Help The Spanish Dude w/ Spanish!
Hola!
I need some help from my Spanish speakers! I’ve been stuck on something for too long.
Please read the commentary below and look over the examples. Tell me if I’m looking at anything incorrectly or presuming something to be true that isn’t true. Then, at the end, I ask some specific questions.
Thank you so much! Send any answers or thoughts you have for me (or questions) to support@spanishdude.com.
Part 1
I get all this:
cook, cooks (noun)
= el cocinero, la cocinera, los cocineros, las cocineras
The man is a cook.
= El hombre es cocinero.
The woman is a cook.
= La mujer es cocinera.
The men are cooks.
= Los hombres son cocineros.
The women are cooks.
= Las mujeres son cocineras.
—
person, people
= la persona, las personas (even when talking about males)
The man is a good person.
= El hombre es una buena persona.
The men are good people.
= Los hombres son buenas personas.
The woman is a good person.
= La mujer es una buena persona.
The women are good people.
= Las mujeres son buenas personas.
—
victim, victims
= la víctima, las víctimas (even when talking about males)
The man is a victim.
= El hombre es una víctima.
The men are victims.
= Los hombres son víctimas.
The woman is a victim.
= La mujer es una víctima.
The women are victims.
= Las mujeres son víctimas.
Part 2
I get this too. In these examples, the speaker is addressing a group of people.
One of the cooks in the group is from Ecuador.
= Uno de los cocineros del grupo es de Ecuador.
The speaker is addressing only males & a male is from Ecuador. OR, the speaker is addressing a mix of males/females & either a male or female is from Ecuador.
—
One of the cooks in the group is from Ecuador.
= Una de las cocineras del grupo es de Ecuador.
The speaker is addressing only females & a female is from Ecuador.
—
One of the cooks in the group is from Ecuador.
= Una de los cocineros del grupo es de Ecuador.
The speaker is addressing a mix of males/females & a female is from Ecuador.
Part 3
But then, why are all these sentences possible? I see “los personas” and “los víctimas” quite often. I don’t understand why translation C and F are possible, and what they tell us that translation A and D don’t tell us.
One of the people in the group is from Ecuador.
= Uno de las personas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation A)
= Una de las personas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation B)
= Uno de los personas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation C)
One of the victims in the group is from Ecuador.
= Uno de las víctimas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation D)
= Una de las víctimas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation E)
= Uno de los víctimas del grupo es de Ecuador. (translation F)
My Questions
1) Are all six translations acceptable in some context?
If yes, are they acceptable in very formal situations where you want to show people that you are educated and speak correctly?
Does it make you sound uneducated (among friends/family/informal situations) to say any of the three translations?
2) I get that B and E are specifying that a female is from Ecuador. But, can A & C be said in the same situation–when addressing a mixed group, and either a male or female is from Ecuador?
Can D & F be said in the same situation–when addressing a mixed group, and either a male or female is from Ecuador?
3) What’s the difference between A & C? What’s the difference between D & F?
Even if the difference is subtle and hard to explain, just tell me that–that there is a difference, but it’s subtle and hard to explain.
4) Is it possible that the following sentence was common to say…
“Uno de los del groupo es de Ecuador.”
But, then we just started adding, “personas” or “víctimas” after “los” — even though it doesn’t normally work that way?
—–
Thank you so much! Send any answers or thoughts you have for me (or questions) to support@spanishdude.com.
Gracias!
Jordan
