Iba con botas amarillas

Question

How does "Iba con botas amarillas" translate to "She wore yellow boots"? -- from http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/ir

Granted, "botas" is feminine, but I don't believe that that femininity extends to the (implied) subject. Certainly, if I submit "Iba con botas amarillas" to spanishdict.con's translator I get "I went with yellow boots".

This is an issue (implied subject pronouns) with many entries in spanishdict.con which I find mystifying. Can anyone enlighten me?

¡Mucho gracias!

Answer 1

Your sentence "Iba con botas amarillas" can mean several things out of context. I wouldn't use "iba" to mean she wore. "Iba" out of context could mean I was going; he / she was going; I went; he / she went. The subject pronoun is often omitted in Spanish especially when you know who it is from other context.

¿Qué llevaba María? What was Mary wearing? Llevaba botas amarillas.... She was wearing yellow boots,... Here since you know you are talking about a woman, you know the subject is "she." As you use Spanish more and more, the absence of a subject pronoun will be less obvious.

¿Dónde está Elena? can simply be answered: Está en casa because you don't need ella since you already know Elena will be "she".

The gender of the noun as direct object of the verb has nothing to do with the gender of the subject of the verb.

This is sooo true. With the 3rd person singular or plural, if there's no antecedent, it's impossible to know the subject. I suspect if the context were known, the sentence was referring to a previously mentioned female. - Daniela2041, Oct 4, 2016

@Dani: Previously mentioned? Nope. The web page has "Iba con botas amarillas" without context... but now I get it! (End of mystery!) - markfilipak, Oct 4, 2016

Thanks, Jubilado! - markfilipak, Oct 4, 2016

One last thing: Are implied subject pronouns always okay? In other words, is what is okay for yo y tú also okay for nosotros y vosotros y ustedes too? - markfilipak, Oct 4, 2016