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  #1  
Old December 04, 2010, 08:54 PM
Jessicake Jessicake is offline
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El baño

I have been told that while in the US you would ask to use the "bathroom" when you need to use the toilet, in other English speaking countries this is a very odd thing to say because if you ask for the bathroom you are asking to use the bathtub in that room. Is this also the case in some Spanish speaking countries?


I'm curious because I would feel very silly if I asked a stranger if I could bathe in their home.
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  #2  
Old December 04, 2010, 09:05 PM
ChilenoAlemanCanada ChilenoAlemanCanada is offline
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Asking to use the bathroom in other English-speaking countries wouldn't be the same as asking to bathe in their home. It's merely a different way of saying it.
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Old December 05, 2010, 12:45 AM
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In, spain, asking for the bahtroom ("el baño") is always asking to to the toilet. For taking a shower or using the bathtub are other expresions:
asking for the toilet:
¿puedo ir al baño?
¿podría usar su baño?
¿Puedo ir al servicio?

asking for the baththub
¿Podría darme una ducha?
¿donde podría ducharme?
Necesito lavarme completamente. ¿puedo usar su baño?

saludos
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  #4  
Old December 05, 2010, 08:44 AM
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vita32 vita32 is offline
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"Restroom" is another term used in USA for bathroom (toilet). This term is commonly used and is a label for all public bathrooms (toilets). I don't know if the term is also used in all public toilets in all English speaking countries.
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  #5  
Old December 05, 2010, 09:07 AM
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Perikles Perikles is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vita32 View Post
"Restroom" is another term used in USA for bathroom (toilet). This term is commonly used and is a label for all public bathrooms (toilets). I don't know if the term is also used in all public toilets in all English speaking countries.
Never in the UK.
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  #6  
Old December 05, 2010, 09:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Perikles View Post
Never in the UK.
Thanks, Perikles. It's good to know.
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  #7  
Old December 09, 2010, 04:05 PM
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CrOtALiTo CrOtALiTo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessicake View Post
I have been told that while in the US you would ask to use the "bathroom" when you need to use the toilet, in other English speaking countries this is a very odd thing to say because if you ask for the bathroom you are asking to use the bathtub in that room. Is this also the case in some Spanish speaking countries?


I'm curious because I would feel very silly if I asked a stranger if I could bathe in their home.
Really I know the word bathroom like you told us, I don't know other names for that, I believe it's the more appropriate for refer in that form over the bathroom.

I believe is more polite mention bathroom than bathtub, because in first thing I won't understand that word, that result hardest to understand in English, that if you told me, I'm going to the bathroom now.

Now I have a doubt in a phrase that you wrote in your post.

the phrase is.
I have been told?

I have made a little search in the internet, and solely I could to find this meaning for that phrase, but anyhow I'm not very sure about if that means or really means other thing.

I found this.

I have been told.

Me han dicho this is the translation in Spanish. Please correcting me if I am wrong.

I will appreciate your advice.
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  #8  
Old December 09, 2010, 06:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo View Post
Really I know the word bathroom like you told us, I don't know other names for that, I believe it's the more appropriate for refer in that form over the bathroom.

I believe is more polite mention bathroom than bathtub, because in first thing I won't understand that word, that result hardest to understand in English, that if you told me, I'm going to the bathroom now.

Now I have a doubt in a phrase that you wrote in your post.

the phrase is.
I have been told?

I have made a little search in the internet, and solely I could to find this meaning for that phrase, but anyhow I'm not very sure about if that means or really means other thing.

I found this.

I have been told.

Me han dicho this is the translation in Spanish. Please correcting me if I am wrong.

I will appreciate your advice.
@Crotalito, Another way of saying the phrase is:

"I have been told (by someone)". Somehow in English this last part is omitted. It is also correct to say: "Someone told me...". I hope this helps.
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  #9  
Old December 09, 2010, 07:20 PM
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Jferstler Jferstler is offline
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In America, if some asks to use the bathroom, they're asking to use the toilet.

In spanish. Can I use the bathroom is:

Puedo Usar El bano?

Am I right?
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  #10  
Old December 10, 2010, 07:34 AM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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@Joe: Yes, just be careful with spelling: Capital letters are only used at the start of the sentence, opening question mark is not to be missed and "ñ" can't be replaced by "n". You can type Spanish charaters with the drop-down accent menu on top of replying-to-post box.

The question should be:
¿Puedo usar el baño?

Other ways of asking:

¿Dónde está el baño?
¿Puedo pasar al baño?
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Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; December 10, 2010 at 02:14 PM.
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