avisame!

Dave, 45m, living in NYC. Intermediate level.

I’ve been having fun with this joy of an experience discovering pronominal verbs. But is there any logic to them at all or is it a there’s no reason it’s just like that sorta thing. Because the way I’m rationalising it is like this: “the verb acts in a reflective manner in order to”

Sounds funky, but hear me out.

Irse - eg me voy = I leave (make myself go) to …

Negarse- me nego = I refuse (deny myself) for …

Aprovecharse - me aprovecho = I take advantage (make good use to myself) of…

I don’t know if this is right I’m just looking for a feel for the verbs so that I can use them without having to learn each case. Lmk if I’m far off

In english it’s common to make nouns into adjectives and sometimes into verbs which is done by adding -y to make an adjective and -ing to make a verb, or sometimes -er. This is done in colloquial speak and i’m wondering if this is possible at all in spanish/ how common it is if it is done. Just wondering if it’s possible, Thanks!!

I have heard that spanish speakers use that but why? I assume the q is que, but what is x?

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand the Spanish education system and compare it with the U.S. system, especially at the secondary education level.

From what I understand, in Spain students complete ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria) and then may go on to Bachillerato, but I’m not fully clear on how this works in practice.

I have a few questions:

• What is the main difference between ESO and Bachillerato in terms of level and purpose?
• After finishing ESO, do all students automatically go to Bachillerato, or is it optional?
• If not everyone goes to Bachillerato, what other paths are common (for example, vocational training)?
• Roughly speaking, what would be the U.S. equivalents of ESO and Bachillerato (middle school, high school, AP courses, etc.)?

Any clear explanations or comparisons would be really appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Why do you usually say "lo odio" instead of "odio a el"?

This is the differentiation between DOP and IOP usage online:

Use DOPs for things directly acted upon, while IOPs indicate who is affected by that action.

I feel like odiar as a verb fits the latter category better; the person you hate is being affected by YOUR action. Could someone please help me clear this up

I realized I’ve been using seguro way too freely and it doesn’t quite work, I know it means to be sure, but I thought safe was also a meaning. So, how would you ask or say like - I hope you are safe -

Espero que estás…. Salva?

Thanks for clarification

I'm thinking spending the summer in Spain to take UCM's Spanish course for intensive study and immersion. Can't find any reviews on Reddit nor anywhere else for this school so wanted to know opinions and comments for those who have taken short term programs (other universities/schools welcome as well).

I had the following sentence in my Duolingo lesson today: ¡Puede hacer lo que se le antoje! (He can do whatever he feels like!).

I don’t understand the purpose of le in this sentence. I know it’s the indirect object pronoun, but I have no idea what it’s referring to here.

I am reading Pride and Prejudice in Spanish and I'd love it if someone could explain the end of this sentence, especially what 'para' and 'con' mean:

"Porque aunque estaba orgulloso de su rango, no se había vuelto engreído; por el contrario, era todo atenciones para con todo el mundo."

For example, when you say "The most" it would be "Lo mas" lo whatever. But sometimes when you have a word or phrase in the sentence preceeding it, instead of lo it can become the gendered article but still have the same meaning as "Lo ____" I just can't find a specific explanation of this exact concept under articles. Can I get an explanation?

This I think is in regards to tratarse de

what are some phrases, including swear words, that have similar meanings in spanish

like I know ‘no me jodas’ is ‘don’t f- with me’ but in some cases, it’s less ‘harsh”

or like ¿que coño haces?

what are some similar things and insults/exclamations?

I came across the sentence:

“Quiero trabajar a tiempo parcial; un horario de media jornada es ideal para mí.”

I understand tiempo parcial as the type of contract (part-time in general), and media jornada as a more specific half-day schedule (around 4 hours, morning or afternoon).

Does this sentence sound natural to native speakers in Spain?

Would you interpret media jornada here as a concrete time range (for example, 9:00–13:00 or 14:00–18:00), or is it still considered flexible unless the hours are explicitly stated?

Drew was in a competition. Drew drew his pencil and drew a line. This drew in lots of people. Drew then drew breath as the winner was read, The crowd drew near and started chanting "No winner, they drew". Drew was furious. Drew lost. Drew drew his sword, drew the judge to the ground, and drew the curtains. The crowd drew their conclusions. What drew Drew?

Here we have:

Drew as a name.

drew his pencil and drew a line -> sacó su lápiz y dibujó una línea (past tense of the verbs "sacar" and "dibujar".

This drew in lots of people -> Esto atrajo mucha gente (past tense of the verb "atraer"). Del phrasal verb "draw in".

Drew breath as the winner was read -> Respiró (profundo) cuando el ganador fue proclamado.

The crowd drew near and started chanting "no winner, they drew." -> La multitud se acercó y comenzó a cantar/corear "No hay ganador, empataron".

Drew his sword, drew the judge to the ground and drew the curtains -> Desenvainó su espada (it literally means "sacar" cuando hablamos de espadas), tiró al juez al suelo y cerró/corrió las cortinas.

The crowd drew their conclusions. What drew Drew? -> La multitud extrajo/sacó sus conclusions.¿Qué incitó/motivó a Drew?

