Spanish language learning forums

Spanish language learning forums (http://forums.tomisimo.org/index.php)
-   Idioms & Sayings (http://forums.tomisimo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=30)
-   -   No hay mal que por bien no venga (http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=5000)

DeanQuest August 11, 2009 07:14 AM

No hay mal que por bien no venga
 
Can someone please literally translate the title to English? I know that figuratively it means "Every dark cloud has a silver lining" or something to that effect.

I've searched this site and the web but have not found a literal translation.

My translation is: "There is no bad that comes from good."

Thanks,

DeanQuest

Tomisimo August 11, 2009 08:38 AM

Here's an explanation I gave in another thread. I've copied it here for you.

Let's walk through the meaning.

No hay mal que por bien no venga.
Grammatically, we can change this to:

No hay mal que no venga por bien.
Now let's make it a bit more explicit:

No hay cosa mala que no venga sino por tu bien.
Now, if we try to translate that literally into English, it'll look kinda funny since we wouldn't normally use double negatives like that:

There is no bad thing that comes(that happens to you), that didn't come (or happen to you) for your benefit
We might normally turn that around and make it an affirmative sentence:

All bad things come/happen to your for your benefit/for a reason
Hope this explanation somehow helps you a bit:)

ROBINDESBOIS August 12, 2009 10:37 AM

But every cloud .......etc... sería algo así como todo incluso lo malo, tiene su lado bueno. Bueno es difícil buscar el exacto, porque hablamos de diferentes culturas.

DeanQuest August 16, 2009 05:14 AM

Thank you, Tomisimo, for your derivation of the idiom. Your example is in the precise format I was hoping to find. Very thoughtful of you to take the time to generate your derivation in such a way as to easily satisfy the curiosity of early Spanish students like myself. Sorry I didn't discover your earlier post in a previous search of this site. I will search the subject again with different criteria.

Thank you also, RobinDesBois. I haven't learned enough Spanish at this time to fully understand your post, but hopefully, I soon will.

Thanks again,

DeanQuest


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:00 PM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.