"The water is deep and clear."
Translation:El agua es profunda y clara.
63 Comments
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Ah! but water ("agua") is feminine! Feminine nouns that begin with a stressed "a" take the masculine article, "el," in the singular. This is similar to using "an" before "apple" in English
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A clarification popped up on this example in the lesson explaining what you have said. It must be a recent addition. I like it.
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Thank you for that. The latin aqua is feminine, so I wondered why it was el agua.
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any article starting with a should go with "el" for example: "el Amarillo", "el águila", "el amparo", "el agua", "el alcohol" etc.
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It's not quite that simple. The substitution of "el" for "la" only happens when it comes immediately before a singular noun that begins with a stressed a- or ha-. Some examples include...
el agua, el hambre, el águila.
And some examples where the first syllable is not stressed...
la alberca, la asamblea, la audiencia, la habilidad
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Been at this for months now and think it's the first time I've come across this. Great explanation, thank you very much!!!
this still makes no sense to me. If agua is feminine, then why the masculine article? This is very confusing. Every Spanish app, dictionary tells me agua needs the masculine article, therefore it is masculine.
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I always have trouble with stuff like this. The system accepted my incorrect use of masculine adjectives though.
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Yeah, it did. Maybe because it couldn't discern enough of a difference when I said the words?
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Learn something new every day. I'll look for a speaking section.
... and found it. Home/(head icon)/edit profile/account/microphone on. ...and now I remember thinking that would drive my wife nuts.
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With the microphone; it was a speaking section. I said, "El agua es profundo y claro." and it was accepted.
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I started out using the microphone feature, then turned it off early on when the system couldn't ever pick up anything I said. It was very frustrating. Then I got a new microphone and started using that part of the lesson again. Maybe it'll work out for you to turn it back on again sometime? The speaking practice is quite helpful.
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I think "esta" should work here too. I couldn't decide whether the water is always deep and clear (ser), or just at the moment (estar).
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I agree. While in many places the deepness of the water is constant, it may quickly change in other places (e.g., tides, flash floods), thus using "estar" would also make sense. Water clarity is really easy to mess with, so my choice would be "estar" regardless.
Look, first you’re dealing with Duo. Then, the exercise did refer to THE water, like maybe the water a mile off shore where it is always deep until after the global warming thingy really kicks in and the water will be deep everywhere.
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It is a bit confusing because I wrote la agua and got as a comment that agua is masculine... Here there are correct explanations of what is wrong but I will report this as a wrong explanation of the correction.
Did I miss something or was "clara" not even listed as a possible translation of "clear"?
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Agreed. I don't remember learning this word before and was bummed to lost a heart because the possible translations didn't include this.
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agua = Concrete Noun «feminine» Note: This type of noun requires the masculine article when in the singular and feminine article in the plural. Adjectives are always in feminine. El agua + <feminine Adj.> , las aguas <<in the plural>> [As per Word Magic Dictionary]
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Why not "honda". Thats how Honduras got its name from Columbus who complained about the "deep" waters.
It’s fine with me, you go ahead and use honda if you want. Columbus isn’t around to complain now.
Thanks to those who explained the use of "el" before accented first syllables starting with "a" or "ha." I've studied Spanish on and off for almost 40 years, and I still am amazed when I learn something for the first time.
Thanks to 341 for the clarification. I used claro and profundo in this and was marked wrong. Now I see.
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I knew it had to be "el" because of the way Duolingo sets up these questions now. In short, if two choices read "el" and one "la", "el" must be correct. But now i know why :)
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"Agua" is not masculine, it is feminine. Read more of this thread for explanations (from Hacu, below, for example) .
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if the noun is masculine then the adjectives also have to be masculine, so none of those answers are correct ://
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Except that the noun in this case (agua) is not masculine, but feminine. Several posts above explain this: feminine nouns that start with the sound of a stressed "a" take the masculine article (el) but nevertheless remain feminine.
So, yes, the answers with feminine adjectives are correct.
(See the comment by Hacu just below.)
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If 'agua' is masculine - shown by 'El', then why are the are adjectives feminine?
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"Agua" is a feminine word (ends in 'a' ), that borrows masc. article (el) when the noun is singular. This is because the stress is on the first a, and with the fem. article (la) it would, in this case, sound like "lágua", which would/could be confusing.
Not all fem. words starting with an a- or ha- borrow the masc. article - only the ones where the word stress is on the first letter: a-/á-/ha-. However, when these nouns become plural, they will take back their fem. article (las) as it ends in s, thus separating it clearly from the word itself.
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is agua masculine or feminine. if feminine, why the "el. if feminine why "profundo" I just read the comments. It is too confusing and make no sense, because when it is spoken you don't know whether the "a' is stressed or not and also that means that you have to learn which words beginning with a is feminine or masculine
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Because even with the article, 'el', the word 'agua ' is still feminine. See rspreng's comment at the beginning of the comment section.
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According to the "words" tab, "agua" is feminine. So I used "La" & feminine adjectives - "profunda" & "clara." So why does Duolingo say that "El" should be used in front of "agua"?
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If you read alllll the comments above, you will likely find your answer. If not, get back to us.
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I believe I found the reason. Thank you. The problem I do run into though is inconsistencies between the "Words" tab, and some of the things that Duolingo gives as correct answers. But that is for another time. Thank you for your help.
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Not sure what pronoun you mean, but the 'el' before agua isn't a pronoun, it's a definite article. The reason for its being "masculine" is explained several times by various people in this thread. See the posts at the top.
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No, it is el agua to avoid a double a issue, but agua is feminine as is demonstrated by the plural: Las aguas son profundas y claras.
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Was I supposed to have learned Spanish before I started this app? No wonder I've been at 41% for like 6 months.
