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¡Charla con Cheshire!Practice Spanish or English here. All replies to a thread should be in the same language as the first post. |
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#11
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Damn. There goes my travel plan.
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#12
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Quote:
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Tu dominio del español es muy bueno, la verdad es que lo escribes a un nivel que ya le gustaría a mucha gente que escribe comentarios en los periódicos en-línea.
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
#13
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#14
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@ JPablo, gracias por corregirme...siempre me ayuda aprender. ¿Por qué se usa subjuntivo en "antes de que hablara español"?
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Corrections welcome!
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#15
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Buena pregunta.
Si dices "antes de que hablaba" sería como decir [literalmente] "before that I was talking Spanish". Of course that is incorrect in English. I guess you'd say "before I was able to talk Spanish" or "before I talked Spanish". Well, I guess the answer to your question, is because you use subjunctive too in English, right? In Spanish "que yo hable", "que yo hablara o hablase" is what you'd use. You could also use the infinitive, as in "Antes de hablar español". (Before talking Spanish). That is my 'intuitive' answer. I hope it clarifies... Otherwise, let me know. (Hey, feel free to correct my English...)
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
#16
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Good question, Cheshire!
Here is my understanding: you use the subjunctive in time clauses that refer to a time LATER than a point in time that is used as a reference point. For example: Cuando venga papá, ¡ya verás! - here the reference point is the current moment, and the time clause with "cuando" refers to the future (i.e. later than our reference point) Often the exact time reference can be difficult to see: Esperamos a que llegaran - here the reference is when we decided to start waiting, but here: Esperamos hasta que llegaron - here it is when they actually arrived. The actual nexus used ("a que" versus "hasta que") is significant in these cases. With "antes de que", though, the logic is that whatever follows "antes de que" is happening LATER than what happened in the main clause. And the main clause sets the reference point in these cases, so the subjunctive is always used. Hope this wasn't too unclear There are of course other factors involved with the use of the subjunctive in time clauses, to make our lives difficult, but this is one of the most important ones.
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¡Muchas gracias por corregirme! Last edited by Vikingo; July 15, 2010 at 02:34 AM. |
#17
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Well, thank you Vikingo, (to the rescue...) (It made me think further...)
What Vikingo says makes perfect sense to me, but I would add that the subjunctive being the mode of the "hypothetical" world, is what you would use in the sentence above. Before you knew Spanish, it was not a FACT yet, i.e., you could have learned Spanish or not, so even though you now are rather fluent in this language, at the time you are referring, this was not something happening as a reality. Cuando yo no hablaba inglés, nunca pensé que acabaría/acabase aprendiendo alguna vez. The first is a fact, I wasn't able to speak English. The second one "never thought I would end up ever learning" even though it is now a fact, [is it??], at the time it was just an idea, an hypothesis... (I hope that helps, it helped me!)
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
#18
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OK, creo que ahora entiendo.
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Corrections welcome!
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#19
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¡Estupendo, me alegro!
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
#20
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Cheshire, veo que ya conoces el "callejón del beso" por la foto que compartiste con nosotros. Conociste tambien las momias? Guanajuato es una ciudad muy interesante y colorida y llena de historias. A mi me encantó cuando la visité. También conozco Aguascalientes. Yo entoy enamorada de la música típica de México .... o quizás de los Mariachis
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Elaina All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney |
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