"¿Adónde fuiste de vacaciones?"
Translation:Where did you go on vacation?
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I agree because although in English we would ask “did you go on vacation?” and then follow it up with “where’d you go?” It’s unlikely that we would say “Where did you go on vacation”...the more natural translation would be either “where did you go for vacation?” Or “where did you vacation?”
In early learning you want word for word understanding but the goal is fluency.
If the aim is natural/flowing translation those (above) answers should be accepted.
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I'm wondering what part of the world you come from, Dasi. Where I come from (Arkansas, USA), it is very common to say "Where did you go on vacation?"
Which is irrelevant, because that wouldn’t be correct in Spanish, so the question couldn’t be asked that way.
Prepositions don’t line up exactly between English and Spanish. As long as the meaning isn’t changed, as here, the exact choice of preposition shouldn’t matter.
You're quite right in that I left out "las," and in that prepositions don't translate exactly. However, "para las vacaciones" (which is closer to "for vacation") and "de vacaciones" (which is closer to "on vacation") do have a degree of difference between them.
While there is something to be said for accepting translations that capture the overall spirit or meaning of a phrase, I would argue that fully understanding a language requires being a stickler for subtle differences. We aren't saying quite the same thing if you choose "de" and I choose "para las."
TL;DR since two phrases exist for the same concept, we should probably pay attention to what makes them different
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Adónde (to where) is used when the question asks about movement toward something. ¿Adónde vas? Where are you going?
Dónde is used when the question does not ask about movement from one place to another. ¿Dónde estás? Where are you? ¿De dónde eres? Where are you from?
Spanishdict.com has many good examples.
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FWIW, there's not much difference in English between "Where did you go on vacation" and "Where did you vacation"
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I've missed two questions because I didn't use "to". This time I added it since adonde is "to where''. Still got it wrong--I don't get it. :(
I think of this a being a place where English is doing something weird. We really ought to need a “to” here, but “where” and “go” together magically imply it, so we usually leave it out.
For the most part, I would suggest trying to give your answer as naturally as you can without changing the meaning, because the expected answer tends to be in a normal English format. Trying too hard to match it word for word wont serve you well, because that isn’t how Dl looks at the answer to begin with.
When you get one wrong, look closely at whether or not there really is a difference in meaning, and if there isn’t, then report it. It’s the only way to improve the accuracy of the grading.
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Prepositions don't always match up between languages. De vacaciones is the standard way to say "on vacation" in English. Notice that it's plural too.
http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/to%20be%20on%20vacation
I only separated A donde instead of adonde. Couldnt tell it was only one word from her pronunciation
