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I think the most accurate translation would be:
Mother and father = Madre y padre / Mom and dad = Mamá y papá / Mommy and daddy = Mamita y papito
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Exactly! Also, I think mami and papi are also acceptable choices for “mommy” and “daddy”.
Why is that? as long as i know the true translation of mother and father are madre y padre.So mama y papa are abreviation why it can't be momy and daddy be accepted?
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My Spanish teacher (native speaker) said almost no one even uses the words madre y padre. Latino families are generally affectionate and close. Even adults call their parents mamá y papá.
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I would posit that mommy and daddy are not necessarily the closest English translation. While in Spanish the more intimate terms are appropriate in the context of a language lesson, that's not what one would see in English. Mommy and daddy are terms used primarily by small children in the US, or at least used by close family members among each other exclusively in the recesses of the home. My adult daughter still calls me Mommy, but only on the phone or when speaking to me directly at home. She doesn't refer to me as Mommy when speaking to anyone else or when we are in public. One must keep context in mind, not just literal translations.
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To make things even more complicated, I live in a predominantly Mexican/American area and families call their baby boys "papa" and their baby girls "mama" as well. It's kind of a backward affectionate diminutive. Even at a restaurant where an anglo waitress might call me "Hon" or "Darlin", the Latina will sometimes call me "Mama"--if she's older than I am. :0)
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I still postulate, however, that mamá translates better to Mom than it does "mother" which is considered stiff by Latino speakers.
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I agree. I am an adult and I call my mother Mommy (most often Ma) sometimes when speaking directly to her or when talking to my sister. It's kind of funny how it just flows out when I speak to my sister but it would never cross my mind to say to anyone else. I would never say Mommy when speaking to friends, acquaintances or other family. (she is my Mom or Mother).
I think Mama and Papa since spoken in public and used with non immediate close family members translates best to Mom and Dad. Madre and Padre translates to Mother and Father, very formal.
As an aside I do agree with the poster that the use of Daddy by adults spoken to the general public is a southern thing (mostly S.C.) not found in much use in other parts of the U.S. outside of small children or intimate conversations with ones father.
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No, that's not quite right. It is not common to use “madre" and “padre" when directly addressing their parents. I wouldn't say 'no one' is correct, especially when not addressing them.
'Mommy' and 'daddy' are diminutive forms of 'mom' and 'dad'. 'Mamá' and 'papa' are more like 'mom' and 'dad'. And always use accents properly. Otherwise, 'mama' is a slang verb and your dad is a potato!
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Also, speaking to the South Carolina use of 'Daddy' by adults (in public, or even at home in front of non-kin) I'm not sure if you're aware of this...
People who are not from the South not only won't do that, but they view that incredibly negatively. It isn't seen as affectionate; it is just thought of as “backwards".
I'm not making a judgement here, I just want it to be clear for people who are learning English. Adults openly referring to their parents as 'mommy' or 'daddy' is something that is mostly unique to some people in the South.
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Im from PA and I publicly called my mom and dad mommy and daddy. Friends do it to. Especially when talk to a sibling I'd say "mommy said put the food in the refrigerator" or "daddy wanted you to call him".
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Just out of couriosity, are there any derogatory terms for father in Spanish? Like wrinkly or oldster in English?
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I've never heard wrinkly or oldster in American English. You hear "old fogey" or "old guy" or "old man", although only the last one means "father" directly. The others are "derogatory" terms for senior citizens.
As far as Spanish goes, I'm sure there are equivalents. Anyone know?
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There is "mi viejo" which could be "my old man" in English, or simply "viejo" that would mean "old guy". When I was younger I would always hear my mother call my father that. I hope this helps.
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Hello everybody. Just a short clean-up note: the purpose of the sentence discussions is to ask and answer questions about the language. Discussions about grammar and usage of language are on topic. Political stuff and your personal world view are off topic. Don't bother posting such comments as they will be deleted. Thanks and happy learning. http://www.duolingo.com/guidelines
This is how it was taught to us by our Spanish teacher who lived in Spain for several years and goes there for vacations now. Mama/papa isn't mommy/daddy, but mom/dad like we say as a term of endearment.
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I have an question : it shoudn't be "por mi papa" ?? I had this in my spanish lesson
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"Para" is used here to indicate a recipient. According to http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/porpara.htm (bookmark I find very useful) "por" could be used as well, but it would change the meaning of the sentence.
"It is quite important to learn to use these two prepositions correctly, because if you inadvertently substitute one for the other, you might end up saying something altogether different from what you had intended. Study the two examples:
Juan compró el regalo para María. Juan bought the gift for Maria. (he bought it to give to her)
Juan compró el regalo por María. Juan bought the gift for Maria. (he bought it because she could not)".
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I took two years of Spanish but still find this difficult. That example is excellent. I wish we had been given such helpful examples in class.
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A really fine example - shows how we can inadvertently give a different meaning to what we are trying to say.
