translation mistakes

Question

On my assignment I wrote this sentence "Tomé dos clases de español con el profesor Brown". My profesor underlined " Tomé dos clases de español" that I need to correct it. i meant that sentences that I took two clases from Dr. Brown. So far I couldn't figure out what 's wrong with that part.

Did you ask the professor? - rac1, Sep 9, 2016

not yet. I will see him on Monday - azra1, Sep 9, 2016

You should discuss this with your professor. It looks okay to me. Please fill out your profile with language levels for sure, and gender if possible. This is a good source of help here but you need to tell us a little about yourself. - Jubilado, Sep 9, 2016

Gracias Jubilado. - ian-hill, Sep 9, 2016

Answer 1

"Tomé dos clases de español con el profesor Brown"

In Spanish the use of tomar for taking a class is actually an anglosized way to say asistir and in fact is not even listed as a usage in the RAE dictionary. My guess is that your professor wants: Asistí a dos clases ......

If it´s a matter of tense, you need to be given more context.

:) - ian-hill, Sep 9, 2016

That may indeed be what he is looking for. I have seen tomar used though, whether it is technically considered to be ideal or not: http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/llevar-tomar-una-clase-o-curso.396919/ - bosquederoble, Sep 9, 2016

All modern college textbooks, use "tomar" for to take--"asistir a" to attend. "Llevar" is also proper. One of the lessons in "Panorama" is titled: "¿Qué clases tomas? - Daniela2041, Sep 9, 2016

Hay mucha diferencia entre asistí a dos clases con el Profesor Bron, y "Tomé dos clases con el Prof. Brown. The first means I went to two classes with him. The second means I (actually) took two classes with him. - Daniela2041, Sep 9, 2016

typo---Brown - Daniela2041, Sep 9, 2016

Answer 2

Well, I don't see anyone else jumping on this, so I'll stick my neck out and say it looks OK to me.

Maybe he wanted the present perfect "He tomado" No sé. Like rac1 said, ask the professor what's wrong.

I didn't jump on it because I couldn't really see the issue either. But as a non-native I didn't feel I could go against a professor. Thanks for answering, it is helpful to know you don't see an issue either. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 9, 2016

My guess is that you're right in thinking the professor wanted the present perfect. - AnnRon, Sep 9, 2016

Your posts have demonstrated to me at least that your Spanish is very advanced. You are capable of devising the most complicated sentences with great skill. - Daniela2041, Sep 9, 2016

I didn't even think of the present perfect as being a preferred answer for this professor. See you teachers just know these things. I voted for the person because he/she wrote good English and fairly good punctuation, though I'd like to see a profile. - Jubilado, Sep 9, 2016

Yes, it would be much better if they filled out their profiles, but the problem is, SD has not made that mandatory. - rac1, Sep 9, 2016

Answer 3

I don't think it's a matter of tense choice. (Saying he tomado shouldn't not be considered as — it's sounds better than tomé —) I think the teacher wanted a more idiomatic way to phrase the utterance.

Although, tomé is quite used when it comes to speaking about subjects.