aleCcowaN |
September 19, 2013 11:57 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles
(Post 143260)
So from that, comprender == to consist of, where everything is included and implying there is nothing else of significance
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Not necessarily. "Comprende" may mean "(also) includes": La tarifa diaria del espacio para acampar comprende el uso de las instalaciones sanitarias (it's included, you don't have to pay extra money for it)
It's like comprender implies kinda "holding tight (as a part of a whole)" with some idea of reach, while contener is sorta "be made of". For instance, saying "una vaca comprende cuatro estómagos" or "una vaca contiene cuatro estómagos", both make no sense at all. Well, it is understandable, but a native speaker would wonder why those verbs were used. But saying "el aparato digestivo de una vaca comprende cuatro estómagos" or "una vaca de tres años continene suficiente grasa como para mantener prendida una lámpara durante un año seguido" make sense from a linguistic point of view. Maybe it's this way: if you're laying out what a whole is made of, use comprender; if you're explaining what's in or from what you have started to make it (as far as that didn't transform in a different thing), use contener.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles
(Post 143260)
(I've just seen this warning on a packet of nuts :eek:)
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Because of legal and not logical reasons (not the lack of logic on part of the writer but the customer's and their ambulance-chasing lawyers)
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