Quote:
Originally Posted by laepelba
I have in front of me the following sentence: Él compra los vegetales a su tía.
Does this mean that he bought vegetables to be received by his aunt? Or does it mean that he bought vegetables from his aunt?
I am looking at a bilingual dictionary, and I can't tell...
Would you ever say: Él compra los vegetales por para su tía. (his aunt receives them) 
Or: Él compra los vegetales de su tía. (his aunt sold them)  |
I know this is a book thing, but the use of "vegetales" is wrong. In Spanish, "vegetal" doesn't refer only to edible plants and fruits, but to every plant and tree and their fruits, including poisonous and non-edible ones. In México the best word is "verduras".
As for the sentence itself, Perikles' examples actually show that the sentence is indeed
amphibological ambiguous.
...and thinking it over, all of these sentences, except "compra para su tía" are ambiguous.
"Él compra las verduras por su tía" could be understood as if he's buying them because she asked him to do it in her place, but it could also mean he's buying them because of her (she might be insisting on his buying them).
"Él compra las verduras de su tía" is also ambiguous, as we cannot know if she sells them or if he buys them to give them to her.
La tía de Juan está enferma y no puede salir a comprar verduras, así que Juan se las compra.
La tía de Juan vende verduras, así que Juan se las compra.