Alguna in singular vs plural

MissyB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Alguna in singular vs plural

In the quiz question 

He imprimido nuestras fotografías del viaje, ¿ quieres ver _____ ?  

The answer was the singular alguna, and I only knew this from the hint. It seems like the person who was offering to share the photos was being stingy only allowing 1 or 2 photos to share. Would it be wrong if I had a stack of 20 photos to say, Quieres ver algunas? It seems to be a more generous approach to allow another person to see more than just a select 1 or 2 photos. 

Asked 2 years ago
InmaKwiziq team member

Hola Missy

There is no difference in the intention to show one or twenty photos when we use alguna or algunas here. There is a little section in this lesson that says that this particular use of alguno/alguna in singular when we are really referring to a plural is to convey "some" but with the nuance of being "non-specific and referring to one or some items". It is something that, as far as I know, in English doesn't exist as such; this is why it is a bit difficult to see and explain. Using it this way we take the meaning of this "alguno/alguna" as a random number, it could be one, two, a few..., non-specific.

Saludos

Inma

 

Alguna in singular vs plural

In the quiz question 

He imprimido nuestras fotografías del viaje, ¿ quieres ver _____ ?  

The answer was the singular alguna, and I only knew this from the hint. It seems like the person who was offering to share the photos was being stingy only allowing 1 or 2 photos to share. Would it be wrong if I had a stack of 20 photos to say, Quieres ver algunas? It seems to be a more generous approach to allow another person to see more than just a select 1 or 2 photos. 

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