Answers
Oct 09, 2013 - 03:37 AM
Hi, "Parar" is the infinitive ("To stop") and "Pare" is an imperative form. Imperatives are used to give commands and orders:
- Quiero parar aquí = (I) want to stop here (infinitive for is used)
- Pare aquí, por favor = Stop here, please (imperative form)
Hope this helps!
- Quiero parar aquí = (I) want to stop here (infinitive for is used)
- Pare aquí, por favor = Stop here, please (imperative form)
Hope this helps!
Oct 09, 2013 - 01:14 PM
Thank you Apolonia, but I'm still wondering. A command is given to an IMPLIED "YOU". You, whether singular or plural, would indicate "para" or "paran". Perhaps later lessons get into the command rules? Otherwise, I am confused and wondering if that means that "Take this suitcase to the room" is "lleve" and not "lleva" and "Please call today" is llame and not llama. The thing is that Fluenz has not explained this yet, but are incorporating those rules by level 2 and it's confusing.
Oct 11, 2013 - 10:41 AM
Imperatives are not explained in depth in the program...We just teach "Pare" and "Repita", because they are quite useful. Imperatives can cause some confusion because some of the verb forms in the imperative mode are the same than verb forms in the present tense. For example, "Para" (with no context and on its own) could mean "Stop" (a command for "you informal") or "(He/She) stops" or "(You) stop").
As for "Take this suitcase to the room" the translation would change depending on who you are talking to. If you're talking to someone you know, you'd use the verb form (imperative) for "tú" (informal you): "Lleva esta maleta a la habitación". If you're talking to someone you don't know (formal you) this would be: "Lleve esta maleta a la habitación". To complicate things, the first example "Lleva esta maleta a la habitación" can be translated as "(He/She) takes the suitcase to the room". With context there will be no problem in distinguishing whether the sentence is a command or an statement, but with no context you simply cannot tell the difference.
Similarly, "please call today" can be "Por favor, llame hoy" or "Por favor, llama hoy": In the first one you're giving the command to a formal you and in the second one to an informal you. I hope not to have confused you more!
As for "Take this suitcase to the room" the translation would change depending on who you are talking to. If you're talking to someone you know, you'd use the verb form (imperative) for "tú" (informal you): "Lleva esta maleta a la habitación". If you're talking to someone you don't know (formal you) this would be: "Lleve esta maleta a la habitación". To complicate things, the first example "Lleva esta maleta a la habitación" can be translated as "(He/She) takes the suitcase to the room". With context there will be no problem in distinguishing whether the sentence is a command or an statement, but with no context you simply cannot tell the difference.
Similarly, "please call today" can be "Por favor, llame hoy" or "Por favor, llama hoy": In the first one you're giving the command to a formal you and in the second one to an informal you. I hope not to have confused you more!
Oct 13, 2013 - 01:55 AM
Apolonia, thanks. Please go a bit further. When you say "Para" could mean "stop" for "you informal", that does confuse me. Wouldn't "informal you" for parar be "paras" (with an "s"?), or is this a whole new set of formal/informal rules as well as new command rules? If you say it's a whole new set of rules and doesn't follow the regular informal rules, then I'll be less confused but a bit more concerned that I have a HUGE amount to learn in order to speak Spanish.
Oct 13, 2013 - 08:58 AM
I'm talking to my wife - Para aqui. (stop here) informal command Talking with a cab driver- Pare aqui (stop here) formal command - I don't know him that well to say "para" so "pare" is more appropriate Paras - is the 2nd person singular in present tense Tu paras aqui - means you stop here - but it's not a command, it's a statement. That said, it's not that big a deal. Using familiar where formal is appropriate will not get you deported. :-) Most people will be so happy you learned their language (and have come to their country to spend your $$, they'll cut you a lot of slack) I use familiar WAY more than I probably should, But one look at me (blonde, blue eyes, probably wearing sneakers), they know I'm not from there - so perfection isn't expected.
Oct 14, 2013 - 09:02 AM
2101, I think you are still trying to use the simple present conjugation for a command, which is incorrect. A command, like "stop," takes the imperative, a completely different tense. As Apolonia said, we are not really taught that tense in Fluenz, but are taught how to give a couple of useful commands. The same is true for conditional tenses, like quisiera and podria. We are taught these special instances because they are so useful, but not the conjugation for all verbs in general.
Oct 16, 2013 - 03:37 AM
As James said, it's incorrect to use simple present conjugations for a command. You have to use the imperative verb forms and they are different from the present tense verb forms. There are many different tenses in Spanish (you may want to have a look at the Conjugator tool in wordreference to get an idea) and our program only covers the most useful/used ones. All verb tenses have formal and informal forms and commands are not an exception. So if you're talking to someone you don't know you'd use the formal form: "Pare aquí". If you're talking to a friend you'd use the informal form: "Para aquí". Dxcomix is right when he says that native speakers won't expect perfection and nobody will feel offended if you say "para, por favor" instead of "pare, por favor". So please don't worry about this....you learn other useful structures that you can use instead of commands. You could always say something like: "¿Puede parar aquí, por favor?".