HELP REQUIRED WITH SPANISH

Hi. Me acuesto means I lay and acostarme means lay down,so I suppose it’s what context you use it in. 

Hi Carol. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I'm learning Spanish via the Duolingo app, and although it's generally pretty good, it lacks in explanations. According to them, both mean "go to bed."

To he honest, I'm delighted that I'm learning the language to be able to converse so grammatical errors wont matter so much and I will still be understood.

Thanks again for replying. Lee.

My understanding is that:

Me acuesto = I lie down or I go to bed

Acostarme = to lie down or to go to bed

The first is conjugated in the first person singular in the present tense. 

The second is the infinitive of the verb and might be used with an auxillary verb.

For example "quiero acostarme" = I want to lie down 

Hope this helps

Richard

The second is the infinitive of the verb and might be used with an auxillary verb

Completely and utterly lost me. I have no understanding of grammatical terms such as those above. I certainly got "first person singular" but not the rest.

Perhaps I could trouble you further with this question. When merely speaking, and not studying for a degree, would a few minor mistakes be ok?

Of course, I'm forgetting my manners, thanks for the reply. Lee.

I was using Duo Lingo however when we started Spanish classes at the local school the teacher informed me that I was using ''American Spanish"'. I am now following "Que Hora Es" on YouTube. Although the teacher is American he points out the difference between European Spanish and "American Spanish'. He presents very well, explains in layman's terms and you can pause/go back and review. Hope this helps.

Glad to be of help. We have lessons with Paco, and he is always starting new beginners classes and he is excellent. Find him Paco Spanish Lessons, he holds classes all over, and makes it so much fun.

Hi Lee.

Apologies if I lost you with my explanation. I did it in a bit of a rush when I stopped off at a service station on the A1. I will try to post further information to you when I get home later tonight.

Best wishes

Richard

Hi Lee

Back home now.

The infinite is just a label to describe an action or a state. For example: To jump, to run, to visit, to be, to prefer, to want.

On its own the infinitive does not explain who actually is doing the action. It just describes the verb.

As in English, the Spanish infinitive is often used with another verb. For example:

Quierio saltar = I want to jump,

In this example the verb Querer (to want) is conjugated (the infinitive of the verb Querer is modified to show who is doing the action and also to show the tense of the verb (present/future/past)

The infinitive of the verb saltar is then added to Quiero to show what it is that I want to do

Other examples are as follows:

Quiere saltar  = He wants to jump

Queremos saltar = We want to jump

Quieren saltar = They want to jump,

Va a saltar = He is going to jump

I hope my above explanation has clarified what I was trying to put over before.

If you have any queries please feel free to ask.

Regards

Richard 

Hi Richard many thanks for this.

With regard to querer, I fully get it. Indeed quiero, quiere, queromos, etc is a patern I noted fairly early on in learning Spanish. It works for many, many verbs.

My confusion started (and continues) when me, te, se neefs to be used. Unlike the example of querer, tener, nadar, etc there's no patern that I can discern.

Take verb for brush. Yo cepillo. I brush. Then suddenly me is used.

My missus and I are moving to Arboleas in just under two weeks, and one of my first tasks after unpacking is to find a Spanish teacher. Apps are fine, but only go so far without some instructions.

Thanks again for your time. Lee