English is a redundant language.
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| "I got this T for just two dollar." |
English is a redundant language just as much as Spanish is. There are plenty of examples, but here is one that concerns Spanish learners (Guayaquileans in particular). Street vendors often offer all sorts of objects from pencils to toy cars, from balloons to candy bars and all of them are (what a coincidence!) priced at one dollar and therefore offered at that price. Nevertheless, there are times when they ask for a higher price and then the following occurs: "¡Gafas a dos dólar!" they say. Of course, in Spanish that is a mistake. They should say: "¡Gafas a dos dólares! (Shades at only two dollars!). Now, here is the question: are those vendors really wrong? Is it really incorrect to say two dollar (or dos dólar for that matter)? Is it 2 not more than 1 and thus already a plural? Guayaquilean street vendors are usually partially illiterate so using the word dollar always in singular regardless of the number is something they figured out themselves just like many of the other language features we commonly deem as correct and use every day in our own language.
Is that perhaps what the future will bring?
You never know, after all the future is very much unwritten.
Comments
I have heard many mistakes like this every day, even from my own family. It is somewhat disappointing to see something like that since Spanish is our native language and they cannot even speak it well.
I think in French or Russian also there are things that are redundant as in Spanish or English but I think in Spanish there are more phrases that are redundant.
In Spanish some of the people ask "Qué horas son" but the correct form will be " Qué hora es" but I think the Ecuadorian people already undertand what you try to say. So, in some of cases you just have to talk and people will understand you at least that happens in Ecuador.
As for "sal afuera", I think that even though we speak Spanish, these mistakes are made, and they are heard a lot and everywhere.
If these errors become part of everyday life, I am sure that all the studies carried out so far on language would not have a greater purpose. Therefore, we must encourage the correct use of words when speaking or writing through continuous practice and good examples.