4 ms·

Meh, each language has its quirks. I am a native Spanish speaker, and while English pronunciation is a clusterfuck, Spanish has its own share of issues for non-

by kace91 7y ago

Meh, each language has its quirks. I am a native Spanish speaker, and while English pronunciation is a clusterfuck, Spanish has its own share of issues for non-native speakers - like the need to memorise the useless the gender of words that refer to non-gendered things. Nobody cares that a table is female, but you won't sound native if you don't know it. I'm told that some of the advanced forms of verbs (like the subjunctive) are real trouble for non native speakers, although at least learning that isn't a fruitless task.

bluGill 7y ago
I don't need to memorize table is female. I need to memorize it is "mesa" and I always use la with words than end in a. Spanish needs to fix el mapa and a small number other words that break the rule. There is no reason for two different words for the depending on how the noun ends, but since the rule is easy and there are only two I'm fine with it - it is exceptions and complex rules I'm against, not rules.
jajag 7y ago
I'm currently learning Spanish, and have to say that I don't find noun gender to be a huge problem, as generally (apart from some exceptions) if it ends in 'a' then it's feminine, and if 'o' then masculine. Compare that to German, which has no general and easy mnemonic for guessing a noun's gender, adds an additional gender, has a grammatical system where the article attached to a noun changes to that of another gender depending on case, and then to top it all off has no standard rule for creating a plural from the noun singular...
- scoutt 7y ago
  Apply that masculine/feminine rule to 'wing'/'wings', or 'sea', or 'eagle'/'eagles' in spanish :) I know those are exceptions. The thing is... there are a lot of exceptions.
- ggreer 7y ago
  La foto, la mano, la radio. El dia, el mapa, el sofa. There are plenty of words that are exceptions. English’s main issue is spelling, but every language has its quirks.

by kace91 7y ago

bluGill 7y ago

I don't need to memorize table is female. I need to memorize it is "mesa" and I always use la with words than end in a. Spanish needs to fix el mapa and a small number other words that break the rule. There is no reason for two different words for the depending on how the noun ends, but since the rule is easy and there are only two I'm fine with it - it is exceptions and complex rules I'm against, not rules.

jajag 7y ago

I'm currently learning Spanish, and have to say that I don't find noun gender to be a huge problem, as generally (apart from some exceptions) if it ends in 'a' then it's feminine, and if 'o' then masculine. Compare that to German, which has no general and easy mnemonic for guessing a noun's gender, adds an additional gender, has a grammatical system where the article attached to a noun changes to that of another gender depending on case, and then to top it all off has no standard rule for creating a plural from the noun singular...

scoutt 7y ago
Apply that masculine/feminine rule to 'wing'/'wings', or 'sea', or 'eagle'/'eagles' in spanish :) I know those are exceptions. The thing is... there are a lot of exceptions.
ggreer 7y ago
La foto, la mano, la radio. El dia, el mapa, el sofa. There are plenty of words that are exceptions. English’s main issue is spelling, but every language has its quirks.