09/01/2025
Here are 10 notoriously tricky words/categories for English-to-Spanish translation regarding agreement, along with explanations and strategies to avoid errors.
The 10 Most Complex Words/Categories for Agreement
**1. Data / Datum**
* **The Trap:** "Data" is technically the plural of "datum," but in modern English, it's overwhelmingly treated as a singular, uncountable mass noun (e.g., "The data **is** convincing").
* **The Correct Approach:** In Spanish, **`los datos`** is **always plural**. The singular `dato` exists but is rarely used in the same way as "datum."
* **Incorrect:** *La data es importante.* (Anglicism, sounds wrong)
* **Correct:** **Los datos son** importantes.
**2. Police**
* **The Trap:** In English, "police" is a collective noun treated as plural (e.g., "The police **are** investigating").
* **The Correct Approach:** In Spanish, **`la policía`** is a **singular** collective noun. You refer to the institution as a whole.
* **Incorrect:** *La policía están investigando.*
* **Correct:** **La policía investiga** el caso. (If you need to specify officers, you use "agentes de policía" or "policías," which are plural).
**3. Staff / Team / Committee** (Collective Nouns)
* **The Trap:** These nouns can be tricky in both languages but follow different rules. In British English, they often take plural verbs ("the staff **are** happy"), focusing on the individuals. In American English, it's more common to use the singular ("the staff **is** happy").
* **The Correct Approach:** In Spanish, these nouns (**`el personal`**, **`el equipo`**, **`el comité`**) are **typically treated as singular**. The focus is on the group as a single unit.
* **Incorrect:** *El equipo están jugando bien.*
* **Correct:** **El equipo juega** bien. (If you must emphasize the individuals, you can use a plural construction: *Los miembros del equipo juegan bien*).
**4. News**
* **The Trap:** "News" looks plural but is uncountable and singular in English (e.g., "The news **is** at 6 PM").
* **The Correct Approach:** The Spanish equivalent, **`las noticias`**, is **always plural**.
* **Incorrect:** *La noticia es a las 6.* (This would mean "The piece of news is at 6," which is incorrect for a news broadcast).
* **Correct:** **Las noticias son** a las 6.
**5. Scissors / Glasses / Pants** (Bipartite Nouns)
* **The Trap:** These English nouns are always plural and require a pair of/your/etc.
* **The Correct Approach:** Their Spanish equivalents (**`las tijeras`**, **`las gafas`** / **`los lentes`**, **`los pantalones`**) are also **always plural**. The verb must agree.
* **Incorrect:** *La tijera está afilada.* (This would mean one blade of the scissor is sharp).
* **Correct:** **Las tijeras están** afiladas. **¿Dónde están mis gafas?**
**6. Economics / Physics / Statistics** (Fields of Study)
* **The Trap:** These words end in "-s" and can be mistaken for plurals.
* **The Correct Approach:** When referring to the academic discipline, they are **singular nouns** in both languages (**`la economía`**, **`la física`**, **`la estadística`**).
* **Incorrect:** *Las estadísticas son difícil.* (This means "The statistics [the numbers] are difficult.")
* **Correct:** **La estadística es** difícil. (Statistics, the subject, is difficult).
**7. None / Some / Most / All** (Quantifiers)
* **The Trap:** The verb agreement in English depends on the noun these words refer to (e.g., "None of the money **is**" vs. "None of the students **are**").
* **The Correct Approach:** Spanish follows the **ex same logic**. The verb must agree with the noun that follows `de`.
* **Incorrect:** *Ninguno de los estudiantes está aquí.* (Should be plural)
* **Correct:** **Ninguno** del dinero **está** aquí. (Singular money) | **Ninguno** de los estudiantes **están** aquí. (Plural students) *Note: "Ninguno" becomes "ningún" before a masculine singular noun.*
**8. The Number / A Number**
* **The Trap:** This is a subtle English distinction. "**The** number" is singular, while "**A** number" is plural.
* **The Correct Approach:** You must translate the meaning, not the words.
* **"The number of complaints is high."** → **El número** de quejas **es** alto. (Singular, you're talking about the number itself).
* **"A number of people are leaving."** → **Varias personas** se van. / **Un número de** personas **se van**. (Plural, "a number of" means "several").
**9. Everybody / Everyone / Nobody**
* **The Trap:** These English indefinite pronouns are singular ("Everybody **is** here").
* **The Correct Approach:** Their Spanish equivalents (**`todo el mundo`**, **`todos`**, **`nadie`**) are also **singular**. However, adjectives and pronouns referring back to them are often masculine plural by default.
* **Incorrect:** *Todos están contentas.* (Unless it's a group of only women).
* **Correct:** **Todo el mundo está** contento. **Nadie está** contento. **Todos están** contentos.
**10. There is / There are** (Existential "Hay")
* **The Trap:** English changes the verb based on the number of the noun that follows ("There **is** a dog," "There **are** three dogs").
* **The Correct Approach:** In the present tense, Spanish uses the invariant **`hay`** for **both singular and plural**. This is a major simplification, but learners often overthink it.
* **Incorrect:** *Hay un perro. ~~Habían~~ tres perros.* (The imperfect `había` is also invariant: *Había tres perros*).
* **Correct:** **Hay** un perro. **Hay** tres perros.
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How to Never Make These Errors Again: A Strategic Guide
1. **Don't Translate Words, Translate Meaning:** Before translating, ask: "What is the real-world meaning of this subject? Is it one unit or multiple things?"
2. **Identify the True Subject:** Find the main noun the verb is referring to. Ignore prepositional phrases that come between the subject and verb (e.g., "The **team** of engineers **is** working" -> **`El equipo** de ingenieros **trabaja`**).
3. **Learn Nouns with Their Article:** Don't just learn "datos," learn "**los** datos." Don't just learn "policía," learn "**la** policía." The definite article (el, la, los, las) is your best clue to a noun's inherent number.
4. **Master Collective Nouns in Spanish:** Drill into your mind that groups (`gente`, `policía`, `equipo`, `familia`) are generally singular in Spanish, even if they refer to multiple people.
5. **Beware of "False Friends" Ending in -S:** When you see a word like "estadísticas," pause. Are we talking about the field of study (singular: `La estadística`) or a set of numbers (plural: `Las estadísticas`)? Context is everything.
Ultimate goal of fluency.
