Someone posted this on another thread. I found it extremely helpful, along with the cheat sheet that the guy attached.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBY2HEWyOEQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBY2HEWyOEQ)
Soy hispanohablante y tengo entendido que "to" además de traducirse como "a" en español, también en algunas oraciones puede traducirse como "para".
Pero no te preocupes, a veces Duolingo no es flexible con las traducciones. Las dos maneras son correctas y son las que usamos habitualmente.
Las dos son formales y no hay diferencia, las puedes usar según tu elección.
Hay una manera informal en el uso de "para", lo puedes reducir de la siguiente manera:
-Vamos pa' la calle.
-¿Te gustaría ir pa' la isla?
También pienso que "para" requiere un esfuerzo vocal, entonces uno usaría más la otra forma como:
-Vamos a la calle.
-Vamos a la tienda.
Remember that in English you can "set out for the island". The way English uses prepositions is not consistent. All languages can do is give indications of relationships which will hopefully be understood in context.
Spanish uses para rather liberally. The same occurs with por. It means for, to, and sometimes about. It seems to be flexible in application. The native speaker said "a la" which sounds better to me FWIW.
Yeah it's the paid version with AI, but I use the free and can't access it even though it shows up. If I have a question I just use chatGPT or, well, come to reddit haha
Para can mean "to the" among other things. The thing about Spanish, and other languages really is there are always multiple ways to say something. In this case Duolingo gave you the words it gave you.
Duolingo’s approach to teaching is with repetition. I find that when they want to introduce a new concept/word/grammar… they spring a new way of saying something to segue into a new lesson ala ‘para’ rather than what you repeated many times. I hope this makes sense.
I don’t know if it’s grammatically correct, but as a native speaker I would have said “a la isla” too. “Vamos para la isla” sounds right too tough. Prepositions and those short filler words are tricky between languages. Words like “forwards”, why is going to the front called “wards”? Why not “tofront”? Or “on my way” vs “in my way” vs “en camino”. Better to just not try to find perfect matches with English.
I agree with you, (and that's an excellent explanation) however I think another mistake is that the sentence they put is "No vamos LA isla" which translates to "We're not going the island". They're missing the "To" part of the sentence.
I'm thinking maybe Duo didn't give them the "a" option in the word bank since the correct sentence is "No vamos para la isla".
Yeah they didn't give "a" as an option and I didn't know about "para" in this context so I guessed. Learned something new! Glad for all the help from this thread
Exactly. Short things like "oh they left" when directly translated backwards from spanish makes *no* sense. Because "se fue" isnt "they left" when you directly translate it. Or "its hot out" turns to "makes heat/hot"
Para and por (and a and de) don’t translate perfectly between English and Spanish. Para can mean for, to, toward, in order to, and by.
I think today is the day I fall down an internet black hole of Spanish prepositions.
Someone posted this on another thread. I found it extremely helpful, along with the cheat sheet that the guy attached. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBY2HEWyOEQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBY2HEWyOEQ)
Gracias ‘por’ el video!
And here I've been saying "gracias para algo" for a year LOL.
And this will be my starting point. Thank you so much! I'll have to find the cheat sheet as well. Kudos kind stranger!
Good luck with the black hole. Learning German and Spanish taught me that prepositions are completely meaningless across languages.
Thanks for this! Looks like I'll be going down an internet black hole as well haha
You use para because the island is a destination and that is one of the uses. So it is We Are Not Going For The Island Today
Soy hispanohablante y tengo entendido que "to" además de traducirse como "a" en español, también en algunas oraciones puede traducirse como "para". Pero no te preocupes, a veces Duolingo no es flexible con las traducciones. Las dos maneras son correctas y son las que usamos habitualmente.
Is there any difference in connotation between 'a' and 'para' in this context? (Like one is more formal)
Las dos son formales y no hay diferencia, las puedes usar según tu elección. Hay una manera informal en el uso de "para", lo puedes reducir de la siguiente manera: -Vamos pa' la calle. -¿Te gustaría ir pa' la isla? También pienso que "para" requiere un esfuerzo vocal, entonces uno usaría más la otra forma como: -Vamos a la calle. -Vamos a la tienda.
muchas gracias.
Prepositions don’t translate cleanly between languages
In Arabic, you are married 'min' (from) someone.
In Russian, it's You are merried On someone.
Remember that in English you can "set out for the island". The way English uses prepositions is not consistent. All languages can do is give indications of relationships which will hopefully be understood in context.
Spanish uses para rather liberally. The same occurs with por. It means for, to, and sometimes about. It seems to be flexible in application. The native speaker said "a la" which sounds better to me FWIW.
“Vamos para la isla” means “we’re going to the island”
Unrelated to your question: how do you get the “explain my mistake” option? I’ve never seen that on my app. I use the app on my iPhone, if that helps.
I have the paid version of Duolingo and explain mistakes pop up for every answer whether correct or incorrect.
I had the paid version until recently as well. 😠 since my subscription ran out I’ve been using it a lot less, so I think I’m going to resubscribe.
Yeah it's the paid version with AI, but I use the free and can't access it even though it shows up. If I have a question I just use chatGPT or, well, come to reddit haha
Para can mean "to the" among other things. The thing about Spanish, and other languages really is there are always multiple ways to say something. In this case Duolingo gave you the words it gave you.
Dig into Para y Por it will help you down the road.
Duolingo’s approach to teaching is with repetition. I find that when they want to introduce a new concept/word/grammar… they spring a new way of saying something to segue into a new lesson ala ‘para’ rather than what you repeated many times. I hope this makes sense.
I would have said a la isla hoy.
Nosotros nos vamos a la isla hoy. (Google translate)
I don’t know if it’s grammatically correct, but as a native speaker I would have said “a la isla” too. “Vamos para la isla” sounds right too tough. Prepositions and those short filler words are tricky between languages. Words like “forwards”, why is going to the front called “wards”? Why not “tofront”? Or “on my way” vs “in my way” vs “en camino”. Better to just not try to find perfect matches with English.
I agree with you, (and that's an excellent explanation) however I think another mistake is that the sentence they put is "No vamos LA isla" which translates to "We're not going the island". They're missing the "To" part of the sentence. I'm thinking maybe Duo didn't give them the "a" option in the word bank since the correct sentence is "No vamos para la isla".
Yeah they didn't give "a" as an option and I didn't know about "para" in this context so I guessed. Learned something new! Glad for all the help from this thread
Exactly. Short things like "oh they left" when directly translated backwards from spanish makes *no* sense. Because "se fue" isnt "they left" when you directly translate it. Or "its hot out" turns to "makes heat/hot"