I wish I lived near you I could do with a good teacher LOL

Transitive, intransitive, future, past perfect, pluperfect, future in the past etcetera. I can use them in English. I am clueless when it comes to Spanish. Perhaps I need more time speaking to the locals.

that's technicalities

you don't really need to know what they're called unless you're taking exams - you're right, you'd do better spending more time talking & less time worrying about technicalities

a mixture of study & talk is the best way - if you're at the point that you're looking at the language in that depth, you're more than ready to just TALK

Help needed????? Can anyone out there tell me how you would say in Spanish
I can hear the animals?
I am getting a bit confused as I would Escuchando los animales but a learning programe I am using is oiyo instead of escucha:
I would appreciate any input thanks Jade

use OIR rather than ESCUCHAR

ESCUCHAR means to listen (to)

I can hear the animals - puedo oir los animales - literally

or

I hear the animals - oigo los animales



Escuchando los animales is listening to the animals - if you want to say I'm listening to the animals, you need to add estoy at the beginning




some would also say that you need the personal 'a' with animals - I would use it if it's an animal or group of animals which I 'know', such as pets

Many Thanks I understand now, sometimes even the simplest of things get me confused:

You can get a long way by just learning a few verbs and using them with the infinitive. Just stick "No" at the beginning of the sentence to make them negative. For example:

Quiero comer - I want to eat
Tengo que comer - I have to eat
Debo comer - I should eat
Suelo comer - I usually eat
Puedo comer - I can eat
Voy a comer - I'm going to eat
Necesito comer - I need to eat

Good stuff.

Voy a + infinitive gives an easy future tense for any verb

If you add

He comido - I have eaten (the past participles are all easy)

and

Estoy comiendo - I am eating (the gerunds are also easy)

Then you have workable present, past and future tenses

Well, using the perfect tense (e.g. he comido) for anything that happened in the past is not correct of course, but a lot of learners do it and you will generally be understood.

If they wanted us to use the preterite tense they shouldn't have made so many verbs irregular ...

Morning everyone!
I am a Madrileña, who is looking for a partner for conversation exchange English-Spanish.
I have been living in London for one and a half year, and now I came back to Spain and I miss the language and the international atmosphere.
I'm new in this website, so if you live in Madridand are interested in improving your Spanish, and you don't mind helping me with my English, don't be shy and let's have a chat over a coffee and practise the language, though!.
Cheers, and have a nice day!!

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

What a great opportunity for someone, hope you will find a partner soon, its good not to let your language skills decline because of no practice Good luck