"Notenemosfecha."

Continuing with Jtsuanmi's comment, when do we know to use "una" or not?

"We have no date" is clearer English and therefore preferable to "we do not have a date," but the latter is also acceptable, particularly if the context is supplied.

Your explanation of this Spanish-to-English translation is spot on. You helped me to understand the idiom of using the uncertainty of the indefinite (LA), instead of the certainty of the definite (EL). The difficulty for us English-to-Spanish learners is that, not being familiar with the colloquialism, we insert the "la" instead of the "una." Duolingo has taught us that the masculine is used to indicate a generalization. For example, Spanish-speaking people use, "Los domingos" to mean all Sundays. Does this mean that a plural article, such as "los" in "los domingos" is indefinite, but that a singular article, such as "una," in "una fecha," is also indefinite?

The direct object "fecha" (with the article unspoken but understood) is not a definite, so a "la" is not understood. Rather, "fecha" is indefinite so an "una" is understood. Your literal translation is "We don't have a time." What threw me, until you explained it, is that unwritten article (that is, the "un" or the "la") was a "la" (translated as "a" or as "one") before "fecha." Because I was using the definite "la" when I translated it, I thought the sentence was idiomatic for "I don't have an appointment."

As for the English grammar, you almost have it right. In Spanish word order, the "no" does not modify the object. So, in "No tenemos fecha, " the "no" modifies "tenemos." As a consequence, the "no" does not modify the word "date." The English translation uses the "no" as an adverb, just as the Spanish syntax does. The "no" does not switch to being an adjective (that is, switch to modifying "date," as in "no date") in the English translation.

P.S. I'm adding this later. Thank you, mitaine56 and THeNeeno, for pointing out how my writing caused confusion. Because I made the assumption that "definite and indefinite" were the same as "countable and uncountable," I put the singular articles in parentheses to indicate that I was writing about articles. What would have been better was: You helped me to understand the idiom of using the uncertainty of the indefinite (unas/unos), instead of the certainty of the definite (las/los).

When people here (Guatemala) asked us when our wedding was going to be, hubby and I said, "(Aun) No tenemos fecha." When people in my birth country asked me, I said, "We don't have a date (yet)."

So, to be clear, this sentence is referring to a calendar date or to an appointment, but does not mean date in the sense of two people going out on a date?

"We don't have a date" can mean either "No tenemos una cita" or "No tenemos (una) fecha".

Reading this string again, I wonder if the sentence could be translated as "We don't have the date yet?"

This really helped me!

I did interpret the Spanish that way. I immediately flashed to someone planning a wedding but couldn't get a date to book it on. I know cita is appointment but is it also used for date in the dating world?

In English we say "We don't have a date" exactly for that though. (Saying we have an appointment or event but don't know which day it is on yet) The word date means appointment or meeting but it also means 'the date' as in the specific day. For example we say "Today's date is September 28th"

We could also say "We don't have a date yet," "We haven't set a date," "We haven't picked/decided a date," or "We don't know the date".

So for the English "We don't have a date" (as in we haven't picked the day) "No tenemos fecha" is correct.

For the English "We don't have a date" (we are not planning on meeting up/getting together) "No tenemos una cita" would be correct.

Curious if "cita" for a romantic date is the same? In English we use the word date as both an appointment, a reference to a particular day, and a romantic date. Would like to know how it works in Spanish if anyone can clarify.

You are right, cosmojones, about the insinuation when the sentence stands alone, but again, IT DEPENDS ON CONTEXT. After all, it wouldn't be misunderstood at all if the conversation went: "When are you getting married?" "We have no date."

ecaria, exactly. And that's what I put. A date. But that got flushed.

Fecha is not flirting. Nothing to do with dating.

Yeah, fecha means date as in "Have you set a date for your wedding?" The sentence here might be a good response in Spanish.

I think it is more negative because the "una" in "no tenemos una fecha" means that you are speaking of only one date. "No tenemos fecha" means that you are speaking of many possible dates that you don't have.

