From an e-mail from a friend...

[laepelba]

I got an e-mail from an Uruguayan friend the other day. She doesn't speak English, so I've been trying to communicate with her in Spanish. I'm relying (maybe too heavily) on the translating software ... but it does help in communications!

Anyway - there was this sentence in her most recent message, and I'm a bit stumped by a couple of phrases within it.

"Que bueno recibir tu pronta respuesta, además te manejas muy pero muy bien con el español, la verdad te felicito!!"

I know that the first part says that it was good to receive my prompt response. And that "además" means something along the lines of "moreover".

It's the rest of the sentence that stumps me. I am guessing that "te manejas" implies something like "you handle...." So is she telling me that I am handling the Spanish language well?

What's with the part about "muy pero muy bien". I don't understand that at all.

Finally, I don't understand "la verdad te felicito". "La verdad" means the truth, right? And "te felicito" means "I congratulate you", right? So is she saying "the truth is that I congratulate you"? That sounds strange. What am I missing here?

Any help with this would be great! I can certainly answer her message without understanding more than just the gist of this sentence, but I want to make sure that I follow what she's saying!

Thanks!!

[irmamar]

We repeat "muy, pero que muy bien" to give emphasis. So your friend thinks that your ver, very good at Spanish

La verdad es que te felicito is a way of saying that he/she congratulates you:

Hablas muy bien español, la verdad es que te felicito (to give more emphasis)

Congratulations

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

You understand much more than you think, Lou Ann... you only need to trust yourself a little more.

Originally Posted by laepelba

[...]

"Qué bueno recibir tu pronta respuesta, además te manejas muy pero muy bien con el español, la verdad te felicito!!"

[...]

It's good to have received your fast answer. Besides, you handle Spanish very very well. I truly congratulate you.

"Muy pero muy" is an emphasis on "muy"... one doesn't say "muy muy" or "muy mucho".

"La verdad" is used here like "really", "truly", "honestly"...

[laepelba]

Thank you BOTH for your prompt responses! This is very helpful. I have to say that I trust myself to get a gist of a sentence like this ... but I know that it's little words and phrases and idiomatic things that can change the meaning of a sentence, and that's what I want to make sure I pick up on....

David - is it possible to add something about "muy pero muy" to the dictionary?

[laepelba]

Okay - another question from the same email. At the end of the e-mail she wrote: "ya sabés que cuando quieras volver por Uy estamos a las órdenes en mi casa." Does that mean that she wants me to stay in her home the next time I visit Uruguay? Or just that she wants me to visit her home?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

"You know now that whenever you want to come back to Uruguay, you have a place to stay".


"A tus órdenes" = "a tu servicio" is a polite way to offer you a place or a thing to use.

[laepelba]

GREAT!! Thanks!!

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Buffffffffff, In Uruguay they express themselves very differently. I would never say " manejarse bien en una lengua, I can imagine that is an anglicism from manage. Anyway, if you happen to understand his e-mails, your Spanish must be really good because he writes very realistically, I mean he writes for Spanish speakers.

[laepelba]

I'm happy that she writes for Spanish speakers when she writes to me. THAT is the kind of Spanish that I want to learn!!