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Spanish Language & Usage

Beta Q&A site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Spanish language.

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6  
What I don't know is if sample questions should be in Spanish or English, or perhaps both depending on the question (if an English speaking person wants to ask something about the Spanish language but doesn't know how to phrase it in it for example) – Juan Manuel Jul 22 '10 at 12:59
12  
I guess the questions and everything else would generally be in English (but obviously include some Spanish phrases or words depending on the subject). Anything other would be a tad confusing, given that the site description etc are in English. – Jonik Aug 8 '10 at 22:11
13  
Why not using both Spanish and English, similar with what French SE does? – Bogdan Lataianu Sep 11 '11 at 8:39
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Name options for language specific site proposals

feb 16 at 20:17 Tomas 231

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This proposal is now in the Beta phase — example questions are locked!

37 Example Questions (8 closed)

active oldest votes
up vote 27 down vote
How does Spanish punctuation differ from English punctuation?
added by Helix Jul 22 '10 at 14:53
link
up vote 22 down vote
When should one use the formal "usted" rather than the informal "tú" when addressing somebody?
added by CesarGon Oct 1 '10 at 0:10
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up vote 21 down vote
Why does agua have a masculine article and femenine adjectives? e.g. El agua cristalina.
added by Jaime Soto Oct 18 '10 at 21:33
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up vote 20 down vote
What is the subjunctive and when should I use it?
added by Helix Jul 22 '10 at 15:07
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up vote 17 down vote
What are the main differences between Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Argentina?
added by Juan Manuel Jul 22 '10 at 13:01
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up vote 15 down vote
What is the difference between estar and ser?
added by Marek Dec 28 '10 at 23:08
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Great question as they're both to be in english and many other languages and are in fact two very different actions – Petruza Apr 26 '11 at 3:37
up vote 14 down vote
What's the correct pronounciation of the "z" letter in Spanish, and how does it vary by country?
added by CesarGon Oct 2 '10 at 10:45
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I'd also add the "C" and "S" since those three are usually the ones that make the difference. – Martín Marconcini Apr 1 '11 at 9:45
up vote 11 down vote
What Spanish phrases should I avoid when visiting Mexico?
added by Heather Aug 25 '10 at 0:22
link
up vote 9 down vote
What are the main rules of the thumb about accent position in Spanish?
added by Marek Dec 28 '10 at 16:53
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up vote 8 down vote
Is there an idiom that one can use to translate, "They took everything but the kitchen sink"?
added by Derek Jennings Dec 19 '10 at 11:01
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up vote 7 down vote
Por y Para are highly misused when new to spanish language, does anyone have a trick that works all the time ?
added by Spredzy Dec 16 '10 at 9:47
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up vote 5 down vote
What is different about verb conjugation in English and Spanish?
added by Juan Manuel Jul 22 '10 at 13:17
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up vote 5 down vote
What are the plural forms of nouns like cumpleaños, parabrisas, lustrabotas?
added by Ian Mackinnon Dec 30 '10 at 2:18
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For what is worth, those words use the same form in both singular and plural. – Martín Marconcini Apr 1 '11 at 9:11
up vote 4 down vote
Is Castillian a dialect of Spanish, or another language?
added by Heather Aug 25 '10 at 0:05
link
Not a language question, is it? Also, it took me half a minute to find an answer using google... – Marek Dec 28 '10 at 16:32
@Marek: How can this be "not a language question"? – CesarGon Feb 11 '11 at 19:25
@Marek: being able to find an answer quickly on Google does not make a question invalid. For example, I can easily answer your proposed question What are the main rules of the (sic) thumb about accent position in Spanish? by searching for Spanish accent rules in Google. – Jaime Soto Feb 12 '11 at 17:00
@Cesar: because it doesn't concern Spanish language itself. It is like "At what age do Spanish children learn to speak Spanish?" Presence of word "Spanish" in the title doesn't immediately make the question being about language... – Marek Feb 13 '11 at 20:08
@Jaime: well, maybe finding it just with google doesn't because sources are not always good (as is the case with your search). But SE FAQ says that trivially answerable questions (e.g. with wikipedia page, as is the case with this question) shouldn't be asked. If you think my question is also like that then post the comment directly under it and I'll consider deleting it. – Marek Feb 13 '11 at 20:12
show 5 more comments
up vote 3 down vote
What are the differences between the preterit and imperfect tenses?
added by Josh Leitzel Sep 10 '10 at 19:03
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1  
I think saying preterit and imperfect is a bit ambiguous, because, actually, imperfect is a type of preterit. I'd prefer to see more clear tense names as pretérito indefinido vs. pretérito imperfecto. – FireAphis Oct 5 '10 at 11:15
@Fire: actually, the precise names in English would be past perfective/imperfective. But the former (the perfective one) is known as preterite (also aorist and past simple) while the latter is known as imperfect. I think the question is correct (if it weren't for the typo in the preterit [sic]). – Marek Dec 28 '10 at 16:40
up vote 3 down vote
How is Spanish related (linguistically and socially) to the other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician, Catalan and Basque?
added by CesarGon Oct 1 '10 at 0:09
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I don't like questions that can be answered easily using google. The language tree of all the common languages can be easily found on wikipedia. Also, this is question about language's origin rather than a language itself. – Marek Dec 28 '10 at 23:15
By "related" I am not referring to linguistic relationship only; I think that social and cultural relationships are in scope as well, since this site is about Spanish Language and Usage. That cannot be easily found in Google. – CesarGon Jan 4 '11 at 0:53
up vote 3 down vote
How does grammatical gender work in Spanish, especially in relation to things that do not have a real gender?
added by CesarGon Oct 2 '10 at 10:49
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For example, "house" is feminine ("casa") and therefore takes a feminine article ("la casa"), but "car" is masculine ("coche") and takes a masculine article ("el coche"). – CesarGon Oct 2 '10 at 10:51
up vote 3 down vote
What are the rules of Capitalization in Spanish?
added by Martín Marconcini Apr 1 '11 at 9:44
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up vote 1 down vote
What are the main characteristics of spoken Spanish in Equatorial Guinea?
added by Jaime Soto Oct 18 '10 at 21:26
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Equatorial Guinea is the only independent African country with Spanish as an official language. – Jaime Soto Dec 20 '10 at 19:04
up vote 1 down vote
How can I type [¡ | ¿ | á | é | í | ó | ú | ñ | Ñ | ü ] in [OS/keyboard layout/markup or programming language]? [closed]
added by Jaime Soto Oct 18 '10 at 21:30
link

