Amigos homework

[Hiikaru]

Mama hace caballitos conmigo. Si no hay caballitos que hace, que adopte domesticos de pescado de la libra Neopian centro de adopcion y los convierten en conejos. A Qwill le gusta que me levaros por toda la casa en adventuras para gatera y Kumo(s).

This is the last part I need to correct to finish my homework. English version is this:

Sometimes my mom makes ponies with me. If there aren’t any ponies to make, we adopt fish pets from the Neopian pound and turn them into rabbits. Qwill likes to lead me around the house on any day on adventures to find catnip or hunt down Kumo(s).

We're doing a passage where you tell about what you do with your friends. I don't have anything interesting to talk about, so I made my friends into cats and my mom and stuff like that.

I ran some parts I'm just not sure about through a translator, so if it looks really bad, that's why, even though I tried to correct the errors I could see.

I'm in a second level Spanish class (Spanish II).

I'd like it if someone could do their best to explain the correct grammar to me if they help. It's really not that I want to skip through the class without doing any work, but pretty much the only thing I remember from Spanish I is part of the tune to the days of the week song and that's really difficult to work from. =P

[Rusty]

I don't in any way mean to offend, but you've chosen very hard things to translate. Why? The vocabulary exceeds your level of Spanish. Wouldn't your teacher discourage using stuff you don't know?

The first sentence in English doesn't sound right. We don't make ponies. Horses make them. The Spanish translation of your first sentence is incorrect. It says that your mom does wheelies with you. That would be cool, but the next sentence doesn't talk about the bike, or motorcycle, that we would expect to see.

My suggestion: stick to real life adventures, as boring as they may seem, and use vocabulary that matches your abilities. We'd be happy to help you figure out the grammar, but would like to see you try your best with what you know. Don't use machine translations!

[Hiikaru]

Oh jeeze, how did it turn into wheelies? I was pretty certain "caballo" meant horse, and that "ito" or "ita" is diminutive. I didn't use a machine translation for that sentence. Should I just say caballos?

It's correct in English - that sentence is about a website where you create ponies. You click a button and poof! Instant pony.

I don't really mean that they're made up - I do play the pony game with my mom and morph pets on Neopets and follow my cat around the house. Just that it's supposed to be about things that you do with your friends often, but I wrote about less common things because my best friend moved away.

I'll try to use more simplistic vocabulary in the future - I have some trouble distinguising between simplistic sentences and more complex ones when I'm trying to translate, since I don't actually know that much Spanish.

I talked about talking on the telephone and playing video games which I remember from Spanish I, but I'm not sure what else I could say that would be simpler vocabulary.

[Rusty]

You're correct. Caballo means horse. And, you would think that the diminutive caballito would be a pony, but they say poni (also spelled pony). A foal is potro (male). A caballito is the toy rocking horse, and a merry-go-round, as well.

None of us had a clue you're talking about a video game. Say so in your first sentence. Describe that the game helps you create ponies by simply pushing a button. However, most of these words are above the level of Spanish you're learning in school. I would still encourage you to use vocabulary that your classmates (and teacher) will understand.

Hacer caballitos is an idiomatic expression meaning to pop a wheelie.

[Hiikaru]

That's really interesting, if confusing. I'll try to double-check when I'm using diminutives in the future.

I already talked about video games in an earlier sentence that I already had help with, so I should probably say something else.

Maybe... "Bug conmigo cantar y dibujar, y usar la computadora." for one of the sentences. And/or "En lunes, yo y ellas visitamos el libraria." (using old vocabulary sheets for ideas now instead of trying to think of things in English)

Could a closing sentence be something like "Me gusta pasa tiempo con amigos", or does that sound weird?

Also, if there are people of multiple genders in a group, or if you don't know the gender of a group or an animal/person, do you assume a gender, or is it personal preference which one you use, or...?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Hiikaru

Bug conmigo () cantar y () dibujar, y () usar la computadora.
What is that first word?
You need a preposition before the infinitives (each one).
En lunes, yo y ellas visitamos el libraria.
On Monday is said 'el lunes'.
Did you mean the library or the bookstore? In either case, the noun is feminine, so the article has to also be feminine.
(There's an 'Accents' pull-down menu above the text input box that you can use to write all the special characters used in Spanish.)

Me gusta pasar tiempo con () amigos.
You need an infinitive after 'me gusta'.
You need an article or a possessive adjective before the object of the preposition.

Also, if there are people of multiple genders in a group, or if you don't know the gender of a group or an animal/person, do you assume a gender, or is it personal preference which one you use?

You choose the masculine gender if there's a mixed group. If you don't know the gender, there are some neuter pronouns that should be used until the gender is established.
¿Qué es eso? What is that? (I don't know what it is, so I used the neuter ending -o.)
Ese es el último videojuego de Nintendo. That is the latest video game from Nintendo. (This time the masculine ending -e was used.)

[Hiikaru]

Originally Posted by Hiikaru
Bug conmigo () cantar y () dibujar, y () usar la computadora.
What is that first word? "Bug" is a nickname for my youngest sister. I don't generally call her by her actual name unless I'm being really formal or something.

Bug conmigo la cantar y le dibujar y a usar la computadora?

