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"How"This is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
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#1
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"How"
So I'm taking a Spanish course online, and one of the phrases was:
Yo sé hablar español . . . I know how to speak Spanish. But I'm not sure I how I understand why "how" doesn't have to be translated. Furthermore, if Yo sé hablar español is I know how to speak Spanish, then how would you say: I know to speak Spanish, i.e. I know to speak Spanish when I'm around Spanish people (instead of speaking English). |
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#2
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"I know to speak Spanish"? What does it mean?
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#3
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Quote:
Ayúdanos hispanos si las palabras que escogí no son los mejores As for your other question: to know how to is translated saber + the infinitive. That's just the way it is. Things often do not translate word for word, and that is the nature of language (not just Spanish and English). In the great majority of times, maybe even 99% plus, the exact meaning can be conveyed.
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Me ayuda si corrige mis errores. Gracias. |
#4
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It is actually something like "I can speak Spanish".
Quote:
Quote:
·Sé hablar español cuando estoy entre/con españoles*. -> I can speak Spanish and how to do it with Spaniards. ·Puedo hablar español cuando estoy entre/con españoles*. -> If I'm with Spaniards, I can choose to speak Spanish. "Puedo" underlines my capability to speak Spanish. ·Hablo español si/cuando estoy entre/con españoles*. -> If I'm with Spanish speaking people, I speak Spanish. *Please note: Spanish people / Spaniards = españoles Spanish speaking people = hispanohablantes, hispanoparlantes, gente que habla español. Quote:
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♪ ♫ ♪ Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the Rock'n'Roll plays... ♪ ♫ ♪ Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; September 08, 2011 at 08:12 PM. Reason: Changed statement for a nuance |
#5
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The 'I know to speak Spanish' phrase means that, out of courtesy, we speak Spanish when we're around hispanohablantes. If we speak Spanish, but choose not to speak it when everyone else in the room speaks Spanish, it's considered a breech of etiquette (rude).
I know to speak Spanish (instead of speaking English, because it would be considered rude) when I'm around Spanish people. Last edited by Rusty; September 08, 2011 at 08:05 PM. |
#6
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I see... Would you agree that we'd say then something like:
-(Sé que) debo hablar español cuando estoy entre hispanohablantes. Some impersonal ways to say it: -Hay que hablar español cuando se está entre hispanohablantes. -Se debe hablar español cuando se está entre hispanohablantes.
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♪ ♫ ♪ Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the Rock'n'Roll plays... ♪ ♫ ♪ |
#7
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Yes , to all three choices. I actually thought about posting the personal way you suggested, without the parenthetical piece, knowing that it would get the meaning across, but wondered if there was any other way to say it.
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#8
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But "I know how to speak Spanish" ("Sé cómo hablar castellano") and "I'm known to speak my mind" ("Todos saben que digo lo que pienso") are both self-contained sentences (they are their own context).
Does "I know to speak Spanish" speak as clearly and univocally as those or did you have to make a plausible context?
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#9
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Quote:
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#10
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Quote:
alone.
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Me ayuda si corrige mis errores. Gracias. |
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