"I have been living in San Frarncisco for three years" ?
Hola a todos.
I was trying to write "I have been living in San Francisco for three years" in Spanish, but I was not sure which word between "por" and "para" I should use in this sentence.
Also there is another word that I am not sure which one I should use.
Very common sentence:
A: How are you doing today?
B: I am doing well. Thanks for asking.
I am not sure whether "preguntar" is used here or other words.
Alguien puede ayudárme sobre las dos frases por favor.
Gracias de antemano.
Marco
15 Answers
A. COMO ESTA USTED HOY'?
B. MUY BIEN. GRACIAS POR PREGUNTAR.
James Santiago said:
Hace tres años que vivo en San Pancho
Eddy, it's funny that you copied my little joke. Did you do it intentionally?
Pancho is the nickname for Francisco (as Frank is to Francis), and here in San Francisco the radio DJ's sometimes jokingly refer to the city as San Pancho.
Of course. He was one of my favourite cowboys when I was a child. The faithful companion of "The Cisco Kid"
Hace tres años que vivo en San Pancho
Eddy, it's funny that you copied my little joke. Did you do it intentionally?
Pancho is the nickname for Francisco (as Frank is to Francis), and here in San Francisco the radio DJ's sometimes jokingly refer to the city as San Pancho.
By the way, is there are a rule for separating a word into syllables, or it is it as random as the spelling'
Here are some:
Never divide two vowels next to each other if they carry one sound.
Example- bread
Divide two vowels next to each other when each carries a different sound.
Example- video
A single consonant between two vowels goes with the second vowel if the first vowel is long (vc/v).
Example- belong
A single consonant between two vowels goes with the first vowel if the first vowel is accented and short (vc/v).
Example- guitar
Two or more consonants between vowels--
' Go with the second vowel if the first vowel is long.
' Example- between
' Are divided if the first vowel is not long- -
The first consonant stays with the first vowel and the other consonants go with the second vowel (vc/cv)
Example- purpose
Unless the consonants form a blend in which case they are not divided (v cc/v)
Example- without
Two identical consonants are divided when they occur between vowels.
Example- rabbit
Compound words are divided into the simple words that form them.
Example- notebook
Prefixes and suffixes usually form separate syllables.
Examples- unkind
kindly
As you can see, the rules are rather complicated, which is why we English speakers use dictionaries to tell us where to make the syllable break in hyphenated words.
James Santiago said:
Llevo tres años viviendo en San Pancho.
Estoy bien. Gracias por consultar/preguntar. (Either is fine)
Also
Hace tres años que vivo en San Pancho, but I think this may be used more in Spain.
Marco T said:
Thanks, James. Your explanation is very clear even though I still need more time to understand and get it because honestly it is not easy for beginners, like myself to recognize if adding the pronoun makes the pronunciation violate the basic pronunciation rule because beginners might not have correct pronunciation. That's why I said that I still need more time to get it.
Use your ears instead: these words are called "esdrújulas" in Spanish (the stress is two syllables before the last one), and there are lots in English:
cor-ri-dor
mirra-cle
In Spanish, all words (but some ending in -mente) take always the accent.
By the way, is there are a rule for separating a word into syllables, or it is as random as the spelling'
The eaiset way, is speaking the language. That's how I learned, and admittedly I still have more to learn. But it reflects where you should put the inflection when you are speaking is where you should put the accent when writing. As with everything, it requires practice.
James Santiago said:
The rule is simple: If adding the pronoun makes the pronunciation violate the basic pronunciation rule, an accent must be used.
In darme, the accent is on the penultimate syllable, so the basic rule is not violated, and no accent is needed.
In dármelas, the accent is not on the penultimate syllable, so the basic rule is violated, and an accent is needed.
comiéndote
pasándola
olvidárselo
You can see how these words need an accent because their pronunciation does not obey the basic rule.
Thanks, James. Your explanation is very clear even though I still need more time to understand and get it because honestly it is not easy for beginners, like myself to recognize if adding the pronoun makes the pronunciation violate the basic pronunciation rule because beginners might not have correct pronunciation. That's why I said that I still need more time to get it.
Marco
Vernic said:
Marco T said:
James Santiago said:
Llevo tres años viviendo en San Pancho.
Gracias, James por tu respuesta.Tengo que recordar la frase - "Take ? years doing something" is the way to say in Spanish instead "Have/has been doing something for ? year" in English.Marco
Consultar can be used when you request an opinion about something, preguntar fits better to an informal situation.
Gracias, Vernic por tu explanación y dime los usos diferentes entre "consultar" y "preguntar".
Marco
The rule is simple: If adding the pronoun makes the pronunciation violate the basic pronunciation rule, an accent must be used.
In darme, the accent is on the penultimate syllable, so the basic rule is not violated, and no accent is needed.
In dármelas, the accent is not on the penultimate syllable, so the basic rule is violated, and an accent is needed.
comiéndote
pasándola
olvidárselo
You can see how these words need an accent because their pronunciation does not obey the basic rule.
James Santiago said:
That's the most natural and common way, although there are others. It is literally "I carry three years living..."
By the way, when you write "Alguien puede ayudárme sobre las dos frases por favor," it should be in question form, and no accent is needed on ayudar.
¿Alguien puede ayudarme sobre las dos frases, por favor?
Yes, James. You are correct. I forgot the question marks. I was focusing on whether or not "sobre" was used here correctly. That is why the question marks were missed.
Based on what you said that accent is not needed on "ayudar", now my question is when to use accents on the connected/combined words. I see a lot of connected/combined words having accents on, but I am not sure when to use it if I myself write some this kind of words, for example "darme", "darte", "decirme". How do I know when accents are needs and when not. Is there a rule that I can follow or I need to memorize?
Thank you,
Marco
Marco T said:
James Santiago said:
Llevo tres años viviendo en San Pancho.
Gracias, James por tu respuesta.Tengo que recordar la frase - "Take ? years doing something" is the way to say in Spanish instead "Have/has been doing something for ? year" in English.Marco
Consultar can be used when you request an opinion about something, preguntar fits better to an informal situation.
That's the most natural and common way, although there are others. It is literally "I carry three years living..."
By the way, when you write "Alguien puede ayudárme sobre las dos frases por favor," it should be in question form, and no accent is needed on ayudar.
¿Alguien puede ayudarme sobre las dos frases, por favor'
James Santiago said:
Llevo tres años viviendo en San Pancho.
Estoy bien. Gracias por consultar/preguntar. (Either is fine)
Gracias, James por tu respuesta.
Tengo que recordar la frase - "Take ? years doing something" is the way to say in Spanish instead "Have/has been doing something for ? year" in English.
Marco
Llevo tres años viviendo en San Pancho.
Estoy bien. Gracias por consultar/preguntar. (Either is fine)
