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- "A table for two, please."
"A table for two, please."
Translation:Una mesa para dos, por favor.
118 Comments
622
SpanishDict says:
Por is used to talk about movement, modes and means of travel and communication, exchanges, duration, and motivation, among other things.
Para is used to talk about destinations, recipients, deadlines, and goals.
If something is for someone you use para. E.g para mi, para tu, para Michael. If it's a destination you also use para. Un taxi para Madrid. When it comes to time if it's a set time it's also para. Para esta noche (for tonight). However if it's for a duration of time it's por. Por dos horas (for two hours). Por dos noches (for two nights). These are the mainly important ones to know for now i think :)
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What does getting one example wrong cost you? I'm not being sarcastic. I've seen people irate for a mistake--as if DL sends you back to Day 1. (It doesn't.) Other than not knowing it perfectly, does it cost your game/score/process in any way please? Thank you SO MUCH! I've been wondering about this for about 6 months!
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Some articles on para vs. por:
https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/por-vs-para
https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/quick-tips-for-understanding-por-and-para
https://www.thoughtco.com/taking-confusion-out-of-por-para-3078140
FULL DISCLOSURE: Native English speaker - US, Southern Appalachian dialect. Other uses of English may vary. Advice about Spanish should be taken with a grain of salt.
Relax! We are 2% ibto a one year long adventure. Take what Duo gives you. The "wrong" answers are not the end of the world. Most of the confusions will go away further into the journey. Om.
"Una" and "un" are the same as our "a" or "an" in English (as in "an apple" or "a table" or "a car", for example). But because Spanish nouns have gender (they're either feminine or masculine), "una" is used with a feminine noun and "un" with masculine (as in "una manzana" or "una mesa" or "un coche", for example). They can also be used to mean "one".
"Masa" means "mass", so it's not considered a typo, but the software thinks you confused it with another word.
https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/masa
349
Lol, there's no British spelling of the Spanish word "favor." You have to get used to spelling it without U.
It's a difficult distinction that I struggle with as well. "Para" is typically used to indicate a gift/benefit, or something of use. In this case, a table would be given/provided, for two people to use. "Por" has a few more meanings (through/via, such as a time period or transit), but typically means "on behalf of", or cause. "Hablo por ellos" - I speak on behalf of them. "La tienda está cerrada por enfermedad." - The store is closed for the reason of/due to illness.
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I used, Una mesa para dos personas por favor. And it was correct. I'm thinking the personas is redundant, since no one's pets will request a table!
On the very first question I had a table Iwrote un mesa and was told that Mesa is feminine so it was supposed to be una. How am I supposed to know Mesa is feminine???. I never get an explanation for how you're supposed to know if something is feminine or masculine it says check out the the in front of it but a table doesn't have the in front of it. And I never get an explanation for why it's not poor instead of para I don't know why we don't get grammar explanations in this this is what will keep me from studying Spanish anymore is the non info
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In general, words that end with a are feminine. And words that end with all the other vowels are masculine. There are many exceptions to this, like "la mano" and "el problema," but it's very helpful when you have to guess the gender of an unknown word. Here's a link that explains por vs para: https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/por-vs-para
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Wish I could post a picture of the answer as its the Sam as what I said... Minus one heart grrrr
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why is it a mistake if I translate it as para dos personas? That's how it was said before!