"El fin de semana yo trabajo poco."
Translation:On the weekend I work little.
69 Comments
Agreed! For my brain to hear it correctly I'd need "I work a little" or "I don't work much."
- 25
- 25
- 16
- 206
These "poco" exercises are making me un poco loco. The Spanish>English translations are awkward, if not downright ungrammatical. If I ruled the world, I think I would render this particular sentence as: "On the weekend I work only a little." But, sadly, I do not rule the world. Yet.
Real people say "I work a little on the weekend." Duolingo doesn't recognize this.
- 18
- 11
- 10
- 4
- 3
- 23
People might say that, but "a little" does not mean the same as "little". The former is positive, meaning I do work a bit, whereas the latter is negative, meaning I don't work much.
- 20
- 18
you're right, it doesn't, but if we were saying "little," we would always say "very little." The idiom is just not correct in this particular sentence.
- 24
- 4
- 2
- 2
I do little work at the weekend - marked wrong. No self-respecting English person would say 'on the weekend' or 'I work little'
I keep messing this one up because of the exact same reason. Very frustrating.
'on the weekend' = yes, 'I work little' = yes, I respect myself = yes, I am English = yes ... and so on
- 21
- 12
DL has a bit of a problem with this one I think. Once more they reward a literal translation. The English translation is not how one would actually say this although it will work. I would say "On the weekend I don't work much" which I think the above is how Spanish would express the same idea. All languages have options how to express an idea and some are more elegant than others.
- 24
- 28
Duolingo told me my answer of "I work little on the weekend." was incorrect and that the correct answer is "I don't work a lot on the weekend.", but the words don't (no) and a lot (mucho) aren't in the sentence. ("I don't work a lot on the weekend," would be "Yo no trabajo mucho el fin de semana.") .
- 13
- 134
It is a regional colloquialism so it is not helpful for DL to include it.
DL said wrong because I said "I work a bit on the weekend." There is no "no" in this sentence!!!!!
- 24
In England we never say on the weekend but at the weekend also work little in English is not correct it should be work a little. I have reported this many times but they still ignore it. Just glad I am not paying for this
- 24
- 4
- 2
- 2
I totally agree, unfortunately DL seems to prefer American English with little room for manoeuvre
- 18
- 11
- 10
- 4
- 3
- 23
There is nothing wrong with saying "work little". "Little" and "a little" are both good English, but have different meanings. Assuming Spanish and English are similar, then "yo trabajo poco" means I work little (not much), whereas "yo trabajo un poco" would mean I do work a bit.
Duo's English translation is correct. Your assertion is incorrect. No wonder they are ignoring it.
Take some time and learn some English. See https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/quantifiers/little-a-little-few-a-few
I will add that you have a run-on sentence. You need a period after "at the weekend".
- 25
- 155
You ascribe omniscience to yourself and Duo. Words are trickier than that. Meanings depend on the speaker, the listener (reader), the immediate circumstances, their history and many, many other things. Two different people can speak the same words and mean very different things.
This is language--not math.
- 25
- 155
I agree. By the way, my comment above was in response to the lecture to those of us who have the audacity to disagree with Duo by EdNed2.
- 18
- 11
- 10
- 4
- 3
- 23
What dose are you referring to? :)
It looks like you work little at the English language.
"I work little, to be sure, but at difficult things." - Edgar Degas.
"I work little while Fitzgibbon's over Lanesville." - Wheeler.
Nobody cares about your concepts of the English language. But if Duo comes across this discussion, they will know that "work little" is good English.
- 24
I am not impressed by your remark for me to learn some English I am seventy one years old and have been speaking English since I was about eighteen months old. Work little is not CORRECT English just read some of the other comments and see how many say work little is not good English
- 25
- 4
- 3
Weekends are like days - there's no need for the preposition. eg. I went to school on Monday = Fui a la escuela el lunes. I worked on the weekend = Trabajé el fin de semana.
- 23
- 10
- 12
Why is it that only you and i have that question while everyone else bickering about how the sentence sounds weird?
I work little the weekend, sounds fine to me, is the word ''on'' really necessary? Why is it necessary?
- 18
- 11
- 10
- 4
- 3
- 23
It's singular in the Spanish sentence. Weekend, not weekends.
