"Do you want cheese on your fish?"
Translation:¿Quieres queso en tu pescado?
140 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
My first thought as well, but parmesan tilapia is AMAZINGGG.
Thats not a fillet of fish. Nor do i even think its fish product.
WHY ISN'T IT EL QUESO. I THOUGHT YOU HAD TO USE "THE " BEFORE ALL NOUNS
Sobre is less common, at least in spoken Spanish (it might sound a little formal), so we tend to use en more, but both are correct.
That applies In the subject, from what I've discovered. In the rest of the sentence it seems it applies as the English dictates, UNLESS you are speaking of school or work, then the article is always present. If you're speaking of a job title anywhere, the article is omitted.
This is what it seems to be for me. The application of "general" in describing when to add an article was extremely misleading and incomplete imho.
Disclaimer: i am natively an American English speaker and am a beginner learner in Spanish.
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The "general" rule does work, but many of us English speakers trying to apply that rule fail to accurately distinguish between "general" (in the sense of "genérico") and vague, indeterminate or non-specific references. In English, both of those (generic vs. indeterminate) references omit the definite article. English only uses a definite article to identify specific references.
Here, the reference to "cheese" isn't speaking of any particular cheese and it isn't speaking of cheese in a generic sense. The way it's being used here is like saying "some cheese." In that case, you wouldn't use a definite article in Spanish or English. Whenever you can replace a bare noun with "some" + noun or "any" + noun and not change the meaning of the sentence, you don't include a definite article in Spanish. In that usage, Spanish and English are identical.
Another problem area relates to places like school or work. Most of the time, one is speaking of a specific place and that generally calls for a definite article. What makes it tricky are certain set expressions that change this "rule." For example, "I'm working from home today" = "trabajo en casa hoy." This makes a specific reference, but there's no definite article. That's because "a casa," "en casa," etc. are set adverbial phrases. They are used to describe how one is working (or, more accurately, where). While you definitely can insert the definite article, the adverbial effectively makes the place a non-specific reference. This is similar to how you can translate "school teacher" as either "maestro de escuela" or "maestro de la escuella." Adding the definite article changes the meaning. Without the article, we're differentiating the school teacher from another kind of teacher, such as a piano teacher. With the article, we're differentiating between the teacher at a particular school and those who teach at other schools.
Your first two paragraphs are very interesting to me. I had long suspected that there was, in fact, a clear explanation out there somewhere, and that our ability to grasp it was somehow inhibited by our understanding of article use in English.
I think I still have a ways to go before I develop a solid feel for article use in Spanish, but this certainly elucidates it for me.
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I'm in the same boat as you. Fortunately, I have a lot more free time on my hands now (shut up Covid-19!), so I'm getting better at it.
I do want to point out, with regard to occupations, that the article is used if you add qualifiers or adjectives to the occupation. "She is a doctor" doesn't require an article, but "She is a good doctor" or "He is a funny cashier" would require one. I would say "Spanish is weird" but as a fellow native English speaker, I know I have no room to talk on that subject.
quieres should be accepted. if you are asking a friend you would not use the formal quiere
Did you add an "usted" to make the sentence formal, as if you were the wait staff asking a customer? If so, it should be accepted. [ Quiere usted queso en su pescado.]
If not it should be: (Tu) Quieres queso en tu pescado?
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I never before heard that the "usted" is required. I assumed the waiter was asking the customer so he would use the informal "quieres" but I did not include "usted" and got it wrong.
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It isn't required. Anything that translates "you want" correctly should be accepted, with or without the pronoun. However, you absolutely must match whatever form you select for "you" with the appropriate form of "your." For example, "tiene" with "tu pescado" is definitely wrong.
Yes! When i used usted quiere with 'tu' i got it wrong' but when i used 'usted quiere' with 'su' it was accepted.
With either form of querer, be sure you match that form with tu(second person) o su (third person). Quiere/su Quieres/tu
I used su instead of tu and was marked incorrect. The drop-down indicates su=your. ??
Please read the thread. That question has been answered many times.
You mixed pronouns...usted and tu shouldn't be used in the same sentence. "Quieres queso en tu pescado" or "quiere usted queso en su pescado"
Except I put "¿quiere usted queso en su pescado?" and it was rejected in favor of impersonal queres...tu. IMO, the formal is better here since the waiter doesn't know the person and should speak politely and professionally = usted. I'm disappointed that DL didn't allow the formal from the start with this sentence.
