"Ellos tocan la guitarra en el concierto."
Translation:They are playing the guitar at the concert.
23 Comments
a better translation would be "they play the guitar at the concert" tocan is present indicative not present progressive
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I disagree.
The English present progressive is a standard translation of the Spanish simple present (indicative); and it is better here.
I noticed this too, this could also be an answer to "what instrument do they play at the concert?" I'm not sure I completely understand the rational behind some of the translations here and I'm also a beginner so it's even more confusing at times :/
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You dont have to invent scenarios! The basic Spanish present tense can be translated as they play, they are playing, or they do play (the last typically used to form a question or a negative, do they play?). It is correct the auxiliary verbs used in the English progressve tenses do not appear in the Spanish. Tbe nuances of meaning in English are lost. cf amigo/amiga or tu/usted the other way round.
I agree. It would be "Ellos estan tocando," which is the present progressive. "They play" is simple present tense- "ellos tocan."
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Spanish would only use the progressive tense if the concert is currently happening and they were playing the guitar right at the moment of speech. Spanish needs the action to be in progress at the time of speaking to use the present progressive, unlike English.
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I've noticed a few of the phrases in Spanish are lacking the use of auxiliary verbs. The Spanish translations don't seem to match the syntax in English.
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!Good observation! This is because Spanish doesn't use helper verbs (auxiliary verbs) the same as English.
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DL doesn’t seem to have a handle on the different use of the definite article in Spanish and in English. The Spanish usually use the d.a., in English it is often omitted although this has to be done with care as it can change the meaning. In this particular case the d.a. has to be omitted otherwise the meaning is plain silly.
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I think you have oversimplified the use of the definite article.
I do find that DL is much better at using the Spanish definite article than I am.
As a native English speaker I would always say "they are playing the guitar at the concert" . This is assuming we are referring to some specific people ( the "they"). I would not make guitars plural as that implies that they are each playing more than one guitar! I also agree that it would be "in" a concert, in preference to "at".
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I agree! If they are part of the concert, they play in it. If they play at the concert, that implies to me that they are busking in the queue or the foyer.
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Tocar la guitarra Can refer to either a specific guitar, or guitar in general, basically this sentence says IMO that they are guitar players.
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They're each playing one guitar apiece; that's why the singular is used in this case.
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At the concert suggests that - they are not part of the official concert. On or in is better
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Unless this is a line for a comic strip, 'plural people playing one guitar' it should be: They are playing guitars in the concert.
'The' is used when it refers to something specific, the second mention of something or something all know about in nature etc.
1- I'm hungry. Let's go to the new restaurant downtown. {specific} 2- I just saw a girl run across the road. See, the girl over there. {second mention} 3- The sun is already up. Let's get out of bed!! The temperature is supposed to be great today. {common words}
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As a former musician in a band/orchestra, I would say "I am playing the guitar" or "am playing guitar" (or even "I play....:)-- Both are OK.
However, in addition I would say "IN the concert", not "At the concert."
An audience person might sneak an instrument into the concert and play it, or they might play it outside AT the concert (as some kind of protest?); but band/orchestra members play "IN" concerts, not "AT" concerts.
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First off: have you forgotten about this wonderful cover by Walk off the Earth?
Second, the definite article is not only used when you're talking about one specific object. In rare cases it's also used for concepts - just like Spanish does it. "Can you feel the love?" does not refer to a specific love, "in the morning" mostly doesn't talk about a specific morning, but is more general. The same accounts for "playing the [instrument]": it doesn't say that you are currently playing this one specific instrument, but that you - more generally - know how to play that type of instrument.
