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I want to say "they were not any old holidays". I read the post What is the rule for cualquier, cualquiera, and cualesquiera?

I am wondering then is it: "no fueron unas vacaciones cualesquiera" or would it be better to just say "normales"?

Thanks

wimi
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Bluelion7
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  • We need context, or we can't properly translate it, "cualesquiera" sounds to me like a manual or math book. No fueron las típicas vacaciones. En realidad no hubo vacaciones. – cocteau Nov 07 '21 at 13:41
  • I guess I want to say, they are holidays that are out of the ordinary, not the usual or typical holiday. I am writing about doing the Camio in Santiago de Compostela. – Bluelion7 Nov 07 '21 at 21:52
  • I think maybe wimi has answered my question well below but if anyone else has anything to add I am happy too. – Bluelion7 Nov 07 '21 at 21:56
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    You can also use 'más' in this sense. 'No fueron unas vacaciones más'. The problem with 'cualesquiera' is that the plural form is mostly used in formal language, so a lot of people would tend to say 'no fueron unas vacaciones cualquiera', but this is frowned upon as a mistake as wimi points out below. – Ángel José Riesgo Nov 08 '21 at 08:57
  • Thanks. I always wondered what " más " meant in this context. – Bluelion7 Nov 08 '21 at 20:08

1 Answers1

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Both are correct, and there are examples of both in the press or in promotional texts:

For me, "no son unas vacaciones cualesquiera" has a slightly more emphatic meaning (i.e., they are really special holidays), but the difference is very small.

The use of cualquiera in singular form in this context is a common mistake according to DPD:

A menudo se utiliza erróneamente la forma del singular para el plural:❌«No se debe, cualquiera que sean las circunstancias, admitir que se denigre el nivel del debate» (DYucatán [Méx.] 12.9.96)

wimi
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