"han crecido gordo" vs "Has engordado"

Question

Hi. This is my first question so I hope I did this right. I,m pretty new at Spanish so maybe you will be gentle. I have noticed several times that phrases I concoct using words that seem to have the correct meaning will be different than an answer I find elsewhere. I wonder how one knows when you can make it up as you go and when you must use certain "set phrases" such as "has engordado" in my title. Thank you

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum notfasteddy, what are you trying to say in English, please? - FELIZ77, Apr 21, 2016

Han can refer to you (plural) or they have put on weight - FELIZ77, Apr 21, 2016

Hi to you! Welcome to the forum. Please put you gender and proficiency in English and Spanish in your profile. - Jubilado, Apr 21, 2016

I understand that "has engordado" is supposed to mean "you've grown fat. I think "han crecido gordo" ought to mean about the same thing, so what makes one more right than the other? - notfasteddy, Apr 21, 2016

A vote for filling out your profile. JulianChivi has given you correct guidance. I think he means to caution you against creating Spanish expressions from English structures like "have grown... fat, dull, etc." - Jubilado, Apr 22, 2016

Answer 1

I understand that "has engordado" is supposed to mean "you've grown fat. I think "han crecido gordo" ought to mean about the same thing, so what makes one more right than the other?

"Has engordado" is the only correct way of the two. You are trying to speak English using words and sentence structure from another language. It doesn´t work that way.

So, "has crecido" (you have grown) would not be coupled with "gordo" (fat) because the words"ha engordo" (he has gained weight) aremeant to express the act of gaining weight? - notfasteddy, Apr 22, 2016

Just accept how another is spoken without trying to justify. "He has gained weight" ... "Ha subido de peso" - 005faa61, Apr 22, 2016