"The waiter speaks Portuguese."
Translation:El camarero habla portugués.
29 Comments
Actually, waiter is regarded as a gender-neutral term, because we use it when we aren't sure whether we're being served by a man or a woman (and there are obvious situations where this happens).
PX, 'waiter' can be gender-neutral because in English (and Spanish under certain circumstances), the masculine form of a noun/ pronoun does double-duty, representing not only males, but also females, when the person's gender is unknown. You should know this already.
None of that has anything to do with restricting the vocabulary of English or Spanish, and that would be obvious to anyone who wasn't trolling.
Yes, it does have to do with trolling. If you read what I said closely, you'll notice that I said that camarero is gender-neutral in Spanish under specific circumstances. Your observation that it is the Spanish which matters says absolutely nothing against my last post.
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How can waiter be a gender-neutral term then? Well, that isn't so important. What's achievable here is quite simple: The expansion of a language according to the needs of the people who speak it. Obviously that isn't a gender relevant thing, it's relevancy based on current needs of expression. Makes no sense to restrict a language, it's vocabulary, to the level of one small fraction of speakers, when both English and Spanish belong to the most wide spread languages on this planet.
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We are translating from English to Spanish. In Spanish it matters, if you say camarera or camarero. That is as easy as it can get. Obviously that has nothing to do with trolling.
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Sounds absurd to speak for women like that. I'd ask first. Additionally it is an achievement of language to be able to visualize differences wherever possible.
I'm not speaking for anyone. This is not a discussion of how things should be, just of how they are. 'Waiter' can refer to a waiter of any gender and the app should reflect that.
It's worth having different words for important or relevant differences but there's no more point having a special word for a female waiter as there is for a tall waiter (waitall?) or a shy waiter (washyter?) or a black waiter (blaiter?). 'Waitress' is not an achievement, it's superfluous at best. However, we have it and it should be accepted for this answer. Because that's what this discussion is actually about.
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I disagree, outlined that above. Makes no sense to restrict language to the needs of a fraction of it's speakers for one, and it's evolving all the time according to the needs of speakers as well. More importantly we are translating from English to Spanish, where any camarera doesn't want to be called camarero, because she isn't.
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This is not an advertisement for another Spanish learning app/site, but the link I will provide has the rules for the masculine/feminine issue that seems to be prevalent here. Skip through the advertising portions of the page and just read the 8 rules.
As to whether a female can be called a waiter, not in Spanish. If you are staring at her and you definitely know the gender, then she is a waitress. If there is a room of wait staff of mixed genders, then in Spanish they are waiters.
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Allow me to break it down for you. Verbs are specific to the who and cannot be switched around for any reason. It matters not, the gender of the who.
Hablar - to speak/talk ”Yo quiero hablar español."
Hablo - I speak/talk. "Hablo inglés."
Hablas - You(familiar) speaks/talks. This you are your friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates family, and anyone else you know really well. "Hablas español muy bien."
Habla - He/She/It/You(formal) speaks/talks. This is the verb conjugation you would use for the waiter. The waiter is a he(we know this because of camarero). In regards to usted, this verb conjugation is used when addressing everyone else that you have not lumped into the you(familiar) category. I won't put this into a sentence as this lesson's sentence example already does that for me.
As to the rest of the verb conjugations of hablar, read the rest of the comments as this list has been posted several times. I suggest you read through every forum you feel you have a problem with because more than likely, your problem has already been addressed.. several times.
Is it just me, or does it sound like the lady is pronouncing the verb habla as "haubla"
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Because hablo is I speak. El camarero needs the he/she/it/you(formal) verb conjugation which is habla.
Shouldn't it be hablo instead of habla? The character in question is masculine after all.
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Verbs don't change form to match the gender of surrounding words.
"Hablo" = "yo hablo" = "I speak."
"Habla" = "él/ella/usted habla" = "he/she/you speak(s)."
"El camarero habla portugués."
"La camarera habla portugués."
"Usted habla portugués."
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Verbs do not change because of the gender of the subject. It changes because of who the subject is.
Hablar - to speak. "Yo quiero hablar español." I want to speak Spanish.
Hablo - I speak. "Yo hablo inglés." I speak English.
Hablas - You(familiar) speak. "Tú hablas español." You speak Spanish.
Habla - He/She/You(formal) speak(s). "Él habla español." He speaks Spanish. "Ella habla español." She speaks Spanish. "Usted habla español." You speak Spanish(Usted is used when speaking to bosses, police, dignitaries, important people, and strangers). You would also use habla if the subjects were el hombre(the man), la mujer(the woman), el niño(the boy).. You get the idea.
Hablan - They speak. "Ellos hablan español." They speak Spanish.
Hablamos - We speak. "Nosostros hablamos español."
Hope this helped, Sarah
No. Hablo is the first person conjugation.
Yo hablo, Tú hablas, Usted habla, (i think) Él habla, Nosotros hablamos, Ellas hablan,
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Hablo = I speak Habla = You/random singular character in question speaks Hablamos = We/they/multiple characters speak
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Hablar - to speak
Hablo - I speak(Yo hablo)
Hablas - You(familiar - friends, colleagues, classmates, family, other people you know very well) speak(Tú hablas)
Habla - She/He/You(formal - complete strangers, police, other people of importance) speak/speaks(Ella/Él/Usted habla)
Hablan - They speak(Ellos/Ellas hablan)
Hablamos - We speak(Nosotros hablamos)