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- Topic: Spanish >
- "Sí, llueve."
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The lack of a subject here is because the verb is impersonal - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_verb. Note that in English "it rains," the subject "it" is a dummy, as the pronoun doesn't actually stand in for anything. Spanish doesn't require any subject.
718
Yes but Spanish often drops subjects. The fact that this verb is impersonal would seemingly have little bearing on the absence of the subject.
Why does the verb llover (to rain) have any conjugations at all other than llueve? How can anything other than "it" rain? The rest seem unnecessary.
- 206
You need the conjugation when you read Frida Kahlo:
Tú me llueves – yo te cielo
Tú la finura, la niñez, la vida
amor mío – niño – viejo
madre y centro – azul – ternura
Yo te entrego mi universo y tú me vives
Eres tú a quien amo hoy
te amo con todos los amores
te daré el bosque con una casita dentro
con todo lo bueno que haya
en mi construcción tu vivirás contento
yo quiero que tu vivas contento.
Aunque yo te daré siempre
mi soledad absurda y la monotonía
de toda una complejísima diversidad de amores
¿Quieres? Hoy amando los principios y tú amas
– te a tu madre
Frida Kahlo
You rain on me - I sky you http://thediaryjunction.blogspot.gr/2014/07/thanks-to-my-diego.html
So beautiful. I struggled my way through. There were only a few words I did not understand. Have a lingot
Yes you are correct. the verb llover is used only in the third person singular of the verb,which is the same as in English. We can only use third person singular because it is one of the verbs such as 'snow' that is non personal and can not be conjugated in any other person but third. For example: I rain, you rain; we snow, etc does not exist. You can say it rained, it was snowing, it did rain (all third person).
Well, actually they are exist, but usually are not in used! They may be used in story or poems, for example: The sky tells earth: "Hey there, I do rain"! It is pretty wierd but exists...
Very good point.Thanks But in every day conversation, only third person singular is used.
It could also be used abstractly in real conversation. Ex. I/she/he/they/we rained tears of joy.
can anything else other than 'it' rain? I mean if I use the conjugation 'lluevo' (that it gives me here)... that would mean "I rain"?! is that possible? does it perhaps refer to crying?
To rain or to snow are impersonal verbs that are only conjugated in third person singular. Although this verb can be conjugated for any person, it normally is only used (impersonally) in the third person singular, e.g.: llueve,it rains, it is raining. It has nothing to do with crying. This is the same as in English, Italian etc. There is no need to say I rain, you rain, we snow, they snow, etc. Any other use of the verb would be maybe colloquial expressions like " I rained on her parade".
As an aside, I wonder if that kind of conjugation is ever used in poetry.
In this case DL accepted the present progressive "Yes, it's raining." I wonder why they don't usually accept it.
So, is there a difference between "Does it rain in your climate? Yes, it rains. (Si, llueve)", and "Is it raining right now? Yes, it is raining. (Esta lloviendo)"? In other words, does "llueve" refer to the rain happening currently or is the gerund necessary?
If we are talking about at this moment then it should be translated as 'Yes, it's raining'...
Yes I agree but as of yet haven't figured out why? It may be just one of those words in Spanish that doesn't make sense, it just is. I wonder if snow would be the same?
Can anyone tell me when to use accents on Si and the different meanings? I thought I had a grasp on it, but since I got this one wrong, I definitely don't.
It is my understanding that "sí" with an accent is just for the word yes. Si with no accent is for "if." I didn't even notice the "if" word until you mentioned it. A comma/pause in the sentence is usually a dead giveaway for me if I wasn't looking for the accent.
- 1981
Everyone seems to more or less agree that llueve means rain. Will someone please tell me why the Duo drop down lists 'leak' as an alternate definition? Is that right or not?
The drop down has various uses. Most commonly it shows a word as used in alternate ways which do not apply to the current sentence... so the shown words are not substitutes. But sometimes all the words apply. The way it all works is an inconsistent poor design.
i tried "yes, it leaks" and it was not accepted. Can somebody tell me why or is it a DL fail and should be reported?
I think that is because there would need to be the object "it" for that to be a correct translation. Si, lo llueve = Yes, it leaks. The "it" being a faucet or some object that the water is leaking from.
Because ‘llueve’ is a verb meaning ‘it rains’. ‘Lluvia’ is a noun meaning ‘rain’.
I'd prefer 'Yes, it's raining' too, Pok, normally rendered as 'Sí, está lloviendo.'
Analytically, the English grammar of 'It rains' could imply that we were talking about general facts (e.g. a Central American person warning visitors that not every day is dry there). Spaniards, however, don't use the continuous (-ie/-a + -ndo i.e. -ing ending) aspect as widely (speaking from personal experience teaching in Madrid).
In this case, a simple 'Sí, (ahora) llueve' may mean that 'Yes, it is raining (now)'.
It is grammatically correct but the continuous tense with the present participle, raining, is normal. I tried it and DL accepted it. It does not always accept the continuous tense when a simple present tense is translated. I don't know if the continuous tense ie used more in English than in Spanish.
