Re: New to the list

Nik Taylor wrote:

> Patrick Dunn wrote:
> > I want tea:  "quiero te'."
> > I love you:  "te quiero."
>
> Oh, so a problem with word-order, rather than a problem with
articles.
> He was responding to a remark about articles, so I thought he was
> talking about an error arising from the use or non-use of _el_
Well, not only word order:
  "quiero tomar té."  I want to drink tea.
  "quiero tomarte."  I want to take you.

In spoken language there are prosodic features that help understand,
but you probably have to be a native or a experienced speaker to
master that... or just telegraph the sentences.

But inserting an article "quiero tomar el té" would sound a little
akward but there is no room for mistakes.

-- Carlos Th
  who is trying to remember the lyrics of a Sonora Matancera song that
said:
   "tomándote, tomando té"