Sentence length - English vs SpanishNice topic, especially in these times when we are locked up inside. And thanks, I'm learning more about the subjunctive everyday!
But now then, this is a long sentence...!
Antes de haber tenido la moto, nunca me hubiese atrevido a viajar solo y ahora lo que más me gusta es coger la moto, mi mochila y viajar sin rumbo por las montañas, pararme y quedarme pasmado mirando el paisaje, y dormir al raso viendo las estrellas.
... which would likely be broken into two (or even three) sentences in English. This is not a criticism. I've found sentences of this length are not at all unusual in Spanish.
I'm a writer (in English) and having read quite a lot of Spanish in newspapers and in novels, I'm often surprised how long Spanish sentences can be compared to their English counterparts. Funnily enough, when Spanish people correct my Spanish writing they often join up my sentences by replacing the full stops with commas! I also find the Spanish very reluctant to start sentences with 'Pero', preferring instead to have it introduce a phrase, usually only after a comma. By contrast, in English, shorter sentences and 'But' and 'And' with a capital are becoming ever more common in contemporary writing (even though we used to be taught in school never to do it).
It's interesting the small things we start to notice as we study more and get more familiar with our target language.
Saludos a todos
Did I miss a lesson? I notice in some of the examples Unas is in front of describing what the person is wearing such as or buying Debo comprar unas camisetas verdes o
unas gafas elegantes.. and it does not translate, what is the rule
Nice topic, especially in these times when we are locked up inside. And thanks, I'm learning more about the subjunctive everyday!
But now then, this is a long sentence...!
Antes de haber tenido la moto, nunca me hubiese atrevido a viajar solo y ahora lo que más me gusta es coger la moto, mi mochila y viajar sin rumbo por las montañas, pararme y quedarme pasmado mirando el paisaje, y dormir al raso viendo las estrellas.
... which would likely be broken into two (or even three) sentences in English. This is not a criticism. I've found sentences of this length are not at all unusual in Spanish.
I'm a writer (in English) and having read quite a lot of Spanish in newspapers and in novels, I'm often surprised how long Spanish sentences can be compared to their English counterparts. Funnily enough, when Spanish people correct my Spanish writing they often join up my sentences by replacing the full stops with commas! I also find the Spanish very reluctant to start sentences with 'Pero', preferring instead to have it introduce a phrase, usually only after a comma. By contrast, in English, shorter sentences and 'But' and 'And' with a capital are becoming ever more common in contemporary writing (even though we used to be taught in school never to do it).
It's interesting the small things we start to notice as we study more and get more familiar with our target language.
Saludos a todos
In the fill-in-the-blanks exercise I was doing, the sentence I didn't understand was as follows:
Nosotros continuamos con nuestra fiesta particular y estuvimos charlando y bebiendo hasta el amanecercuando me confesó que estaba enamorado de mí."
So it seems that "hasta el amanecer" was the "ending" of the chatting and drinking and that's why "estuvimos" was used.
If the sentence removed the until sunrise part, would this be correct because of the interrupting action ("me confeso")?
Nosotros continuamos con nuestra fiesta particular y estabamos charlando y bebiendo cuando me confesó que estaba enamorado de mí.
But what are some tips for how to tell the difference between an interruption and an end? Is the interruption always some kind of action? And the end is always a reference to time? It doesn't seem like it from the example in this lesson:
"Estuvimos almorzando hasta que acabamos con toda la comida y luego nos fuimos al cine.
We were having lunch until we finished all the food and then we went to the cinema."Hi,
How do I use estados unidos with todo?
la compañía para que yo trabajo es el mejor.
Is this construct normally used in Spanish?
Julián y tú ____quereis____ viajar por todo el mundo.
I was always taught that you can use "me gusta el deporte" to refer to sports and it is more common to use the singular, rather than the plural. The same as in English. Is this correct?
Hi,
On this exercise the question is
He pedido a la mensajería que ........... el paquete por la tarde/ I have asked the delivery company to deliver the parcel in the afternoon.
The hint is to conjugate the ellos form of entregar in El Presente de Subjuntivo.
Why is this to be in the plural form and not singular? As it states la mensajería/ the company which is singular.
Why is it esta rather than estan when referring to las oficinas (plural of office)?
I used 'a donde' as on of three possible answers, but was marked wrong:
IMPORTANT
For the long forms adónde and adonde, it is also perfectly acceptable to write them as two separate words:
adonde = a dondeadónde = a dóndeFor example:
Iremos adonde/a donde tú quieras.¿Adónde/a dónde vas?Find your Spanish level for FREE
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