"I dream about my girlfriend."
Translation:Yo sueño con mi novia.
88 Comments
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Another Spanish expression where a verb needs a specific preposition after it. "sonar con" = to dream of/about something/someone.
If we are learning Spanish how are we supposed to inherently know this? Duolingo teaches thru penalties- not by actual teaching and explaining. :-(
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You're not expected to get everything right the first time. Explanations come here in the comments or from another resource. I know it can hurt to lose a heart, but that should help you remember so you remember this sentence next time you see/hear it.
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I love the learning format. You have to accept mistakes as part of the learning process.
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I am learning spanish using only duolingo. I know so much more than I used to. It is a different way to learn a language (or math... which I teach) than is expected, but it is affective if you can accept learning through failure. I do get mad when I think I have translated correctly to find out I missed it because it means something different than the words. Example: Good morning is actually good days. But I will remember eventually.
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Indeed, "tough love" in a way. But failures are definitely the best teachers.
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It isn't penalties. Children learn language by making mistakes. That's life.
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I get you, but I think we have to take the language as it is not as we want it to be (because that's just not realistic).
For instance, "salt" is masculine in French.. But feminine in Spanish. First time I saw "la sal", it was "Hmm, that's odd".. But it's not odd.
Another example, the "He helps the family" becomes "Él ayuda a la familia". In French, it's "Il aide la famille".. So I was "Why is it not "ayuda la familia" ".. Well, the language is made this way..
We have to accept it, and embrace these subtleties and avoid having the "stupid tourist syndrome". After all, why bother learning different languages if we're pissed at them being...different.
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I think it is an excellent method of teaching, it's natural. In the real world you are going to try a combination of words, and if it's wrong, you will be corrected by amused natives, and you'll remember next time. Learning a language is so much easier, for the most part, if you just know "that's how it is," just like with your native language.
I supplement my spanish learning with grammar articles and quizzes from SpanishDict. direct link: https://www.spanishdict.com/guide Duolingo is fun and interactive and something I happily do every day. I certainly have learned the most from it and its process, but yes, sometimes I do just need a direct lesson.
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Well thats why I come to this comment section. I share your grief but there are other resources like google that can help. When in doubt, consult the comment section, is what I say about this app.
The "con" substitutes for "a" in this instance. A verb can only have one preposition, and sonar is a verb that requires "con."
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I included the "personal a" and lost a heart and was shown the correct answer which had neither "a persona a" nor a "con" as shown at the top of this page.
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Prepositions are always variable from language to language. That is they never translate in exactly the same way which is another way of saying every language has its own logic. Language learning is a right brain and not a left brain process. You will go crazy trying to make English logic fit Spanish or German or Arabic language useage.
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yeah I guess sometimes you just have to let go of logic and simply try and learn the way the natives speak. I know sometimes with my Spanish friends I have been unable to give a good enough reason why we might say something a particular way in English - hence at times: that's just the way it is :-)
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I think that's ok, but I've never heard it said that way except by native English speakers.
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It is not something terribly unnatural, but not very natural either. Normally you say "Soñé con mi perro, novia, vecino..." or "Soñé que estaba volando, comiendo, viajé a Europa...)
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Y cuando desperto’ su sueno habi’a desaparecido. (And when he woke up, his dream was gone.)
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This is the most fantastic learning tool I have discoveted. Pimsler left me so frustrsted I litterally screamed. I had no previous Spanish but now I can understand and actually carry on a bit of conversation with my neighbors. YAY -- I love DL <3
Would anybody be able to explain why it isn't "a mi novia" in this instance?
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They say if you use "sobre" this makes the sentence mean that you are laying on the novia and dreaming ))) And "acerca de" is possible and ok, but as for native speakers - they will go with "con"
Explained above. . .just Spanish idioma. English has the unexplainables, also.
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How do we know he is dreaming about his girlfriend and not with his girlfriend. They could be dreaming together about thier future.
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Prepositions often don't translate literally--certain verbs just go with certain prepositions. This particular one is difficult, and I would never have gotten it. My dictionary agrees that so~nar con is best. It also gives "en" which is what I would have used on one of my better days, similar to "pensar en" for thinking about someone. "Sobre" and "acerca de" both sound awkward to me in this case. I thought "por" would work here but it marked it wrong, and after some thought I guess I agree.
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Yes but soñar is one of those verbs that needs a specific preposition after it.
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Can you give some other examples of verbs that use "con" like this? I think it might help me recognize more of them when they appear in sentences.
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Now I finally understand a line from the theme song to Rubí that I didn't know I didn't understand!
"Se que sueña conmigo, pero amanece en otra cama..." -> "I know she dreams about me, but wakes up in a different bed"
Makes much more sense than what I thought -- sleeping with me and waking up in a different bed. Thought it was being more abstract than it was!
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Please read the top voted comments that explain the grammar before complaining that the app is wrong
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In this idiomatic usage, you just don’t need two prepositions back-to-back like that. It is just the way Spanish works. Drop the “a” here, but golden stars to you for knowing that in many sentences, one is absolutely necessary. Felicidades.
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Do i can say "sueño sobre mi novia" or "sueño con mi novia", I am asking this because when the verb means to be about i we can say without the "yo". Does it's wrong?
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Prepositions in every language are strange. It's just something you have to memorize. Like tener and que.
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Why is "Yo sueno de mi novia" not acceptable? Is it not normal to also say "I dream of my girlfriend?"
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"De" expresses possession or that something is made out of something else, but it does not work the way your trying to use it.
El perro de mi vecina - My neighbor's dog.
La casa de madera - The house made of wood.
I have read the comments and am at a loss for why there is no personal a used in this example. Can someone help me out please?
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Cuz the preposition (con) here displaces the personal a. But 100 points for you, TOS, for recognizing that normally an a would be needed for a person who is an object of a sentence. Bravo.
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I added the personal 'a' before 'mi novia' (a mi novia), and is marked wrong. Please explain why.
Ok I understand the expression "sueño con" meaning "dream about" but then como se dice "dream with" - like, to say "I dream with my girlfriend" wouldn't that also translate as sueño con mi novia?
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Duolingo is a bloody amazing app. Aren't we lucky to have such a valuable resource for free, there may be some 'faults' but in my opinion it's better than most things you have to pay for.
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Why? Are you dreaming WITH your girlfriend? (-It would be nice...).
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If you dream about your girlfriend you are probably in a deep relationship.
Can someone explain why the personal "a" isn't appropriate here? I understand everything else.