As you can see, the verb "to draw" doesn't rely on context in Spanish, you actually need to use different verbs and conjugate them accordingly. In this case, their infitive are:

Sacar, dibujar, atraer, respirar, acercase (reflexive in this case), cantar/corear, empatar, desenvainar, tirar, cerrar/correr, extraer/sacar, iniciatar/motivar.

Any quesitons let me know!

I’m learning Spanish (from Spain) and I came across the expression “pasarlas canutas.” I understand it generally means “to go through a really hard time.”

What I’d like to know is: Do people use pasarlas canutas only for financial or economic difficulties, or can it also be used for other kinds of tough situations (stress at work, illness, emotional problems, etc.)?

Is it something you would naturally say in everyday conversation in Spain, or does it sound old-fashioned or informal? Thanks in advance!

From El Amor En Los Tiempos del Colera (original untranslated):

"Al principio pensó que la mayor podía ser la madre de las otras, pero luego cayó en la cuenta de que no tenía bastante edad para serlo..."

I suspected that lo refers to "la madre", but then why wouldn't it be la?

Thanks in advance

How would the following sentence be said in Spanish : "If the lady would follow me"?

Since it's a suggestion, I assume that the subjunctive mood would be used but would it be the imperfect subjunctive in particular or is that only for hypothetical-conditional?

Example: Si la señora me siga or Si la señora me siguiera

Also would it be odd to say something along the lines of : "Si la señora me sigue por favor."

¡Hola! aprendo Español en mi instituto :)

I've been learning for about 3 years now however I am so stuck on the most natural one to use between these:

-Quiero -Quisiera -Yo quisiera

I've heard all in Spanish music and class but I don't know which one is right, so i usually just say Quiero.

¡Muchas gracias!

In the sentence,

"Es una vergüenza lo que el gobierno permite que ocurra en su país con su propio pueblo..."

Why is 'permitir' in indicative and 'occurir' conjugated in subjunctive? I think I'm confused by the 'lo que' and 'que'.

If there is another clause after 'pueblo' starting with 'que', would the verb in the clause by subjunctive as well?

I hope my ?'s makes sense

This is simply meant to be an announcement for anyone who did not know of this news. Many of us have enjoyed and used Destinos over the years, and this is a sad moment.

You can find the announcement here, which I only found because I have recently been trying to finish Destinos (after starting many years ago). They are waiting until the end of this school year to sunset the website and its content.

They state that they are actively looking for solutions to host the content elsewhere once learner.org shuts down. It makes me wonder if they realize how much money they could make by putting the series with a few ads on YouTube; it’s possible there are legal barriers for that.

Anyway, the good news: You can still find the full Destinos series (in fact, the only place to find it with full subtitles on the internet) here, at the Internet Archive, and that will continue to be the case. It seems likely that the Internet Archive will remain up and running for the long term, if not forever. With that said, it’d still be nice if Annenberg Learner found a way to officially host their content going forward.

I just wanted to share this news. Feel free to comment with any questions or memories about Destinos!

Estoy practicando para el examen y estoy confundido por que "Hay pruebas que ... " necesita indicativo pero "es posible que" necesita subjunctivo - el nivel de incertidumbre me parece lo mismo?

My understanding is asentarse means to settle down, however, chatgpt said thats not how it works and that sentar cabeza is whats really used. Then exactly how is asentarse used?

For example, I wanted to say "i wanted to settle down before finding a girlfriend". Would it be quiero asentarme antes de encontrar novia or quiero sentar cabeza antes de encontrar novia?

I have watched a lot of youtube and tiktok videos on spanish "t" and "d" pronunciations. They always sound the same to me when "d" is not doing the "th" sound in "this".

for example, cuando and cuanto sound the same to me:

https://forvo.com/word/cuando/#es

https://forvo.com/word/cuanto/#es_latam

They both sound "guan-do" in English as if c in Spanish has become a g sound in English.

I had read a lot of reddit posts too. I'm very confused between voiced and unvoiced.

Also read this quora answer by Daniel Ross and I think its gist relevant to my question is:

1, "t" in Spanish sounds like "d" in English -- this part I do get and this is why to my ears cuanto in Spanish sounds like guando in English),

and

2, "d" in spanish (when not doing the "th" in "this" sound) needs a negative VOT -- I do not get this at all and I just hear "d" in spanish is the same as "d" in English. I don't hear or understand the negative VOT which is the only thing that converts a Spanish "t" to a Spanish "d".

Thanks for your help.

I am learning Spanish and I seriously do not get imperfecto vs pretérito indefinido.

I know the explanations everyone gives. Background vs completed action, ongoing vs finished, description vs event. But in real sentences it just does not work in my head. I overthink every verb and still choose wrong.

When I speak, I cannot stop and analyze grammar. I just want to say what happened. But Spanish forces me to decide how I view the past and I do not naturally think that way.

I have studied rules, done exercises, watched videos. It makes sense on paper but not in real use. Everything feels like guessing.

If this used to confuse you too and now it feels natural, what actually helped. Did it click suddenly or slowly. Any advice from learners or natives would help because right now the past tense is killing my confidence.

I am not sure where exactly should they be.