Probablity vs futuro imperfecto

Linda L.B1KwizIQ community member

Probablity vs futuro imperfecto

Both my native certified teacher from Madrid and ChatGTP agree that this translation is wrong. There's no "might" about it - the neighbors WILL call. There is no nuance here. 

Un árbol se ha caído; los vecinos llamarán al ayuntamiento.

 

 

A tree has fallen down; the neighbours might [sic] call the council.

Please consider these changes: 

"El Futuro Simple, also known as El Futuro Imperfecto, is used when we want to express the probability of something happening in the PRESENT" -- i.e., not the future.

And replace bad (what you call "nuanced") examples with ones that make sense like:

 

 

 

 

Dónde está Ana?? [i.e., right now, in the present] --Estará en casa. (She's probably at home.)

Quién llama?? [i.e., right now, in the present] --Será Pablo. (It's probably Pablo.)

 

 

 

Asked 2 weeks ago
SilviaKwizIQ Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Linda L.

Thank you for your feedback. We think you've highlighted a genuine weakness in this example. While the future tense can express probability about a future event, the sentence "Un árbol se ha caído; los vecinos llamarán al ayuntamiento" is much more naturally interpreted as a simple future ("The neighbours will call the council.") than as a probability ("might call").

The point we wanted to illustrate is explained later in the lesson—that these sentences can be understood as if an expression such as Imagino que... or Supongo que... had been omitted—but we agree this particular example doesn't demonstrate that nuance very clearly.

We'll review the wording and consider replacing it with a more clearly probabilistic example. Thanks for pointing it out.

Saludos

Silvia

Linda L. asked:

Probablity vs futuro imperfecto

Both my native certified teacher from Madrid and ChatGTP agree that this translation is wrong. There's no "might" about it - the neighbors WILL call. There is no nuance here. 

Un árbol se ha caído; los vecinos llamarán al ayuntamiento.

 

 

A tree has fallen down; the neighbours might [sic] call the council.

Please consider these changes: 

"El Futuro Simple, also known as El Futuro Imperfecto, is used when we want to express the probability of something happening in the PRESENT" -- i.e., not the future.

And replace bad (what you call "nuanced") examples with ones that make sense like:

 

 

 

 

Dónde está Ana?? [i.e., right now, in the present] --Estará en casa. (She's probably at home.)

Quién llama?? [i.e., right now, in the present] --Será Pablo. (It's probably Pablo.)

 

 

 

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