Alguna in singular vs plural

Missy E.B2Kwiziq 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 3 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

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

 

Missy E. asked:

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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