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Use of 'y' between adjectives

 

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  #1  
Old June 04, 2010, 12:05 PM
tmember tmember is offline
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Use of 'y' between adjectives

My book says:

Su perro tiene una nariz pequeña y negra.
His dog has a little black nose.

Is it correct to use 'y' in this sentence?
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  #2  
Old June 04, 2010, 12:51 PM
wafflestomp wafflestomp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmember View Post
My book says:

Su perro tiene una nariz pequeña y negra.
His dog has a little black nose.

Is it correct to use 'y' in this sentence?
Sure, it's totally correct. It's very rare for grammar books to be wrong but questioning it shows you're understanding the language
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Old June 04, 2010, 01:08 PM
tmember tmember is offline
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I appreciate your kind response. At this moment I am sad.... I bought an expensive book from Amazon just published this year and it has no reviews yet. It looked very good and is also bilingual so I bought it. But it seems from the very first chapter to have many errors in it.

It's called "First Spanish Reader for Beginners". Would you mind if I type one paragraph from it for you to translate so I can compare your translation to the English translation in the book?
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Old June 04, 2010, 01:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wafflestomp View Post
Sure, it's totally correct. It's very rare for grammar books to be wrong but questioning it shows you're understanding the language
In essence is correct...

Consider:

His dog has a little black nose - Su perro tiene una pequeña nariz negra.

His dog has a little and black nose.
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Old June 04, 2010, 05:17 PM
wafflestomp wafflestomp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmember View Post
I appreciate your kind response. At this moment I am sad.... I bought an expensive book from Amazon just published this year and it has no reviews yet. It looked very good and is also bilingual so I bought it. But it seems from the very first chapter to have many errors in it.

It's called "First Spanish Reader for Beginners". Would you mind if I type one paragraph from it for you to translate so I can compare your translation to the English translation in the book?
Sure, you can do that. I've never heard of that book but then again I'm not much of a book person. Go ahead and post it up.

And chileno, I see your point, but the sentence isn't "wrong". It isn't like grammatically incorrect, it just doesn't sound well.
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Old June 04, 2010, 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by wafflestomp View Post
Sure, you can do that. I've never heard of that book but then again I'm not much of a book person. Go ahead and post it up.

And chileno, I see your point, but the sentence isn't "wrong". It isn't like grammatically incorrect, it just doesn't sound well.
Maybe a comma would do the "trick"?

His dog has a little, and black nose.
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Old June 04, 2010, 09:27 PM
wafflestomp wafflestomp is offline
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I don't think that would do it. Come to think of it it looks better without the comma, haha.
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Old June 04, 2010, 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by wafflestomp View Post
I don't think that would do it. Come to think of it it looks better without the comma, haha.
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Old June 04, 2010, 10:37 PM
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Actually, I believe that the option the book gives would be the most common if you are not translation literally, and it's not a poem.
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Old June 05, 2010, 01:28 AM
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A list of adjectives is separated by commas and an "y" at the end:

El perro tiene el hocico pequeño y negro.
La casa está pintada de amarillo, verde y azul.

What about:

The dog's nose is little and black.

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