Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Translations


Advanced Translation Help

 

If you need help translating a sentence or longer piece of text, use this forum. For translations or definitions of a single word or idiom, use the vocabulary forum.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 02, 2016, 11:55 AM
Shiny Shiny is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3
Shiny is on a distinguished road
Advanced Translation Help

Hello! I need help translating the following passage into Spanish:

"I got a pair of sunglasses this morning. I wouldn't have bothered if my friend Jacob had not first gotten a pair and begun wearing them. He was being ironic because the sunglasses were promoting a college which I knew that he couldn't have the slightest interest in, but there he was wearing the sunglasses and even a promotional button, looking like the perfect college hopeful. His cheerful humor was infectious, so I got a pair and joined in".

I've been trying to translate it myself for quite a while, but I'm not sure when to use imperfect subjunctive or imperfect conditional or perfect subjunctive or whatever this combination of tenses could be, and it just gets me all mixed up. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old October 02, 2016, 12:49 PM
wrholt's Avatar
wrholt wrholt is offline
Sapphire
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1,401
Native Language: US English
wrholt is on a distinguished road
Please post your own attempt at a translation, and we can help you to refine it.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 02, 2016, 03:06 PM
Shiny Shiny is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3
Shiny is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrholt View Post
Please post your own attempt at a translation, and we can help you to refine it.
Oh, of course. I'll italicize the parts which I'm particularly unsure of:

Esta mañana obtuve unas gafas del sol. No me hubiera molestado si mi amigo Jacob no ya hubiera obtenido unas de las mismas gafas del sol. Estaba siendo irónico por que las gafas del sol promueven una unversidad cual yo sabía que no podía sentir interés por, pero allí estaba llevando las gafas del sol e incluso un alfiler promocional, aparentando como el aspirante colegio perfecto. Su humor alegre era infeccioso, así que obtenía unas gafas y me unía.

I'm keenly aware that this translation is atrocious. It's extremely literal, I seriously doubt that the tenses are in agreement, and I lack knowledge of many basic transitive verbs; but it's the best I can do.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 02, 2016, 05:01 PM
aleCcowaN's Avatar
aleCcowaN aleCcowaN is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Posts: 3,127
Native Language: Castellano
aleCcowaN is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiny View Post
"I got a pair of sunglasses this morning. I wouldn't have bothered if my friend Jacob had not first gotten a pair and begun wearing them. He was being ironic because the sunglasses were promoting a college which I knew that he couldn't have the slightest interest in, but there he was wearing the sunglasses and even a promotional button, looking like the perfect college hopeful. His cheerful humor was infectious, so I got a pair and joined in".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiny View Post
Esta mañana obtuve unas gafas del sol. No me hubiera molestado si mi amigo Jacob no ya hubiera obtenido unas de las mismas gafas del sol. Estaba siendo irónico por que las gafas del sol promueven una unversidad cual yo sabía que no podía sentir interés por, pero allí estaba llevando las gafas del sol e incluso un alfiler promocional, aparentando como el aspirante colegio perfecto. Su humor alegre era infeccioso, así que obtenía unas gafas y me unía.
Not so atrocious as you thought:

Esta mañana obtuve unas gafas para sol. No me hubiera molestado si mi amigo Jacob no hubiera obtenido antes las mismas gafas. Era irónico porque esas gafas para sol promueven una universidad por la cual yo sabía que él no podía sentir interés alguno, pero allí estaba él llevando las gafas para sol e incluso un distintivo promocional, aparentando ser el aspirante perfecto a la universidad. Su humor alegre era contagioso, así que obtuve unas gafas y me le uní.
__________________
[gone]
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old October 02, 2016, 05:21 PM
Shiny Shiny is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3
Shiny is on a distinguished road
Thank you, this is very helpful!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old October 31, 2016, 12:23 PM
mwtzzz mwtzzz is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: California
Posts: 155
Native Language: English
mwtzzz is on a distinguished road
fyi can also say "gafas oscuras"

I'll take aleCcowan's translation and translate it back to English:

"This morning I got some dark glasses. I wouldn't have bothered if my friend Jacob had not gotten the same glasses before. It is ironic because those glasses promote a university in which I knew he could not feel any interest, but there he was wearing the dark glasses and furthermore a promotional button, appearing as [to be] the perfect university candidate. His upbeat humor was contagious, so I got some glasses and joined him."

a few notes:
* you only bought the glasses once, so obtuve instead of obtenía. Same for uní versus unía.
* in english we often say "which he is not interested in" but technically this is not correct. we're supposed to say "in which he is not interested" which is more helpful when translating to Spanish because the Spanish follows the correct form.
* "me uní" = "i join myself" which doesn't make sense. you need to include "you yourself is joining with whom" ... "me le uní" = " I joined him" ie. you joined your friend

Last edited by mwtzzz; October 31, 2016 at 12:34 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old October 31, 2016, 05:37 PM
Rusty's Avatar
Rusty Rusty is offline
Señor Speedy
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 11,299
Native Language: American English
Rusty has a spectacular aura aboutRusty has a spectacular aura about
@mwtzzz: In English, there is nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition. Here are a couple of links that dispel this myth.
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/edu...-a-preposition
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/pa...eposition.html
Reply With Quote
Reply

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Intermediate-advanced spanish grammar learning resources jasee Grammar 0 January 04, 2014 03:28 PM
Advanced Spanish... self-learning? expected skills? ooo Teaching and Learning Techniques 1 March 18, 2012 09:15 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:57 AM.

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

X