"Last summer"

Translation: El verano pasado

[robofam]

it is frustrating that often adding the word "the" is counted as incorrect yet her there is no the, just last summer and if "the" is not included it is incorrect. There does not appear to be a pattern.

[k3nd0]

It's just a grammatical difference between languages. Unlike English, in Spanish you need a definite article for seasons. The exception is if the season follows "de" "en" or a form of "ser". See below for some general rules regarding the use of definite articles in Spanish:

http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/use_def_art_2.htm

[1133cail]

Thank you. This is a very informative article, and helps a lot.

[Locks1]

Thank you!

[Cyn-F]

yes, thank you so much.

[cjblo]

i totally agree

[MrHazard]

The other dilemma here is that, while the definite article is needed in a full sentence or in a response to a question, this is a sentence fragment (no full stop), so it's a guessing game as to how much of the fragment Duolingo wants.

[rmcgwn]

The el rule in this case is?

[kalilafaygel]

It's just a part of the language. Seasons and months have the article regardless of whether or not it's included in the translation

[felixacool]

el verano último ------ is accepted

[alezzzix]

That sounds awful, «último» should be before the noun.

[robofam]

thanks k3nd0

[JairoAlons]

Both translation are good

[Emo29]

Surely the spelling mistake pesado, should just be counted as a spelling mistake?

[k3nd0]

They usually don't allow spelling mistakes if it results in another Spanish word. In this case, "pesado" means "heavy."

[Atokirina]

"Sé lo que hicieron el verano pasado."

[JolieStorment123]

Why does "el" need to be put in the sentence???

[JiminHasJams140]

I wish it would just say choose the correct answer instead of the correct answers! I got tricked. I chose two answers because it said choose ALL the answers!