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- "Me gustaría mucho que usted …
"Me gustaría mucho que usted hiciera el ejercicio bien."
Translation:I would really like it if you did the exercise well.
81 Comments
Question about "hiciera el ejercicio": I was under the impression that hacer+ejercicio simply meant "to exercise", but here it is used to mean "do the exercise". Why is it different in this case?
No, I think you are basically correct. "Hacer ejercicio" is the most common way of saying "to do exercise." Perhaps Duolingo here intended the phrase to mean "to do the particular exercise we've been talking about well, because so far you've been screwing that one up pretty badly."
It's written differently. It says "hiciera EL ejercicio" as if "do THE excercise". It's not "hacer/hice ejercicio", which does mean "to excercise/excercised".
Because in this case "exercise" means "exercise routine" that's why you "do" it.
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This is not necessarily physical exercise. Exercise can also mean exam problem or test question. http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=ejercicio
The following two answers were given as correct but they mean totally different things: • I would like very much that you did the exercise well. • I would really like it if you did the exercise well. Where does the "if" come from?
The past subjunctive is used in this kind of "if" sentences: if(verb in the past subjunctive) then(verb in the conditional form). for more reference://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/98
Subjunctive in English, an elegant trans is "I would like it if you exercised well". The exercise is and did is DuoLingo English, they fixed it. If you were to exercise well, may be preferred by some. Word for word dictionary translations do not work.
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"The imperfect subjunctive following a conditional independent clause: The imperfect can refer to a present possibility when it follows a main clause in a conditional tense. Such sentences cannot be translated word for word into English and may require the use of "if" or "would":
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Nos gustaría que hubiera más participación. = We would like it if there were more participation. (Note the use of the English subjunctive "were" in the translation.)
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Me temería que mi amigo tomara la misma actitud. = I'd be afraid my friend would take on the same attitude.
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Estaría feliz que me dieras su opinion. = I would be happy if you gave me your opinion."
https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-imperfect-subjunctive-3079852
Im wondering the same, pero I'm guessing because of the sentence structure it is implied. "Me gustaría...."
The "if" is part of an "implied conditional" "if you do this, I/you would..." The subjunctive is used with conditional sentences, because they are hypothetical. The "if" is implied in the sentence.
Just for the heck of it, I tried 'It would please me a lot if you did the exercise well." Incredibly, DL would not accept it. Yet the idea of being pleased is the most common explanation we're given about how gustar works. I reported it. It bothers me that "Yo quisiera" and "Me gustaria" are being translated identically.
I find this odd also. It would be so easy to say: The skirt would pleases the girls. Etc.
Accepted: I would like it very much if you do the exercise well. I am amazed DL accepted this because it is a different tense from the posted answer. Later DL also accepted: I would like very much for you to do the exercise well.
Tortured English but I put "I would like it a lot if you were to do the exercise well" and it was accepted!
I know ;) but we wouldn't say it like that in normal speech. I only recognise the subjunctive when I think back to studying English grammar in the 70s - sadly it was taken out of the curriculum shortly after in the UK so the younger generation find it really hard..
Interesting. I use the If I were construction a lot. Don't remember being taught it in school, it's just the way I learned to speak.
- 1624
Absolutely correct English grammar. The thing that's "weird" about your sentence is that it is highly formal speech, not colloquial at all. Well, except for "like it a lot". If you really want to put some starch in your collar, say "like it very much", then it could be inserted into any 19th century English novel without anyone noticing.
@Jeffrey I actually don't see that as formal but accurate, speaking ppl are sloppy. I shudder to think what the DL English course is teaching, as the Spanish is likely derived from the from Spanish effort. I do not know if any of our feedback on English has any effect on those supposed bi-linguals course creators. I have had to report a huge number of errors.
Great sentence. Great. This is correct and not 18th century to me. Charlie's Angels', the employer used it. Various figures on tv shows who are formal. Films. Great English. The thing about subjunctive is it CAN signal to folks sit up a bit straighter for their own healths and be appreciative and MORE CERTAIN there rights will not be abused by persons in power, often. That may not work out...but in my experience it signals decent training in self-control of a person with power. [OR a smart sociopath, as in some films, we all hope to avoid] . My grandmother used the subjunctive to be sure she never stepped over lines and the result was that people loved being around her so much they went out of their way and were thrilled to be so appreciated. Nothing wrong with the subjunctive.
But it's wordy and there's a more elegant subjunctive that like could/should etc looks like simple past, you exercised well, but is not in context past.
- 1624
Duo's acceptance probably has mostly to do with the fact that there's no imperfect tense in English, so that grants translators a lot of license in how they word things. "If you do" is English present subjunctive, and I think "if you were doing/to do" is more accurate, but the meaning of your sentence is clear, so why not mark it as correct?
They accepted stuff and lead with incorrect usage. People are confused and not used to using the murky corners of English
Why not then also accept: " I'd like very much that you do the exercise well. " DO must be in past tense? Perhaps in English putting it in past tense makes it subjunctive? I use subjunctive but have never used it this way. still...for translating, bending may help us learn?
