Problems with Translation and Writing.

Question

Hola,

I have to write a school paper in Spanish, and I'm having some miscellaneous problems. Can anyone help me with the correct usage/translation of these phrases?

Referring to a group like "Boy Scouts"
"It (the group) had meetings each week..."
Había(') citas(') cada semana

Answer 1

Just a few words on demás.
it is an adjective and therefore y would not use it on its own as you are suggesting.

So I would say
Juan y demás compañeros (JOhn and the rest of his friends) wherre demás modifies compañeros
or
Juan y los demás (John and the others)

In the latter case the article los has made the adjective demás into a noun and it can stand on its own.

I would never use demás to indicate 'and so on.'
I would probably use etc (same in Spanish)
or use a more complete phrase such as 'y tambien los otros' (and also the other ones)
Note that this could be a personal preference not an indication of what is correct or otherwise.
I never studied the use of demás in my classes. I just use it.
THat is the usual prob;lem with native speakers.

Answer 2

damn Gustavo, eres "el hombre", amigo! Sabes todas las respuestas!

Answer 3

Thanks!

Btw, Gustavo, I assume that "tenia" would have a meaning kind of like "held", right? "They held meetings, They had meetings." In english they're the same, are they the same in spanish then?

Oh and sorry, with the "demas" question I'm asking if "y demas" can be used as "and so on" when used at the end of a list. I thought that was how it was done, but I can't seem to find confirmation.

Oh, also, I have a few more questions for someone:

--Would a sentence like "fuimos de excursión en los bosques" (We went hiking in the woods) be correct? Is "de" used correctly in this case?

--And, in a phrase like "it was heavy for us" would one use por or para for "for"?

Thanks,

Wil