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When do I know to use son or somos? Please Help

When do I know to use son or somos? Please Help

1
vote

I am trying to translate

1280 views
updated Aug 23, 2017
edited by Cookie Monst7688
posted by Cookie Monst7688
Welcome to SpanishDict, Cookie. - rac1, Aug 23, 2017

3 Answers

3
votes

I am trying to translate "We are going to wear hats". So far I have "Nosotros somos yendo al llevar sombreros". Is this correct? Should I change somos to son and why? Do I change llevar to llevamos?

Cookie:

Welcome to Spanish Dict.

We are going to wear hats.

Vamos a llevar sombreros.

As you can see, you got more wrong that right in your attempt, but that's OK.

And, as Gekkosan points out, llevar is often used less for "to wear" than some other options, but I won't go into that here. I will focus on your need to learn Spanish grammar in a structured fashion.

From your question I can tell that you are serious about learning, but that you have just begun. I could take your questions, one-by-one, and answer them, but at this point, it really wouldn't do you much good. I think you need to embark on a structured course of Spanish.

We offer a very good, free course here under the main menu - Learn Spanish. Then choose SpanishDict Video Course. In this course, you will learn the answers to your present questions within the first fews lessons, and then you can carry on with all 60 or so lessons, and once you complete them, you will have a good background in Spanish which will enable you to read and write Spanish so you can continue learning Spanish in an enjoyable way.

Good luck!

updated Aug 23, 2017
edited by DilKen
posted by DilKen
1
vote

Hm. Some debatable items in here.

While it is perfectly possible to say "vamos a llevar sombreros", I prefer some different options, as this can also, and primarily, mean: "we're going to take hats" (we could or not wear them too).

I prefer to say "vamos a usar sombreros", or "nos vamos a poner sombreros", or "vamos con sombreros" - al of which make it clear that we're actually going to wear the hats on our heads, as opposed to just taken them.

Regardless, I guess the example has little to do with the root of the problem, which is the confusion between "we are (something), and all the possible and wonderfully confusing conjugations of "to be", and "we are going to", which translates as something completely different.

I suggest first checking all the many, many threads and links on the subject of "ser" vs. "estar", to try and understand why "somos" doesn't fit into the original sentence. Then check out the translations for "we are going to", which most frequently translates as "vamos a", and has nothing to do with "ser" vs "estar".

updated Aug 23, 2017
posted by Gekkosan
0
votes

The Spanish word son means "you are". Example: Son un niño. (You are a boy) The Spanish word somos means "we are". Example: Somos hombres. (We are men)

updated Aug 23, 2017
posted by Caleb5403
Caleb: You are a boy: Eres un niño, not Son un niño. Son only means "you are" for the multiple person "you" - a group of people you are talking to. Son can also mean "they" - DilKen, Aug 23, 2017