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cerveza vs water in Pimsleur Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| robpom Newbie United States Joined 6918 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Studies: English | Message 1 of 7 18 December 2005 at 11:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Can someone explain the following:
Me gusta agua Me gusta la cerveza Why do you have to use the article "la" with cerveza but no article with agua. The Pimsleur Spanish series does this. RP 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ymapazagain Senior Member Australia myspace.com/amywiles Joined 6961 days ago 504 posts - 538 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: SpanishB2 | Message 2 of 7 19 December 2005 at 5:36am | IP Logged | ||
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I´m pretty sure the "la" is used (from what i remember). But because "agua" begins with an "A" the la isn´t very pronounced can so it can sound like "me gusta lagua" which you probably mistake for "me gusta agua."
I hope i´m correct and I hope this helped! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 7 19 December 2005 at 6:22am | IP Logged | ||
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You can use an article with agua. The sentence would be "me gusta el agua". I don't have time to explain now, so if no-one has explained it when I next login, I'll edit this post and explain.
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| Guanche Hexaglot Senior Member Spain danielmarin.blogspot Joined 7048 days ago 168 posts - 178 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanC1, RussianB1, French, Japanese Studies: Greek, Mandarin, Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 7 19 December 2005 at 7:51am | IP Logged | ||
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The correct sentence would be "Me gusta el agua", as Patuco has said. "Me gusta agua" sounds weird and incorrect, although it could be a possible answer to some questions, such like "¿te gusta beber agua o cerveza con la comida?". Anyway, if you say "me gusta la cerveza", you should use "me gusta el agua".
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| Niall Gallagher Groupie Ireland Joined 7137 days ago 81 posts - 81 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 7 19 December 2005 at 1:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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There's a line in the song "A Contracorriente", by the Spanish band El Canto Del Loco, which goes:
"El agua de la ducha ya no puede estar más fría" I was confused initially: why use the masculine definite article (el), when the noun "agua" is feminine, especially when the adjective "fría", as opposed to "frío" is used later on? The explanation was in Barron's Spanish Grammar - The Easy Way: "When the noun that qualifies the definite article is singular and feminine and begins with a stressed a- or ha-, the article el (not la) is used. Examples: el agua negra ... las aguas negras (wastewater) el águila blanca ... las águilas blancas (the white eagle, the white eagles) el hacha afilada ... las hachas afiladas (the sharp axe, the sharp axes) el alma perdida ... las almas perdidas (the lost soul, the lost souls) In response to the original question. Aside from the reason above, saying "la agua" would blend the last and first a's into one another (laagua), and would make it difficult to differenciate and distinguish between the two words. Edited by Niall Gallagher on 19 December 2005 at 1:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 7 19 December 2005 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | ||
You're correct, but I don't think that robpom was asking this precise question. As I understand it, he was asking why did the article have to be used for one and not for the other. The answer is that it should be used for both. However, there are situations when the article is not needed, e.g. "Me gusta el agua" = I like water (article needed) "Me gusta beber agua" = I like to drink water (article not needed) From a grammatical point of view, I don't know why this happens, but I can only guess that it might have something to do with the verb "beber" in the second example. Edited by patuco on 19 December 2005 at 2:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 7 19 December 2005 at 3:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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"But agua is feminine according to my dictionary.
So it should be la, shouldn't it?" I read too quick, I see an explanation already. But very confusing those rules. Edited by tuffy on 19 December 2005 at 3:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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