Thread: Simple Birthday Translation

Originally Posted by SandraT

Yes Vicente, amigos would be better for this type of note. amistades is not wrong AT ALL but considering this is a note for a 10 year old, amigos sounds better.
Perhaps my consideration is too regional but I am also thinking about my own son and he would not use the word amistades, he would say amigos and of course, we (his parents) referring to his friends, would say amigos as well. Perhaps when he grows older...

What do you think Dragona?

I agree with you, Sandra! That's an excellent explanation and it's not regional (or, in any case, any such region extends to Argentina): . The generic term in Spanish is much more common (remember that we still* use the masculine plural as a generic reference).

*Many people are trying to convince us to avoid this use, but I think that it is a custom which will stay with us for many years. Imagine to use always the masculine and the feminine in order not to discriminate against women... I just don't agree since, in this way, the language would lose its main purpose --to communicate!

Originally Posted by vicente

In the context of the note I would have used the neutral "amigos" (friends) rather than "amistades" (friendships).

Would I have been wrong?

No, Vicente, not at all... I think "amistades" sounds more formal than "amigos", that's why Sandra says a 10-year-old kid wouldn't use it... and I agree, but both are grammatically correct.

Yes, amistades is more formal.
Amigos is more generalized for both sexes.

Originally Posted by ryanjmx

Hi Alisa,

You're right about the accent marks being backwards. On most computers running Microsoft Windows you can go to the "Regional and Language Options" within the Control Panel, select the Languages tab and then add the Spanish keyboard. If you need help let me know.

- Ryan.

Thanks for the info on this Ryan, I added the Spanish keyboard as an option but honestly I think I'll just stick with the key commands in the English keyboard for now; the Spanish one has some shortcuts that are handy but completely slow down my normally fast typing speed because of unexpected characters. I did find out how to do the correct direction on the accent marks however.

Originally Posted by mem286

No, Vicente, not at all... I think "amistades" sounds more formal than "amigos", that's why Sandra says a 10-year-old kid wouldn't use it... and I agree, but both are grammatically correct.

Thank you Mer, Vicente, Dragona, Guadalupe & Sandra for all your suggestions!

I did end up using "amigos" versus "amistades" but learned a new word also so that's good. Oh and by the way my card was received very well. Thanks to all who helped!

Originally Posted by Guadalupe

I agree with you, Sandra! That's an excellent explanation and it's not regional (or, in any case, any such region extends to Argentina): . The generic term in Spanish is much more common (remember that we still* use the masculine plural as a generic reference).

*Many people are trying to convince us to avoid this use, but I think that it is a custom which will stay with us for many years. Imagine to use always the masculine and the feminine in order not to discriminate against women... I just don't agree since, in this way, the language would lose its main purpose --to communicate!

Thanks for the reminder on generic references always being masculine Guadalupe, and you make a great point about the ease of communication and how that might change if this rule changed!