Confused about plurals

Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Confused about plurals

Regarding this quiz question: 

Tengo estos dos pares de botas, ¿________prefieres?  

The answer is “cuáles” which means that “par” is plural, and not singular as in English. Is this correct? In general, when do we think of groups as plural?

 Also, how does this affect general usage? Do we say, “los par son bonitos”? Thanks.

Asked 11 months ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Marcos

It's "un par de botas" (a pair of boots) and in plural: "dos, tres, cuatro pares de botas"

For this particular question in the test you can either use "¿cuál prefieres? if you are selecting between a pair or another pair, or you can also ask using the plural "¿cuáles prefieres? as in "which boots" (not which pair).

What you would say to refer to a nice pair of boots is "este par [de botas] es bonito" if you are referring to just one pair of boots that you're looking at. But if you're looking at, say, two pairs that are displayed side by side for example and you like both pairs, you'd say "estos pares de botas son bonitos". 

I hope this clarified it.

Saludos cordiales. 

Inma

Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Yes, it seems like the speaker decides whether to refer to the boots separately or in pairs. Thanks, Inma.

Confused about plurals

Regarding this quiz question: 

Tengo estos dos pares de botas, ¿________prefieres?  

The answer is “cuáles” which means that “par” is plural, and not singular as in English. Is this correct? In general, when do we think of groups as plural?

 Also, how does this affect general usage? Do we say, “los par son bonitos”? Thanks.

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