Please help to identify correct sentence in Spanish.

Please help to identify correct sentence in Spanish.
 

Hello!


Here is a snippet from episode 814 of a Spanish TV series (Servir y proteger) and I need some help to identify exactly what Lidia says in this sentence. The phrase starts at 27:02.


"Bueno, a ver. No es que San José fuera la NASA, pero al menos los equipos tienen menos de diez años."


First of all what is the verb that she is using in the second part of the sentence? And secondly, I'm hearing that she says "menos-a-diez" and not "menos-de-diez". Is it correct?


P.S. In subtitles they conveyed a general sense of the sentence but not the exact words.



Thank you.

It's possible that the protagonist made a grammatical blunder (native speakers everywhere make mistakes when speaking), but I'll assume there wasn't a mistake made here and that she said 'menos de' instead of 'menos a', which wouldn't make any sense.

The subject in the second part of the sentence is 'los equipos' (the teams). The phrase used afterwards is describing how old (what age) something is (tener n años).

pero al menos los equipos tienen menos de diez años. = but at least the teams are less than 10 years old.

Thank you for your reply! "Los equipos" means the equipment, namely computers in this particular scene. So she refers to the fact that the computers at her old job (at the police station in San José) wasn't that old as this one here. But the main point is that I'm not hearing "TIENEN menos" I'm hearing something like "TRIA-menos...". Or is it just me? Also is tener really used here (as could be assumed knowing the tener N años expression) in Present Indicative? Particularly having in mind that the first part of the sentence was in Imperfect Subjunctive.


Thank you for any reply in advance!

Thanks for providing some context I didn't have, since I did not listen to the episode.
And because I didn't listen to the show, I can't say what was said.
The clause in question has no subjunctive sense to it; it is indicative.

Perhaps another forum member has/wants access to the episode (via a download of the player application) and can be of more help.

Here's what it says according to the transcript I found. Does the Spanish in the video not match the transcript?

She's making fun of the computers, sarcastically calling them "cutting edge technology" and saying that although the San José station was no NASA, they at least had equipment from this decade.

@Tomísimo: I also found the transcript, which looked at first like it's back-to-back statements, but then I realized that the two sentences are snippets, actual links, that end up placing you at two different sequences in the show, with more dialog occurring in between, but can't confirm it because I don't want to sign up and download their player. Other snippets around those two confirm that they are not the complete transcript, but are sequential links into the episode.

I was hoping someone from Spain already has access to the episodes, for those of us who don't want to download yet another application.

Yes, as I said in the initial post there is a discrepancy between the subtitles and the actual speech. Please listen to the track in the video. Then you will hear the difference. I understand the meaning but I would like to know what is the word she is saying - "tienen" or not. Anyway it doesn't sound like "tienen" to me. I actually hear an r-sound after t. But maybe it's her accent or fast speech. Anyway if anyone with good ear for Spanish could actually listen to the words in that sentence, it would be greatly appreciated.



Thank you in advance.

Later I will try to make a recording from the video (of the part of interest) and provide an access to it via common storage space on the internet to make it easier for anyone who are willing to help me.

If you can place the clip somewhere, you can attach the file using Manage Attachments, available in Additional Options in an Advanced Reply.

Unfortunately I can't add the video (mp4) this way but here is an audio (mp3) file with the fragment of the dialog. Hope this helps.

Here is the link for video file of the same fragment.


https://dropmefiles.com/mKxUQ

Well, I can verify that she isn't saying the words written in the transcript.
To me, it seems like the verb she uses is tienen. Her sentence ends in 'menos de diez años'.
I'll leave it to someone who uses her particular manner of speaking to dispel all doubts.

"Bueno, bueno, bueno. Tecnología de punta, ¿eh? Bueno, a ver, no es que San José fuera la NASA, pero al menos los equipos tenían menos de diez años."


I agree with Tomísimo. She's making fun of obsolete equipment, and comparing it to the things they had in San José, which wasn't great anyway.

She's saying something like: "Well, well, well. Cutting-edge technology, huh? So, San Jose was no NASA, but at least the equipment was less than ten years old". :)



Just like in English, some regional accents drop ' and "smoothen" () some sounds to make the words easier to pronounce.

Her sentence sounds a little like: "Bueno, bueno, bueno. Tecnología'e punta, ¿eh? Bueno, (a)ver, no es que San José fuer(a) la NASA, pero al menos los equipos tenían menos (de) diez años."

