Breakdown of No quiero los zapatos negros; quiero los marrones.
negro
black
no
no / not
querer
to want; to love (a person)
el zapato
the shoe
marrón
brown
Questions & Answers about No quiero los zapatos negros; quiero los marrones.
Why isn't there a word for "ones" in quiero los marrones?
In Spanish, you don't need a direct translation for the English word "ones" to avoid repeating a noun. You simply use the definite article (el, la, los, or las) right before the adjective. Since we are talking about los zapatos (masculine and plural), saying los marrones perfectly translates to "the brown ones".
Why does marrones drop the written accent mark that the singular word marrón has?
The singular word marrón needs an accent mark on the "o" because it ends in "n" but the spoken stress falls on the final syllable. When you make it plural by adding "-es" to get marrones, the word now ends in "s". The natural stress rule for words ending in "s" is to stress the second-to-last syllable. This naturally lands on the "ro", which is exactly how the word is pronounced. Because the natural rule works, the written accent mark is no longer needed!
Could I just say quiero marrones instead of quiero los marrones?
Not if you want to say "the brown ones". Saying quiero marrones without the article simply means "I want brown ones" or "I want brown shoes" in a general sense. Including los in quiero los marrones specifically points to "the brown ones" from a specific group of shoes you are currently looking at or discussing.
Do I have to repeat the verb quiero in the second half of the sentence?
It is very common and sounds perfectly natural to repeat it, but you don't strictly have to. If you wanted to drop the second verb to sound more like the English translation, you would usually change the structure and use sino (meaning "but rather") to connect the contrasting ideas: No quiero los zapatos negros, sino los marrones.
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