closed as off topic by Mobbit, Jürgen A. Erhard, Ian Mackinnon, Sinjo, Charlie Melbye Mar 19 '11 at 21:01

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

why off-topic? it's a very common problem for us spanish speakers who use computers – Petruza Apr 26 '11 at 3:40
up vote 1 down vote
From what Arabic word of phrase did the Spanish toponym [Albacete] derive? What does it mean?
added by Jaime Soto Oct 18 '10 at 21:35
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Zapatos : Shoes – Spredzy Dec 16 '10 at 9:44
Gato : Cat I know there is more I just forgot about them right now – Spredzy Dec 16 '10 at 9:44
@Spredzy: I meant to ask what places from Spain have names that originated from Arabic such as Guadalcanal. We need to decide if we want this type of questions. – Jaime Soto Dec 25 '10 at 14:41
I think this is not a good example, because there are potentially hundreds or thousands of them. Do you want a list of them all? – CesarGon Jan 14 '11 at 19:46
@CesarGon: I rephrased the question to ask about a particular toponym instead of a comprehensive list. – Jaime Soto Jan 14 '11 at 21:13
show 1 more comment
up vote 1 down vote
What qualifications of Spanish language usage are most widely recognised internationally?
added by Ian Mackinnon Dec 30 '10 at 1:56
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Are you referring to general qualifications (engineering, law, etc.) obtained in Spain, or to qualifications about the Spanish language? I suggest you clarify in the question title. – CesarGon Jan 14 '11 at 19:45
The latter. I've edited the title to reflect this. – Ian Mackinnon Jan 14 '11 at 21:43
up vote 1 down vote
Algarabía (noise, racket) comes from the Arabic name for Arabic, Al-Arabiya (العربية‎ ). Do you know other words based on perceptions of foreigners? [closed]
added by Jaime Soto Jan 24 '11 at 3:31
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closed as off topic by Ullallulloo, shadowfission, Martín Marconcini, awesomeguy, kiamlaluno Apr 12 '11 at 23:48

