How do I say "they miss..."

Question

I saw that echar de menos is used to describe missing something. I want to say "the boys miss their previous home in Colombia, where they could play in the water." (Weird sentence...summarizing a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

"Los niños lo echan de menos su hogar previo en Colombia, donde podrían jugar en el agua."

Is this correct, or do I need to change it?

Answer 1

"the boys miss their previous home in Colombia, where they could play in the water."

= "Los niños extrañan su casa anterior en Columbia donde podían jugar en el agua"

Answer 2

Hola,

You can also use "extrañan", and "podían".

Thanks for the suggestions. - StillLearning, May 19, 2010

Answer 3

The "lo" (direct object pronoun) is not necessary.

Podían jugar (past tense) ...where they could/used to/were able to play

Thanks for catching that extra "r" in podian I added...typing too fast again! And I'll drop the lo. - StillLearning, May 19, 2010