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  #11  
Old August 13, 2011, 10:57 AM
Luna Azul Luna Azul is offline
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One more question Luna. Why is it changed to estaba. I thought third person was "estubo" for when he WAS in school
"Estaba" is the Imperfect, the 'other' past tense in Spanish. It gives the idea that your friend was a student at the school. If you use the preterite (estuvo) you're saying that your friend walked inside the school, took the book, and left.

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  #12  
Old August 13, 2011, 02:03 PM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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A Mexican would use indistinctly "estaba" (underlining when he used to be a student) and "estuvo" (underlining he's not a student there anymore) in this kind of sentence, because we insert a preposition "de" to evoke the time from when he had the book.

"Y (él) sacó un libro (de su escuela) de cuando estaba/estuvo en (la) primaria".

If you tell a Mexican "...un libro cuando estuvo/estaba...", you'd have to make the distinction Luna has marked, so there is no confusion.

Oh, and we'd probably rather say "un libro de texto" if you're talking about a schoolbook.
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  #13  
Old August 13, 2011, 10:13 PM
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caliber1 caliber1 is offline
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Thanks ladies. I'm learning a lot. My wife is getting anoyed because all I talk about is Spanish. I told her "asi es"
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  #14  
Old August 13, 2011, 11:07 PM
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Well, she needs to start learning too.
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  #15  
Old August 22, 2011, 10:52 PM
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Ella me dijo, "¡NO!" ¿Que puedo hacer? Estoy perdiendo mi mente
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  #16  
Old August 23, 2011, 06:48 AM
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Ella me dijo, "¡NO!" ¿Que puedo hacer? Estoy perdiendo mi mente
Romance her in Spanish.
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  #17  
Old August 23, 2011, 10:06 AM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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Ella me dijo, "¡NO!" ¿Qué puedo hacer? Estoy perdiendo mi mente me estoy volviendo loco / estoy perdiendo la razón
For "to lose one's mind", "mente" in Spanish doesn't say much. We use "razón".
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  #18  
Old August 25, 2011, 10:13 PM
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RAZÓN!!! That's what that means. I am trying not to use my dictionary app on my phone too much because I am noticing more and more that I sort of just "get it" all of the sudden. Thanks Angelica. ¡Te agradezco!
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  #19  
Old August 26, 2011, 07:50 AM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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I think it's time for you to start using a Spanish-Spanish dictionary... The help of a bilingual dictionary is good for finding the alternatives for a word, but a dictionary in Spanish will give you a precise definition for each meaning, so you can choose the right word each time.
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Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; August 26, 2011 at 11:10 AM. Reason: Corrected misspelled word. Thank you Rusty! :)
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  #20  
Old August 26, 2011, 08:36 PM
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Ok cool! Should I look at Amazon, or what would you recommend?
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