Question Clarification

[willow]

Hi

Another new member here. Hoping one day to be fluent in the Spanish language, but at the moment a very long way off. Hoping someone out there can answer my question. My hubby & I are just starting to learn the lingo, very basic stuff at the moment. If we wanted to ask someone "what are they called" referring to some male people, how would you say it. In the book that we are looking at it has "Como se llaman Ellos/Ellas". I know Ellos is for masculine term, but does this go at the end of the question, like "Como se llaman Ellos"? Hopefully this makes some sense to you out there.

Willow

[chileno]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

What are they called - What is their name

Como se les llama - Como se llaman.

Depending of context those might mean

How do you call them - How are they called.


I don't know grammar, Spanish or English, so I based my learning on experiencing it, which in turned was based on my knowing how to read, write and express myself in my own language. I didn't know grammar at that time and I still don't.

Good luck.

[Perikles]

Hello and welcome from me.

And Chileno - you should at least know about question marks. Surely?

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Hello and welcome from me.

And Chileno - you should at least know about question marks. Surely?

My name is not Surely!

Ah, but I know about exclamation marks.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by willow

Hi

Another new member here. Hoping one day to be fluent in the Spanish language, but at the moment a very long way off. Hoping someone out there can answer my question. My hubby & I are just starting to learn the lingo, very basic stuff at the moment. If we wanted to ask someone "what are they called" referring to some male people, how would you say it. In the book that we are looking at it has "¿Cómo se llaman ellos/ellas?". I know Ellos is for masculine term, but does this go at the end of the question, like "Como se llaman Ellos"? Hopefully this makes some sense to you out there.

Willow

Welcome to the forums, Willow! Congratulations to you and your husband for choosing to learn another language!

You can type the special characters in any edit window in the forums by picking them from the "Accents" drop-down list in the formatting area above the edit window.

In a question that contains an explicit subject, usually the subject follows the verb. In a simple sentence such as the one you ask about there is nothing else after the verb, so the subject is at the end. In a more complex sentence the subject still usually follows the verb, but other words may follow the subject. Spanish word order is more flexible that English word order, so sometimes the subject may be in a different position due to factors of emphasis or style. You will learn more about all of these factors as you learn Spanish.

"Ellos" is the word for a group of males as well as for a mixed group of both males and females. "Ellas" is the word for a group of only females.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by willow

Hi

Another new member here. Hoping one day to be fluent in the Spanish language, but at the moment a very long way off. Hoping someone out there can answer my question. My hubby & I are just starting to learn the lingo, very basic stuff at the moment. If we wanted to ask someone "what are they called" referring to some male people, how would you say it. In the book that we are looking at it has "Como se llaman Ellos/Ellas". I know Ellos is for masculine term, but does this go at the end of the question, like "Como se llaman Ellos"? Hopefully this makes some sense to you out there.

Willow

Hello Willow,

I bid you welcome, I know that you one day will be a fluent speaker and well you need to patient and also you need to improve all the days your language or second language,

I hope to hard you can reach your goals someday.

Sincerely yours.

[caliber1]

Originally Posted by chileno

My name is not Surely!

Ah, but I know about exclamation marks.

This just made my day!

[chileno]

Originally Posted by caliber1

This just made my day!

Shirley!