It does not make much sense (to me) as stated above to have present tense like and past tense subjunctive following. But tenses vary in languages so it would be nice to know all the accepted translations. The idea is to learn, and that would help.
If hiciera is past subjunctive, shouldn't there be some indication of the "pastness" of the verb in the translation? I guess "did" in English might seem to get at that, but it seems to me that "if you did the exercise well" means "if you did it well (at some point from now into the future)," which I would think in the Spanish would be represented by haga, not hiciera. Is that right?
Could someone explain the difference to me between the following?
Me gustaría mucho que usted...
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hiciera el ejercicio bien.
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haga el ejercicio bien.
Why not: "I would very much like that you would do the exercise well."
"hiciera" is the 1st and 3rd person singular past subjunctive.
"hijiste" doesn't exist. If you mean "hiciste", that's the 2nd person singular preterit.
One of the suugested translations is "I would really like it if you did the exercise well". Does this mean the exercise was already done?
It doesn't mean the exercise is already done when the speaker says the sentence, it means the exercise will be done before the speaker "likes" that the exercise was done.
¿Por qué rechaza Duolingo mi traducción " I would like very much you to do the exercise well", si hasta el traductor de Google lo da como "traducción correcta"?
I am trying, Duo, I am really TRYING to do it well! You don't need to rub it into my face...
This is such an awkward English translation. I don't know what else to say except let me know the next time you hear somebody say it like this...
"a lot" is the same as "a set" as in an undefined mathematical quantity with a boundary that is undetermined. It technically does not mean "mucho". I used proper English "much" and got dinged.
"I would like it a lot that you did the exercise well." Why was this marked wrong?
Because by saying 'did' you're implying that the exercise was done, but the sentence is not assuming that the exercise was or was not completed.
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"I would really like it if you would have done the exercise well." Would this be correct as well?
Why does Duolingo sometimes what us to translate "Me gustaría ... que" as "I would like ...if" and sometimes as "I would like ...that"? Is there really a difference or is it just inconsistency?
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I wrote: "I would like very much that you do the exercise well" and it was marked wrong. Duo says that I should have used "did" instead of "do" for the translation to be correct. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound right to me. I put the Duo sentence in Google's Spanish/English translator and it gave me "do" and not "did" just as I thought.
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If the exercise has already been done, then the proper tense, at least in English, would be "I would have been happy had you done the exercise well." This phrasing would satisfy those people wanting to use the conditional as well as the subjunctive.
it tells me I'm wrong translating "gustaría" as "I would like" and says it should instead be "I would love". Is this really correct??
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I am still at a loss as to when I use 'yo gustaría' and when I use, 'me gustaría'. I was told that me gustaría really means , 'it would please me' rather then 'I would like' but when I used it that way, it was disallowed. How does one tell the difference?
Estelle0 per duolingo Subjunctive Past,hiciera was interpreted as do, might do An example follows (mine): One might like it if you DO the exercise when it's your turn.
Wow, this sentence was challenging. Perhaps my problem was translating to English, because I feel I know what the Spanish was trying to say.
- 537
I wrote, "I would very much like that you do the exercise well". I believe DL should accept this answer.
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"I would very much like that you did the exercise well" this was marked wrong. How can that be wrong?
Why not 'so much'? DL say that it is 'very much'. Sometimes i don't understand this
"so" is indeed used for "very". It's just not in the database as yet. It must be SO hard to allow for all the SO many possible translations. You can replace SO by very, by extremely, tremendously, exceedingly etc.
"i would like it a lot if you exercised well" was rejected. reported.
I would like it if you done?? Totally incorrect in English or maybe I misunderstood your question as without context it's hard to know.
So how long has que meant it and why woukd lo be wrong. Oh and why we are at it where is the Spanish for if in this sentence
Depending on the context, English can use if instead of that for que. Me gustaria means I would like it all by itself, so que doesn't enter into the equation. Lo doesn't always mean it. Welcome to the wonderful world of actually understanding the sentence instead of trying to translate it word for word and then trying to make it make sense.
I would like it a lot that you did the exercise well. What's the difference in meaning?
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Im getting fed up with the absolutely useless hints Duo gives on this difgicult subject. This is not learning, this is pure gambling. Either provide usefull in structions or hints or simply skipp the subject Duo.
Simply- "me gusta" = it pleases me. With the absence of a defined subject "gusta" = IT pleases. With a defined subject--- Me gusta el béisbol. Béisbol here is the subject. When I first started working with verbs of this type, I tried to relate it to English. I eventually concluded that it is like the negative idea "it disgusts me" in English. Did we ever have the affirmative idea "that gusts me"? Maybe in Olde English? Anyway that's what the Spanish (and the French, Italians, and Portuguese see it.} ¿Te gusta?
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With great nervousness I tried "I would really like it if you were to do the exercise well." Bless Duo! He took a true (to my ear) English subjunctive...the way I'd really say it.
