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- "Ayer nosotras corrimos con u…
"Ayer nosotras corrimos con unos amigos."
Translation:Yesterday we went running with some friends.
40 Comments
1224
Um, "we went running"? I'm sorry, I can't really understand why this isn't "Yesterday we ran with some friends".
I would think that "we went running" would be translated as "nosotros fuimos a correr" (i could be wrong here)
Cuz they're all females even the person talking, even though it's actually a guy
- 495
the group of friends doesn't have to be the same gender as the "we" that went running with them.
No, you might not have noticed it was "we" girls who ran with the blokes! Ha ha!
I think this rendering by Duo is wrong.
I see a few comments in this thread about why nosotras instead of nosotros. Sazbolena even comments that this is a contradiction given the male voice used to speak the sentence.
Also, there is some discussion of nosotras v nosotros here: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/1259479/Nosotros-vs-Nosotras. Warning, that thread is a bit confusing because it seems to mix the ideas of us (nosotros) and ours (nuestros).
Some in the second duo thread point out that nosotros v nosotras is decided simply by the makeup of the group who are the 'we.' If the group is made up of some men, then use nosotros whereas if it is all women use nosotras. This is pretty clearly stated at Spanishdict.com : http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/263049/nosotros-nuestro-nuestra so I think that is both correct and simplifying.
In this exercise the voice is a mans and Duo seems to require nosotras (I used nosotros and got it wrong). I can see a case for assuming 1 of 2 possibilities here. 1 - the male voice reading the exercise is reporting on a group he was not part of and therefore it is not known from the sentence whether the group is part male or all female makeup, in which case, I think either nosotros or nosotras should be accepted. 2 - the male voice is reporting on a group which he was part of in which case nosotros is required. I don't see any reason intrinsic to the sentence that leads to the conclusion that only nosotras can be used. Anyone know what am I missing here?
If I'm correct, I can't believe Duo has this wrong and that they have let this thread go unanswered for so long. It's such a basic thing. I really like Duo (I'm one of the relatively few who pay for it), but this kind of thing (assuming I'm right) is really sloppy if you ask me.
I should have added that my understanding depends on me not being able to clearly here nosotras in the audio. I'm not sure if that's my computer or my ear, probably both, but I really can't hear the difference. And this isn't the only exercise I have that problem.
Try to get yourself out of the habit of thinking that the gender of the voices has anything to do with the gender of the sentence. Don't think of the audios as being spoken in the speaker's own voice. Instead, think of it as the speaker reading a phrase detached from themselves, just as if you (presumably a male based on your name) had read the sentence out loud.
This sentence is written from the perspective of a group of females. We know it's a group of females because of the pronoun choice, and that remains the case whether it's read by a male or female voice. It's somewhat random whether a given sentence is read by the male or female voices, so it will free you from some confusing moments if you recognize that there is no relation on Duolingo between the gender of the voice and the gender of the sentences being read.
I am amazed that at level 25 you've yet to encounter the male voice using "nosotras" and (although you don't mention it) "ellas." You can choose to explain this anyway you wish (as EseEmeErre has) but it is irrelevant.
The purpose of many of these exercises is to train our ears to listen to spoken word as it will be the predominant portal to Spanish for most of us. Think of it as another opportunity to practice differentiating words such as "corremos" and "corrimos."
Not the first time I have had the problem differentiating between genders of words for sure. I used to sort of assume (when I wrote this original post) that the duo spoken exercises were intended to be representative of an actual dialogue w/ a Spanish speaker as opposed to a narrator reading a script. Bad assumption for sure and I've corrected my understanding going forward.
It is what it is and for me it's an annoyance. The only context is the voice. I'd have to remove myself from everything to hear such nuance. So then I'd practice a lot less.
I don't have an environment of perfect silence, but, it's quiet enough to hear nearly everything else just fine.
In conversation there would be context here there is not and it throws some of us off. (I guess it shouldn't. I've translated cows washing dresses so it all works out in the end. But it still annoys me since I have to repeat a perfectly simple sentence I know just fine already. It's a dumb waste of my time and THAT makes it annoying.
I think Duo is purposely throwing gender issues into the bag here. Quite right that it makes you listen more carefully but be aware also that you can only try to guess the gender of a voice... I know many deep, gruff voiced women and squeaky, high-pitched men. Even if you see an image you can't be certain of a persons gender. The problem in a language that even allocates gender to inanimate objects is that this can cause many hinderances to renaining inoffensive. So..... please be "simpatico" and just accept Duo's big, bearded, ballet dancer!
There is nothing indicating "went" in this sentence. Is this correct spanish?
si estuvieron unos chicos con ellos, creo que "nosotras" es incorrecto. Que es la regla para usar nosotros y nosotras por el caso mixto de todas formas?
Why not nosotros? I cant see anything to indicate that "we" is feminine.
- 1092
Jenny, if you are translating from Spanish to English, Duo indicates he is talking about all females when he uses nosotras.
If you are translating from English to Spanish, you are correct, though. Then, Duo should accept either nosotras or nosotros.
If it is a female speaking about an all female group then why is it not, unas amigas?
- 1092
a, we don't know that the group of friends is all female, only that "we" are all females. In fact, because Duo uses unos amigos, we can assume that the friends are either of mixed genders or all male.
- 481
From English "yesterday we went running" to Spanish "ayer fuimos corriendo" or "ayer fuimos a correr".
From Spanish : "ayer corrimos" to English "yesterday we ran"
There is no "went" in Duo's Spanish statement. Despite the fact that "went running" and "ran" are both reasonable statements on their own, Duo should stick to translating the words used and stop making things up.
