The incorrect use of extra words when translating from language to language.
I have noticed that many, many times here in Span¡shD!ct.com when translating from English to Spanish, the website tends to place an extra el, la, los or las. I.E. Fruits = Frutas, no "Las frutas" Otherwise, it would be "The fruits"
- If you go to the main page, you can see these on the left side of the page:
1-Animals = Los animales 2-Professions = Las profesiones 3-Geography = La geografía etc. All those are incorrect translations. It should be: Animales, Profesiones, Geografía. It actually sounds goofy in Spanish.
7 Answers
Hi farallon7,
I wrote the titles for all of those flashcards several years ago, so I guess I'm the best person to explain why they are they way they are.
It is my understanding that when referring to a noun or group of nouns in a general sense, or nouns that represent a class noun referring to all such nouns, you use the definite article. Food (in general) = La comida, Work (in general) = El trabajo, etc. Also, when Spanish nouns are the subject, they always have an article unless they are proper names, and being that they are the title of a section, I guess that makes them the subject 
This is the way it appears in all of my textbooks as well.
I have a question.... If you were to say "I like animals", wouldn't it be "me gustan LOS animales"??
It is for that reason (I believe) they do that. In English, we don't use "the", and in Spanish it is something normal.
Ah, things are getting back to normal. Heated discussion of language rules.
I understand what you're saying farallon, but I always just assumed that those translations were given to reinforce the gender of said word. Animales / profesiones , to most learners, would not automatically suggest Los / Las, know what I mean?
I think (or hope) that most people translating a sentence like, "I have three animals in my house" wouldn't think "Tengo tres los animales en mi casa."
But I understand your grievance, and perhaps they should add (parentheses) for all the articles on those singular words, or include the english "the" before.
Hm, I've never heard this, as a teacher I've never taught this and as a native, I will never translate it that way! It sounds weird, incorrect and unnecessary. For you who are native English speakers it will equate to translate Libro as The books.
Yes, but we are not using the word in a sentence here. That is why it sounds weird and incorrect. Also, if I want to say. In my farm we have several animal, trees,birds and streams, I would not say. En mi finca tenemos varios los animales, los árboles y los arroyos. That would be incorrect. It should be. En mi finca tenemos varios animales, árboles, pájaros (aves) y arroyos. That is my point. We are translating ONE word. It shouldn't have an article.
I know this went all the way out of control. That is too bad! I was not saying that you NEVER use the article. I was saying that when you translatee just one word, the translation should be just a word! -
- I have seen here, many times, that somebody writes: The word of the day is: "BOOKS"
- The translation to Spanish: La palabra del día es "LOS LIBROS" Isn't that clear that here you should just translate "LIBRO" Afterall, "LOS LIBROS" are two words?
DJ_Huero said: "So should the world and all of it's various Spanish speaking countries follow your lead?" Really, do you think that probably in Spain and Argentina you would translate one word into another word, but in Colombia and Uruguay into two?
It seems to me that the problem here has todo with the fact that someone who is new cannot point out something thas is not correct to someone that has been here for many years, has a gazillion points or is an admin. And then their friends also get upset and then say to you, you better be sure you are nice if you want to have friends. Yes, friends are a jewel to have, but isn't the Mission, the goal, the purpose of Span!shD!c to better learn Spanish?
Anyways! Sorry for pointing that out!
