!!! ¡Qué avergüenza!

¿A alguien más le ha pasado eso? Oh well, back to the grind . . . 

And now, having read-along with the audio, and failed in trying to figure out where the text related to the audio, it's almost enough to make me grab a plane and head for Seville. Well, a little more vocab and I'll be hot to trot  . . .

El articulo explica como paso el dia, porque ce celebra, y como. Una cosa es que se origino en Mesoamerica prehispanica. Otra cosa es que celebran para recordar la familia muerta. Ce celebra dos dias. El primer dia se acen altars, o visitan el cementerio. El segundo dia se dice que la familia muerta regresa por un dia. En final, celebran con comida, musica, photos, altars, y ofrendas.

Yo no celebro Dia de los Muertos. Pero en mi opinion es dia importante. Yo tengo amigos que celebran. Es dificil perder familia y por eso ce celebra. Yo aprendi de mis amigos que tambien es dia para que se junten la familia y celebrar que estan juntos. En final, es dia bueno, es dia importante, y es dia hermoso.

I think I've managed to wrap my head around how the passive works in a basic sense, but I'm wondering if anyone can offer, or refer me to, any guidance on WHEN to use different passive/impersonal forms, or how the nuances change? I know this is a rather broad question, so I'll try to narrow it down to a couple examples:

When is it prefered to use the true passive versus the se refleja form? for example, I was reading an article that said "las piedras habían sido extraídas de rocas que se formaron hace miles de millones de años." Here we have two different forms used in the same sentence! Could the writer have instead said "las piedras se habían extraído de rocas que fueron formado"--or some other combination--and if so are there different nuances?! Is one simply more formal? Or is there another specific reason the se pasiva wasn't use for one but it was used for the other? 

Also, I know this is a lot at once, but I'm struggling to grasp how the use of the passive with "se" differs from the use of the "ellos" impersonal construction. For example, if a house is under construction down the street, would you say "se construye una casa" or "construyen una casa" and if both are equally valid, how are the nuances different? And are there cases where one is possible but the other isn't? For instance, I've often noticed that when the object of an action is a person rather than a thing the action is often not expressed with se--the ellos form seems to be the choice in some cases like "le robaron" (but not "se robó"?). And yet... we do have "se buscan secretarias"? I can't quite see what is going on here...

Mil gracias in advance for any help on any of these questions...