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote 1 down vote
What techniques are there for learning to roll the letter 'R'?
added by Alex B Apr 19 '11 at 3:26
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up vote 1 down vote
What is the best learning product for becoming fluent in Spanish?
added by Alex B Apr 19 '11 at 3:28
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up vote 1 down vote
What's the best Spanish speaking country in which to learn Spanish?
added by M-x Apr 23 '11 at 4:03
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up vote 0 down vote
How do I set the display language to Spanish in Windows 7? [closed]
added by CrazyJugglerDrummer, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 23 '11 at 18:57
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closed as off topic by CesarGon, Jaime Soto, ssakl, Vrki, fabikw Nov 11 '10 at 23:44

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote 0 down vote
What was the Spanish Inquisition and why did it happen? [closed]
added by CrazyJugglerDrummer Dec 28 '10 at 21:45
link

closed as off topic by Ian Mackinnon, CesarGon, Forte, Sinjo, Miguel Feb 21 '11 at 3:16

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote 0 down vote
What is the differerence between the words "os," "vos," and "vosotros"?
added by Peter Olson Apr 9 '11 at 19:25
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up vote 0 down vote
Why do Portuguese speakers generally understand Spanish but not the other way around?
added by Alex B Apr 19 '11 at 3:32
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up vote 0 down vote
Will learning Spanish help me to get a Peruvian partner?
added by gbsod Apr 28 '11 at 5:56
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up vote 0 down vote
In which countries is *vos* used for the second person?
added by snumpy Apr 29 '11 at 17:58
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up vote -1 down vote
Can you help me translate this document to Spanish? [closed]
added by Juan Manuel Jul 22 '10 at 14:50
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closed as off topic by Helix, Tea Drinker, ssakl, Jonik, keithjgrant Aug 25 '10 at 18:27

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -1 down vote
Como se dice "te quiero" en ingles? [closed]
added by CrazyJugglerDrummer Aug 30 '10 at 13:11
link

closed as off topic by Jaime Pardos, CesarGon, D W, Jaime Soto, ssakl Oct 18 '10 at 21:34

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -1 down vote
Besides Tequila, what others drinks can you suggest me to try? [closed]
added by Memo Oct 4 '10 at 22:07
link

closed as off topic by CesarGon, FireAphis, D W, Jaime Soto, Vrki Oct 22 '10 at 7:14

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -2 down vote
If I've mastered Spanish, will it be easier for me to learn Portuguese or Italian?
added by CrazyJugglerDrummer, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 23 '11 at 18:58
link
Possibly interesting but too vague. More focused question would be better. – Marek Dec 28 '10 at 16:31
@Marek I agree, see if I did any better. ;) – CrazyJugglerDrummer Dec 28 '10 at 21:41
@Drummer: still no good, sorry :-) The answer is clearly yes, but the degree to what Spanish would be useful will depend on your particular level and other background in languages. In other words, it's too subjective. I'd like to see questions that ask for objective and focused topics of the language's grammar or usage. – Marek Dec 28 '10 at 23:04
This is clearly off-topic. This is a site about Spanish; the question is asking about other languages. – CesarGon Feb 11 '11 at 19:24
up vote -2 down vote
What's your funniest language experience/blunder in a foreign country? [closed]
added by CrazyJugglerDrummer Oct 8 '10 at 0:31
link

closed as off topic by Tea Drinker, Vrki, Edgar, Trufa, Jaime Soto Dec 2 '10 at 20:31

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

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