/spanishclass/ - Clase de Español

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre decir "me traes" o "me puedes traer"?

Ya sé que significan la misma cosa, pero en qué situación se debe usar un y no el otro?

>>335

>un y no el otro

uno* y no el otro

They both mean "can you bring me [insert thing here]". The difference is rather small. The latter seems a teensy bit more polite to me because is uses the verb "poder" (can), though I'd say it's negligible.

If you want to be even more polite, you could say "¿podrías (por favor) traerme [algo]?" -> "could you (please) bring me [something]?"

Tengo hacer algo mañana pero puedo hacer esta hoy.

I have to do something tomorrow but i can do it today. Es que correcto? Is that correct?

>>349

>Tengo hacer algo mañana pero puedo hacer esta hoy.

Tengo que hacer algo mañana pero puedo hacerlo hoy.

>Es que correcto?

¿Eso es correcto?

I can hear him say 'mocoso' but my ear cannot pick up the rest. Using the google for the translation it says:

Si no actúas como un mocoso como un niño

Which sounds a little different than what he says in the beginning of the clip.

>>357

>I can hear him say 'mocoso' but my ear cannot pick up the rest.

He said:

"Si no te portabas como un mocoso, tu mamá te regalaba un 'Paleta Payaso'".

I'd say 'una' instead of 'un' because paleta is feminine. However, it's part of a proper noun, so I don't know.

"Portarse como un <word>" -> "to behave like a <word>". 'Act' in place of 'behave' works too.

Mocoso means 'brat' (or something along those lines).

The tense used in that sentence is pretérito imperfecto. It's the tense to use when you're reminiscing about the past, or telling an anecdote (among other things).

Chingón -> Badass? Sounds cringey as fuck to me, but then again, we don't use that slang term in my country.

I can't hear the words that the guy says at the 2:53mark. Ayudarme, por favor.

>>367

cualquiera aqui?

anyone here?

>>367

At 2:53 the dude with the mask says "A la verga los gabachos".

It sort of means "fuck Americans"… I guess?

"Gabacho is a word used in the Spanish language to describe foreigners of different origins. It is not widely used or understood by Spanish-speakers in the Americas outside of the United States and Mexico."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabacho

Which explains why I had a great deal of difficulty picking it up (I originally heard labachos or something), so I don't blame you.

>>368

"¿Hay alguien?" [is there] Anybody here? works better.

Or simply ¿Alguien? Anyone?

>>372

I mean, "A la verga <thing>" has no literal translation. I was just translating the sentiment conveyed by the sentence.

>>372

YA!!

I thought u were gone for good.

I've been reading Spanish Visual Language Guide by Barron's to help me on here.

I'm not leaving this place :)

>>373

Wow, thanks for telling me that. Noticed in the curse words thread someone posted 'a la verga …'.

Interesting.

I don't understand you (him or her)

No le entiendo o no entiendo le?

Este y esto. ¿Cuando lo use esto(e)? ¿Que es diferencia entre los dos?

>>376

>I don't understand you (him or her)

No te entiendo (you, 2nd person singular, informal)

No lo/la entiendo (you, 2nd person singular (usted), or, 3rd person singular)

No lo/la entiendo -> I don't understand him/her/you(as in usted))

No lo/la entiendo -> I don't understand it (when applied to things)

The meaning depends on what you intend to say:

No lo entiendo, ayer el clima estaba hermoso I don't get it, the weather was beautiful yesterday

No lo entiendo, ¿podría repetirlo? I don't understand you, could you repeat that?

No le entiendo -> I don't understand you (as in usted)/him (depends on who you're speaking to)

Note: this is known as leísmo (using le instead of lo). The RAE accepts it, but it's bad form IMO (plus it used to be considered a mistake).

PS: the hardest part about this is just how flexible language is.

Translations may vary depending on the intended meaning, plus there's no hard rule that dictates how you may translate; everything is okay as long as it's error-free and you appropriately convey the meaning* (the 2 spoilered phrases above are an example of this).