Best to report it and let them consider that quiere usted...su is correct. Sometimes Duo adds points to your score after they consider a report has a valid point of view.
I'm sort of confused on when I am to use to or su when translating the word your in a scentence. Is there anything that prevents the use of su in this scentence? Please let me knew if there is
The trick is to make sure the whole sentence is either formal (usted-quiere-su) or familiar (tu-quieres-tu).
- ¿
Quieres(tu) queso entupescado? - ¿
Quiere(usted) queso ensupescado?
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No especially good reason. I think sobre would be closer to saying "over" in English, but it certainly fits the use of "on" here.
Huh "You used the tú form "quieres" instead of the command form "quiere". ¿Quiere queso sobre su pescado?"
ummmm quiere would be the usted form, not the command form, if it was a command you wouldn't use ¿?
quiere is not the command form. it is an interrogative verb so the tu form should be accepted
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Almost. "pesado " is the past participle of "pesar" = "to weigh." It has several meanings when used as an adjective, especially "heavy."
Use "pasado " to say "past."
Su is formal so would work with usted, but this verb is informal (2nd person), so tu.
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As you might guess, that would change the "on" to "with." So, it would convey a similar idea, but using "sobre" or "en" seems a little more descriptive to me.
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It's a matter of inconsistency. Don't pair "usted" with "tu." Use either "quiere...su" or "quieres...tu."
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Grrr. Since it counted "quiere" wrong before, I added "usted" as someone suggested. It was still wrong. Duolingo is determined that this should be informal. If that waiter calls me "Sweetie", I'm going to hit him. Waiters should not be informal with me!
When do we use el queso and when do we use juat queso. So f-ing confusing
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See my comment below. I think Duolingo was correct to mark me wrong because I just realised "quiere usted" and "quieren ustedes" were marked wrong because I should have used "su pescado" instead of "tu pescado".
I thought it sounded like a waiter asking so I used "quiere usted" and it was wrong.
edited answer: the word tu means your, so you would have to use it or you would be asking "Do you want cheese on fish?" In this case tu pescato makes more sense.
why should we say"tu queso"??? The question has not said " your cheese"!!!!!!!
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Quieren is plural "you" formal, but tu is singular informal. You can't mix them. Plural "you" uses the ustedes form. So I believe it would be "quieren ustedes queso en sus pescado" to be accurate. Singural formal would be "quiere usted queso en su pescado?"
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The possessive pronoun matches the number of the possessed noun. Thus, it is "su pescado" and "sus pescados," for both "usted" and "ustedes."
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Yes, but you shouldn't combine "quieren" with "tu." They're not compatible. Instead, use "quieres ... tu" or "quiere(n) ... su."
How do we know if she is a waitress (patron is then "usted") or a mother, friend.....
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"Tus" cannot modify "pescado", because "tus" is plural and "pescado" is singular. The phrases "tu pescado" and "tus pescados" would both be valid grammatical phrases.
Did not accept "sobre" in July, 2020. So, is it correct or incorrect, and why?
See the discussion of this question above started by breezy883252. Sobre means 'on top of' or 'over.' Here's a link: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/14277333 I think sobre could work, but I'm not a native speaker. Since above a person said sobre was accepted, you might have a different error.
Why when you said" Do you want to pay ?" Usteddes quieren pagar?...BUT I cannot say Usteddes quieren queso en tu pescado?
Your possessive pronoun has to agree with the pronoun you choose. "Ustedes" requires "su." "Tu" is incorrect because it can only be used with "tú."
Also note that "Ustedes" only has one d.
Should really be " quiere usted " since the waitress/waiter (as you are in a restaurant) is most likely to be a stranger to you?!
I put "quiere usted queso en tu pescado" and was marked as incorrect. Very confused as Duo tends to allow multiple options usually. reported on 14/11/20
There are multiple ways to translate this sentence... but they still must be done correctly. You can't use "quiere" (the él/ella/usted form) and tu (the tú form) to refer to the same person in a single sentence. Your sentence translates as though you're addressing two different people, asking one person if they want cheese on another person's fish.
I should think so. It's certainly a situation in which you would address someone as "sir," which should be an indication that formality is in play.
I had pez instead of pescado and got it wrong. Earlier Duo asked for the translation of "the fish" and I correctly put "el pez." Comments?
