Thread: Translations
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Old May 09, 2012, 10:27 PM
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Inti Raymi is a festival that takes place in Cuzco, Peru on June 24th, which is the date of the southern hemisphere's winter solstice.
Inti Raymi es una fiesta que ...... (the machine gave 'se lleva a cabo', which is OK - 'llevarse a cabo' (the infinitive form) is an idiomatic expression that means 'take place' - if you don't have a good enough dictionary to find this, you can think of a replacement for 'take place', like 'occur' - this verb is easily found in a dictionary and conjugation is a cinch) en Cuzco, Peru en (omit) el 24 de junio, ...... es la fecha (the machine gave 'que es la fecha' - I would use 'día' as the translation of 'date') ...... (the machine gave 'del solsticio de invierno en el hemisferio sur' - this is a good translation - note how 'winter solstice', two nouns, the first modifying the second, is rendered in Spanish (main noun + 'de' + modifier noun))

It is celebrated in honor of the Sun God, and is now the second largest festival in South America.
La fiesta ('it' is the subject, instead of 'la fiesta', but when 'it' is the subject, it isn't said) es celebra (the English version is in the passive voice, and the machine gave the more common way to express it (the passive voice isn't used nearly as often as we use it in English) - you almost got the passive voice right - it's 'ser' + 'past participle', so 'es celebrado' is what you meant to write - REMEMBER, though, that the passive voice alternative the machine gave is much better to use) ...... (the machine translation 'en honor del dios del sol' is good, but 'en honor del dios Sol' is probably a better translation - the rest of the translation given by the machine is a bit clunky - I would search for how to say the literal 'the festival second most big' if I were you)

Festival guests worship the Sun God so he can bring them a good harvest.
Los invitados de fiesta (here you did better than the machine) ...... (the machine offered an unconjugated 'adorar' for 'worship' - if you conjugate it, that'd be a good choice for the verb - notice the 'al dios Sol' that follows the verb - this is correct (better machine translation of 'the Sun God' in this sentence) - if you don't understand the word 'al', let us know - the words that the machine gave next are garbage - the correct translation of 'so he can bring them' requires use of the subjunctive mood, which you probably don't know - you may want to revise the sentence, using structures you know - start with the correct translation of 'bring them' ('them' is an indirect object pronoun))

Young people and old people alike enjoy the festivities.
Los jovenes y los mayores les gustan ...... (the machine translation was closer, but it failed to conjugate the verb, again)

The people dance and play instruments.
Las personas bailan y tocan los instrumentos. (here you did MUCH better than the machine! - Instead of 'las personas', use 'la gente' - note that this subject is singular, unlike your choice, but at least your choice of verbs was CORRECT - make sure to check subject-verb agreement when you change the subject)

They have a party in the streets.
(Ellos) tienen una fiesta en las calles. (The subject is already known, so there's no need to provide the subject pronoun in Spanish. You've moved the focus from the group to the individuals, which is what I would do.)

When we went to Peru, we received invitations to the festival.
Cuando fuimos en Peru, recibimos unas invitaciones para/a la fiesta. (again, you did BETTER than the machine)

We attended a street fair and bought flowers, candy and cookies.
Fuimos (look up 'attend' and conjugate it into the preterite) ...... ('una feria de la calle' is correct) y compramos (very good - you got the right person and it is in the preterite) las flores, los dulces, y las galletas. (omit the articles)

The street decorations were very beautiful.
Las decoraciones (much better than the machine's choice of subject) de la calle ...... ('eran' is the imperfect tense of 'ser' - I would change it to the preterite tense) muy bonitas.

We also went to concerts where they had live music from Peruvian musical groups.
Tambien, fuimos a los conciertos donde ...... (the machine used the imperfect tense - this is fine, but I would choose another verb, like 'tocar', and conjugate it in the imperfect tense) musica (you left out 'live' here - the machine had it right) de grupos de..... (use an adjective to modify 'grupos' instead of trying to use two nouns)

Preparations for the festival take place a year in advance.
Los preparativos para la fiesta (translate 'the festival') ...... (the machine translation is a mess - try conjugating 'llevarse a cabo' or a simpler verb, like 'make' using the passive 'se' construction the machine used above (instead of the passive voice) - 'un año de antelación' is a good translation; there are others)

Our plans are already made for the next time we visit Peru.
Nuestros planes ya ...... (the machine gave 'están hechas' - can you see the mistake in it?) para ...... (the word 'nido' in the machine translation came from a mistake you made, most likely, typing 'nest' instead of 'next' - try looking up 'the next time' - use 'vez' instead of 'tiempo', for 'time') vamos Peru (translate 'visit Peru', and don't forget the accent in the country's name).

We plan to go to the ceremony of the Sun God.
Pensamos ir (very good alternative!) ...... (after 'a la ceremonia' the machine has it wrong - I've already given you the correct translation for 'of the Sun God')

We will also have a picnic with las empanadas and el ponche.
Tambien, vamos a hacer un picnic con las empanadas y el ponche. (no articles needed)

As always, we will show photos of the festival to our friends.
Como siempre, vamos a ensenar (the machine's choice of verb is better (you misspelled your choice) - you need an article before 'fotos') fotos de la fiesta a nos (use the determiner 'our' here, like you did three sentences higher, instead of an object pronoun) amigos.

We also plan on watching the sacrifice of the white llamas and to talk to the locals.
Tambien, pensamos ver (good alternative) ...... (translate 'the sacrifice of white llamas' - 'blanco' is an adjective, not a noun that modifies a noun, so there's no 'noun' + 'de' + 'noun' structure needed here ->) de....de blanco (check noun-adjective agreement) y pensamos charlar a (I like 'charlar' - very good) ...... (translate 'the locals' - some alternatives: 'people', 'inhabitants', 'city folk' - what the machine gave is not commonly used)

....................


First off, thanks for giving this a shot. In more than a few cases, you actually provided a better translation than the machine gave. Good job!

I have separated out each sentence so that hints (in purple) could be written for each one. The mistakes are in red. I ran out of time, but have given you plenty to think about. Ask questions about anything you don't understand. Repost corrected sentences so we can have another look.

Last edited by Rusty; May 10, 2012 at 08:43 AM. Reason: changed some wording and improved look
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