"ya conoces a los Solomon”.

Question

Hola,

Estoy leyendo un cuento de Woody Allen, y hay una oracion que no entiendo.

Por que se dice "conoces a los Solomon" ?

El oracion completo: "Cuando el anfitrión abrió lo saludé: “Hola, ya conoces a los Solomon”. "

Answer 1

Here's a good reference on pluralization of names:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art69028.asp

Spanish Tip - Plural of Proper Names

Doubts about plurals of first and second names in Spanish? Here's a quick reference, according to the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (Rae.es)

First names have their plural according to the general rules.

Some examples:

Singular: María. Plural: Marías

Singular: Javier. Plural: Javieres

Second names (Family names) keep the same (singular) when they refer to the members belonging to the same family: Los García son una familia agradable. Note than in English we add a final -s: The Smiths.

When second names (family names) refer to a group of people with same second name, but from different families, both forms, singular and plural can be used. The most common use is the singular - that is, to keep them invariable- mostly with second names that can also be used as first names, to distinguish one from the other.

For example:

"Los Benitos de mi clase son muy inteligentes." In this case, "Benito" would be a fist name.

But:

"Los Benito de mi clase son muy inteligentes." - Here, "Benito" is a second name.

Second names (family names) ending with -z will keep -always- the same form, singular.

For example:

"Los Fernández", "Los Gómez", etc. - They have no plural form. (We can't say: "Fernándezes" or "Fernándeces", that wouldn't be correct.)

Great answer bosque! I admire your way of explaining stuff:) - marksteve, Jun 22, 2016

Bulls-eye! Thanks! - davidrefaeli, Jun 23, 2016

De nada. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2016

Answer 2

Are you sure there is no comma in between "ellos" and "Solomon"? If this is the case, the sentence is saying "You already know them, Solomon." Ellos is referring to "them". That makes the most sense to me.

Ok, I think I got it - he means you know the Solomons - as in the Solomon couple (husband and wife). I thought there's only one Solomon guy, and so I didn't understand why it was plural - davidrefaeli, Jun 22, 2016

Wit a last name, when referring to a family, only the article is plural, unlike English, not the name- the Smiths= los Smith. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 22, 2016

I did not know that, Bosque. I've learned something new! Thanks! - Winkfish, Jun 22, 2016

Thanks, bosque. That's new to me too. I wish it were a post rather than a comment so I could give you a vote. - AnnRon, Jun 22, 2016

Since it seems not eveyone knows the rules, I will post a nice link, that explains it in detail. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 22, 2016

I learned something new today! - cmusba, Jun 23, 2016

Answer 3

There is another variation that you might be interested in.

To say "Mr. and Mrs. Gómez" you say "Los Señores Gómez."