No, "Tú no comes fechas" (You don't eat dates) unless you're prone to gnaw on your calendar! However, "Quizás tú comes la fruta que es llamado un 'dátil'" (Perhaps you eat the fruit that is called a 'date').

As swingophelia pointed out, because the Spanish word for appointment is "cita," the best English translation of "fecha" is the word "date." In English, however, the words "date" and "appointment" can be synonyms if the overall context has to do with business and not with pleasure. As lasbury clarifies farther down, fecha = calendar date.

"appointment" = cita, which is not the word in the Spanish sentence.

A "fecha" is a calendar date. "Cita" is the word for appointments (romantic and not).

A "fecha" is a calendar date. "Cita" is the word for appointments (romantic and not).

"La fecha" is a calendar date. "It doesn't have a date" (such as an undated letter) = "No tiene (una) fecha." We don't have a date" (such as a date when a meeting is to take place) = "No tenemos (una) fecha" - the sentence under discussion. Although you are correct in assuming that there is much that is open to interpretation because Duo has no context, changing the subject pronoun is not one of those issues. It is important that you realize the "he/she/it/(formal) you" always take a different verb form than "we," as do the other subject pronouns. Please consult the verb conjugation charts in Duo or another resource.

No, "la cita" is a romantic date, "la fecha" is a calendar date. Read the previous posts!

The website SpanishDict gives "ya tengo fecha para el dentista" translated as "I have an appointment at the dentist".

I am assuming that you are talking about the Spanish not a problem with a building block translation exercise. You will probably find subject pronouns more on Duo then you will. in real life situations because of the potential ambiguity without situational context. Subject pronouns are most commonly omitted unless there is ambiguity or the speaker wants to emphasize the person. In the present tense the verb endings are distinctive for yo, tú, and nosotros so these will almost always be omitted. Third person tenses have more potential options, but even here the flow of a real conversation will often make them also unnecessary. But you do have to be careful because there are more cases in Spanish where the subject follows the verb and if you assume the subject pronoun is omitted you may misunderstand the sentence.

Quite correct -- I think the problem is that Duolingo is a computer program without the discernment a human teacher would have. I have been marked wrong several times by giving an English answer that was correct, but not what the program was looking for. This seems to bother a lot of people, but I take it in stride. I actually think I'm getting more than I'm paying for. ;-)

We don't have a date but we are getting married. Or we are planning a district meeting but don't have the date. It refers to scheduling an event which requires resources in place.

I feel it's missing a word. No tenemos UNA fecha. Yeah.

I'm not a representative of DL, just another learner, but I wanted to reply to your question.

Spanish does not use the indefinite article as mush as English does. So even though it is not present in the Spanish sentence, it often is required for the English translation to be grammatically correct.

Here are a couple useful links about this:

Spanish.about.com

Bowdoin.edu

• ¿Con quién estás saliendo?

or "Quien es su/tu novio/novia?" if it's a formal relationship.

A "fecha" is a calendar date. "Cita" is the word for appointments (romantic and not).

I'm not sure british-type speaking translates well to spanish..

A "fecha" is a calendar date. "Cita" is the word for appointments (romantic and not).

A "fecha" is a calendar date. "Cita" is the word for appointments (romantic and not).

"La fecha" is a calendar date. "La cita" is an appointment or a romantic date. This question has already been answered numerous times. Please read the discussion before you post.

Plurality of the subject does not automatically indicate the same for the rest...

Spanish does not use the indefinite article as mush as English does. So even though it is not present in the Spanish sentence, it may be required for the English translation to be grammatically correct.

Here are a couple useful links about this:

Spanish.about.com

Bowdoin.edu

This is the forum for users to discuss and learn from each other. You have to report the errors using the flag not the bubble. I do know that Duo does seem to have many problems with contractions, although most of the time it just presents "another" suggested correct answer.

Fecha is a date on the calendar. So no tenemous fecha would be something you might say if you were trying to schedule or plan a wedding or big event.

