demasiados como para que ahora venga un listo y me gane por la mano
The tough part is “como para que”.
And also, “listo” doesn’t make sense here.
“me gane por la mano” is a bit hard to translate as well.
It would be interesting to see the rest of the paragraph.
I am a beginner, but “un listo” can mean somebody clever (or a smart-a*se).
“como para que” - think “enough that / enough to”
After "para que’ you need the subjunctive so “venga” - may have the meaning of “I come” or “I am”
“Me gano por la mano” maymean “I win the hand” as in cards, or “I gain the upper hand”
Just guessing really. 
My friend says it means:
Too many for some wise guy to come along and defeat me just like that
still confused how “como para que” is used.
como usually means “as” or “like”
Como para que + subjuntivo = Para + the infinitive
Can mean the same as para, de, and que
In English, this translates into = as to, to + verb.
Thank you for the help.
I wonder if there is any good book or website that will list all the simple one or two word expressions such as “asi que” or “para que” or “lo que” or “a lo mejor” or all the small little expressions that are elusive, but maybe there are too many to list.
I’m willing to bet there are a number of such websites, which you might want to consult periodically. However, most of sayings will be learned in context and often with the help of looking up the grammar, lexical, or other description of them.
For example, “a lo mejor” means “maybe” or perhaps. The same as quizas or tal vez. But, “lo que” has a bunch of means depending on the context. It is generally reffered to as a “relative pronoun” and you will learn it after having it examplained in a lesson and then seeing it a ton in all its uses.
@LILingquist how have you gone about learning spanish grammar? I understand that the beginning of a sentences such as “Yo” “Usted” “El” for example changes the word like we do in English with for example “there” “they’re” and “their” can I just learn this through reading or do I need to learn the boring old tables of grammar?
I think when you are first starting out, SOMETHING has to fill that “How to Learn Spanish” role. It can be a book, starter material (Teach yourself, assimil, etc. Not sure which one haven’t used them), a class, a website, a ton of videos (like a class), etc. It has to be the thing that demystifies the language and gives you a sense of what’s going on. It will also be your reference. It will be something that you consult over and over and over and over again–either because you are reading it again and again, or are looking up specific questions you have. Probably both. It should be simple, short, and have lots of examples, ideally.
That which you learn here will help you notice what is happening when you read at LingQ. And, when you notice things again and again while reading your authentic material at LingQ, you’ll have questions which you can then look up in your book. For example, the straight up regular conjugations of -AR, ER, and -IR will be learned in a book or from a website, and then reinforced through reading over and over. Irregular verbs that don’t follow that pattern will learned more heavily through reading.
For me personally, I took Spanish in high school and then sleep walked through a course in college for credit. I kept the textbook from college and consult it for particular lessons or issues I need to review or tackle again. The point is that when I started using LingQ, Spanish wasn’t a complete mystery to me. I couldn’t understand most of what was being said, I missed huge chunks of meaning when I read, and whole concepts I didn’t “get” when it came to grammar, but I didn’t start from zero.
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I have the similar experience to Lingquist. I have a decent background in Spanish grammar from a textbook and a college course. I often refer to it to understand, mostly to try and understand the subjunctive uses, and other technical things.
I find a very helpful book is “501 Spanish Verbs”, I think it really helps with conjugating and learning the most common verbs:
This thing I find difficult is the uses of reflexive verbs, when a verb has “se me” before it, or how this changes the meaning, or how certain verbs are used reflexively when it seems unnecessary.
Grammar videos would definitely be helpful, if there are some good ones out there.
The 501 Verbs books I always believed would be helpful. I have flipped through it a number of times. I borrowed a friend’s 8 years before we went to Spain and I’ve been meaning to look through it again to see what comes up. I am meaning to spend some time with it to get a few verbs down. I could probably just Google, but I like the idea of the book. Mostly, I think it might help with “noticing” whats happening with the irregular verbs and how certain verbs can change meaning in certain contexts.
For the se me, etc, the section of my grammar book I return the most often to is the various pronouns (direct, indirect, and relative; as well as the use of se). It’s confusing and redundant, but it does sink in over time.