132 Comments
it sounds really wierd to say "el pantalon es armarillo" instead of "los pantalones son armarillos"
Is a single pantalón the same thing as plural? In American English it is rarely used in the singular, but they are used to mean the same thing.
From a British perspective, I would argue that "The trouser is yellow" would imply that one of the trouser legs is yellow. I could be completely wrong, but that's just what it naturally makes me think of.
Not sure why you got downvotes. That seems to make sense. In American Vernacular, we just add leg to pant to clarify.
It's the same in English, pants can be the one pair, or multiple just like Spanish. Any number of pairs can be thrown in for clarification, but this is only required in formal English.
That's very odd...pantalon here is singular...and es is used instead of son.. which means are..its deceptive for sure..and misleading
Gracias Luis, no tuve ni idea que se puede referirlos como eso. Please correct my grammar if necesary.
"El pantalón es amarillo." and "El pantalónes amarillo." sound exactly the same but the number agreement is wrong in the second one.
It is wrong because you need to use either singular form or plural form all along. So it is either "El pantalón es amarillo" or "Los pantalones son amarillos".
So just to make sure I have it right, "el pantalón" would be one pair of pants, and "los pantalones" would be multiple pairs?
@lorditchy: bennuk85's question refers to Los pantalones son amarillos (the pants are yellow), not Los pantalones amarillo (the yellow pants).
@smanion: I think that the second phrase you give is grammatically incorrect as amarillos would need to be plural to agree with the plural pants.
In english pants is a word that is always in plural, whether you refer to one or more.
And that's why this translation is difficult for dutch people. (one pants) El pantalón es amarillo : de broek is geel. (the "pants" are yellow) (more pants) Los pantalónes son amarillos: de broeken zijn geel. (the "pants" are yellow.)
My confusion comes from the translation of the verb rather than the noun. Isn't "es" a singular noun, translating to "is"? Is it common the change the plurality of a verb in translation?
Yes, that is correct. The verb 'es' is used when the subject is singular. The translation for 'the pants are yellow' is "los pantalones son amarillos". The Duolingo sentence is grammatically incorrect, and has caused a lot of confusion. The sentence should be deleted from the Duolingo lessons.
Not quite. Pants is a rare noun that does not exist in the singular. It's rare but it does happen. Maybe the word pant (as in the clothing article) once existed as a singular noun, but not anymore. The same quirk is true for billiards, measels, annals, victuals, etc. Not every plural has a corresponding singular. (Think of it this way... if pants could be singular, then the sentence "that pants is nice" would be correct)
In English we call each leg "a pant leg" so a pair of pants is both legs. I was taught to translate the pants as los pantalones, but we can think of el pantalòn as "the pair of pants" or just shortened to "the pants".
the use of "pair" in English clothing reflects the bilateral symmetry of human body: a pair of trousers, a pair of socks, a pair of eyeglasses, a pair of shoes, a pair of handcuffs, etc
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I put "The pants is yellow" and Duolingo says it's wrong and says it should be "the pant is yellow" but then I look at this comments section above and it has "The pants are yellow" what in the world am I missing here?
You can't always depend on Duolingo to be 100 % accurate. I still think it should be 'los pantalones' if someone wants to say 'the pants are yellow'.
You normally always say pantalones in espanol, just like in english, but it's not necessarily wrong to just say pant because you could just be referring to one leg.
We never say "pant" or "trouser" in English. Always plural "pants" " trousers "
The question should read;"Los pantalones son amarillos". You cannot have "a trouser", they come as a pair. 12 Apr 2018.
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You are judging it from the English way of speaking. The lesson is trying to get across what is normal and acceptable in Spanish; español.
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The pants are yellow is a translation of el pantalón es amarillo and not a word for word rendering. It's intended to show that it is acceptable in Spanish to refer to a pair of pants in the singular. The pant is yellow and the pants are yellow is synonymous when using pantalón. But pantalones is used to refer to both a single pair and multiple pairs of pants. That's the difference.
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It may be incorrect when it comes to English but in Spanish it is acceptable to refer to a pair of pants in the singular. That's what the lesson is trying to get across and that's why "El pantalón es amarillo", " The pant is yellow is the accepted translation for "The pants are yellow." In actual conversation Los pantalones son amarillos could also be used but I think the lesson is trying to show that referring to them in the singular is also an accepted translation in the Spanish language.
Somos estudiantes de español. :-)
I think a good way to think of it is this: "pantalon" technically means "pant leg". So, a pair of pants would be pantalones.
That makes sense in a way, but on the other hand, why would someone be talking about one 'pant leg' , unless it is an unusual pair of pants, with one leg yellow and one leg another color.
A seamstress might talk of just one pant leg. Or, if you cut your pant leg, or it caught on fire. I know it would be rare, but it could happen.
Are you thinking that one leg of the pants caught on fire, so that only the other leg is left, and a seamstress saw it, and said the leg that remains is yellow ?
