65 Comments
Doesn't hijo mean son also? So could hijos translate to sons? If so, how do we know whether to use children or sons?
Hijos can mean either a mix of male and female children or just sons. Use hijas if it's all daughters.
So.... what if you were, say, babysitting for a Spanish mother and you were told that said Spanish mother has "tres hijos". You'd have no way of knowing if that meant she had three kids or if she had three boys... which is a very different matter, at least from this baby-sitters perspective XD
I would say person would probaly ask....in which case they would specify "dos hijos y uno hija." Or "dos niños y uno nina."
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This is why it's a problem. If the same word didn't apply to the two different scenarios, no questions would be necessary.
But it isn't a problem, in english for instance you might say "three kids" or "two boys and one girl". It mostly depends on context and whether you can infer from it, if not, you can ask for further information.
Yah but you DO know it isnt three girls or they would say "tres hijas" right? So it could be three boys, two boys and a girl, or two girls and a boy.
There is no need to know WHETHER to use sons or children her. Since they both apply we need to know them both. They are equal.
After missing on the "hijos," (I heard "hijas") I listened several times, even in slow speed. It still sounded like "hijas." A recurring problem, I think, is unclear pronunciation AND running words together.
It marked me wrong because I said sons - how are we to know whether its three sons or three children?
Yes, but hijos/hijas is sons/daughters. Your children as opposed to other peoples children.
"She has three lads." Ew, why are they accepting that as a translation.
I got this wrong because I wrote the (correct) English translation "she has three children" instead of "Ella tiene tres hijos" in this listening exercise. I think I should have been given an extra try, as I had clearly understood what I had listened to.
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Elin10..., Sorry I cannot see when you posted, because I'm on my phone app, but recently (Jan. 18, 2019) Duo told me, "You typed in English" when I was supposed to type in Spanish, and cleared the screen so I could follow directions and have another chance to get it right. I was happy to see that feature. :-)
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That's great to know! I've made this mistake so many times and always wondered when Duo would start offering second chance on it.
I would look at me3babybee's comment on Sean45367's post. It should clear it up.
The voice sample sounds like hijas, with an A, but the result says it's actually hijos, with an O. The male reading voice has given me a lot of problems like this.
Not deleting yeah they make mistakes...but i tried another site and didnt like it
She has three daughters ?= She has three sons Ella tiene tres hijas Ella tiene tres hijos could be ...three children or two boys and a daughter or other variation
I dont understand why Im getting so many wrong...It doesnt seem like Im wrong yet it says so over and over. Ella tiene tres hijos.
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Every time the microphone is needed it doesn't work. It can't hear what I'm saying. I clicked allow in settings but still doesn't work.
I just answered "I have no children" as "No tengo hijos" and it was wrong (ninos should have been used according to DuoLingo). Here "Ella tiene tres hijos." is translated as, " She has three children!" What????
if hijo =son, why is hijos=children and not sons. (It marked "3 sons" as correct)
