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Confusion: equivocado, equivoca, falso, malThis is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
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#1
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Confusion: equivocado, equivoca, falso, mal
I came across a number of Spanish words which mean "wrong", and I don't know when to use which. These words are:
* Three of them are wrong. Tres de ellos están equivocados. (The phrase "están equivocados" was recommended; I also don't get why "estar" should be used in this case. Shouldn't it be "ser"?) * Some firms always give wrong weights in their declarations. Algunas empresas siempre dan pesos falsos en sus declaraciones. (The term "inexacto" was also recommended.) * He ordered the wrong article. Él pidío el articulo falso. (I just made a guess that "falso" is to be used here.) * You are wrong. Usted se equivoca. (The text simply recommended to use "se equivoca." I don't understand why...) Meanwhile, an online translator suggested "mal" or "malo." Any help in clarifying this is appreciated. Thanks in advance! Last edited by Coffee Kitten; July 28, 2012 at 06:35 PM. |
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#2
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es correcto
está equivocado Think of that like there's just one way (of a few) to be right and millions to be wrong, and what is wrong is in need of being corrected, so it's a temporary state. Another way to "feel it" is: correct is stable, wrong is in a state of flow. wrong falso (fake) Algunas empresas dan siempre pesos erróneos en sus declaraciones. equivocarse ---> to make a mistake | to consider one thing to be another one You are wrong (Literally: "Está/s errado" -you have considered some wrong notion to be right-) ---> Se/te equivoca/s -you are considering some wrong notion to be right- (a less abrupt -in Spanish- version of the previous one). Three of them are wrong (Literally: "Tres de ellos/as están mal" speaking of things -items, answers, etc.-; "Tres de ellos/as cometen un error" for people) ---> Tres están equivocados/as (a less abrupt version -in Spanish of the previous ones). Compare "You're wrong!" with "You are mistaken". "Equivocar/se" offers a theory about mixing up the right item or piece of information with the wrong one.
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#3
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Hmm, I'm not sure if I got the right idea. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
So should I use "errado" for the following instances?
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#4
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"Equivocado/a/s" is the right choice in all of them, if not the right translation, the polite one, as I explained above. In Spanish you don't tell people they are wrong unless you want to be impolite.
About the last group, "mal" and "malo" is not a choice because it changes the meaning. This is a wrong answer: Ésta es una respuesta equivocada ---> La capital de las Filipinas es Ciudad Quezón. Ésta es una respuesta mala ---> Si gano Miss Universo voy a llevarle alegría a todos los niños pobres del mundo. This is a wrong word: Ésta es una palabra equivocada ---> puertería Ésta es una palabra mala/una mala palabra ---> m***** This is the wrong person: Ésta es la persona equivocada ---> Bettina Williams (Whoopi Goldberg look-alike) Ésta es una mala persona ---> Hitler
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#5
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I think I get it now. Thank you!
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