Elementary - Rent a car

Question of the day: Cuando voy dónde tú vives para visitarte, ¿debo rentar un carro? When I come to your town to visit, should I rent a car? Si vienes a visitarme en Seattle, mejor rentar un carro. Yo te puedo enseñar la ciudad, pero ya no tengo coche. If you come Seattle to visit me, you better rent a car. I can take you around, but I don't have a car anymore!

Si vienes a visitarme en Montreal no tienes que rentar un carro. Tengo uno y podre ir contigo a visitar la ciudad. Ademas podremos ir a otros lugares interesantes. Bienvenido!

Me fascina Montréal, es una de mis ciudades favoritas, pero no cuando hace mucho frío jaja. Las veces que ido tengo que rentar un auto porque después voy a la ciudad de Québec. Luisita ya viste la película de Québec-Montréal? Muy simpática no crees?

Si venis a España a visitarme, no rentareis un carro sino que alquilareis un coche. to rent=rentar=alquilar car=carro=coche=auto

Estobalitz uses alquilar. I have seen this word used more than rentar in spanish books I've read. Are the words similar? Are there countries where one is used more than the other?

Estibalitz sorry for the typo in your name. In the question of the day from JP, would it also be appropriate to say: "Cuando vengo a su cuidad para visitar" or does this sound to much like a beginner?

Hola shep1582, I use "rentar" with my Mexican friends, but in doubt I will use "alquilar." I also use the word "coche," usually, because we said that in my family, even when speaking English. However, my Mexican friends are slowly converting me!

I was very surprised to hear in the lesson, "Is this a Mexican argument as well as an American argument?" I try really hard never to say American when I mean the United States since there is so much more to America than just the US. Isn't what you said kind of an insult to Mexico which is part of America, or is using America ok as long as you say North America when you mean more than the US?

It is commonplace and totally accepted among Mexicans to refer to the United States as America. Some people also suggest that referring to the United States as "United States" is incorrect because Mexico is actually the "Estados Unidos Mexicanos", i.e., the "United States of Mexico", but no Mexican would refer to Mexico as the "United States". North America is rarely used among Mexicans, and North America is not just the U.S., but also includes Canada. Mexicans do refer to the U.S. as "El Norte", but only in the sense that it's north of Mexico.

Is alquilar un coche likely to work in Chile or Peru? In general, is Mexican spanish the same as South American spanish? It was great to meet you guys, and we look forward to learning spanish with you for the latter part of our trip. Brendan, Letizia, Nina and Sara (from last Wednesday).

brendan, you'll have no problem with "alquilar un coche" in South America. Mexican Spanish and South American Spanish are not the same, but they're not that far apart, either. If it's your second language, the differences will be minor. In general, different varieties of Spanish (including European Spanish) only vary by a consonant or two, in terms of pronunciation. When it comes to vocabulary, regional preferences might cause a moment of confusion, but that's all: a moment. I've found that Spanish speakers tend to be very quick to guess what you're saying, even if your accent is awful, and they won't laugh in your face. In my neighborhood in Seattle, there's a school bus that's converted into a taqueria, and the food there is bomb, I miss it so much! Anyway, I was waiting in line to order, and the dude in line in front of me said, in a super-mega-gringo accent "yo necesito tres tacos" (but it came out like /iyohw nessessit-hohw chuh-reyss t-hakoawz/). The guy was too busy looking at the menu to see the people behind him (including me) chuckling quietly to themselves. The cashier lady couldn't help but smile, but looked at all of us with a "stop laughing at him" look. I think we can all agree that tacos are a desire, sometimes a very strong desire, but definitely not a *need* like, say, shelter. So it struck us all as funny, but we were all very discreet about it, so as to not hurt his feelings. The taco bus is "Taquería el asadero" and it's on Rainier Avenue S. in Seattle, just north of the Columbia City neighborhood. The cross street is Leticia.

Jim Caruso, Just to add someways in which we call the U.S.A. in Spanish would be: - Los Estudos Unidos (the United States) - Los "united" (the united) - el otro lado (the other side) - gringolandia (hahaha, try to guess) Something else, some people don't know that Mexico is considerate as part of North America, geographically speaking. I know a lot of people refer to U.S.A. and Canada only when they talk about North America, but i guess this is an error. For instance, ou might know NAFTA which is an abbreviation for "North America Free Trade Agreement" and this trade includes three countries in it, Canada, USA and Mexico.

I have a question about the line: "Creo que lo incluyen" What about "I think it is included" ? "Creo que lo inclue" ??? "they include it" and "it is included" strike me as having different structures in English... what about in Spanish?

<< Gringolandia >> Thanks for that one!

austinfd, they include it = lo incluyen it is included = está incluido

The truth is a lot of Mexican we say "Estados Unidos", we do not get offended when they say American, bu I can also say I am American beign Mexican, becuase we are part of the American continent, but we never use it. As Leo wrote before, what is incorrect to say is that Mexico is "South America."

I have found that in some countries, for example, Spain and Cuba, COMENZAR and EMPEZAR are not always interchangeable. Is there a difference in the way those verbs are used in Mexcio?

Hola JimCaruso In Mexico both verbs are synonyms. I usually use "empezar" because I think it is more informal.

¡Gracias!, lilianamata.

Si alguien viene a mi ciudad a visitarme no hace falta que alquile coche ya que el transporte público está muy bien para moverse por la ciudad, además así no tienes que preocuparte de buscar aparcamiento.

Dos preguntas de la misma tema - la de tu vs Ud. 1) Hablamos en tu o Ud en este "dialogue"? la espose, le dice a su esposo, "Necesitas su licencia". Pero lo demas de "dialogue" los ambos hablan en Ud. 2) Siempre, dice seguro(a) o cambia si hablamos en tu. Por ejemplo, en el "dialogue", a mi parece que hablamos en tu, pero el esposo le pregunto, "segura?" Two questions on the same theme - Tu vs Ud. 1) Are we speaking in "tu o Ud" in this dialogue. The wife says to her husband, "Necesitas su licencia". But the rest of the dialogue, they both speak in "Ud". 2) Do we always say "seguro(a)" or does it change when we speak in "tu". For example, in the dialogue, to me it seems that we are speaking in "Tu", but the husband asks his wife, "segura?" Gracias. AY

Anayelena En este dialogo se habla de usted. 1) En el caso de "necesitas tu licencia" es "necesitas" porque es "TU necesitas", la segunda forma del verbo necesitar. 2) "Seguro y segura" es un adjetivo y esta en la forma "TU" yo estoy seguro, tu estas seguro, lo que cambia es el verbo no el adjetivo.

Hola todos, I am not sure about the sentence "Mi casa no está en renta". Does this mean that it is permanently not for rent or that it is not being rented out at the moment? Can anyone help, please?

Pussycat It means that my house is not for rent, not now, that doesn't mean that in the future will be. In this sentences it just express the following "my house is not for rent."

Hola todos!

I know...old lesson, I like to listen to them all and pick up little gems.

I have a question here on "incluyen" Why isn't it the subjunctive  "incluyan" after creo que. What triggers or rather is not triggering the subjunctive here?

Russ

Hola russ,

Good question, I'm not sure, but I'll have a guess:

I think it's in the indicative here because sometimes you might say "I think that..." when your actually pretty sure that it's fact. Say if someone asked me how much money I have, and I saw a £10 note in my wallet earlier, I might say "I think I have about £10"

Bare in mind, thats not based on any previous knowledge, I just guessed that after reading your question, I'd like to hear anybody else's opinion.

Russ

Your have a good question but it is not an elemantary one so I answered it on a Separate thread.  Here is a link