It is not the fruit. That is dátil. Fecha is definitely a date on the calendar. Cita is what I understand is used for romantic date, but on another discussion on Duo someone with some experience said that it.should be fecha. Either he was wrong or it could vary reguonally. Here are the links to the various definitions on Spanishdict.com which is my best resource for the "official" answer, although regional variations might not be included.

Date http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/date

Fecha http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/fecha

Cita http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/cita

You will notice on the Spanish definitions there is a tab for examples which may give you a broader sense of the word.

Fecha is the word used for a date on the calendar. So this is basically saying that a major event has been scheduled. In English I would hear this most often for scheduling a wedding. Do you have a date yet (for the church and the reception hall). But it could be used for the annual picnic, or a national conference, etc. Cita is used for a romantic date as well as dentist or other appointments. As for business meeting, I think you would probably just say reunión, although it may depend on the type of business meeting. In English most people I know tend to refer to a meeting with clients as an appointment, a regularly scheduled company meeting as a staff meeting, and most other company meetings simply as meetings. But I an not in the Spanish speaking business community so I don't know what is most common.

With the verb tener and a few others the article is commonly omitted with those things which we generally only have one of like houses or cars, and a dare for an event would qualify. I don't think it is ever considered incorrect to use one, but native speakers generally don't

Fecha is a calendar date for scheduling. Cita is a romantic date and also any appointment like a doctor or dentist.

You know it in English, you just have to use what you know. . Take the word fair. You can have a fair judge, be a fair judge of character, have a fair day, be fair skinned or go to a fair. I don't think that it would surprise you if some of those meanings have different translations in Spanish.

Cita is an appointment or romantic date. It is what you go to. Fecha is the date on the calendar. ¿A qué fecha estamos? What is the date (today)? Fecha de nacimiento. Date of birth. You will sometimes hear this used for an appointment, but more likely for something like a scheduled surgery or the like. This sentence might be what an engaged person may say. We are engaged, but we don't have a date (for the wedding)

Cita is appointment, and fecha is date

One of the reasons my responses are so long, aside from some natural loquaciousness, is that it is somewhat difficult to explain an error, especially in an either/or situation. But Duo does make a total mess of it.

The issue at hand is that you copied the Spanish too closely. In Spanish they don't use the indefinite article after tener if it is something that you would generally have only one of. But no such rule exists in English. So the correct translation here is We do not have a date. We do not have date is not correct grammatically. But no indefinite article is used in any language with plurals. Thus, We do not have dates IS a grammatically correct sentence, but IS NOT a correct translation here. That would be No tenemos fechas in Spanish (and would not refer to romantic dates)

They can identify some typos, but programming à computer to identify a typo of the correct word as opposed to another word or the typo of another word which might be either Spanish or English is incredibly difficult. You are expecting a lot more of Duo than you are expecting from yourself when you don't even seem to feel that it is reasonable to mark a mistake as wrong just because that mistake is a typo.

Conversation between friends

¡Estoy comprometida! I am engaged

¡Felicitaciones! ¿Cuando será la boda? Congratulations. When will the wedding be

No tenemos fecha. Acabo de comprometerme anoche. Pero pensamos en junio. We don't have a date. I just got engaged last night. But we are thinking about June.

There is no s on fecha.

Sorry man, wrong type of date. Appointments and romantic dates or even booty call dates use la cita. La fecha is the date on the calendar and is therefore used for putting a date for major events on the calendar. So we don't have a date refers to scheduling a wedding, conference or church picnic. So unless you want the lady to think you are desperate to get married, it probably not what you want to say.

Fecha isn't plural No tenemos fecha is We don't have a date.

You didn't give your whole answer. It could just be a Duo fluke, but I suspect that you translated it as We don't have date, instead of the We don't (do not) have a date shown above. It is normal and grammatically correct in Spanish to drop the article after tener and a couple of other verbs when you are talking about something that one typically has only one of (or at least at a time). It is not grammatically correct to do so in English, however. The plural does not require the article, however. I agree it is not really a good translation that way, but I have seen Duo do it before.

Fecha is the date on the calendar. A romantic date or an appointment is una cita. But major things that get put on the calendar like weddings, church picnics, and surgeries people often use fecha for.