Spanish language Q&A Forum

Usage differences between ser y estar 

Hi,

For the sections "Eran aún mejores que..." and then after this "...en mis sueños.", I believe it might be a bit confusing to separate these parts of the same sentence as the use of the imperfect or preterite tense for the 'Ser' in this sentence relies on the context of to when this action refers. Just seeing the prompt "They were even better than...", I assumed that it was referring to the actual concert, which you would use the preterite of 'Ser' (Fueron) as it is a single and defined event, however when you see "...in my dreams." you then see it was referring to multiple, repeated instances so you would hence use the imperfect tense (Eran).

Perhaps I am mistaken?

Regardless, these quizzes are very good for practical and realistic Spanish usage.

Thanks,

Angus.

Would we use this format:  quiero medio kilo de res molido, quiero un mitad de una copa de vino, añade tres cuartos de una tasa de azucar, dame doble de lo que diste a él.  Thanks.  (PS The return key doesn’t work in this question box on the iPad.)

In the above example from a kwizz I understand the use of the present participle but should the subjunctive conjugation of seguir and continuar not be used here? Thanks

(1) In this sentence the personal “a” is repeated: “ A Pedro y a Pablo les cantaron una canción por su despedida”.  

However in this sentence the second “a” is omitted: “ (Les) cantaron una canción a Pedro y Pablo por su despedida.”

 Is the second “a” arbitrary or is there a rule for when to omit it?  

(2) I notice two uses of IO pronouns in the examples and questions. 

The first is the common usage such as giving something to someone, saying something to someone, or taking something from someone. This usage always has a direct object. 

The second usage is from a lesson from a higher level, called the “dativo de interés”, which has an entirely different meaning altogether. Instead of always having a DO and giving the DO to someone, there may not be a directobject at all (intransitive verbs), and the IO simply emphasizes that someone is affected by the action.  

Sometimes there is a DO: Mi hija pequeña no me come nada.

 and sometimes there is not:  Ayer nos cayó un buen chaparrón.

Inma’s answer to Thea reflects this type of usage.  

Spanish dativo de interés - specific use of Spanish indirect object pronouns

 So there are different layers to the usage of the IO. 

 Could you make a lesson contrasting the different types of IO usage? It could be useful for many of us.

Así que, es una broma o no? 

In one of my kwizzes, I got this one wrong. The correct choice was están for this sentence: "Mi padre están en el hospital" I chose está.  Why is it wrong? Is it because está would be too informal when referring to parents? Or is this padre referring to a priest or something? 

There's a previous B2 lesson on Kwiziq that teaches that "que" is an acceptable way to express "because". So why is "con lo que" a better answer to the question: "Me sorprende que él haya cedido ________ ha defendido su postura siempre" than simply "que"?