tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 1 of 18 22 November 2005 at 3:04pm | IP Logged |
I have heard: "Una buena idea" and "Una idea buena".
When do you use what? The second version seems more correct (the description after the object).
But maybe the first version is an expression?
And a second question:
<A usted> le gustó
<A mi> esposo tambien le gustó
The "a usted" and "A mi", are they MANDATORY?
I also saw "No le gustó la música"
So I gues it's just an extra politeness?
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luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7207 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French
| Message 2 of 18 22 November 2005 at 3:52pm | IP Logged |
Whenever you express someone in a statement with
gustar, you need the "personal a". That's because the
idea behind gustar is "it pleases". The object does
the pleasing, rather than someone being pleased or
liking. Therefore, a person in the sentence with
gustar is "a third person", and hence, need the
personal a.
This is one of those cases where the literal
translation comes in handy.
You liked it. -> It pleased you -> A usted le gustó.
My husband liked it too. -> It pleased my husband too.
-> A mi esposo tambien le gustó.
Using "a usted" could be for clarification or
politeness. By the way, there is a similar usage of
the personal a when you ask a question:
¿A quién le gustó la musica?
A María le gustó.
One of the experts can give the translation for phrases
like, "Tuffy likes his girlfriend". Is it simply, "A
tuffy le gusta su novia"?
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tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 3 of 18 22 November 2005 at 4:01pm | IP Logged |
Too bad, makes the sentences longer again :)
But this sentence then: "No le gustó la música".
I heard this in Pimsleur too.
In this case it is alowed then?
And when they mention those "a's" they mention 2 versions. One time they say it without that a and then they say it with that a.
And in the beginning of the course they also said things like "le gusta la cerveza" etc.
So that's why it's confusing the me when I should use it.
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KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7193 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian
| Message 4 of 18 22 November 2005 at 5:22pm | IP Logged |
It's just clarification. Le gustó could mean he/she/it/you. In many cases, just the le gustó would be sufficient, depending on the context. Also, the format can be quite pithy when necessary. For example:
Me gusta comer helado. (I like to eat ice cream)
A mi tambien. (me too)
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patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map
| Message 5 of 18 22 November 2005 at 5:31pm | IP Logged |
You could have "¿le gustó?" and it wouldn't need the "a usted" in front.
luke wrote:
One of the experts can give the translation for phrases like, "Tuffy likes his girlfriend". Is it simply, "A tuffy le gusta su novia"? |
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You could have that, although one hopes that he actually loves her! In that case, it would be "Tuffy quiere (or "ama" for the poets amongst you) a su novia".
By the way, I don't consider myself an expert, just fortunate enough to know enough Spanish to help you guys.
Edited by patuco on 22 November 2005 at 5:33pm
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tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 6 of 18 23 November 2005 at 3:55am | IP Logged |
Thanks KingM and Patuco.
(All help is most welcome Patuco! :-)
So to be sure:
Yesterday in Pimsleur I heard this:
You had to ask if they liked it (the movie)...
First the speaker says: "les gusto?"
And then he says "a ustedes les gusto?"
Then they reply, first with: "nos gusto".
And then they say "a nosotros nos gusto".
So I understand that in this case you can use both sentences? It's just clarification.
Later in the lesson you have a woman saying that her husband liked Spain too: "A mi esposo tambien le gusto".
There it seems to be necessary, I couldn't even say it differently. That "a" is mandatory here I think. But in those sentences above you can say it in two ways.
Correct?
And thus you can also say: "me gusta" but also "a mi me gusta". I gues? :)
But in this case then:
"A tuffy le gusta su novia" There you do need the a?
So you can say "le gusta su novia" or "A tuffy le gusta su novia".?
(Many examples but I need to know when I MUST or MAY use it. But I gues that in those first samples it's clarification as KingM said?)
Edited by tuffy on 23 November 2005 at 3:59am
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ymapazagain Senior Member Australia myspace.com/amywiles Joined 6961 days ago 504 posts - 538 votes Speaks: English* Studies: SpanishB2
| Message 7 of 18 23 November 2005 at 5:52am | IP Logged |
I don´t think I saw anyone respond to your 'buena idea' question.
Well...it looks like you´re learning at the same pace as me cause I asked about this last night!
I was told that usually the description comes after, but when using buena/bueno it generally comes first. So therefore the best way to say it would be 'una buena idea'
I guess buena comes first because it emphasises the point...maybe!
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tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 8 of 18 23 November 2005 at 6:18am | IP Logged |
Cool, you're also learning Pimsleur?
How do you like it thus far?
I finaly think I have the right method of learning.
I finaly succeeded learning 2 lessons in 2 days and today it seems I will learn another lesson in 1 day.
(Before a lesson took me 2 or sometimes even 3 days.)
Today I'm doing lesson 14 and I'm learning about good weather.. and yes, it's "Buen weather". So I gues that indeed buena(o) comes first. That was also the case with a "buen profesor". I don't understand yet why it's buen and not bueno but that also has a reason I understand.
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