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ysobelDuo helpfully highlighted a new Spanish word: "a".
I have, mind you, been doing Spanish Duolingo for a while. I'm on Unit 13 of section 5, which is CEFR B1. Needless to say, "a" isn't new. It's, like, "unit 2 of section 1" at most ("un boleto a Santiago" [a ticket to Santiago] is a sample sentence from that).
The sentence tonight was "A ti te gusta mirar la tele menos que a mi" [you like watching TV less than I do; literally, to you to-you is-pleasing to-watch the TV less than to me]. The comparison structure of "a ti ... más/menos que a mi" with gustan might be new, but comparisons overall aren't, nor is the meaning of "a" anywhere close to new. The only new(ish) thing is that "a ti" before "te gusta(n)" is usually redundant and used only for emphasis, but in the comparative structure I think it's required; but Duo doesn't explicitly say these things.
(For those unfamiliar: Gustan and a few other verbs are flipped in Spanish from how they work in English. Instead of "I like dogs", it's "to me is-liking dogs". The thing being liked is the grammatical subject. There's an indirect object pronoun required, which always goes in front of the verb. For ambiguous pronouns, you can use "a (person)" -- "a Ricardo le gustan los perros" or "a mi hermana le gustan los perros" [Richard likes dogs; my sister likes dogs; in both cases "le" is the 3rd person singular pronoun]. 1st and 2nd person pronouns are way less ambiguous, so in simple statements you just say "me gusta(n) X". Saying "a mi me gusta(n) X" is equivalent to the English "Me, I like X". It's emphasis, often with contrast: well, *you* like mushrooms but me, *I* don't. Grammatically "a mi" adds no info that the required "me" doesn't.)
(...lol it's kinda weird flipping between English "me" and Spanish "me". They mean approximately the same, look identical, but are pronounced differently.)
I have, mind you, been doing Spanish Duolingo for a while. I'm on Unit 13 of section 5, which is CEFR B1. Needless to say, "a" isn't new. It's, like, "unit 2 of section 1" at most ("un boleto a Santiago" [a ticket to Santiago] is a sample sentence from that).
The sentence tonight was "A ti te gusta mirar la tele menos que a mi" [you like watching TV less than I do; literally, to you to-you is-pleasing to-watch the TV less than to me]. The comparison structure of "a ti ... más/menos que a mi" with gustan might be new, but comparisons overall aren't, nor is the meaning of "a" anywhere close to new. The only new(ish) thing is that "a ti" before "te gusta(n)" is usually redundant and used only for emphasis, but in the comparative structure I think it's required; but Duo doesn't explicitly say these things.
(For those unfamiliar: Gustan and a few other verbs are flipped in Spanish from how they work in English. Instead of "I like dogs", it's "to me is-liking dogs". The thing being liked is the grammatical subject. There's an indirect object pronoun required, which always goes in front of the verb. For ambiguous pronouns, you can use "a (person)" -- "a Ricardo le gustan los perros" or "a mi hermana le gustan los perros" [Richard likes dogs; my sister likes dogs; in both cases "le" is the 3rd person singular pronoun]. 1st and 2nd person pronouns are way less ambiguous, so in simple statements you just say "me gusta(n) X". Saying "a mi me gusta(n) X" is equivalent to the English "Me, I like X". It's emphasis, often with contrast: well, *you* like mushrooms but me, *I* don't. Grammatically "a mi" adds no info that the required "me" doesn't.)
(...lol it's kinda weird flipping between English "me" and Spanish "me". They mean approximately the same, look identical, but are pronounced differently.)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-21 08:14 am (UTC)