Hola Angeles, Muchas gracias - es muy interesante!!
Tengo algunas preguntas! Q1. En el texto 'Eso queria decir' - Could I replace 'Eso' con 'Esa'? (that/this) Q2. 'Que dices' = what are you saying' Can I use this phrase in other general situations, for checking understanding e.g 'what do you mean' (like with questions words like como/que?) Q3. Adjective: Insipida - era - this is the verb for description? Q4. I confuse te with tu sometimes! In your article you wrote 'te dejo' (dejo = 1st person conjugation) and 'te' = to you (but a common mistake I make is to write 'dejo tu' !! I think this means I + (verb) + you
What is happening with my mistake here! ? Q5 - similar problem.! >>> In your article you wrote ' se me ha caido' = I have dropped it - but my mistake is ' ha caido (without 'me') because I see 'caido' as already conjugated to 1st person (therefore /me/ is not necessary) - What is my mistake here?! Many thanks for your help!!!!
Q1: En el texto 'Eso queria decir' - Could I replace 'Eso' con 'Esa'? (that/this)
---> No, it is not possible to replace "eso" with "esa". "Eso" is "abstract", refers to a concept, but "esa" would refer to something feminine, as i.e. "esa casa", "esa silla", etc... So we'll use here "eso" as it refers to "what he wanted to say instead".
Q2: 'Que dices' = what are you saying' Can I use this phrase in other general situations, for checking understanding e.g 'what do you mean' (like with questions words like como/que?)
---> Sure! You could use that in different situations: "¿Cómo dices? No lo entiendo!" - "¿Qué dices? ¿Puedes repetirlo, por favor?" Absolutely. :-)
Q3. Adjective: Insipida - era - this is the verb for description?
---> Sure, we can describe using "ser". BUT, in a specific context, as for example talking about food, we would use "estar": "Esta paella está insípida" vs. "El agua es un líquido insípido".
Q4. I confuse te with tu sometimes! In your article you wrote 'te dejo' (dejo = 1st person conjugation) and 'te' = to you (but a common mistake I make is to write 'dejo tu' !! I think this means I + (verb) + you
What is happening with my mistake here! ?
---> It's quite normal among Spanish students! :-) I think this is because you are using the English structure: "I tell you" --> Personal pronoun + verb + IO pronoun; so you translate literally, word by word.
So you need to remember we, in Spanish, first use the IO pronoun and then the verb: "Te digo", "Te hablo", etc... Except if we are using either an infinitive (hablar), a gerund (hablando) or a command (¡Habla!), in these cases, the IO pronoun goes after the verb, forming one word: hablarte, hablándote, ¡háblate!
Q5 - similar problem.! >>> In your article you wrote ' se me ha caido' = I have dropped it - but my mistake is ' ha caido (without 'me') because I see 'caido' as already conjugated to 1st person (therefore /me/ is not necessary) - What is my mistake here?!
---> In this case (se me ha caído), the subject of the verb is "it" (the thing that is dropping). We are using SE, but it is an "impersonal" form. Just remember that, with this specific verb, you just need to memorize the "formula": SE + me, te, se... + Cayó (singular - if there is only one thing dropping) / cayeron (plural - for two or more things dropping).
SE me cayó el libro.
SE te cayó el vaso.
SE nos cayeron elos libros
SE nos cayeron los vasos.
It's one of those verbs with special "structure" as "gustar", for example.
Another point is using this verb in reflexive:
El niño se cae al suelo cuando quiere andar.
or not reflexive:
Las gotas caen.
This verb can be a little bit complicated. :-)
- Creo que esto es todo, Sal. ¡Gracias por tu interés! Y si tienes más dudas, por favor manda un mensaje.
Hola Angeles, Muchas gracias - es muy interesante!!
Tengo algunas preguntas! Q1. En el texto 'Eso queria decir' - Could I replace 'Eso' con 'Esa'? (that/this) Q2. 'Que dices' = what are you saying' Can I use this phrase in other general situations, for checking understanding e.g 'what do you mean' (like with questions words like como/que?) Q3. Adjective: Insipida - era - this is the verb for description? Q4. I confuse te with tu sometimes! In your article you wrote 'te dejo' (dejo = 1st person conjugation) and 'te' = to you (but a common mistake I make is to write 'dejo tu' !! I think this means I + (verb) + you
What is happening with my mistake here! ? Q5 - similar problem.! >>> In your article you wrote ' se me ha caido' = I have dropped it - but my mistake is ' ha caido (without 'me') because I see 'caido' as already conjugated to 1st person (therefore /me/ is not necessary) - What is my mistake here?! Many thanks for your help!!!!
¡Hola, Sal! ¡Gracias a ti! 😊
Sobre tus preguntas:
Q1: En el texto 'Eso queria decir' - Could I replace 'Eso' con 'Esa'? (that/this)
---> No, it is not possible to replace "eso" with "esa". "Eso" is "abstract", refers to a concept, but "esa" would refer to something feminine, as i.e. "esa casa", "esa silla", etc... So we'll use here "eso" as it refers to "what he wanted to say instead".
Q2: 'Que dices' = what are you saying' Can I use this phrase in other general situations, for checking understanding e.g 'what do you mean' (like with questions words like como/que?)
---> Sure! You could use that in different situations: "¿Cómo dices? No lo entiendo!" - "¿Qué dices? ¿Puedes repetirlo, por favor?" Absolutely. :-)
Q3. Adjective: Insipida - era - this is the verb for description?
---> Sure, we can describe using "ser". BUT, in a specific context, as for example talking about food, we would use "estar": "Esta paella está insípida" vs. "El agua es un líquido insípido".
Q4. I confuse te with tu sometimes! In your article you wrote 'te dejo' (dejo = 1st person conjugation) and 'te' = to you (but a common mistake I make is to write 'dejo tu' !! I think this means I + (verb) + you
What is happening with my mistake here! ?
---> It's quite normal among Spanish students! :-) I think this is because you are using the English structure: "I tell you" --> Personal pronoun + verb + IO pronoun; so you translate literally, word by word.
So you need to remember we, in Spanish, first use the IO pronoun and then the verb: "Te digo", "Te hablo", etc... Except if we are using either an infinitive (hablar), a gerund (hablando) or a command (¡Habla!), in these cases, the IO pronoun goes after the verb, forming one word: hablarte, hablándote, ¡háblate!
Q5 - similar problem.! >>> In your article you wrote ' se me ha caido' = I have dropped it - but my mistake is ' ha caido (without 'me') because I see 'caido' as already conjugated to 1st person (therefore /me/ is not necessary) - What is my mistake here?!
---> In this case (se me ha caído), the subject of the verb is "it" (the thing that is dropping). We are using SE, but it is an "impersonal" form. Just remember that, with this specific verb, you just need to memorize the "formula": SE + me, te, se... + Cayó (singular - if there is only one thing dropping) / cayeron (plural - for two or more things dropping).
SE me cayó el libro.
SE te cayó el vaso.
SE nos cayeron elos libros
SE nos cayeron los vasos.
It's one of those verbs with special "structure" as "gustar", for example.
Another point is using this verb in reflexive:
El niño se cae al suelo cuando quiere andar.
or not reflexive:
Las gotas caen.
This verb can be a little bit complicated. :-)
- Creo que esto es todo, Sal. ¡Gracias por tu interés! Y si tienes más dudas, por favor manda un mensaje.
¡Hasta pronto!
Ángeles.