7.4 the 'the' in the examples

In 7.4 level 1, the following examples are given.

¿Te gustan los perros?

Do you like dogs?

Nos gustan las pinturas.

We like the paintings.

for the dogs it is translated as ‘dogs’ not ‘the dogs’ which has a slightly different meaning. But for paintings the ‘the’ is included.

How are we to know the difference. What are they translated differently?

There are several other examples when the ‘the’ is inconsistently kept or disappears in the translation

Le molestan los mosquitos.

The mosquitoes annoy her

A Lorena le gustan los chocolates.

Lorena likes chocolates. (not the chocolates)

A Alejandro le gusta el libro.

Alejandro likes the book.

No me gusta el pescado.

I don't like fish (not the fish)

¡Hola mmmatt!

Because Spanish uses definite articles (i.e. words for “the”) far more often than English does, a single Spanish sentence can often have two different meanings in English.

For example, let's take a look at No me gusta el pescado. Someone who says this might be referring to a specific fish (e.g. one that they are eating and that they dislike the taste of); in this case, we would say “I don't like the fish” in English. But there is also a second option: the speaker might be referring to fish in general (i.e. “I don't like any fish, ever”); in this case, we would say “I don't like fish” in English. So English needs two different sentences to convey these different implications, but Spanish only requires one sentence.

In our courses, if we were to include every possible translation of each Spanish sentence, things would quickly become quite difficult to follow and to read! So we switch between using translations that are talking about specific things (and thus require “the” in English) and translations that are talking about general things (and thus don't require “the” in English) to give examples of both options.

I hope that this has cleared everything up. Do let us know if you're still having trouble!

Saludos,

Liss

So if I wanted to express an opinion about the fish in front of me, I should say “No me gusta este pescado."

¡Hola JohnS-8HKI!

Thanks for joining in! Indeed, that's a good point: using este “this” and saying No me gusta este pescado “I don't like this fish” is a good way of being absolutely clear that the fish that you don't like is specifically the one that you have in front of you.

Saludos,

Liss