a few questions: comprender and entender, a "cool thing to do"..

Question

hey I'm new to spanish and i have a few questions I can't find answers to in the books i have.

1)In Spanish how do you say something is cool, as in a "cool thing to do"?

2) what is the difference between comprender and entender?

3) How do you express Myself, himself, etc. In spanish? (Is that what a reflexive verb is for')

4) And is there a rule to change a verb into a noun? Like i was running, into I took a run in the park? I know pintar is to paint, so how would i turn that into a painting.

5) Also does Perder mean to loose like a game, or like I lost my shoe?
thank you for the help!

Answer 1

1)In Spanish how do you say something is cool, as in a "cool thing to do"?

Slang words are different from country to country, so you won't find one translation. In Spain you have, "chulo", "guay", and many other ones, but they are probably not used elsewhere.

2) what is the difference between comprender and entender?

Most of the time, there are identical, but both have some specific uses where they are not interchangeable, but don't worry about them at this stage.

3) How do you express Myself, himself, etc. In spanish? (Is that what a reflexive verb is for')

No, there are no reflexive verbs in Spanish. A proper reflexive (ie. when you act upon yourself) is done with reflexive pronouns, which can be direct or indirect objects:

Lo vero = I see it/him (direct object)
Me veo = I see myself (direct object)

4) And is there a rule to change a verb into a noun?

No, there is none that works all the time. There are different mechanisms depending on the word:

cantar = canto/canción (change of ending)
leer = lectura (adding -ura, like in pintar - pintura)
mirar = mirada (adding -ada)
tocar = tacto (complete change)

Answer 2

HI Max, welcome to the forum

Have a look at this thread about comprender etc.

Answer 3

Hey I was wondering what is recommended for beginner practice? I'm the kind of learner who can't learn anything unless I write it down alot.

Anyone have any good ideas to learn spanish by writing first? I've been keeping a simple diary in spanish. So far its working!

What I try to do is learn to write with the new words I learn and spanish then try using them to talk. I can't seem to do it the other way around