*or meet whatever criteria you have set for yourself (e.g. when translating puns, rhymes, etc.)

>>377

1)Esto (pronoun): literally "this".

2)Este (adj): this. "Éste" is a pronoun.

1.

Necesito esto -> I need this

Dame esto -> Give me this

Esto duele -> This hurts

2.

Me gusta este auto -> I like this car

Este/Hoy no es mi día -> Today's not my day

Dame éste -> Give me this one

Éste me gusta -> I like this one

That's the essence of it, really. I don't think it warrants further explaining.

>>378

Thanks.

Veo que la palabra 'este' es utiliza principalmente para abstracto y ideas género neutro.

I see that the word 'este' is mainly used for abstract and neutral gender ideas.

>>379

>Veo que la palabra 'este' es utiliza principalmente para abstracto y ideas género neutro.

Veo que la palabra 'este' se utiliza principalmente para ideas abstractas y de género neutro

I see that the word 'este' is mainly used for abstract and gender-neutral ideas

Just as a word of caution, do not confuse 'este' with 'éste'. The acute accent (') there is a diacritic mark. It's needed to distinguish the adjective (este) from the pronoun (éste).

>>380

Don't know why an apostrophe came out.

An acute accent is this: ´

>>380

'Se' is the first person present tense of saber (to know) so why is that used instead of 'es'? ( is mainly used)

>>382

'Sé' (note the acute accent) is the first person singular of 'saber'

'Se' (without acute accent) is a completely different word. It's got so many fucking uses that I'm not even sure how to explain them. I wonder how books for foreign speakers handle it (if they even bother at all).

In the post above, "'este' se utiliza para…" would mean "'este' is used for…".

>why is that used instead of 'es'?

"Es utiliza" doesn't make sense. It's akin to saying "Is use" in English.

You could say "es utilizado" (is used) instead, but passive voice can't replace 'se' in plenty of cases.

>>383

Ok so 'se' is a reflexive pronoun similar to

Pablo se ve por el espejo.

Pablo sees himself in the mirror.

Sandy se keep wanting to use es perjudica por fumar.

Sandy is hurting herself by/from smoking.

>>384

It's not always reflexive.

"El jarrón se cayó" -> "The vase dropped"

In that example it's quasi-reflexive, because you can't put an "itself" there; it wouldn't make any sense.

¿Y más tarde qué vas a hacer?

And what are you doing later?

But I keep reading it as

And later that you are going to do?

¿Que es un fit bueno? What is a better fit

I am working the evening shift?

Trabajo el cambio de la tarde. O, 'estoy trabajando en el trabajo nocturno?

>>386

>¿Y más tarde qué vas a hacer?

You can also use

¿Y qué vas a hacer más tarde?

The short explanation is that some constructs can be shuffled around without significantly altering the overall meaning of a sentence, unlike in English, where I believe this won't work more often than not.

Here is an example:

Ayer me caí al piso = Me caí ayer al piso = Al piso me caí ayer (this one sounds weird but it's ok)

block1: ayer, block2: me caí, block3: al piso

It's hard to explain how it works, but I didn't want to leave you in the dark.

>>387

good -> bueno

better -> mejor

Do not confuse them.

>better fit

No idea. I'd try to paraphrase that.

Assuming we're talking about clothes, I'd translate it as "¿Tienes algo que me quede mejor?" Do you have something that fits me better?

>shift

In this case, it means turno.

Trabajo en el turno nocturno/de noche. -> I work the night shift.

I don't know whether "I work in the night shift" is correct though. Prepositions ruin everything.

I'm watching El Angel Exterminador which is pretty good. There is a scene in the begining where 2 people enter a room and the lady of the house asks:

'xx?A donde van?'

Shouldn't it be 'xx? A donde vas?'

>>389

Depends on whether the person being asked is going somewhere alone or accompanied.

"¿A dónde van?" refers to 'ustedes'

"¿A dónde vas?" refers to 'tú'.

>>390

Gracias anon

>>390

También son bastante temprano.

Also, you are up early (like me).

Tambien- also

Son-are

Baztante- pretty?

