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Old November 04, 2017, 04:00 AM
cwhybrow1 cwhybrow1 is offline
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Pintar verb confusion!

Hi, how would I say "little painted butterfly" in Spanish? I'm confused if it would be mariposita pintada or mariposa pintadita? Or neither! I'm never sure where to put the 'ita' - on the noun or the verb with things like this. Thanks!
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  #2  
Old November 04, 2017, 05:56 AM
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The diminutive goes on the noun in this case.
Diminutives can be tacked onto nouns, adjectives, adverbs and proper names, but not verbs.
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Old November 04, 2017, 09:01 AM
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Rusty is right, and it should be noted that the verb pintar and nouns related to it has more meaning to it than its English equivalent. Not being a native speaker, I hesitate before using pinta/pintar to mean to have the image of or the appearance of something that may not be. Perhaps someone more fluent than I can embellish this.
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Old November 04, 2017, 04:17 PM
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I agree with Rusty. If you use the diminutive on the past participle, then you're emphasizing the action. In this case, the painting would have to be very good and detailed.

@Poli: "Painted" here is exactly the same in Spanish, I think.
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Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; November 05, 2017 at 05:00 PM.
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Old November 04, 2017, 04:54 PM
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Angelica, I have heard, and I can't quote it directly, something like, "tiene una pinta honesta en realidad no es así. Did I hear this correctly?
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Old November 06, 2017, 09:56 AM
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@poli, I've heard "pinta" used that way. I'd translate it as "He/she seems honest..."
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Old November 06, 2017, 10:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwhybrow1 View Post
Hi, how would I say "little painted butterfly" in Spanish? I'm confused if it would be mariposita pintada or mariposa pintadita? Or neither! I'm never sure where to put the 'ita' - on the noun or the verb with things like this. Thanks!
No sé, pero yo leo "mariposita pintada"
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Old November 06, 2017, 11:34 AM
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@Poli: Yes, the verb pintar may have other meanings, like "aparentar", "parecer" and others not so clear sometimes; but when it talks about the representation of something/someone and/or its coloring with paint (or any pigment), then it works the same as in English, as it's the case here. The butterfly has paint ("pintura") on it, so in Spanish we say "pintada".

@David: Indeed, the word "pinta" often refers to an appearance.
- Tu amigo tiene pinta de ladrón. -> He looks like a thief.
- Te reconocí por la pinta. -> I recognized your body shape.
- Los postres tienen buena pinta. -> They look good.
- El profesor tiene buena pinta. -> He seems to be a good teacher.

- Este asunto no pinta bien. -> All this smells fishy.


@Pino: Cierto.
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