question on 1.10 translation

Hola. I am currently working on 1.10 about articles. I am running through the know it area and found this sentence: Las chicas salieron a correr. Now, I know from the lesson provided, this is said to be "The girls went running." However, from what I have learned, this would appear to more directly translate to "The girls went out to run." In fact, looking up the translation of "The girls went running," I see the translation more closely follows the format of the early lessons: "Las chicas fueron corriendo." I guess my question is...which is the way such a thing is more typically stated? Does it matter? They both mean the same thing really. But is one more...stiff? Additionally, is there a reason why the translation is not the direct one? Thanks, Rob

Like you, I am just learning Spanish, so my answer could be wrong. I am basing my answer on my experience with two languages (I speak two languages fluently). Phrases and terms cannot always be directly translated between languages. Perhaps the provided translation is a what the phrase is understood to be rather than the literal translation. For instance, in English we often say something like "I need to run to the store." In other languages (e.g. Spanish), you can't replace "run" with "correr" because it might be interpreted as you literally having to run to the store. Thus, a more accurate translation might use "ir" or "to go" to replace "run." Simply put, trying to replace each word with a perfect fit does not usually work when learning new languages. Literal translation often inaccurate. Unfortunately, I cannot answer your whole question completely, but hopefully I provided some insight regarding why a direct translation might not always be used. Disclaimer: I have no idea if they made or mistake or had a reason for the specific translation in question.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that makes sense; I realize you cannot always translate one to one. In the beginning lessons though, we learn phrases like "estoy aprendiendo" = "I am learning." It follows that "I went running" would be "fui corriendo" in that scheme. Of course, it could just be that we are being shown another way to say the same thing. Maybe it is more a question of salir vs ir. Is one way more popular to use for "went?" Does it matter?

If we put the sentence in the present tense- I am going running..... this is not translated using the corriendo... but as "voy a correr". You always use the infinitive following "ir" unlike in English. Similarly in English "The girls went out to run" and "The girls went running" mean exactly the same thing. So either translation can be used.... however the latter is more natural to say in english, where as the phrasing "salieron a correr" may be more natural to say in Spanish. Hope this helps.

Am sorry, my English is not very good, so I cannot tell the diference between "The girls went running" (sounds ood to me) and "The girls went out to run". But Las chicas salieron a correr and Las chicas se fueron corriendo do not mean the same thing. The first means, that they went out in order to do jogging/running, the second that they rushed out of the place. Hope that helps ya! :)

Andres 14, thanks for the clarification. I will now try to clarify the two English phrases for you. You normally won't say "The girls went running" unless you add something after it. For example, "The girls went running to the park." With that said, "The girls went running" is grammatically correct. It just means that the girls went for a run. The second sentence, "The girls went out to run," means almost the same thing. However, the second sentence clarifies that the reason the girls went out was to run.

Sorry it took some time to reply, but as a trial member, I can only once a day post, and only for 6 days, I think. Thank you for explaining the English. To me "went running to the park" sounds like "running" is just a modifier telling HOW they went to the park. Maybe they were just in a hurry coz they wanted to meet someone there and are late? How did the go there? Running! vs. the went to the park in order to run (there). I may be totally mistaken though, my English ain't very good. Or maybe it depends on the actual context. maybe it's all the same. dunno. getting back to your original question: >>In the beginning lessons though, we learn phrases like "estoy aprendiendo" = "I am learning." It follows that "I went running" would be "fui corriendo" in that scheme.<< Note that 'estoy' is a form of 'estar' whereas 'fui' is 'ir'. Grammatically they do not assume the same roles, hence both structres do NOT match here. You don't build these progressive forms with 'ir' + gerund but with 'estar' + gerund. Just like "I AM learning" is not the same as "I went running." The parallelism would rather be "I was running" (Estuve/Estaba corriendo). As in my above post's example "fui corriendo" no significa lo mismo que "fui a correr", sino que expresa la manera de que me fui. Here pretty much like "I ran (there)". If you add 'me' you get "Me fui corriendo" - "I ran away". Besides that, "fui a correr" and "salí a correr" means about the same. literally, one is just went the other went out, so of course, you canot use the went out version if you have not been at home o en un sitio del cual has salido. Tiene sentido, ¿no? :) So you can use "Las chicas salieron a correr" y "Las chicas (se) fueron a correr".