fresa/uva/sandía

Question

When you want to say I eat a strawberry or grape you say como una fresa/uva but when it comes to watermelon you ignore the article. You simply say como/comemos sandía. No plural addition to the noun either. What is the reason for that?

Please note that we use the corrrect spelling and capitalization in our posts on this forum. - Issabela, Dec 20, 2009

Answer 1

Hi, neslita

Heidi is right - if you asked in English: "Fancy a watermelon?" it would sound a bit funny, because I can't imagine anyone eating the whole big watermelon! Como sandía means I eat watermelon (some of it), just like I eat meat or I drink coffee. We treat the sandía noun as uncountable.

Answer 2

jejeje, well this is a simple question of size, neslita

You can of course say:

Como unas sandias. (with a u not a!!)

But then...can you eat more than one? jeje

Sandia is considered "uncountable" in these cases as we talk about eating:

Una rodaja de sandía.

Como unas rodajas de sandía, de melón.

Answer 3

Neslita, please read private message on correct spelling, post deleted, sorry.