Temprano up

>>392

>you are up early (like me)

I'd say

"También te levantaste temprano."

Levantarse -> get up (either from bed or from the ground)

Literally: You got up early too

The sentence above gives off the same vibe as saying "You're up early too".

I'm not even sure how to explain the thought process, but rest assured that Spanish speakers find these conversions just as perplexing as English speakers do.

I mean, to a Spanish speaker, the sentence you posted wound sound like "También estás arriba temprano" (which is gibberish; "estar arriba" doesn't make sense in that sentence).

What direction did you take in learning English? I'm sure you used different methods combined maybe or did you stick to one way (i.e. only books, tv, music, school etc.). You speak very well and for me this is my first secondary language I'm trying to learn. It can seem pretty daunting at times.

With me for the past few months that I've been on this board (and if you are the same anon I think so that has helped me , gracias) its mainly watching a lot of spanish tv shows and film, reading Barron's Spanish Visual Language Guide, and sometimes frequenting a local spanish restaurant and conversate with staff (hence the thread on here). Any suggestions to add/subtract?

It can seem daunting at times but I know I will perservere. I hope. Also, is it possible for someone to speak as fluent (should I say as fast) as someone native to their country? I've noticed a lot of videos where those native to the country it is hard for me to catch all of the words but someone 'fluent' in their language they usually speak slower as if converting their own language to theirs. Do you agree?

I've also posted invites at /lang/, /japanese/, and later, /deutsch/, to see if we can bring more users here.

Appreciate your help.

>>393

Fuck, made a typo

>wound sound

would sound*

>>394

>What direction did you take in learning English?

While I did have English classes at school, it was forums, messageboards, games, tv shows, and movies that helped the most. Subtitles help too (helps you see what pains the translators went through when some untranslatable expressions crop up).

I don't use any flashcards or tool to assist my learning. The only stuff I use are dictionaries (both single-language and bi-lingual) to give me a nudge in the right direction, some google searches with quotes (to test the usage of idioms and expressions), Linguee (just a quick glance to gather ideas as results are usually wrong), and WordReference (good for looking up idioms and adages).

Pretty much everything I read these days is in English, bar college stuff.

I abhor foreign language courses. You usually end up picking up a considerable amount of mistakes from your classmates, both in grammar and pronunciation (especially the latter), which is further aggravated by teachers not correcting flagrant mistakes because others get butthurt. In addition, you end up limited to a very stiff subset of the language you can't easily break out of. That was my experience at least.

BTW, exams are bullshit. I passed the Michigan ECPE (C2 exam) with a grade average above 80%, and while it did require being well-versed in the language, I still stammer pretty often, and I have to look stuff up in a dictionary quite often (especially when writing). To further add to my point, the other exam takers couldn't speak fluently and often faltered, plus most still made subject-verb inversion mistakes (something fucking basic), yet they still managed to pass.

To give you a rough idea, the level of English in our exchange is above that found in the ECPE.

>Any suggestions to add/subtract?

Use dictionaries (avoid RAE's, though, it's too cryptic to my taste) and the other stuff I mentioned in the second paragraph.

Don't become too reliant on translating from one language to the other when speaking. Overdoing it will cause you to get tongue-tied when using an expression without an equivalent in the other language.

>Also, is it possible for someone to speak as fluent (should I say as fast) as someone native to their country?

You mean if it's possible for a foreigner to speak as fast as a native speaker? Sure, why not?

>I've noticed a lot of videos where those native to the country it is hard for me to catch all of the words but someone 'fluent' in their language they usually speak slower as if converting their own language to theirs.

I don't quite get this one.

People will usually speak slower to foreigners to make sure they understand. I'd wager it happens in every language.

It's normal that you find it difficult to keep the pace with natives. I'd also struggle to understand Scotsmen and Aussies.

>Appreciate your help.

Aw shucks, no problem.

Gracias por la información? Es que correcto?

>>398

>Gracias por la información.

Sí, es correcto.

Mestizo(?)- el chino: a chinese person or a mixed person (latin american with eurpoean decent)

Is that correct?

