How reliable are translation engines?

Question

I am working on learning Spanish verb conjugations, and I am having trouble using translation software. For example, in the imperfect tense, comia should be I was eating or I used to eat. When I put it into google translate it translates it as he ate, she ate or was eating. So, how would I say, "I used to eat yogurt?"

This is not the only one I have trouble with, but this is an example.

Answer 1

OK, so why do you not use comia if it is the imperfect yo tense of eat?

You can. But it is comía (with an accented i).

Remember, if you are talking about something that has a specific starting and ending point, you would use "comí".

I ate yogurt last night. Comí yogur anoche.

Today I ate yogurt for lunch. Hoy comí yogur para el almuerzo.

But if you are talking about a time that really has no starting or ending point, you could use "comía".

I ate yogurt every Thursday. Comía yogur todos los jueves.

I used to eat yogurt for lunch each day. Comía yogur para el almuerzo cada día.

Great answer, Tosh : - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

Answer 2

You can say either "solía comer yogur" or "comía yogur" they both mean "i used to eat yogurt" although the first uses the auxillary verb soler which means "to usually" in the imperfect solir becomes "solía" which means "used to" and modifies "comer"

Yes, both are valid :) - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

to ''usually'' do something dependent on what the verb means :) - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

soler can also be used to mean = to be accustomed to doing :) - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

Answer 3

Yo diría: "Solía comer yogur".

OK, so why do you not use comia if it is the imperfect yo tense of eat? - kdrinning, Jan 16, 2012

Where does solia come from? - kdrinning, Jan 16, 2012

Verbo soler (acciones que se repiten, pero que no ocurren el 100% de las veces): "Suelo ir al gimnasio por las mañanas", "Ella solía estudiar mucho", "¿Soléis (vosotros) ir al cine?"... - Cordobesa, Jan 17, 2012

Answer 4

As to your question about how reliable translation engines are, they work, but the translations are generally quite literal. A lot of the subtleties do not translate. for instance, they will quite often default to usted when you are talking to a friend and tú or vos would be preferred. Also, common phrases may be translated literally and the meaning lost. Also many times the grammar and proper phrasing is incorrect.

:) - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

Answer 5

If you are looking for a place to help you figure out how to write a verb in a certain tense, I would go here to SpanishDict's verb conjugator. If you type in the infinitive it will give you every form and tense of that verb. However, on the subject of translators in general, they are not terrribly reliable. They are useful, but being totally computer generated, they don't always get the little nuiances of sentence (such as which verb tense to use) right. Generally, I will use a translator to get a general feel for what a sentence means or if I wrote it correctly but I will do the more "sensitive" parts of the phrase myself, like conjugation the verb.

As for how to say "I used to eat yogurt," the correct way to say this would be "Comía yogur."

Great answer! You need to remember that some new members here may be total beginners at Spanish and so may not know what the infinitive form of a verb looks like. Therefore, an example and some brief description would also be helpful :) - FELIZ77, Jan 17, 2012

Answer 6

Hello Kdrinning and welcome to the SpanishDict forum

Two points:

1.The imperfect is used for an an habitual action or an action that is not complete. eg: I was eating/ I used to eat yoghurt = yo comía yogur

Comía can be translated as referring to either he/she or you were eating/used to eat

In contrast:

I ate yoghurt last night = Comí yogur anoche.

....would use the preterite or simple past because the action has already been completed. You are not continuing to eat yoghurt.

2.While most of the conjugations of a verb refer only to a specific person eg:

yo = I

tú= You (familiar)

nosotros = we

vosotros = you (used only in Spain);

the third person singular él/ella/Ud can refer to he/she/ or You (sing + formal)

and the third person plural Uds can refer to you (plural) or they (plural)

In view of these various possibilities just mentioned it would be unreasonable to expect a translating machine to be able to know to which one you are wishing to refer so it would probably only mention one of these.

I personally would not trust a translating machine or a verb conjugating machine that conjugates the whole verb for you but would either look it up in my Barron's 501 Spanish verbs or use an online conjugation table that can be accessed through a verb machine that simply takes you to the correct verb but one which would still require you to choose the correct conjugation for that person eg you enter the verb hablar = to speak but you must decide which conjugation is correct according to the person/s you are wishing to use it for Perhaps in this case you speak familiar = hablas

You could use SpanishDict or Elemadrid website link text

I hope this helps you