Lesson 2.1

Hi everybody ! I'm a new member, I just started my fresh spanish last month. Never know any Spanish before. I hv 2 question in lesson 2, they are: - in the 2.1 Amy said: Para quantas personas? I guess she used feminine gender here because it refer to her as a speaker, am I right? but in the next question, why did she say: "Por quantos dias? instead of "Por quantas dias?" -in the 2.1 : En que "le" puedo ayudar? Que tipo de tour "le" gustaria hacer? Why do we hv to use 'le' and what does it means? Thank You for helping me understanding this.

[quo]*Quote from * irene - in the 2.1 Amy said: Para quantas personas? I guess she used feminine gender here because it refer to her as a speaker, am I right? but in the next question, why did she say: "Por quantos dias? instead of "Por quantas dias?" [/quo] In Spanish, nouns are either masculine or feminine. The gender often has very little to do with our stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity. There are some rules of thumb to help you recognize whether a noun is masculine or feminine (e.g., most nouns ending in "o" are masculine, and most ending in "a" are feminine, but there are many exceptions). Adjectives that modify a noun have to agree with that noun in gender and number. Thus, Amy says "para cuantas personas" because personas is a feminine noun in the plural, and cuantas thus has to have a feminine plural form as well, since it modifies personas. In the next sentence, "cuantos" modifies "días," which is a masculine noun in the plural, and so "cuantos" takes a masculine plural form to agree with días. Rocket Spanish comes with a number of valuable supplementary materials like the Beginner's Book, for example. I strongly recommend that you read it carefully. It (or other grammar books) should help you better understand what you're hearing in the audio files.

Nohablo, Thank You for responding to my question, it helps a lot! So, there are some words that the gender can be changed because of it changed from singular to plural?? That's strange..! Where can I learn about this exception words? I also found the answer about 'le' in the beginner book as u suggested. Thank U so much for helping me!!! God Bless You!

[quo]*Quote from * irene Nohablo, Thank You for responding to my question, it helps a lot! So, there are some words that the gender can be changed because of it changed from singular to plural?? That's strange..! Where can I learn about this exception words? [/quo] No, gender does NOT change because the word changes from singular to plural. The word "persona" is feminine and means person. If you're talking about more than one person, persona becomes personas. The word "cuantas" is feminine plural because it modifies a feminine plural noun, personas. When it modifies a masculine plural noun, such as días (days) or perros (dogs), it changes to cuantos because it has to agree in both gender and number with the word it modifies. I suggest you read about gender and about adjectives agreeing in gender and number. Probably the Beginners Book covers this, and/or you can find lots of grammar resources online.

[quo]*Quote:* and/or you can find lots of grammar resources online. [/quo] http://spanish.about.com/