70 Comments
712
What is used to ask a question when there are an unknown number or infinite possibilities for an answer. Which is used when you have a very small or limited field to choose from.
Huh. I've never thought about it that way, but that seems to be pretty true. "Which" is like "select" and "what" is like "supply". I'll have to steal that from you. Thanks!
i wonder if this will work every time, but i like your "which test" a lot - going to try using it
Not quite. The number can be quite large, the definition is a selection from a definite set, such as the number of countries that exist (see Oxford dictionary) so in this case the correct word is which.
- 1095
But the set of countries that exist is not a definite set.
I included a link. While the article linked argues for a particular number, it does explain why the set of countries is not a definite set.
https://www.thoughtco.com/number-of-countries-in-the-world-1433445
So we are back to "what" again.
I think that MichaelBell0 makes a very good point. Even if you think that his example is flawed (and I'm not sure that it is, as it is possible that a set exists that consists of a definite number while that number is disputed, or just not known) ... even if his example is flawed, that does not mean that 'which' cannot be used for large or very large numbers. Do you have a favorite star? Which one is it? What stars can you name? Which stars can you name? Chocolate or vanilla ... which do you want? What do you want, chocolate or vanilla? I don't see a good rule to apply here. I hope this has cleared things up a bit. :-[
now hold the phone, there is a generally known number of countries. some may be disputed but i think id be cual in this case. or maybe both work idk
- 367
If the word following the question word is a noun, you should always use qué. "¿Cuál [nombre]...?" is often used as well, but it's not actually correct. (Also, for a plural noun, it would need to be cuáles here.)
'With what countries are you familiar?' marked wrong. This should be correct, as it is actually a better grammatical translation.
Correct, yes. Did you report it? That's how they change things.
Better, no. If it's about ending sentences with prepositions, there has never been a time in English history where grammarians agreed on that prohibition, nor has there been a time when most native speakers avoided the construction.
Generally, English speakers try to front their interrogative pronouns, so one could even argue that the translation DL uses is better.
Regardless, both are perfectly correct.
- 257
We all know the joke right? A friendly Texan asks a snooty woman, "Where y'all from?" The snooty woman tells her she should never end a sentence with a preposition. The Texan replies, "Alright, where y'all from, b****?"
Not really because all Texans know how to get along! For reading English sentences, it flows better without ending in prepositions. However good novelists to make there writing more believable or provincial end sentences with prepositions as needed. Other novelists wouldn't know the difference.
Agreed. In my report, I included that few people speak correctly, but that doesn't mean that the grammatically correct answer should be marked wrong.
- 245
I reported it since it's not yet accepted - I also thought to avoid the dangling despite the obvious capitalization hint
Conocer when used in places or countries would mean that you actually been there and not just know the facts and information on that place. I think duo is telling us that if we use "know" on this context, we are actually saying the verb Saber.
"With what countries are you familiar?" is grammatically correct. Why isn't it accepted?
- 1143
Why do you need the accent in países? It's the penultimate syllable in a word that ends in S, which usually means no accent. Does it have to do with discriminating between the A and the I? I don't understand.
- 367
The vowel combination "ai" is a diphthong in Spanish, so without an accent it would be treated as one syllable - rhyming with the English "rice". By putting the accent on the 'i', you split that diphthong, making it the proper two-syllable word "pa-ís".
I got this marked wrong on 1/8/19, also. What is the difference between acquainted and familiar?
- 367
"Being acquainted" means "to know someone slightly" and can only be used with people.
Not in this case, when used as interrogative adjectives qué and cuál have exactly the same meaning, but qué sounds more natural.
Like I said, qué is the preferred word in those situations for most Spanish speakers, but cuál is not considered wrong any more.
- 367
Yeah, that sounds a lot like "What countries have you heard of?", which is not what the Spanish sentence is expressing. "Conocer un país" means mostly that you've been to that country.
@RyagonIV I'm a bit confused... if I say "conozco", it means I have been there (país), but what about a person... ej. Conozco a Denzel Washington, means I met him or just I know he's an actor or I read about him or other...
- 367
Regarding a person, conocer can be used more broadly. You can say "Conozco a Denzel Washington" if you know who he is, you don't have to have met him.
However, if you want to mention facts about him, like that he's an actor, you need to use saber: "Sé que Denzel Washington es actor."
- 1090
"¿ Qué países conoces ?" : What country do you know ?
"¿ Con qué países estás familiarizado ?" : What countries are you familar with ? "
I tried "with what countriea are you familiar?" That shouls also be correct.
- 367
- country's - belonging to a single country
- countries - talking about more than one country
If an English noun ends with a 'y' that's used as a vowel, in the plural form it'll become 'ie' instead: baby - babies, lady - ladies, husky - huskies, and so on.
- 414
For the non-English speakers, the formal rule is, "Never use a preposition to end a sentence with." (See what I did there?!) The proper (although rather stited English translation should be, " With what countries are you familiar?"
- 367
It's not a rule that developed natively and it never really caught on. Avoiding prespositions at the end of a sentence is not any more formal than not doing it.
Your help guide also says what country are you familiar with either answer should be correct
- 367
That is not a proper way to form a question in English. Like in Spanish, the conjugated verb (in this case "are") has to directly follow the question phrase ("what countries"). The subject "you" then follows after the verb.
Why has this been marked wrong "what counties do you know" is the same as "what counties are you familiar with"
- 367
I would be okay with that translation, but you have to note that the English "to know" is somewhat different from conocer.
- I know this country. - I have heard its name and know some facts about it.
- Conozco este país. - I have been there.
- 257
Counties are groups of cities. Countries are nations. One little letter changes the meaning.
Shouldn't this be cual considering the verb conoces isn't directly after the question word?
- 367
You might have misremembered a rule there.
Here you have the question word directly followed by a noun. In this case you'll use the question word qué, at least in formal Spanish. Informally, "¿Cuál [nombre] ...?" is also used in parts of Latin America.
- 88
what's wrong with "What countries you know?" Even if I'd rather ask what coutries you visited...
