Spanish language Q&A Forum

The first sentence in this paragraph (horrible run-on that it was) contained OVER 70 WORDS; whereas the second and third contained 6 and 9 words respectfully. I mention this because it was quite a challenge to determine when to insert the correct punctuation (i.e., period versus a comma) during this dictation. In short, this was by far the worse dictation to listen to and attempt to discern (by the speaker's intonation) when to insert ending punctuation! Please do better.

When the noun ends in a consonant or the vowel -e  we tend to keep the whole word and add -cillo, -cilla, -cillos, -cillas. Hola, the lesson on the suffix cito etc says it applies to words ending in e. So which would be the correct suffix to add to Quijote? cito or cillo? Muchas gracias, Shirley. 

A little off topic, but consider:

1. donde, adonde/a donde

2. dónde, adónde/a dónde

and for that matter (or maybe especially for the case of), 

3. quizá, quizás 

Within each group the various options can be used interchangeably. But what factors influence the chosen form? For example do some people tend to use the same form all the time? Do people just randomly use all the forms equally? Do some localities tend to use one form more than others? Is there a pronunciation efficiency issue (similar to y and i  or  o and u, but not a hard-and-fast rule)?

I guess my questions especially apply to quizá versus quizás. 

Hola Inma,

I can’t work out why whether the information is already known to the parties concerned, that the subjunctive is used [in the pretérito imperfecto].

Also why using the pretérito indefinido would indicate that the information is new information.

In other words what is the logic behind this when forming the subjunctive? I completely get the idea of a hypothetical idea requiring the subjunctive, but the aspect of whether the information is already familiar to the people concerned, is confusing me. Saludos. John

This word seems to change all the time! I had the wrong answer so next time it came up in a question I put the answer it gave me last time and it said wrong and gave the answer as the one I chose in the first place!  This has happened several times. How and why does this word change?

“Usted tendría que devolver los

artículos en la caja. (You would have

to return the articles at the till.)

HINT: Conjugate "tener que"' in El

Condicional Simple.

“No entiendo “the till.” In the US would be the cashier, I think. In Latin America, perhaps “el cajero.” “The till” has various contations in the US and some border on the negative. From Miriam-Webster: 

till

 noun (1)

Definition of till (Entry 4 of 5)

Entender means understand, but in this example: Ella entiende de arte. - means: She knows about art. Why?

Thank you so much!

Estar is a temporary condition so why is the answer ser regarding being sick?

In practice, are these alternatives used to the same extent as eachother? Is there a regional tendency to use one or the other?

Será mejor que aparques lejos del centro.

It'd be better if you park far from the town centre. [you=tú]

Será - it will be or Sería - it would be

many thanks in advance