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  #1  
Old April 16, 2012, 07:52 PM
Sunflower Sunflower is offline
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Help translating a quote?

"Dreads do not grow just on the outside. They also grow inward. They grow into your brain so you think differently. Then they grow into your eyes so you see differently. And then they grow into your heart so you feel differently."

My attempt is:

"Los dreads no crecen solamente por fuera. También crecen hacia adentro. Crecen en tu miente así pienses diferentemente. Entonces crecen en tus ojos así ves diferentemente. Y entonces crecen en tu corazon así te sientes diferentemente."

I feel like this is completely wrong because I don't know if crecer can be used that way, and I'm not sure if I should be using a slightly more impersonal construction like, "crecen en los ojos así uno ve diferentemente" although the original paragraph seems pretty strongly second person.

Any help is appreciated!
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  #2  
Old April 16, 2012, 08:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunflower View Post
"Dreads do not grow just on the outside. They also grow inward. They grow into your brain so you think differently. Then they grow into your eyes so you see differently. And then they grow into your heart so you feel differently."

My attempt is:

"Los miedos no crecen solamente por fuera. También crecen hacia/por adentro. Crecen en tu mente/cerebro para que pienses diferente. Entonces crecen en tus ojos para que veas diferente. Y entonces crecen en tu corazon para que pienses/sientas diferente."

I feel like this is completely wrong because I don't know if crecer can be used that way, and I'm not sure if I should be using a slightly more impersonal construction like, "crecen en los ojos así uno ve diferentemente" although the original paragraph seems pretty strongly second person.

Any help is appreciated!
Instead of "crecer" you can use "aparecer" (appear)
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Old April 16, 2012, 08:38 PM
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Rusty Rusty is offline
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Please provide a definition of 'dreads'.

If you're not addressing a specific person, you should be using an impersonal construction. I would use the 'se impersonal' instead of 'uno'. You would also not use the determiners, but would use the articles, instead (no 'tus ojos', sino 'los ojos').

cerebro = brain
mente = mind
miente = a conjugated form of the verb mentir or mentar

hacia fuera (hacia adentro)
corazón

Your usage of 'así' is not correct. That word means 'like that/thus'.
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Old April 16, 2012, 09:16 PM
Sunflower Sunflower is offline
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Dreads are another term for dreadlocks: ropes of matted hair common in Rastafari, but other non-Rasta folks have them, too. And I used "miente" because it carries more connotations of thinking for me, but on second thought, I like the more literal brain/cerebro translation better.

Gaah! That's what was wrong about it: I should have been using the subjunctive! I probably would have had no problem if I weren't translating someone else's words. That's what I get for trying to quote somebody.

So, using the subjuntive construction and the se impersonal I've got:

"Los dreads no crecen solamente por fuera. También crecen por adentro. Crecen en el cerebro para que se piense diferente. Entonces crecen en los ojos para que se vea diferente. Y entonces crecen en tu corazón para que se sienta uno diferente."
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Old April 16, 2012, 09:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunflower View Post
Dreads is another term for dreadlocks (That's what I thought you meant, but wanted to make sure.)

...

Los dreads no crecen solamente hacia fuera. También crecen hacia adentro. Crecen en el cerebro causando que se piense diferente. Entonces crecen en los ojos ocasionando que se vea diferente. Y entonces crecen en el corazón con consecuencia de que se sienta uno diferente."
I believe the corrections I've made yield a literal translation of the English paragraph, but there are most likely other ways to say the same thing without being so literal (waxing towards poetry). One of our illustrious native speakers may be able to help you out.

Last edited by Rusty; April 16, 2012 at 09:57 PM.
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Old April 16, 2012, 10:22 PM
Sunflower Sunflower is offline
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Thank you! I think I'm going to keep it as literal as I can, though. I like translations to stick as close to the original words as possible.

Are you sure it shouldn't be "se sienta uno" though? I thought that when doing an impersonal construction with a reflexive verb, you should add "uno" as a subject.
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Old April 17, 2012, 12:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunflower View Post
I thought that when doing an impersonal construction with a reflexive verb, you should add "uno" as a subject.
Yes, that sounds like a good thing to do.
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Old April 17, 2012, 08:23 AM
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Ha! Context as always.
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