Thank you for you replies. I really think that she says "tenían menos" but for some reason "en" after "t" sound like an "R-sound". Maybe just a slip in a fast speech.


I've got 2 more questions. From continuation of the same dialog. After Salgado (her boss) tells Lidia "Sabes que no es necesario decir todo lo que piensas, verdad?", so that she should not tell all she thinks right away, she replies with this: "Ah, es que, me viene de fábrica". I understand that this could be translated as "I was born this way", is it correct? Also is this some kind of metaphor, stable expression in Spanish or what?


Later, Salgado introduces her to Guevarra who is going to be her partner. After Salgado insists that Lidia helps Guevarra with currently investigated case of assassination of police officer, he reacts negatively, telling that she has just arrived and is still very young to be brought onto such a delicate case. When she tells him that she served in police for quite some time in Zaragoza he tells her: "Supongo que habrá llevado (usted) varios casos de asesinatos con premeditación en Zaragoza". Here are my questions - what is the tense for the verb llevar used there and is it correct to use such tense (after "suppongo que" should be a verb in subjunctive mood)? Also is it correct to use "usted" after the verb? This word is not in subtitles, but it is what I hear. And what would be the translation of the verb here?


Thank you for any reply in advance!

Here is the link for the video of the fragments and some context as well.


https://dropmefiles.com/oiwFh

Yes, it can be interpreted as you suggest. It's literal meaning isn't at play here, since she wasn't created in a shop somewhere.Habrá llevado is the conjugated, third-person singular, future perfect tense form of the verb llevar. It is translated into English as 'will have brought'. When you suppose something, this is a statement of something real. So, the indicative mood is properly used here.
Yes. The third-person form is also used for 'he' or 'she,' so using 'usted' ensures no ambiguity. If it's perfectly clear that 'usted' was the only possible subject pronoun, then using it adds emphasis to the pronoun.

In this case can you explain to me the use of the future tense when speaking clearly of the past? He is asking her about whether there have been such cases before there or not. Not directly asking, but suggesting it.

The tense is designated as future, but in Spanish the future tense can be used to signify 'must', or something to that effect. Habrá venido Juan. = John should/must have come by now.

So, the real question is translated as 'must have brought' or something similar. Sorry to not have explained this usage when I wrote earlier.

Adding to Rusty's explanations:


- "(Venir) de fábrica" does mean to be born with a certain characteristic. It is a set expression, which is to be understood in context.

· Tengo cuatro lunares en la rodilla. Vienen de fábrica. -> I was born with four moles on the knee.
· Ese mal carácter que tienes, ¿es de fábrica? -> Where you born with such a bad temper?
· La consciencia social me viene de fábrica. Mis padres eran militantes comunistas. -> I was born with a social conscience. My parents were activists of the Communist Party.


- Sometimes, the use of the future in Spanish introduces a guess.

· Supongo que Juan ya habrá llegado a casa a esta hora. -> Because of the hour, I'm assuming Juan is already at home.
· Ana no responde mis llamadas. ¿Será que ya no me quiere? -> Ana is not replying to my calls. I wonder if she doesn't love me anymore.
· No sé si esta cama tan grande cabrá en mi recámara. -> I don't know if such a big bed like this will fit in my bedroom.
· Por tu culpa Roberto tuvo un accidente. Ya estarás contento. -> Because of you Roberto had an accident. Are you happy now?


- As Rusty, said, the use of "usted" erases the ambiguity and depending on the attitude, it also adds emphasis to what you're saying. Also, depending on the context, it may also add a polite tone to the sentence.

· Lo que está usted diciendo es falso. -> What you are saying, sir/ma'am, is false.
· ¡Cállese! No me importa lo que usted quiera decir. -> Shut up! I don't care what you say.
· ¿Se siente usted cansado? Venga, siéntese. -> Are you feeling tired, ma'am/sir? Come here, take a sit.
· Permítame usted ofrecerle un café. -> Let me offer you a coffee, sir,/ma'am.

Thank you for your replies. Can you clarify one more thing? In the phrase "Supongo que habrá llevado usted" can "usted" be used before or right after "habrá"? So would be "habrá usted llevado" or "usted habrá llevada" correct usage?



And also does this tense have subjunctive mood or not? I suppose it should since he is just suggesting it (making an assumption) and is not stating the fact.