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Mama is not used in Spanish, but papa is. Papa is Spanish for "potato".
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It might depend on local usage. In SpanishDict.com, 'mama' is recognized as 'mom' or 'mum'. Also, 'potato' could be 'papa' or 'patate', and 'papa' could also be 'pope'. Papá is dad and it's recognized by Duo.
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They are basically the same, though mother and father are more formal.
So cocina means cook and kitchen? If I say "I cook in the kitchen." It would translate into "Yo cocina en la cocina.?
No, It would be "Yo cocino en la cocina." But it would be "Ella cocina en la cocina."
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That happens in Portuguese as well: cozinha can mean kitchen or the verb in the present cooks.
For those of you who were confused whether "cocina" meant cooking and kitchen,like I was,this site shows that it does mean both. http://www.spanishcentral.com/translate/cocina
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I guess i am the only one that put Mi mama cocina para A mi padre! Is personal A not needed here then???
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I think that when a preposition is used like "por" or "para" or "entre" then the personal "a" is not used. Hope this helps! :)
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I thought "My mother cooks for my father" would have been "Mi madre cocina para mi padre."
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So why is "My mama cooks for my papa." counted wrong? At least some english speakers call their father papa.
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I can only speak for the UK, but I can't rembember ever hearing a native english speaker saying either Mama or Papa. In the UK it'd be be Mum, Mummy, or Mom, Dad or Daddy (may Pop, at a stretch, though that would probably be ironic usage to pretend to sound American.) Some parts of northern England and Wales they might say Mam. ("where's our mam?" "Down 't chippie"). I think in Ireland (Northern and Republic) they use "mammy" a fair bit... (based on snippets of conversation I've had with Irish in-laws). USA is an entirely different kettle of fish, and I have no idea if they use mama or papa there. I seem to remember Elvis had a song called "that's alright Mama"... Maybe a US native could let us know?
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U.S. native here. When I was young I called my mom "Mama", but I never called my dad "Papa" or "Pop". I asked some friends and it was the same for them. Mom and Dad are the most common by far.
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Yes, and there are regional differences. You hear Mom, Mommy, Ma, Mama, and Dad, Daddy, Pa, Papa, Pop.
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My dad is Papa (though my mom was never Mama), and I'm a native US English speaker. But I did learn around the time I was 7 or 8 to say "my dad" and "my mom" around other people, to avoid unnecessary attention.
Otherwise, ThanKwee's reply sounds accurate/typical. Little kids go through mama to mommy to mom, and sometimes papa to daddy to dad.
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I think it has to do with the fact that "papa" does not have as much usage in the English language and also, as others have pointed out, that "papa" translates into potato in Spanish.
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This gets to be really complicated as there are many uses for por and para, but "Mi mamá cocina para mi papá" means my mom cooks for my dad, saying that what she's cooking is FOR my dad (with the intention of him eating it).
"Mi mamá cocina por mi papá" would mean "my mother cooks for my dad" (because he's really busy right now and couldn't cook that particular meal or something). Another example would be, "compré un regalo para mi amiga," which means "I bought a gift for my friend [so I could give it to her]" while "compré un regalo por mi amiga," means I bought the gift instead of her, in her place (because she wasn't able to by it herself for some reason and she's probably planning on giving that gift to someone else).
Por and para are also used for a lot of other stuff. Here's a good link on when to use one or the other: http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/porpara.htm
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As far as I can see so far, "por" very rarely actually means "for". If you do something or have something for another person, it's always para.
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I'm not that far in my spanish lessons, but f.e. I had "por tren" meaning "by train". Maybe if you click on "por" to practice it, you get more examples.
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I didn't find a good answer for this question either. Why would one use para in this context and not por?
Could you please explain to me the verb cocina. I don't understand why it is cocina ?
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Cocina has two different definitions depending on context. Cocina, the noun, means "kitchen". However, cocina, as a verb, is a conjugation of cocinar which means "to cook" when used for ella, él, or usted.
What's the diffenrence when using para and por. I got this sentence incorrect because i thought para meant with.
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Thumb rule: if the result of the action passes through A then use por, if A is the endpoint use para
para papá, the food stays there i.e. he eats it
por papá, I cook instead of him
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don't do the thing where you think what's right for you is right for everyone. :)
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Without accents papa is pope and mama is mammary gland or breast (cáncer de mama/ breast cancer) or he/she sucks (from mamar = suck)
Thank you, that is helpful. But why is the accent on the last "a" versus the first "a"?
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Normally a word ending in a vowel has the stress on the syllable just before the last and no accent is needed for such words
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"My ma cooks for my pa" is unacceptable? What could better communicate the informality of "mamá" and "papá" than that?
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I translated it as "My mother cooks because of my father". What do you think about that?
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Hello EmekaObian: I think the translation given "Translation: My mother cooks for my father." is correct.
I'm sorry guys you guys are arguing over nothing besides we all call our parents something else and my dad is the one that cooks for my mom. I think the point is that you guys should get over it.
