Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

¿Cree usted que esto está bien? Do you think this is all right? ¿Le parece bien? Does it seem all right to you? (pol.) Si te par ...

62 Expressing hope This chapter considers the concept of hope, in relation to the speaker himself as well as to others. 62.1 Say ...

Hope with regard to something in the past is expressed with the present of esperar followed by a verb in the perfect subjunctive ...

Espero que sí‘I hope so’ Espero que no‘I hope not’ Eso espero‘I hope so’ ¡Ojalá!‘I hope so!’ (¿Vendrás mañana?) – Espero que sí. ...

63 Expressing sympathy To tell people we are sorry or glad about something which has happened to them, for example, the loss of ...

For formal condolences, use the set phrases: Mi más sentido pésame. My deepest sympathies. OrLo(le)/la acompaño en el sentimient ...

Siento mucho lo sucedido. I’m sorry about what happened.
 16.1.2.1 (p. 64) An alternative to the last sentence is to use a con ...

63.2.2 Me alegro/nos alegramos de que+ subjunctive Alegrarse, ‘to be glad’, is a reflexive verb, so you will need to use a refle ...

64 Apologizing and expressing forgiveness By and large, apologies are much less common in Spanish than in English, just as por f ...

Perdone usted, (pero) no me di cuenta de que estaba ocupado. I’m sorry, but I didn’t realize you were busy. Disculpa, (pero) no ...

Sentí mucho no poder Ilamarlo. I was sorry not to be able to call you. Sentí mucho decepcionarte. I was sorry to disappoint you. ...

65 Expressing fear or worry This chapter considers the concepts of fear and worry and the expressions normally associated with t ...

No, en ese momento no tuve miedo. No, at that moment I wasn’t afraid.
 17.4 (p. 75) 65.1.2 (No) tener miedo a+ noun/pronoun No ...

65.1.5 (No)+ (pronoun) temer+ (a+ noun/pronoun) Temer, ‘to be afraid’, ‘to fear’, is less common and less strong than tener mied ...

Temían que la policía los descubriera. They were afraid the police might track them down.
 18.1.4 (p. 85);^19 (p. 93) 65.1.8 E ...

65.2 Other ways of expressing fear The following expressions are highly colloquial and very common in contexts such as the prese ...

66 Expressing gratitude This chapter deals with the concept of gratitude. Generally speaking, expressions of gratitude, includin ...

66.1.2 Gracias por+ infinitive/noun Gracias por... , ‘thank you for.. .’, is the most frequent of the more specific expressions ...

66.2 Responding to an expression of gratitude The way you respond to an expression of gratitude will vary according to the situa ...

V The language of persuasion ...