Literalness of English interpretationsHello Lawless Spanish,
I JUST found your excellent web site.
I've been using various means to learn Spanish over the last 1.5 years,
but your site seems to be the best resource so far. I'm still at A1 however.
Here's a
thought that I'd be interested to know your opinion on. Often while
reading an English interpretation of a Spanish phrase or sentence, I
think I would like to have the more literal translation rather than the
Spanish being re-worded in order to be a grammatical English sentence.
Because I don't care about English grammar or want my English reinforced
when I'm trying to understand how a Spanish speaker constructs their
thoughts linguistically. Do you know what I mean?
Take the example from the first exercise I happened to land on, Corro para estar en forma. It
would be helpful to see a more literal translation, then I get a better
idea of the words and structure a Spanish speaker uses. In the example,
"estar en forma" is re-interpreted as "to keep fit." That is quite a
departure from the literal. I think an English speaker is quite capable
of recognizing a more literal translation "to be in form" because it is
identical to the common English phrase "to be in shape." So while I know
authors are trying to be helpful with English re-interpretations, I
often feel cheated out of knowing a more literal construction and
wording, and in the process authors may even be making less-accurate
interpretations (such as "to keep fit" instead of the better "to be in shape.").
What do you think?
Hello, I'm trying to get a better understanding of when to use different constructions.
Specifically:
Si Amalia va al mercado, comprará pescado fresco.
Si Amalia fuera al mercado, compraría pescado fresco.
These two constructions express the same idea. How do we know which one to choose? Is our choice solely based on the probability of the action in the "si" clause?
Thanks.
definitivamente vale la pena si visite españa. Hay aeropuerto
Hello Lawless Spanish,
I JUST found your excellent web site. I've been using various means to learn Spanish over the last 1.5 years, but your site seems to be the best resource so far. I'm still at A1 however.
Here's a thought that I'd be interested to know your opinion on. Often while reading an English interpretation of a Spanish phrase or sentence, I think I would like to have the more literal translation rather than the Spanish being re-worded in order to be a grammatical English sentence. Because I don't care about English grammar or want my English reinforced when I'm trying to understand how a Spanish speaker constructs their thoughts linguistically. Do you know what I mean?
Take the example from the first exercise I happened to land on, Corro para estar en forma. It would be helpful to see a more literal translation, then I get a better idea of the words and structure a Spanish speaker uses. In the example, "estar en forma" is re-interpreted as "to keep fit." That is quite a departure from the literal. I think an English speaker is quite capable of recognizing a more literal translation "to be in form" because it is identical to the common English phrase "to be in shape." So while I know authors are trying to be helpful with English re-interpretations, I often feel cheated out of knowing a more literal construction and wording, and in the process authors may even be making less-accurate interpretations (such as "to keep fit" instead of the better "to be in shape."). What do you think?
I wrote, La pantilla hizo huelga, but it was marked wrong, and the correct answer was El personal hizo huelga. Isn't la pantilla the same as el personal?
¡Gracias!
when I find one that seems same I will add it
If I wanted to say 'i may be going away on that day' would I use ir, irse or another verb? Also, would the verb be in the subjunctive?
Thanks in advance
Hola, I’m confused about the English translation, which uses the noun make-up (maquillaje in Spanish). However the Spanish uses the verb se maquilla, which I thought means to put on make up (Because of all the makeup she puts on..). Muchas gracias, Shirley.
Do you mean that *ese* is used when both conditions are true or just one?
“ese, esa, esosand esas are translated as that and thoseand they all refer to:1. objects/people that are near the listener (not the speaker)
2. objects/people that are far from the speaker (medium distance)”
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