Should we trust the flashcard translator?
I created a set of flashcards for studying foods. I entered the English word and pressed the green translate button to get the Spanish word.
"grape" was translated to "de uva", "sugar" was translated to "de azùcar. I don't understand why.
I got ''la leche" for milk, but cafè, pizza, sandìa, naranja and fresca had no article in front of them. Could these all be nouns that can be either male or female?
I am just a newbie at this and these translations are making me crazy.
5 Answers
I think the translator is linked to Google Translator, and I periodically find faults in those translations. I typically use a dictionary, which does take much longer, but due to that fact you will remember the words better because you won't want to look them up again.
A dictionary will also tell you gender specifications of a word
The flashcard translator can often save you time in typing, but it is not totally accurate. Like many things in life, either....
Trust no one....
or
Trust everyone, but cut the cards.
You cannot trust the translator, and you cannot trust the flashcards.
The flashcards have not been edited in any systematic way and they include some fairly horrific mistakes.
I agree with McMatt. I think it is best to take the extra time to look up words in the dictionary.
You asked:
I got ''la leche" for milk, but cafè, pizza, sandìa, naranja and fresca had no article in front of them. Could these all be nouns that can be either male or female?
To answer your question, no, these words are gender specific. They are either masculine or feminine. I have used this tool in the past for a flashcard set. One in particular that I remember was simply a list of colors. When Heidita graciously checked my cards, she made several corrections and she is a native.
I know it takes a bit more time, but I think it is worth the effort to look the words up in a
Spanish/English dictionary. 
Yes, don't trust the flashcard translator.
