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Reorganizing words to form a valid question

 

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  #1  
Old February 17, 2016, 10:49 AM
AlwaysLost AlwaysLost is offline
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Reorganizing words to form a valid question

I am asked to reorganize this sentence. I have tried every variant I think. I must make these words into a correct question. This is some online practice thing. I can't even skip the question, it's just repeatedly says I'm wrong.


¿ Juan en cafetería la cena ?

I keep thinking it wants me to say is "Is Juan in the cafeteria eating dinner" or something. Every combo doesn't seem to work.
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  #2  
Old February 17, 2016, 11:54 AM
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It's not a sentence. That is why you cannot make sense of it. If está were there, you can conceivably create a sentence: Juan está en la cafeteria la Cena
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Old February 17, 2016, 12:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
It's not a sentence. That is why you cannot make sense of it. If está were there, you can conceivably create a sentence: Juan está en la cafeteria la Cena

I can remove some words, does that help?
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Old February 17, 2016, 12:32 PM
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No, it's not a sentence. Where's the verb?
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Last edited by poli; February 17, 2016 at 12:35 PM.
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  #5  
Old February 17, 2016, 04:28 PM
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There is a verb: "cenar".
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Old February 17, 2016, 05:43 PM
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O verdad. Entonces se puede hace un frase con sentido.

< snip >
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Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; February 17, 2016 at 08:27 PM. Reason: Removed answer.
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Old February 20, 2016, 04:39 AM
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So I got a hold of the teacher and even she said that she wouldn't have made the question this way.

The answer is ¿Cena en la cafetería Juan?
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Old February 20, 2016, 07:43 AM
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Perfectly good question.

You can also place the subject before the verb, or after the verb, just before the prepositional phrase.
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Old February 20, 2016, 06:04 PM
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I agree with Rusty's recommendation. Actually, for me it's way better to ask "¿Cena Juan en la cafetería?"
Very often in Spanish, what comes first is what is more important, and I find more important the person than the coffee shop.
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