55 Asking and giving opinions
This chapter examines the different ways in which Spanish speakers ask and give
opinions, and it also looks at the expressions used for reporting on other people’s
opinions.55.1 Asking someone’s opinion
To ask people their opinion, Spanish uses several verbs and constructions, the most
common of which are:55.1.1 Parecer
Parecer, ‘to seem’, is the most frequent verb in this context. It functions like gustar,
that is, with an indirect object pronoun (i.e. me, te, le, nos, os, les) preceding the verb,
e.g. me parece, literally ‘it seems to me’. The constructions in which this verb normally
appears are the following:¿Qué te/le parece?‘What do you think?’ (fam./pol.)
¿Qué os parece... ?‘What do you think of... ?’
¿Qué les parece si+ present indicative?‘What do you think if... ?’/
‘How about... ?’
¡Vamos al cine! ¿Qué te parece?
Let’s go to the cinema. What do you think?
¿Qué te pareció la película?
What did you think of the film?¿Qué le parece si empezamos ahora?
What do you think if we start now?/How about starting now?
¿Qué os parece si cenamos fuera?
What do you think if we eat out?/How about eating out?8.2 (p. 36)
55.1.2 Creer
Creer, ‘to think’, is found in expressions like these:¿Qué cree usted/crees tú?‘What do you think?’
¿Qué cree usted/crees tú que+ indicative?‘What do you think... ?’