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I'm doing Duolingo Spanish. The other day, I had the sentence
We are not doing it
To which I gave the answer
No la hacemos
This was marked wrong, with the correct solution of
No lo hacemos
I admit I'm not real clear on the lo, le, la difference (which Duolingo never explains), even after looking at a couple explanations online.
So, is la incorrect here (and why?), or is Duolingo (for rejecting it; they usually take most reasonable translations)?
La could work, if what you're doing is something feminine (like la tarea).
Lo is used when what you're doing is masculine (like el trabajo).
If what you're doing has no gender because it's a verb or can't be reduced to some noun (like ir de compras) you use the other lo. It's neuter, even though it looks identical.
In this case, the neuter lo is the best/most common use, but masculine lo or feminine la are both perfectly grammatical acceptable.
We are not doing it.
To answer the question we have to understand the real meaning rather that just look word by word. I see it as a bunch of people and the speaker resisting to do something.
No lo hacemos. No la hacemos.
This means "We don't do that". Which is not quite the same message you want in the original sentence.lo/la has been explained by @guifa
No lo haremos. No la haremos.
This means "We won't do that" or "We are not doing it." Which is the closer meaning I get to the original sentence. //I know "haremos" implies future it is the closest to the original meaning
-Spanish native.