I thought pants will always be pants, depending on how you use it. I really doesnt make since to say pant. Even the translation says: The pants are yellow
In English "pants" refer to both the singular and plural form of the item of clothing and uses both singular and plural verbs. We do not use "pant" when referring to clothing, "pant" in English is a form of breathing! Duolingo you need to address this! "The pants is yellow" is the correct translation.
This is poor english grammar. In English, no one says the pants. Pants are always plural.
The voice clearly says, "El pantalonES" I listened to it three times and it is still the plural, which it should not be with "El."
I think it's just "El pantalon es amarillo." In Spanish it's correct to slur everything together.
I agree that is sounded as if it was saying "pantalonES", - making is a phrase with no verb. However, the exercise I was given asked me to translate the written: "El pantalón es amarillo." This made is clear that a complete sentence was a being stated - so the "El" beforehand was correct.
In English we do use pant as in pant leg or pant clip (to protect a pant leg from a bicycle chain). Put two pants together and we have a pair of pants.
You dont say the pant is yellow in english, you allways say the pants. Propet english is a pair of pants and that means one single pants. No such word as pant.
I tried looking it up ,to no avail, I could not find it. I did find "pant clips" as I described. So much for my logic.
pantalón vaquero = jeans (or pair of jeans)
pantalón corto = shorts (or pair of shorts )
medias-pantalón = pantyhose
The trouser is yellow is given as correct, trouser is not used in English it is always trousers
Under pantalon, it only shows plural nouns. That's confusing if trying to check your work. It seems like they're making you say "the pants is yellow".
I believe the Duolingo sentence and translation are incorrect grammatically. The correct translation for "the pants are yellow" is "los pantalones son amarillos". If Duolingo wants to say "el pantalon es amarillo" , it must be translated as " the pair of pants is yellow", since pair is a singular word.
Duolingo should get rid of this sentence, because it only causes confusion.
In this case, and many other cases, Spanish is much logic than English. 1 pantalon, 2 pantalones. 1 pants, 2 pants. This is because a pants has 2 legs. I know, now you´re asking, ¨so why don´t they do the same with shirt since it has 2 sleeves?¨. Just because.... simplemente porque.....
It should say "los pantalones" because it is a pair of pants translated into English. To say "el pantalón" sounds off...
Your not referring yourself to the Dutch language, your doing SPANISH! And if you think Spanish is ridiculous, or dl is ridiculous , you're probably on the wrong app. Because in the lessons ahead it's surely gonna blow your mind. I'm fascinated( typeo) with it.
How can you tell? Surely it would be inder his trousers as pants are underwear!
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The pants IS yellow. In this case you are translating El pantalon (singular), not los pantalons, there the english equivalent is also a single pair of pants = is. Also amarillo is singular.
Im confused. Why not say los pantalones son amarillos? If its pantalon es amrillo... i thought the pant is yellow...
Can "el pantalón" also just refer to a single pant leg? To my English-speaking mind, where pants are always plural, that was my first thought. Prior to today, I'd only ever seen it plural in Spanish, too, so I was confused.
Does this apply to women's pants also ? In the United States, I think of trousers as men's pants that are part of a suit, or pants worn with a sport jacket. I would never refer to blue jeans as trousers. Underwear is called underpants.
In English, pants is plural because originally the two legs were separate pieces, hence "a pair of pants" just like a pair of socks. The form of clothing changed, the way it was referred to did not. However, in the fashion world or high-end clothing, people do say "a pant" very often--watch "Project Runway."
El pantalones son amarillos or el pantalon es amarillo .... it's my confusion or ur mistakes ..
It is like a lot of translations, we see literal translations that in reallity do not look or sound as we know or would like to see. We have to understand the new language and this is a fine example of that
I went with "the pant is yellow" and found out I was wrong
Then I came across "El calcetine es rojo" and this time because I had learnt my lesson, I chose to go with "the socks... "
Guess what...
I was wrong again Correct translation - the sock is red
Who even refers to a solo "sock" ?
This lesson gave me a quite a culture shock
Per the Spanish teacher here at my school and who has been teaching Spanish for more than 20 years and is hispanic herself and very fluent in the language. She says this wrong wrong wrong. It should read los pantelones son amarillo.
Please read comments. Its ambiguous.. Many books have los patelones no el pantelone.
Duolingo does make some mistakes ! Stop justifying every thing with Spanish emotions
Why is it plural? That isn't a plural noun, and 'el' and 'es' aren't plural either.
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Both "the pantleg is yellow" AND the "trouser is yellow" should be marked as acceptable answers!!!
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We're supposed to be learning Spanish, not trying to turn Spanish into English. Why do so many "students" try to tell qualified instructors and native speakers what is or is not acceptable? Spanish is Spanish and English is English.
As I see it, "pantalones" (pants, a plural word) is equivalent to ropa (clothes, a singular word).
There is showing the wrong answer,and it's saying that my answer is wrong,when I wrote that the pant is yellow
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I put "The pant is yellow" and it marked me wrong, saying I should have used "The pants are yellow". I'm reporting this because according to dictionary.com, pant is a word, short for pant leg.
