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- "Sir, do you have two books?"
"Sir, do you have two books?"
Translation:Señor, ¿tiene usted dos libros?
62 Comments This discussion is locked.
I also wrote "usted tiene" like John865911, but it was marked wrong. I see some explanations that it is "tiene usted...", because it is a question, but it would seem that the tone of voice would suffice as well, using "usted tiene" If a question with a pronoun subject isn't written, you could not tell it was a question except for intonation.
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Or rather, pronouns are attached to the verb. In normal order they come immediately before the verb, but in switched order, like when used for a question, they come immediately after the verb.
In Hagar's example, "dos libros" has been inserted between the verb and the pronoun, thus it's not a correctly formulated question in Spanish.
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Spanish and English both are languages that use articles: - I met a man and I asked the man: "Man, where do you live?" - Conocí a un hombre y yo pregunte el hombre: "Hombre, ¿dónde vives?"
- "a man" / "un hombre" uses an indefinite article "a" / "un", to indicate that we're not talking about something specific.
- "the man" / "el hombre" uses a definite article "the" / "el", to indicate that we know whom we are talking about. (It's the man I mentioned before.)
- "Man" / "Hombre" is a form of address, where we no longer talk about someone, but rather we talk to him.
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Poseer is something like English possess.
It's no surprise that the alternatives will sometimes give words we didn't learn, as the alternatives are contributed by students, who report that their alternative should be accepted as well. Thus, they tend to include words we haven't (yet) learned but which would indeed be acceptable in the language.
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Because "tienes" is for you informal. Here, Duolingo addresses someone as "Sir", which it does to indicate this is not someone you are familiar with. Hence, you need the verb form for you formal: Tiene.
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"?tienes" is "do you (that I know personally) have ..."; "?tiene" is "do you (who are a stranger to me) have ...". Thus, to use "usted", which is formal, you always need "tiene".
I've been out of touch of linguistics for a while, but I'll point out that ' el señor ' is used when when sir is being talked about and is used in the middle of the sentence ( to put it simple ). And ' señor ' here is used as he is directly being talked to and the speaker sounds to be exclaimed ( ofcourse it is in the beginning of the sentence ). This isn't the exact and correct explanation, but might help you get what I'm trying to say.
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The word "usted" is similar to "you" in English. It's more formal, though. Duolingo uses "madam" or "sir" to indicate formal. Likewise, the teacher is "usted", as is the post man, etc. On the other hand, in this day and age your little sister and little brother are probably both addressed as "tú", and your older siblings as well, and the other kids in the same class, etc.
Of course, in Spanish you don't actually have to use the pronoun, but though the pronoun can be left out, the verb is always conjugated. Where you could say "Tú tienes un libro.", you can instead say "Tienes un libro.". Because "tienes" is still conjugated as it's done for "tú", it's still clear that you're addressing that person as "tú": informal. The same holds for "usted" and "tiene". You could say "Usted tiene un libro." or "Tiene un libro.", and because you're using "tiene" in both cases, it's still clear that you're addressing a stranger: formal.
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The sentence doesn't start with a leading question mark. If, after indicating whom you're addressing, you would insert "¿", then the sentence would seem fine.
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We usually say that Spanish has leading question marks at the start of the sentence. But to be more precise, it has that leading question mark at the start of the question. Thus, if your sentence starts with an address, the leading question mark only comes after that: Tú que lees esto: lo entiendes? (You who read this: do you understand?)
Then, once you know where the question starts, and recognising there's a formal address before that, "Señor", you'll recognise that the actual start of the question will need "tiene", being the formal third person singular.
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I had "senor tienes usted dos libros" and was wrong. I thought that tienes was used when talking to the person? Can someone help explain this to me?
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It should not be an accepted answer for lacking the question marks. It's a bit of a curious structure, as you are addressing "El señor", meaning you're talking about him, rather than addressing him. But even then, at the point where you stop addressing and start the actual question, you need the leading question mark (and at the end the trailing one). El señor, ¿usted tiene dos libros?
It's "tienes" when you're on a first-name basis with someone and call them "tú".
It's "tiene" when you're not on a first-name basis with someone and call them "usted".
Since we're addressing this person as "Sir/Señor", we're not on a first-name basis with him. Therefore he's "usted" and we need "tiene".
It's a matter of whether you're addressing him directly (talking to him) vs talking about him.
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/27556014?comment_id=42700705