The English translation sounds very awkward to me; not many people would say "On the weekend I work little". So we look for translations that sound more natural. "On weekends" sounds better. But it is not an accurate translation of the Spanish. Similar with "This weekend...".
In language courses, they are usually very fussy about singular and plural (and gender, and tenses, and so on). So one needs to get that part right even if it sounds poor.
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 154
However, we don't always have to respect the plural or singular, such as in "buenos dias" that becomes "good day" and not "good days".
- 23
- 19
I wrote "On weekends, I work little", and got marked wrong. The first time I wrote "On the weekend, I work a little" and got wrong there too. This questions needs fixed, as we say in Pittsburgh.
- 18
- 11
- 10
- 4
- 3
- 23
The Spanish is "El fin de semana," which is singular. Therefore the English must be singular: "weekend".
Then the Spanish says, "yo trabajo poco", which is "I work little". It means I don't do much work.
"I work little" and "I work a little" are both good English but mean different things. The former is intended, not the latter.
Ergo, we come up with "On the weekend I work little". That's the correct translation. It sounds very awkward in English, though, because weekend is left undefined. We want to know if it is this weekend, last weekend, next weekend, all weekends, whatever. But adding a qualifier is not our job; it is just to translate the sentence - which for all I know is also awkward in Spanish.
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 154
"On the weekend i don't work much" would be more natural IMHO
- 25
Duo. Look at my response. You want SIR ? You want Ma'am. Learn something, homeBiscuits.
- 17
- 14
- 9
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
it didn't accept "i work a little at the weekend" which is what i would say as a native english speaker.
- 25
- 3
- 228
It is difficult to translate from Spanish into the varieties of spoken English. In the parts of the U.S. where I have lived, I would naturally say: "On weekends, I work little," or "On weekends, I do little work." But, that could be different in other parts of the English-speaking world, even in the U.S. Reported, in hopes Duo will accept more possibilities.
- 11
- 7
Why is 'On weekend I work little' not correct while 'On the weekend I work little.' correct???
- 15
- 133
unfortunately, there's no rule for this that I know, but it is true that "on weekend" is not what we say in English--and, in this case it actually is a direct translation because the Spanish version includes "el" But, you are right, it is confusing, because we do say "on weekends" more often than "on the weekends" (so, if the Spanish were los fines de semana,,,,,)
Agreed. The 'correct' English translation is NOT what an English person would say.
- 18
I wrote "the weekend I work little." it's a literal translation, but I guess it wasn't grammatically enough in English for DL to accept it lol
- 20
- 18
should be weekends. If want weekend singular, it would be "this" or "that" not just "the."
- 25
- 22
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 9
- 7
- 7
- 3
- 19
It shows some as alternate but marks it as incorrect as substitute for little.
- 18
- 58
I am not so concerned about singular and plural. Where do you come up with "on"?
- 25
I get creeps of the use of "little". I'm a little concerned of the little minds who have created these sentences; 'poco a poco'
I've been reading the comments in this thread. My question is, "What are you (DL learners) striving for, to learn Spanish or to complain about what is and what is not correct English. If you are trying to learn Spanish then DL's translation into English should generally be of little concern. It will 99% of the time give the correct gist of the Spanish phrase you have just heard or read. In cases where your answer should be accepted. Report it and move on. Why waste our (DL users who are trying to learn a little from the discussion comments) time with useless comments about English. The beauty of DL is repetition for retention (it's been said, "Repetition is the Mother of retention." Do yourself a favor (if you are sincerely trying to learn Spanish) Keep moving & quit wasting your own time and others with many pointless comments.
- 20
- 18
llibllens, we are constantly being told to report errors to Duo. THIS is how we report it, so why are you lecturing everyone who is just doing what we are told to do to help improve the site? If you feel it is a waste of your time to read the comments, then YOU should move on. I, personally, enjoy the comments for the main part, and I often go to the discussions to see if other people are getting the same meaning or nuance of a sentence as I am. I do not think the majority of the comments are "pointless," and even some lighthearted ones, that may be classified as such, are enjoyable to read nonetheless, just to put a smile on people's faces.
- 25
- 3
- 228
Thank you. I'm trying to keep your words in mind for translations, now. The goal: learn the Spanish phrasing, don't worry about the English (e.g., "Quieres un te?" Sorry no Spanish symbols. )
