|
 |
Use of les and nos | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7040 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 6 03 November 2005 at 2:29am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm doing lesson 5 of Pimsleur II now and I came across something that raises some questions.
when you say to some people (ustedes) you say for instance: tienen tiempo?. Or Quieren beber algo? However now I hear: LES gusta cerveza? Why do they, in the first examples, simply use a different form of the verb (tengo, tiene > tienen). But with gustar they use LES in front of the verb. Why isn't it something like "gustan cerveza"? And could you also say then: les tiene tiempo? So when do you use les? The same question is then for their reply. When do they use NOS and when do they say something like queremos? Maybe I should simply copy what I'm hearing but I'm trying to understand it a little. To me it also sounds a little like their using pronouns. But in Spanish you don't hardly use pronouns right? Or aren't these pronouns? Edited by tuffy on 03 November 2005 at 2:30am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7109 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 2 of 6 03 November 2005 at 2:53am | IP Logged | |||||
The problem here is one of translation. In Spanish you are not saying "they like the beer" you are in fact saying "to them is pleasing the beer" (to follow the exact word order). "The beer" is the subject of the sentence and therefore the verb form agrees with it not the people "to whom the beer is pleasing". You wouldn't say "to them the beer are pleasing" in English because there's only one beer. But with "they have time", "they" is the subject of the sentence, so the verb form agrees with them. Just like in English you wouldn't say "they has time". So it has to be "tienen tiempo".
They are pronouns but forms like "nos" and "les" are object pronouns. Spanish tends to miss out subject pronouns like "yo", "tú", "nosotros" because the verb form tells you who is the subject. The fact that it is "queremos" rather than "quiero" tells you that the person is talking about "nosotros" rather than "yo". But in English "want" on its own isn't particularly helpful because the verb form is invariant you need the "I want" or "we want". "usted", "él" and "ella", "ustedes", "ellos" and "ellas" are also omitted - except where clarification is needed because the verb endings are shared. In addition, sometimes the subject pronouns will appear for emphasis where in English you would choose to raise your voice to indicate this: I need it ==> I need it lo necesito ==> yo lo necesito Andy 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7040 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 6 03 November 2005 at 3:32am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Thanks Andy!
I will re-read it a couple of times but it is getting more clear already. Is it also true that it is LES instead of LOS because of what Pimsleur says about LE? You use LES (LE) because it is pleasing TO them. So LES does not mean THEM but it means "TO THEM". Is that correct? If so it becomes even more clear to me :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7109 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 4 of 6 03 November 2005 at 3:52am | IP Logged | |||||
In this instance, yes that is correct. The "to them" rather than "them" and "les" rather than "los" indicates that "les" is an indirect object rather than a direct object pronoun. Andy. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7040 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 6 03 November 2005 at 4:31am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Ok, then I understand, thanks.
By the way, does Platiquemos explain these things also in an easy way? I haven't looked into it that far yet, first I want to finish Pimsleur. But do you think Platiquemos will be 'easy' to learn for me? Does it use a lot of difficult grammar terms or is it also a lot of natural learning? Hearing and graduately learning...? Edited by tuffy on 03 November 2005 at 4:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7110 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 6 of 6 03 November 2005 at 3:51pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Well Platiquemos gives you a plethora of audio to supplement the rules you learn, and in general FSI courses introduce grammar in a rather slow and easy way. Compared to Pimsleur, yes, it is "harder." However once you learn something and practice it you'll understand it quite well in a short time. Most of the questions you have to ask when doing Pimsleur eventually get covered in Platiquemos. That's why it's good to focus on moving to the more advanced material (which Pimsleur doesn't cover).
1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
