Spanish

In lesson 6.5 , segment know it , how do we know when to say  conoces espana bien or conoces bien la ciudad, or is it just showing you that you can say it both ways. confused

Actually, this is in lesson 6.6.  I think either form is correct and they are just showing you examples.  Maybe a native speaker can fill us in on more of the nuances.

They do make the point that if you ask "conoces España", you're asking them if they have ever been to Spain whereas if you ask "conoces España bien", you assume they have been to Spain and you are really asking if they know that country well.

Hi guys, 

Well yes, you can use "bien" in both ways. "Bien" is an adverb of manner and its function is simply to express the way in which the action of a verb is done; so you can say: "Conoces bien España" and "Conoces la ciudad bien". 

Cheers

Hi, I'm having trouble with the Spanish Conjugations. Could someone help me with them? My largest problemo with them is in writing. Gracias y hasta la proxima!

Hi Brittany. Getting verbs right is the hardest thing in Spanish. What part of conjugations are you having trouble with? The site I use to get the spelling right is:
- http://www.spanishdict.com/conjugation

 

I agree with Steven. In fact, I came to the completely subjective conclusion that verbs are the very heart and soul of the Spanish language. It seems to me that many nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of speech have a verb as their root. Maybe it is also true of English and I just never thought about it in that way.

So long ago I began creating a list of verb infinitives in Quizlet, and I try to practice 100 per day, every day. Then I often take the last one and conjugate it in the tenses, numbers, and persons that I have learnes so far (ignoring the vosotros form.) Even so, I often choose the wrong form of a verb when I am working out how to say something in Spanish.

Nice to see you again here in the forum, Dan. Definitely: in English subtleties of meaning are communicated using different words whereas in Spanish it seems to come more through using different verb tenses. When I'm writing in Spanish now, I can usually get them straight. Having them come out of my mouth as a reflex - that's a bit tougher...
 

Hola a todos,

Good advice from Dan and Steven regarding verb conjugation. Also, as I've said before, I think an indispensable aid is The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs. I'm sure Dan and others would agree. There is also The Verbarrator a program available on disc that you install on the computer, very effective, though  it can get boring. That's not to say it's not a great tool. The disc is available from Learning Spanish Like Crazy and I believe they're having a 50% off sale on everything at this time. I check and review with the book and  Spanishdict  every day.

Saludos,
Ricardo



 

Steven, I'm having trouble with all of the conjugations; yet when I write them I get them right most of the time, my biggest problemo is basically saying them correctly. I'll try out that website that you mentioned; I've already tried https://www.duolingo.com and found it somewhat helpful. 
I have used Quizlet before, Dan, and found it useful; though it was for math and Ron Paul Science. Probably wouldn't hurt to try it again. I never thought about verbs being such a beggie in any language before. 
Last, but not least. Ricardo, who is the author of "The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs"? I'd like to look it up and try to get my own copy.
Gracias for the help

Hola Brittany,

The authors are Ronni L. Gordon & David M.Stillman. It's a McGraw Hill publication that comes with a CD-ROM that has practice exercises and you can find it on Amazon. I got my copy years ago for far less than the list price. I think you'll find it very helpful. It contains all the tenses and has examples of usage as well as a cross-referenced index of 2,330 verbs. Really great book!

Saludos,
Ricardo

 

Hola Ricardo,
Gracias! I've found out that Barnes and Nobles also sells the book by Googling it; a big way of discovering things in my family. I decided to try some Spanish books that family already owns; if they don't help, I'll look for the book at the library or buy a copy of my own. Conjugations can be such a pain in the neck!, but I guess that just comes when learning any new language.
Chao,
Brittany

Hola Brittany,

De nada. With time the conjugations will come to be familiar to you as you progress and recognize patterns that are common, but then again, those pesky irregularities  do occur. I'm still learning as we all are. Espero que pases una Feliz Navidad y un próspero Año Nuevo..

Saludos,
Ricardo