Answers
Jul 02, 2015 - 03:28 PM
With what we have learned in Fluenz Spanish, I think you have to deal with the ambiguity through context. Without other context, you might say "cuantos hijos tiene?" followed by "y cuantos son hijos y cuantos son hijas?" We can make the distinction unambiguously in English but there is not always a directly corresponding way to say the same thing in Spanish (or any other language for that matter). Note, there is the same issue with"nino/nina", "tio/tia" and "abuelo/abuela" and others I am sure.
Jul 02, 2015 - 08:35 PM
Thank you James and I agree that you constructed a good way to focus the question using the fluenz tools. I wonder if someone fluent in Spanish has a more economic and direct way of asking, for example, how many sons a person has.
Jul 04, 2015 - 05:03 AM
For example, would this ever be used by a fluent Spanish speaker: "Cuantos hijos masculinos tiene?"
Jul 05, 2015 - 09:43 AM
No, the correct way should be "Cuantos hijos varones tiene?
Jul 05, 2015 - 09:09 PM
Thank you jroque.