Topic: Spanish

"I saw a big black spider in the yard."

Translation:Vi una araña grande y negra en el jardín.

February 21, 2013

30 Comments

https://www.duolingo.com/profile/theartoflogic

    So when it asked me to translate the English phrase into Spanish I wrote, "Vi una grande araña negra en el jardín," and it marked it wrong, saying that I should have used "gran" instead of "grande."

    I thought you only used "gran" when the noun is masculine/singular. In this case the noun is feminine, so I would assume you'd need to use the full "grande." Why is that not so?

    February 21, 2013
    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Georg3

      Use the apocope "gran" when it precedes a singular noun, masculine or feminine, even if there is another word between them: - Un gran amigo. - Una gran primera novela.

      Do not use the apocope when it is preceded by "más" or "menos": - El más grande genio de la literatura.

      February 21, 2013
      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN

        So would that be "Vi una gran araña negra en el jardin"?

        December 2, 2013
        https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Georg3

          Exactly!

          December 3, 2013
          https://www.duolingo.com/profile/chaolan77

            Gran araña negra OR araña grande y negra. BOTH are accepted. Like someone else said, gran, buen before AND grande, buena/o after.

            Anyone know how to add a profile pic? MSG me at chadlee884 at google dot com (no spammer)

            February 23, 2014
            https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Evi_Anguelova

              I replied with the same answer like you, but they marked it wrong - it should've been "Vi una araña grande y negra en el jardín". And where is the "and" in the English question???

              August 12, 2018
              https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Ampus_Questor
              • 20

              English can pile up the adjectives that qualify a noun without the need of the conjunction 'and' although commas may be used; not so in Spanish where each adjective needs to be separated from the next one by an 'and' (but no commas).

              January 12, 2019
              https://www.duolingo.com/profile/rspreng

                nope - any singular noun, I have learned

                February 21, 2013
                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Mehki227
                • 57

                Same here

                July 4, 2014
                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/deebeegee

                  So we do not have to use the object pronoun here? As in

                  Una araña grande y negra LA vi en el jardin

                  January 31, 2014
                  https://www.duolingo.com/profile/laya_a

                    Same question here. Why not LA vi?

                    May 11, 2014
                    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tylerlucas13

                      "Jardín" means both "yard" and "garden"?

                      November 26, 2013
                      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/TortugaCielo

                        wonder what happened to using patio for YARD as used in early lessons? DUO accepted, but obviously prefers jardin.

                        March 11, 2014
                        https://www.duolingo.com/profile/pinguino.diablo

                          It seems so. It's the same in British English. Garden can refer to specific plots (e.g. "herb garden", "the botanical gardens" e.t.c.) or the whole yard (since we don't really use the term "yard" in this sense).

                          January 9, 2014
                          https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MarthaR527581
                          • 72

                          isn't jardin garden? wouldn't la yarda be better translation? why wasn't vi una gran arana negra en la yarda accepted?

                          January 27, 2019
                          https://www.duolingo.com/profile/robertogoddenski

                            my dictionary says that "and " translates "y" or "e"

                            June 15, 2013
                            https://www.duolingo.com/profile/remcastro

                              Indeed, "and" translates into either "y" or "e" depending on the following word. "Y" is the default and "e" is only used when the following wording starts with an "i" sound ("i" pronounced in Spanish). For example:

                              "Los elefantes y los ratones no son buenos amigos" = "Elephants and mice are not good friends" vs.

                              "Pedro e Isabel no son buenos amigos" = "Pedro and Isabel are not good friends" and

                              "Pedro e Hilda no son buenos amigos" = "Pedro and Hilda are not good friends" (since the "H" in "Hilda" makes no sound)

                              June 27, 2013
                              https://www.duolingo.com/profile/kenaxo
                              • 230

                              True, and good examples.

                              June 30, 2013
                              https://www.duolingo.com/profile/myeurop

                                get a better dictionary that will tell you when to use y and when to use e (-: no, seriously, I believe you use "e" only before " i" and "hi.." (most likely to avoid a cacophony)

                                June 19, 2013
                                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/rmcgwn

                                  why do you need the 'y'? I did think of putting grande in front a gran but I too learned it had to be a masculine singular noun so I chose not to.

                                  July 15, 2013
                                  https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Ranchers1

                                    I'm seeing "I saw a big spider and black (something, I'm thinking spanglish here for "negra") in the garden. The "y" is throwing me off. I know DL isn't teaching slang. Especially northern MX bordertown spanglish. Help someone?

                                    February 8, 2014
                                    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Adina_atl

                                      In Spanish you can't "stack" adjectives like you do in English. Instead you say that you see a "spider, big and black" AKA "una araña grande y negra". Negra is the feminine adjective here, referring back to araña, and nothing else.

                                      April 4, 2014
                                      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Ranchers1

                                        That makes sense. What if there are more adjectives? i.e. I tried "The big, black, scary, old spider is there." and came up with "La araña grande, negra, Mieda, vieja está ahí." and no "Y" came up. Are they correct? I use different web sites when I'm experimenting. That's another thing I like about DL is being able to do these discussions.

                                        April 5, 2014
                                        https://www.duolingo.com/profile/chaolan77

                                          Vi una gran araña negra en el jardín -- is also correct btw

                                          February 23, 2014
                                          https://www.duolingo.com/profile/edwardmart1n

                                            Why is there an "a" if "yo" is used but not otherwise? i.e. "yo vi a una arana...." vs. "vi una arana...."

                                            April 1, 2014
                                            https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ekeon

                                              well thats kinda rude.....i might be wrong but i thought this was right...should i mention my mom did this...she is from spain

                                              May 15, 2014
                                              https://www.duolingo.com/profile/itsme_sheesh

                                                Is 'gran' feminine and 'grande' masculine?

                                                June 20, 2014
                                                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/iPrash
                                                • 719

                                                Why is "vi una arana grande y negra en la yarda" marked wrong? Reported 08/17/2018

                                                August 17, 2018
                                                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/marcy65brown
                                                • 1549

                                                A quick check of spanishdict.com says that "yarda" is a unit of measurement. If that's its only meaning, it wouldn't fit here.

                                                November 18, 2018
                                                https://www.duolingo.com/profile/iPrash
                                                • 719

                                                Ah thanks! Saw a translation that mentioned yarda so thought I could use that.

                                                January 12, 2019
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