Questions on Some Spanish Grammars?

I am a Spanish newbie and would like to have some questions on the article below:

First of all, I would need to know how you will be using this information. It looks like you’re going to use it in a paper or report or something. I assume you will be changing some words around. Anyway, I will answer your questions based on the information you have provided.

> La estadounidense Apple ha vendido más de 3 millones de unidades del iPad desde que fuera lanzada en abril.

Q1: Could I omit “… de unidades…”?

Technically, yes you could, but you would have write the sentence as “3 millones de iPads”. “Millones” always require the preposition “de” after it when a noun follows.

Q2: Why is it written “lanzada” here but no other conjugation? Could I say “… que estuvo fuera lanzada en abril”?

“Lanzada” is a past participle that stems from the verb “lanzar”. There actually is another conjugation in front of “lanzada” – “fuera”, which is the past subjunctive of “ser”, so the two verbs would translate as “was released”. Therefore, it would not make sense to add “estuvo”. Also, after “desde que”, you would have to use the subjunctive mood (fuera), and “estuvo” is indicative and comes from the verb “estar”, not “ser”.

> El martes RIM presentaría una nueva versión de su Blackberry, con la esperanza de competir de forma más eficiente contra el iPhone de Apple y otros teléfonos inteligentes.

Q3: Why “de” before “forma más eficiente”? What does it stand for here? Could I say “con forma más eficiente”?”

It means “in a more efficient manner”. I would suggest leaving it as is. Remember Spanish is not English; it is an entirely different language, so you can’t always translate word for word from one different language to another.

I hope this helps!

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