You need a preposition before the infinitives (each one).
En lunes, yo y ellas visitamos el libraria.
On Monday is said 'el lunes'.
Did you mean the library or the bookstore? In either case, the noun is feminine, so the article has to also be feminine.
Library. La libraria?

(There's an 'Accents' pull-down menu above the text input box that you can use to write all the special characters used in Spanish.)
Okay, I'll try to remember it's there.

Me gusta pasar tiempo con () amigos.
You need an infinitive after 'me gusta'.
You need an article or a possessive adjective before the object of the preposition.


Me gusta pasar tiempo con mi amigos?

Also, if there are people of multiple genders in a group, or if you don't know the gender of a group or an animal/person, do you assume a gender, or is it personal preference which one you use?

Originally Posted by Rusty

You choose the masculine gender if there's a mixed group. If you don't know the gender, there are some neuter pronouns that should be used until the gender is established.
¿Qué es eso? What is that? (I don't know what it is, so I used the neuter ending -o.)
Ese es el último videojuego de Nintendo. That is the latest video game from Nintendo. (This time the masculine ending -e was used.)

That makes sense. I'll try to add something about it to my notes.

[Rusty]

'Bug with me' doesn't make sense.
If you're trying to say 'Bug sings with me', use a real girl's name (like Juanita) and then the conjugated verb, and then conmigo. Juanita canta conmigo.
If you want to use all the verbs you wrote in the same sentence, they all need to be conjugated and must be separated with a comma. The last word would be conmigo.

la librería = bookstore, not library (check your dictionary)

Amigos is plural, so the possessive adjective you chose must also be plural.

[Hiikaru]

Originally Posted by Rusty

'Bug with me' doesn't make sense.
If you're trying to say 'Bug sings with me', use a real girl's name (like Juanita) and then the conjugated verb, and then conmigo. Juanita canta conmigo.
If you want to use all the verbs you wrote in the same sentence, they all need to be conjugated and must be separated with a comma. The last word would be conmigo.

la librería = bookstore, not library (check your dictionary)

Amigos is plural, so the possessive adjective you chose must also be plural.

Bug la canta, y le dibuja, y a usa la computadora conmigo. Or Aspen la canta, y le dibuja, y a usa la computadora conmigo. Like that?

Oh, la biblioteca. So it has a similar etymology to words like "bibliography".

Me gusta pasas tiempo con mi amigos?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Hiikaru

Bug la canta, y le dibuja, y a usa la computadora conmigo. Or Aspen la canta, y le dibuja, y a usa la computadora conmigo. Like that?

Oh, la biblioteca. (Yes!) So it has a similar etymology to words like "bibliography".

Me gusta pasas tiempo con mi amigos?

"Bug" canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora conmigo.


Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos. (Mis is the possessive adjective. It must have a plural ending because amigos does.)

[Hiikaru]

Bug canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora conmigo. El lunes, yo y ellos visitamos la biblioteca. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos.

Are those sentences all correct now? (I'll look the words up in the dictionary later to look for any accent marks) "Bug sings, draws, and uses the computer with me. On Monday, me and 'them' visit the library. I like to spend time with my friends." Sounds silly in English.

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by Hiikaru

Bug canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora (también se usa ordenador para decir computer, creo que las ambos palabras son correctas) conmigo. Los lunes, yo y ellos y yo (es lo mismo como en inglés , yo / I debe estar al fin) visitamos la biblioteca. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos.

Are those sentences all correct now? (I'll look the words up in the dictionary later to look for any accent marks) "Bug sings, draws, and uses the computer with me. On Monday, me and 'them' visit the library. I like to spend time with my friends." Sounds silly in English.

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[Hiikaru]

Bug canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora (también se usa ordenador para decir computer, creo que las ambos palabras son correctas) conmigo. Los lunes, yo y ellos y yo (es lo mismo como en inglés , yo / I debe estar al fin) visitamos la biblioteca. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos.

Are those sentences all correct now? (I'll look the words up in the dictionary later to look for any accent marks) "Bug sings, draws, and uses the computer with me. On Monday, me and 'them' visit the library. I like to spend time with my friends." Sounds silly in English.

Okay, "los lunes" if I mean "on Mondays" rather than just on a Monday?
Looks like both words are fine, I'll just use computadora because that's the one my Spanish class used. And it's easier to remember, anyway.

Bug canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora conmigo. Los lunes, ellos y yo visitamos la biblioteca. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos.

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by Hiikaru

Okay, "los lunes" if I mean "on Mondays" rather than just on a Monday?
Looks like both words are fine, I'll just use computadora because that's the one my Spanish class used. And it's easier to remember, anyway.

Bug canta, dibuja, y usa la computadora conmigo. Los lunes, ellos y yo visitamos la biblioteca. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mis amigos.

Los lunes = On mondays
El lunes = On monday

Creo que es bueno , pero Rusty habla mejor que yo , él te puede decir si sea bueno

[Hiikaru]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

Los lunes = On mondays
El lunes = On monday

Creo que es bueno , pero Rusty habla mejor que yo , él te puede decir si sea bueno

Okay, gracias, Bob.