62 Comments
I answered " Do the women speak English or Spanish?" I got it wrong! DL suggested that I use "ladies" instead of "women". Seriously?
As stated in above comments, the usage of ladies over women is a tad antiquated for most of us English speakers. I agree that should be changed.
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You may find the use of Ladies in English antiquated - I guess that depends on which part of the world you are from - but in Spanish the formal way of talking about women is "las señoras" and the translation should reflect the formal register. That's all. Don't expect the Spanish speakers to change their language because you find it antiquated.
Weird, when I wrote "do the girls speak English or Spanish" DuoLingo told me I was wrong and advised: " Do the gals speak English or Spanish?"
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"Girls" is "niñas" in Spanish. I suppose "gals" has been provided as slang for ladies.
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According to word reference: a gal is a girl Una Señor/a ( Sr./ Sra.) is a Mrs. Señora: Lady , Madame, Ma'am,...
Señora ( Polite): Older woman, or married woman) Madam...
Señorita( Younger woman) Miss.
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Yes, normally gals means girls but when women go out for a night together they often call it "a night with the girls (gals)". Perhaps it's been reported and accepted...
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Just because some people use words in their own way that doesn't make it true English.
A girl is a girl is a girl.
A child.
Fundamental reality.
A man calling a woman, "baby" does make baby mean in English anything but a baby. An infant.
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Señoras are not girls! It's a term of respect for married or older women.
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I said "do the ladies talk in english or spanish?", but got it wrong... what is the difference between talk and speak?
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The differences are subtle but real. When it is about languages, we use 'speak'. IMO your translation is reasonable but has a slightly different meaning. Check out https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/speak-or-talk
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The previous reply is a good one. But also, you added an extra word "in" that is not needed.
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'Ladies' is used in the UK but is really becoming seen as a bit quaint. Most of the time people would say 'women'
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Reported this and got feedback today that 'women' will be accepted as well as 'ladies'
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On August 21, I got a Feedback email saying that “women” is now accepted. That day, it was marked wrong in an exercise. The next day it was accepted. Crazy...
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So I wrote "are the ladies speaking english or spanish?" Why is that wrong?
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How do you know it is not "Are the women speaking English or Spanish" instead of "Do the women...."
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The comments on this and some other topics show some basic flaws in this approach: (1) This is not an English course. Yet the user interface is in English. (2) This is not a translation course. But for most questions the students are asked to translate an English text into Spanish or re-write Spanish sentences in English. The problems are obvious. I don't know what percentage of the people using this course are fluent in English. Shortcomings on that side may make it difficult to accomplish the task. Translating a text means that you first need to understand the meaning. Then you put that meaning into the target language, preserving the style and level of formality or informality. That may mean that the structure of the original sentence changes.
But that is not how duolingo works. You are expected to translate the original text almost word for word. I have noticed that even moving the word "sometimes" (a veces) from the end to the middle of a sentence upsets the system. So, now I stick to word for word translation. I have also learned to use American terms instead of British English. I also pay attention to what preposition I am expected to use. I'm learning how to please the system - and I may even learn some Spanish in the process.
So, unless you know of a better free course, keep your head down and do as the Big Brother says.
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In the drop down and was an option. Speak English and Spanish was a MUCH BETTER CHOICE than speak English or Spanish. Geez Duo.
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Howver, the sentence says "o" (or) not "y" (and). The dropdowns can be --- and often are --- misleading. They are computer generated and don't always suit the context.
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This could be a polite way (somewhat servile) of saying "do you...".
Is there any real difference: the ladies, do they speak English or Spanish and the translation above?
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i put do the ladies speak spanish or english and it was marked wrong. said correct translation is do the ladies speak english or spanish. i reported it
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the order does not change the meaning. so i don't understand why it was marked wrong
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LOL. I think it would be easier to answer in the correct order than to argue about it.
Or maybe try to change the world and say "Gentlemen and Ladies...", "bolts and nuts", and "Eve and Adam".
:)
Do the women speak English or Spanish? Seriously! I got this wrong! Burn the Word to Hell!
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Mujeres!
We learned the word mujeres translates to women and vice versa long ago.
If Duolingo had wanted you to use the word women it would have shown you the word mujeres.
A consistent problem with Duolingo. Questions are not asked as questions (go back an listen to the audio). This sentence is "The ladies speak English or Spanish." The problem is amplified because there is no consistency to subject-verb placement in Spanish. Ugh. [and while we're at it, I read this as "Ladies speak English or Spanish" and not "THE ladies"]
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Am i missing something? Do the women speak English or Spanish? Was marked as incorrect.
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I put "Are the ladies speaking English or Spanish?" And it was marked wrong. Just out of curiosity, how would you say "Are the ladies speaking English or Spanish?" In Spanish. Let me know. I feel like owl hunting tonight.
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why is the term "ladies" different from "women"? They both mean the same
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how would you make the statement (not a question) "the ladies speak English or Spanish?
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Las is definite article for Femlaes and Los is for Males, Right? Do we have for neuter?
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I would say "ladies" is patronising rather than "quaint", however it is useful to know what the most direct translation is, particularly if that informs what you might want to avoid
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Your error was saying "you" instead of "the". There's a difference in meaning, and the original sentence doesn't include any "you".
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I also put "you ladies": if this was a question being asked to the women themselves, "hablan" would be the polite form and would correspond to English "you speak" just as if you had asked "¿Ustedes hablan..?".
Is it not possible to politely address someone as "El señor" etc in this way?
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In other questions. Are speaking, they use hablan. So why was my answer wrong. (Are the women speaking English or Spanish?)