>>402

Mestizo refers to a mixed-race person.

Not sure whether it's offensive or not given that I don't encounter it particularly often.

It may also refer to a mixed-breed animal (if we're talking about animals).

Todavía estoy aprendiendo.

I'm still learning. ¿Es que correcto?

I was told that was wrong (couldn't translate the last sentence being that the sentence is past tense)

>>404

There was a mixup here.

>¿Es que correcto?

That's not correct. The question is "¿Es correcto?".

What I meant at >>399 was that "Gracias por la información" is correct.

>>405

Bien gracias.

Me dijeron que estaba equivocado.

¿ es que la forma correcta de decirlo?

>>407

>Me dijeron que estaba equivocado.

This is a well-formed sentence.

If we translate back to English, we get "They told me I was wrong", or "I was told I was wrong".

>¿ es que la forma correcta de decirlo?

I don't understand your question.

If the original question in English was "Is that the correct way to say it?", then you mean "¿Es esa la forma correcta de decirlo?".

However, I don't know what the sentence whose correctness you're trying to verify is. (unless it's the sentence you posted above).

"Estar equivocado" means to be mistaken/wrong/in the wrong if that's what you're wondering.

>>408

Sorry about that. I was referring to the sentence above in that post. Had to rely on Google.

>>409

Forgot to mention something. Spanish doesn't give a fuck about subject-verb inversion.

"¿Es esa la forma correcta de decirlo?" and "¿Esa es la forma correcta de decirlo?" both work (I personally prefer the latter).

That might cause a bit of trouble for foreign speakers, as inverting the subject and the verb changes the meaning of questions in English:

"¿Tienes 18?" can be interpreted as "Are you 18?" or "You are 18?", which are clearly different.

To distinguish the meanings, use context to your advantage (is the speaker expressing shock or surprise upon discovering the other person's age or merely inquiring?).

Frankly, it's a non-issue for me, but I just wanted to mention that given that plenty of Spanish speakers fail at doing something as simple as inverting the subject when asking something in English. I thought foreign speakers might likewise encounter a similar problem.

>>410

I am so glad you posted this.

>>350

I dont understand why the que is needed. Just curious.

>>415

I like to think of it this way:

Writing "Tengo hacer algo mañana" would be akin to writing "I have do something tomorrow" (it's missing the 'to' in 'to do'). i.e. something feels off.

At least that's the way I see it.

Hopefully that helped.

Are places like hispachan and /lat/ good places to practice Spanish? I'm at a point where I can read a news article in Spanish pretty easily, but once I go to hispachan or /lat/ I'm just fucking lost

>>417

>Are places like hispachan and /lat/ good places to practice Spanish?

Depends on what you're looking for. Imageboards, forums, and other communication platforms are littered with slang and regionalisms, though there are some differences with the way people speak IRL.

Needless to say, you're gonna have a hard time understanding slang terms, especially if they are unintuitive or reference some local historical or cultural event. Add that to the fact plenty of them don't even show up in the dictionary and you are almost certain to spend hours Googling, and searching Yahoo Answers and Wordreference.

>but once I go to hispachan or /lat/ I'm just fucking lost

You're looking into a foreign-language community with non-standard vocabulary and expressions, on an imageboard no less, which has its own evolving terms and in-jokes, who wouldn't be?

For instance, most Spanish speakers would no doubt be puzzled by stuff like "bae", "doe", and "my sides"(first 3 things that came to my head).

>>419

What is 'jajaja'?

Is it like lol?

>>420

H is mute in Spanish, so we use j instead, which has the same sound as the ch in loch (Scottish accent).

In short, ja(Spanish) = ha(English).

Como puedo ayudar?

How can I help?

¿Como puedo ayudarme?

How can I help me?

¿Como puedo ayudarle?

How can I help you?

¿Como puedo ayudarse(?)?

How can I help? Same as without -se?

¿Como puedo ayudarte?

How can I help you?

¿Como puedo ayudarles?

How can I help them?

Trying to get a handle on these suffixes. ¿Estos son correctos?

