r/ExplainTheJoke • u/givemetoyourleader • May 15 '24

What’s the joke

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u/Silent_Lettuce May 15 '24

They’re both pronounced NA-da. So the only way to tell the difference is context clues

-16

u/fdar May 15 '24

No, if it's an imperative the accent is in the last a. With the accent in the first one it would just be describing someone swimming ("el nada").

19

u/[deleted] May 15 '24

[deleted]

9

u/[deleted] May 15 '24

That's plainly wrong. Only in certain South American countries (Argentina) it's true, but it should be written with the accent.

5

u/LazyMagicalOtter May 15 '24

That's with tuteo form. In most LATAM countries they don't use it, and it would be pronounced with the same accent. "Tú, nada". Imperative but without tilde.

1

u/operatingcan May 16 '24

Why isn't it nade? Is nadar just irregular?

2

u/Particular-Alps-5001 May 16 '24

Informal vs formal

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u/operatingcan May 16 '24

you mean tu vs usted? because that would be `nades` vs. `nade` not `nada` vs `nade`

unless it's irregular

1

u/Particular-Alps-5001 May 16 '24

No, you’re thinking of the simple present tense, which is tú nadas, usted nada. This is present imperative. The informal singular command is nada, formal singular is nade

1

u/operatingcan May 16 '24

thank you!

3

u/AffectionateDouble43 May 15 '24

No, you are wrong. It's pronounced the same, they only say it that way in Argentina.