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- "Yo quiero comprar una camisa…
94 Comments
That is sad. Families are sometimes so busy with just getting by that they don't pass on the extra languages, so the parents can speak two languages but the children can't. In my family four generations back Scottish Gaelic was allowed to die out. It's great you're learning Spanish and I'm sure your grandmother appreciates it.
I could be wrong easily enough but I believe the sentence would be "soy/estoy comprando una camisa". I forget which "I am" to use (I think it would be "estoy", not sure) but it will be needed just as in English, and the conjugation of Spanish infinitive "-ar" verbs to "-ando" is generally equivalent to the English conjugation of the infinitive into "-ing".
Yep! In fact, "comprar" is the base infinitive form of the verb meaning to "to buy". In Spanish, when you have two verbs next to each other, while the first is given one of the five or six simple-tense conjugations in agreement with the subject, the second verb must be in the base infinitive form. There's actually a similar rule in English: You don't say "I want I buy a shirt" after all, you say "I want TO buy a shirt".
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It says that "comprar" means "buy" or "get," which are very different. How would I know if comprar is used as "buy" or "get?"
yes, it is... you can say
yo voy a comprar...
yo tengo que comprar... but...
yo quiero comprar...
It's only ever "quiero comprar". The rule in Spanish is that if you have two verbs placed together in a row, you need to conjugate the first one and leave the second one in its infinitive form. "Querer" here, meaning "to want", conjugates to "Yo quiero" meaning "I want", but "Comprar", "to buy", stays the same.
The rule is pretty much the same as in English. After all, you don't say "I want I buy a shirt.", you say "I want TO buy a shirt."
Both words don't mean the same.
Camisa -> Shirt - Camiseta -> T-shirt.
I don't think so. I think the recorded speakers may have differing accents. I've been troubled by how "yo" is being pronounced on the recordings, at least at times, the "y" sounding like the "j" in the English name John. I thought it was always the "y" in "young". Anyway, I think we can leave out the subject pronouns in Spanish because the verb endings supply the information. I'm going to avoid "yo" unless I find out for certain how it's pronounced. Can anyone please help?
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the Spanish “y” has two common sounds. Depending upon the region, the “y” might sound like the English “y” in the word “yes” or the “j” in the English word “joy.”
Ref: https://studyspanish.com/pronunciation/listen-and-repeat/letter_y
I can hear now, i changed my ear phones, they were the problem. Duolingo is realy 2 languages for me because I am french and have to think in english so I learn 2 languages at the same time. I'm not bad in english but I have to think. It's a lot of fun. Lots of words are close to french and that helps.
These Rs you don't need to roll, only lilt them (have your toungue almost flap against your pallete like your about to pronounce the letter L).
Spanish has two types of Rs, the rolling ones and the lilted ones. If the letter appears at the start of the word (like in "rojo") or if its a double R (like in "perro"), you roll it. Otherwise it should be lilted.
https://studyspanish.com/pronunciation/listen-and-repeat/letter_r https://studyspanish.com/pronunciation/listen-and-repeat/letter_rr
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You appear to use new words which have not been introduced before! How am I supposed to know their meaning? Or Do I just have to make a lucky guess?
the task was to write down what you hear. I didn't read the task so I translated the text. when this happens on my phone the application warns me and gives me another try to correct this mistake made out of inobservance, but when it happened now on my computer it just told me my answer was incorrect. it really isn't a big deal it's just that it bugs me a little knowing the answer and not having a chance to write it down, I know it is my fault not reading the task, but it was these things I loved about Duolingo in the first place, for example it accepts your answer if you have a typo and also since I don't have a keyboard with accents it's great that you don't have to write them down in order to have your answer accepted. overall i love this app, and am grateful for having the chance to learn for free. peace <3