>>422

>Como puedo ayudar?

¿Cómo puedo ayudar

>¿Como puedo ayudarle?

I would write it as "¿Cómo puedo ayudarlo? Spaniards append le when they mean 2nd person masculine (usted) or 3rd person masculine (él), but people aren't very fond of it pretty much everywhere else,

>¿Como puedo ayudarse?

That's wrong. If anything, I'd write "¿Cómo puede ayudarse?", which despite being correct, doesn't make much sense (literally "How can it help itself?").

>¿Como puedo ayudarte?

You're missing the accent in "Cómo". It's an interrogative word, so you have to add an acute accent.

>¿Como puedo ayudarles?

Same problem as the second case.

I'd write it as "¿Cómo puedo ayudarlos?"

It may mean either "How can I help them?" or "How can I help you?" (2nd person plural).

>>423

So I gather that the -me & -te refers to 'me'?

¿Por lo tanto(que) deduzco que el sufijo -me y -te se refiere (o, hace referencia a "mi") al "yo"?

I had used spanishdict.com for help.

(Yo)Había usado spanishdict.com por ayudar(or is it ayuda?).

>>424

Or is it Yo había utilizado-?

Seems like usar is used for the age of something, like it is worm down.

>>424

I've been meaning to respond 2 days ago, but my net's been shit lately.

-me and -te are suffixes that are appended to verbs.

-me refers to the first person singular. It translates to "me" most of the time.

Some examples:

Ayúdenme -> Help me

Dame eso -> Give me that

-te refers to the second person singular (tú). It often translates to "you" (in the object portion of the sentence).

¿Puedo ayudarte? -> Can I help you?

Voy a darte una mana -> I'll give you a hand

>¿Por lo tanto(que)

That 'que' doesn't go there.

>-te se refiere al "yo"

a, not al.

Using al implies you're referring to "the yo". It makes the other person reading wonder "who's this "yo" person or thing?". That's what it sounds like.

>(Yo)

This is one of the cases where I'd rather write down the subject explicitly because it might lend itself to confusion with the third person singular.

I dunno, it feels a bit weird otherwise.

>I had used

>Había usado spanishdict.com

Your choice of tense here is weird in both languages IMO.

>por ayudar

This is one of the cases where you can't translate literally.

I'd write "para guiarme" (to guide myself, though it sounds iffy in English to me), or "para darme una idea" (to get an idea) there.

>>425

>Seems like usar is used for the age of something

I don't quite get the age part.

Usar and utilizar are pretty much synonyms in Spanish; they overlap a lot, unlike in English, where they're more distant.

>>427

>I've been meaning to respond 2 days ago

for these 2 days

>Voy a darte una mana

mano*

>This is one of the

one of those

>to get an idea

Maybe I should have written to give myself an idea

Going thru my Spanish book I come upon this phrase:

What would you recommend?

¿Qué me recomienda?

But looking at the conjugation of recommendar wouldn't recommendaría suffice?

>>429

>¿Qué me recomienda?

Choosing 'do' or 'would' is up to you, although I feel 'do' is closer to the Spanish because would + verb tends to translate to condicional simple (¿Qué me recomendaría?).

>wouldn't recommendaría suffice?

This is another option. However, it resembles more of a hypothetical scenario.

You know, as in "¿Qué me recomendaría [en esa situación]?" What would you recommend [in that situation]?

otro tinar total hoy.

another mass shooting today. Es correcto?

>>448

I'm adding the verb "Haber" in the beginning because having no verb is incorrect:

Hubo otro tiroteo hoy.

There was another mass shooting today

Or literally what you were trying to say(which is fine in a casual context):

Otro tiroteo hoy.

Another mass shooting today

A CNN article on the matter.

https://archive.is/dq6hP

Two suspects die after mass shooting leaving 14 dead in San Bernardino, California (non-literal translations)

>>450

The verb "Haber" is one of those messy verbs that you'll just have to learn how to use through practice.

If you're learning German, in this context, it's like "es gibt" if that helps.

>>452

gracias