"You are going to look at the child."
Translation:Vas a mirar al niño.
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Why not "Tu LO vas a mirar al nino" What if, instead, the sentence was "You are going to look at it." Would the translation be "Tu LO vas a mirar" When do you add the direct object pronoun and when do you not?
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The IOP is (usually) compulsory. The DOP replaces the object. You could say it with a pronoun: “Lo vas a mirar" (you're going to see him [or it]) or you can use the noun: “Vas a mirar al niño" (you're going to see the boy.
If there were an indirect object, you would have to use the proper pronoun:You're going to give the boy a motorcycle. Le vas a dar una moto (al niño).
You can include or leave off “al niño". Either way, you need to use “le" in this sentence (unless you replace 'moto' with the pronoun “it", in which case you'd use 'se'. Se lo vas a dar= To him +it +you are going to +give=You are going to give it to him... Sounds confusing, but it is very logical once you understand it.)
If "it" were in the sentence - not "al niño" - you would put "lo" before the first conjugated verb (vas). It's easier to connect it to the infinitive, though («vas a mirarlo»).
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"Lo" replaces a direct object and can mean him as well as it (at least in writing). I'm not sure why it's not accepted here, as you usually require the DO pronoun in a situation like this. Can someone please explain?
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I thought that mirar meant to look or to look at and that in the case of to look at that you do not need the a
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Yep, 'mirar' = to look at. You do not need the preposition "a" if you are looking at a picture, but here you need the personal "a" because you are looking at a person.
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in front of an animated noun, you have to use the preposition A, for a person or an animal
Is the "personal a" used for both people and animals or both people and pets? I know it's a fine point, but we might as well try to get it right.
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Normally, when you know the name of an animal, it's because you have affection for this animal, and you have to use the personal a. Same thing for human beings. Voy a buscar camareros para el bar. You want to hire some employees but you don't know them yet,no personal A. If you want to hire specifically employees that you already know them, because once, they were your employees, you have to use the personal a EX : Voy a buscar a los camareros.
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TilEulenspiegel- mirar is a verb of perception, you have to use personal A, even though you don't know the girl.
Thanks. So, "I am looking at the girl (whom I do not know)" would be "Le miro la nina" but "I am looking at the girl (who is a friend of mine)" would be "Le miro a la nina."?
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tileulenspiegel- Mirar, observar and oír, are perceptions verbs. If there's a noun with an undefinite article after the verb, Personal A. EX : Oí A una mujer cantar ópera. I heard a woman singing opera. With percewpcions verbs, no matter if you know the person, Personal A. Ot5her verbs like BUSCAR, if you know the person that you're searching, Personal A, if not, no personal A.
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I was completely surprised seeing "Vos vas a mirar al niño" marked as a correct answer here. It was the first time I run into "vos" stuff and after a quick online search it seems that it's informal Spanish used mostly outside of Spain. I have ambivalent feelings about the presence of informal words on duoling. Shouldn't there be at least a lesson about all that stuff?
"Vos" is informal in the same way that "tu" is informal--as in, it's something you use with people that are familiar to you. Vos is used instead of "ustedes" in Central and South America when it's a group of people that you know and are comfortable with.
Someone put a down arrow. I put an up arrow and added a linguot. I was happy to know about "vos" being a plural familiar form. I think that it's possible that maybe someone doesn't like using "vos" in a situation where a child needs attention. Maybe it's an etiquette thing. Anyone know? I am also curious to know the relationship between the words "vos" and "vosotros/vosotras." Anyone know?
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the-nikster- For exemple : he visto a mi hijo. (I saw my son) , or lo he visto (I saw him. Lo is supposed to take the place of the cod (hijo), because LO is always COD. Lo is also masculine and la is feminine.
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Ustedes translates to "you all" or "y'all" :) not to a singular "you" as given.
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What about "Tu le vas a mirar al niño"? Should it be right (I thought it needed the 'le') or why would it be wrong?
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wrong! I think it would be repetitive. And in a translation, why do people add words which they aren't in the sentence?
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That doesn't make any sense at all. 'Your to him going to look at the boy.'
You don't need 'tú' if that's the word you were looking for. It is grammatically okay but sounds weird unless it is clearly being used emphatically. 'Vas' tells you who the subject is.
'Le' is an Indirect Object Pronoun. There are a few regions with leismos, but let's keep things simple... Indirect objects tell you to whom or for whom the direct object was (verbed). The Direct object receives the action of the verb.
The verb 'mirar' means 'to look at'. The boy is being looked at, so he's the Direct object. Direct object pronouns almost always replace the direct object. So pick the DOP (lo) or the noun (el niño) but not both. This is different than IOPs, which (usually) must be used, regardless of whether the object is stated.
That's a lot to take in, but it really is simple. It's just very different than English, and minor regional variance doesn't help.
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Chico didn't work for me, is chico specific to 'boy' rather than 'child'?
Is it correct to say that "al" is also used as a contraction of personal "a" and the definite article "el"? I learned in the past lessons that we use al, intead of "a el" to say "to the." Thanks!
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why isn't it gender neutral where the child could mean, the boy or the girl. why is only boy excepted.
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"Look at" is synonymous with "examine" in English, so if you are a non-native speaker I would suggest not using this phrase unless you are a doctor and you are about to look at (examine) a child. Otherwise this sounds a little creepy in English to any native speaker and could be misconstrued. In most cases where a child is going to be observed, we would say I am going to watch the child. www.thefreedictionary.com/look+at
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'al' is basically a shortened form of 'a' + 'el' when it would otherwise be used together in a sentence. e.g. He goes to the bathroom. (Èl va a el baño) would be difficult to say in everyday speech. Hence it's shortened to "Èl va al baño." The two vowel sounds when used back to back like that would be hard to distinguish as two distinct sounds in everyday speech so it's shortened to 'al' for a much clearer pronumciation and underatanding. This problem does not occur with 'a' + 'la' used in conjunction as they are two distinct initial sounds when together so there isnt a need for anything to be shortened for clarity.
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Could "al niña" be used for "the child" here, if we know the child is female? In English "the child" could be either. Is the masculine "niño" used as a default in Spanish?
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it could be ok- frenchforall when you know the context, but in a translation, you don't know so, you stick with what you see.
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It wouldn't be "al" because "al" is used for masculine nouns (it is the contraction of a+el - the same thing as don't). If the child was female, it would be "a la".
I hope that helps. :-)
The "te" is wrong, because it makes the verb reflexive. Essentially you're saying "You are going to look at yourself the child," which is ungrammatical and doesn't make sense. If you replaced your object-pronoun "te" with the (optional) subject-pronoun "tú" then your answer would be spot on.