"Pez" is the term used for a fish that is still swimming. "Pescado" is fish that is served on a plate. I imagine that if you tried to put cheese on a pez, or asked someone else if they wanted cheese on a pez, you would get confused looks from those around you, including the fish.
"Pez" is the term used for a fish that is still swimming. "Pescado" is fish that is served on a plate. I imagine that if you tried to put cheese on a pez, or asked someone else if they wanted cheese on a pez, you would get confused looks from those around you, including the fish.
You can't use "quieres" (the tú form) and su (the usted form) to refer to the same person in a single sentence. Your sentence translates as though you're asking one person if they want cheese on another person's fish.
It would look exactly the same as the above sentence, but with "quiere" in place of "quieres" and "su" in place of "tu."
Why is the use of "usted quiere" not accepted? As, for example, the person asking the question could be a waitress speaking to a customer they do no know.
Did you make sure that there were no other errors in your sentence, and that you also used "su" instead of "tu" as your possessive pronoun?
I used usted quiere, thinking it was a formal question from wait staff to a customer but it was rejected
"¿Usted quiere queso en su pescado?" should be an accepted answer. It's likely that your response was rejected for a different reason.
What is wrong with ¿Queréis queso en su pescado? Duolingo insists on marking me wrong and gives me ¿Quieres queso en tu pescado? I don't understand where I am going wrong.
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If you use the vosotros form, "queréis," then use "vuestro" rather than "su." Duo doesn't really use that form (though it should allow it when used correctly), because Duo favors Latin American Spanish, where it is rarely seen. I assume their correction tried to pick something reasonably close to what you tried.
Thank you for that. I'm trying to learn Spanish from Spain - because that's where I want to travel. Duolingo does NOT make that easy!
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Why are they using "en" for on instead of the previously taught "sobre"?
Quieres queso sobre tu perscado????
I put, "quiere usted queso en tu pescado" and was marked wrong. Why? Surely if it is a waiter asking the question it would be formal?
It's not the formality which is being marked incorrect. If you're using the formal "usted," you also have to use the formal "su," not the informal "tu." Mixing them makes it seem like you're addressing a different person at the end of the sentence than you are at the beginning (asking one person if they want cheese on another person's fish).
Can some Spanish speakers here enlighten me as to why QUIERES EL QUESO EN TU PESCADO is not accepted?
I am confused af when to use the articles!
@EugeneTiffany, another (very helpful) Duo user, introduced me to the term "naked nouns" in a different comment thread. The seemingly superfluous articles are required with the subject of the sentence, and only when it would otherwise be "naked" at the beginning of the sentence. "Cheese" is neither the subject of the sentence nor the first word of the sentence here, hence no article.
"Tus" is only used with plural objects. "Pescado" is singular.
IF the fish could be coerced into actually EATING the cheese first, it would make the translation (and the cooking) a lot easier !!
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I used "quiere usted" and it was marked wrong. I also used "quieren ustedes" and that was also marked wrong. I think both should have been accepted.
I put "Quiere queso en tu pescado"without adding "usted" (because I'm assuming the server is talking to an adult so wouldn't use the familiar form) like I did with other sentences that began Do you want, do you have, etc, and Duo was ok with it. But I was marked wrong for putting doing it in this sentence and Duo said it should be "Quieres".
I just figured it out. I used "tu pescado" which is familiar instead of "su pescado" which is formal. I went back and did the lesson again and put "Quiere usted queso en su pescado" and it was correct.
if he was a waiter would quire usted be acceptable especially if the customer was not known
Your verb must match your pronoun. This issue has been addressed by many other comments on this page already.
This has been asked and answered many, many times in this comment thread already. "Quiere" is accepted when used with its corresponding pronoun "su."
From what I understand, either is acceptable, but in interrogative sentences, it's more common to start with the verb and follow it with the pronoun. (Perhaps there is someone here who can corroborate or correct this.)
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If a customer should use formal speech to the waiter, why shouldn't the waiter also use formal speech? A separate question preferred the customer address the waiter formally.
Yes, s/he probably would, but this sentence has no context, so formal or informal, singular or plural are all accepted. This could be a restaurant serving parmesan-crusted tilapia on a bed of wild rice, or it could be a father ordering his son a filet-o-fish sandwich at a McDonalds drive-through.