Answers
May 27, 2014 - 04:08 PM
@FluenzLab..... So what is your verdict on this question???
May 27, 2014 - 04:46 PM
The gender of the color has to agree with the gender of the noun, so if you say "Qué color quiere para esta tienda?" you would say "Esta o esa", but "Qué color quiere para este auto", you would say "este o ese". What's missing in the original question is the noun it's referring to.
May 27, 2014 - 05:54 PM
Are you sure Fabrice? Looks to me like color is a noun in both examples. I share Banjolover's confusion on this one.
May 27, 2014 - 06:12 PM
Seems to me that in Banjo's original sentence, the noun isn't missing. The subject of the sentence is "color," not some implied noun. To my way of thinking, the sentence translates to ... What color do you want, this one or that one? The "one" in question is the color, not some unspoken object.
May 27, 2014 - 09:26 PM
OK, so what if it is really a matter of context, after all, and not agreement of noun-pronoun within the sentence. If this were a store clerk speaking to a customer who was trying to decide between two shirts, a red and a blue one, she could be pointing to the shirts (la camisa) while she asked the customer, "Qué color quiere, esta (camisa implied) o esa (camisa implied)?? The way the original question was presented in the exercise, there is no context provided.... just the choice of one correct answer out of three possibilities. In the real world, however, there would be a context, and that "unspoken object" or "implied noun" would be right there, visible to the speakers. So if they were looking at two shirts, then "esta o esa" would make perfect sense. After thinking it through along these lines, I now disagree with my original position.... unless, of course, they were trying to decide between two handbags (el bolso), in which case "este o ese" would be correct.
May 27, 2014 - 10:30 PM
Sorry I meant object ! You say "Tengo una camiseta amarilla, esa color es amarilla", because camiseta is feminine you use esa. Maybe I'm wrong, it happens, can fluenz confirm?
May 28, 2014 - 04:51 PM
Banjo, I'm going to respectfully disagree with your disagreement of your original position. When you ask, Which color do you want, this one or that one? ... the only thing implied with the pronouns is a choice between two colors. If you were to flesh out the sentence (such as you would when you insert nouns in place of pronouns), the sentence would read, Which color do you want, this color or that color? It just doesn't seem logical to say, Which color do you want, this shirt or that shirt? That's why I think the pronoun should agree with the subject of the sentence, which is color. Doesn't seem to matter what the context is ... that you're talking about an object whose gender is feminine, because you're no longer talking about that object -- you're talking about its color, which has its own gender.
To take it a step further, if I ask in Spanish, Which eye is larger, this one or that one? ... it seems not to matter that the two eyes are on a woman when assigning gender for the pronouns. Eye is masculine. That's the subject of the sentence, regardless of whose body the eyes happen to inhabit.
To take it a step further, if I ask in Spanish, Which eye is larger, this one or that one? ... it seems not to matter that the two eyes are on a woman when assigning gender for the pronouns. Eye is masculine. That's the subject of the sentence, regardless of whose body the eyes happen to inhabit.
May 28, 2014 - 05:41 PM
Interesting discussion. Two plausible scenarios: Grammar strictly contained in the sentence vs. grammar influenced by context not directly contained in the sentence. I really don't know which is correct, so I would be greatfull to see more comments, especially from Fluenz Lab or native speakers.
Jun 03, 2014 - 12:48 PM
Hi Banjolover47
Wow, thanks a lot for letting us know! We have corrected this mistake and it will be available in the next update. You are absolutely right: "el color" is masculine in Spanish and so it should be "este o ese". Muchas gracias again!
Wow, thanks a lot for letting us know! We have corrected this mistake and it will be available in the next update. You are absolutely right: "el color" is masculine in Spanish and so it should be "este o ese". Muchas gracias again!