Re: CHAT: Definite/Indefinite Article Distinction

John Cowan <jcowan@...> writes:

> Well, I invite you to examine and give your commentary on
> ...
> # no ser uno hombre de pelea.  fr. fig. Carecer de ánimo, resolución y
> # habilidad para empresas varoniles o negocios de importancia.
> #
> # no tener uno hombre.  fr. No tener protector o favorecedor.
Let me expand on what Roberto said before. These phrases
are all correct, but "uno" is not an article here, it's a
pronoun ("one"), and these are citation forms (I think
that's the term) that use "uno" to stand for whatever
pronoun/noun phrase is needed. In actual use you say,
for example:

    "Pedro y Pablo son hombres de pelea."
    "Pepe no tiene hombre."
    "Eres muy hombre." (implied 2s pronoun)

Imagine you define a phrase in English as meaning
"completely lose one's hair". That's how "uno" is
being used here.


--Pablo Flores
  http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/nyh/index.html
  "The future is all around us, waiting, in moments
   of transition, to be born in moments of revelation.
   No one knows the shape of that future or where it
   will take us. We know only that it is always born
   in pain."  -- G'Kar quoting G'Quon, in "Babylon 5"

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