Possible error in Flashcards "Greeting Talk"

Question

[corrected a couple of minor errors and, because one individual thought disparaging remarks had been made when I was only trying to be helpful. Hopefully corrections are desired but, if not, I shall stop. Actually, questions will be asked but without referencing the error, perceived or real.]

Being a newb I may be wrong and my only goal is to help this wonderful website.

At http://my.spanishdict.com/flashcards/show/392 one of the entries is "Good Morning" with the solution "buenos naches."

I don't find naches as a word, noche is night, and I was told "buenos dias" was used for "Good morning."

Whether I'm right or wrong...
If mañana is morning (I thought it was tomorrow...)
then why would dias be used for morning?
Finally, why use dias rather than dia or noches rather than noche?

Thanks.

Answer 1

You are right. Good morning is buenas días or good day. Mañana means both morning and tomorrow.

Answer 2

That flashcard is full of errors:

1. good afternoon - buenos night (should be "buenas tardes")
2. what's going on - esta de replace (should be "qué pasa")
3. good morning - buenos naches ("buenos días")
4. (ok)
5. good evening - buenos tardes ("buenas noches"; there is no "evening" in Spanish)
6. hello - halo ("hola")
7. (ok, but the pronounciation is terrible)

If mañana is morning (I thought it was tomorrow')

then why would dias be used for morning?

"Buenos días" means "good day", not "good morning". But in English "good day" is not a greeting, which is why "buenos días" is translated as "good morning".

You don't wish someone a "good morning" (buena mañana) in Spanish, possibly because it would sound as if you don't care if their afternoon is good or not. (and also because it could be understood as "good tomorrow" since the words are the same)

why dias rather than dia or noches rather than noche

That is just the common way of greeting people. I think "buenos días" sounds better than "buen día", which can also be used but it's not nearly as common.

Answer 3

Before we disparage the author of the cards for all of his mistakes, notice the opprotunity that his errors provided.
Now you've learned that word for word translation from one language to the next is not always possible. Even if all the words exist, when you translate them they don't convey the same meaning that they carried in the other language (Buena mañana .vs. Buenos días)
The word, evening, may not exist is Spanish, but the concept of late afternoon/early night certainly does. You just have to learn how to express that concept in the language's own words.

This may not be good news to the beginning student (it would be nice if just amassing sufficient vocabulary meant that you would be able to express your ideas in the language.)

Maybe we should thank the author of the list for providing us with practical examples of this fact.

It is disheartening to learn that they are publishing private lists to public lists again without review, especially in light of the fact that there is no longer a space for comments where you could make users aware of errors. I thought that we had moved beyond that. It would seem that we are moving in the wrong direction.

Answer 4

The word, evening, may not exist is Spanish, but the concept of late afternoon/early night certainly does. You just have to learn how to express that concept in the language's own words.

You may be surprised to know that such distinction is not necessary, it only seems necessary to you because you are used to it. If you think about it, you will find that in any sentence where the word "evening" appears, it can be replaced with "night" without any change in meaning. Using "evening" is just a matter of following the conventions of the language.

Consider "good evening" versus "good night". In English it sounds very strange to greet someone with "good night"; you only say that when you are leaving or going to sleep. But in Spanish you say "buenas noches" when you arrive and "buenas noches" when you leave or go to sleep. If Spanish doesn't need to distinguish both cases, it's because the distinction is not necessary.

Answer 5

Before we disparage the author of the cards for all of his mistakes

I certainly did not disparage anyone nor have I heard anyone do so. My stated intent was to help clarify my own confusion and to help rather than disparage. I apologize to you for not having made this clearer.

FWIW, in creating my own flash cards errors have been made, and then corrected during playback.

Answer 6

Heitor,

Your response and clarifications are much appreciated. While I will always have an accent and be one of those with an interesting way of putting together phrases the better understanding I have the better.

I enjoy the way foreigners intertwine their own language into their speaking English and hope most feel the same way toward me.

Answer 7

It is disheartening to learn that they are publishing private lists to public lists again without review, especially in light of the fact that there is no longer a space for comments where you could make users aware of errors. I thought that we had moved beyond that. It would seem that we are moving in the wrong direction.

I do hope this is not happening , Quentin. I believe, this has to be one of the lists not revised by us when we made all those corrections.

I have reported the list to be deleted. a list like this should not be on any site, this one or any other. This is simply ridiculous.

Thank you for pointing this out, hombre. Quentin's comments often come over rather grumpy, but he is one of the persons who helps the most, so bear with us . I am sure he did not mean to "tell you off".

Answer 8

Thank you for pointing this out, hombre. Quentin's comments often come over rather grumpy, I am sure he did not mean to "tell you off".

Think so? Maybe I should have put the word **Before **in red. I wasn't accusing anyone of having made disparaging remarks. I was trying to contrast the idea that instead of complaining about the authors errors that we should appreciate his providing us with an opportunity to gain insight into a larger matter.

Boo Hoo. I'm so misunderstood. (Where is the llorona [llorica] Smiley')

My apologies for the misunderstanding Elhombre.

Answer 9

I have checked on the sets of flashcards and looking at most recent we can only find Paralee's sets there.

The ones which come right after that lot, were made by the fabulous MJ, and Ian Francis who set up a fabulous lot of flashcards, all revised by me and those who helped revising them.

Fortunately this has not proven to be true, s it took us a LOT of work to correct all those flashcards. As a matter of fact, quite recently somebody had a problem with the flashcards, whose sets did not seem to stay put or could not be reproduced. In the first 10 words there were like 5 mistakes. I think the decision to make all flashcards private has been a very fortunate one.

Answer 10

I have checked on the sets of flashcards and looking at most recent we can only find Paralee's sets there.

The ones which come right after that lot, were made by the fabulous MJ, and Ian Francis who set up a fabulous lot of flashcards, all revised by me and those who helped revising them.

Fortunately this has not proven to be true, s it took us a LOT of work to correct all those flashcards. As a matter of fact, quite recently somebody had a problem with the flashcards, whose sets did not seem to stay put or could not be reproduced. In the first 10 words there were like 5 mistakes. I think the decision to make all flashcards private has been a very fortunate one.

From the few flashcards I have made (suited to the class I'm taking) I know how hard it is to correct them. Your work is very much appreciated.