Añoranza de: longing for

[BobRitter]

Transparent Languages "Word of the Day" is
añoranza de
English translation: longing for

There example is

Spanish: Siento añoranza de mi tierra por estar viviendo en el extranjero.
English: I feel longing for my home because I'm living abroad

Should it be "porque estoy viviendo...."? Google Translate thinks so.

[pjt33]

Google Translate shouldn't be considered useful for anything beyond getting a vague sense of meaning. It doesn't understand grammar.

[chileno]

Transparent Languages "Word of the Day" is
añoranza de
English translation: longing for

There example is

Spanish: Siento añoranza de mi tierra por estar viviendo en el extranjero.
English: I feel longing for my home because I'm living/because abroad

Should it be "porque estoy viviendo...."? Google Translate thinks so.

I feel longing for my home for/because I am living/because I live abroad.

Siento añoranza de/por mi tierra por estar viviendo/porque estoy viviendo/porque vivo en el extranjero.

[BobRitter]

Thanks chileno, but why "por estar" not por estoy"?

pjt33 - Thanks. I know Google is very limited. I am a computer programmer, or was until I retired 2 years ago, and worked for years with voice recognition systems. We never fully comprehend just how complex a language can be until you try getting a computer to understand it, or try to explain it to a non-native speaker trying to learn it.

The hardest thing for me is to try and NOT learn the grammar details of Spanish. After all I don't know what the past perfect subjunctive....., or whatever is in English so why should I be so interested in what it is in Spanish. That's why adults have such a tough time learning a new language.

[aleCcowaN]

Thanks chileno, but why "por estar" not por estoy"?
Because it is:

"porque estoy/estás/está/..." or "por estar"

and that's it. I think it was all in full accordance to your expressed wishes, the way I understand them:

The hardest thing for me is to try and NOT learn the grammar details of Spanish. After all I don't know what the past perfect subjunctive....., or whatever is in English so why should I be so interested in what it is in Spanish. That's why adults have such a tough time learning a new language.
Any further explanations require grammar.

[Rusty]

An explanation of why 'por estar' is used may not make sense to you if you don't know (or want to learn) grammar, but here goes.

The better translation of the Spanish sentence into English would be:
I have a longing for my homeland on account of living abroad.

Añoranza is a noun, so it needs an article.
'On account of' (also 'due to' or 'owing to') is a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases have an object. A prepositional object will be either a noun or a noun clause. The English word 'living', in the sentence I wrote above, is the prepositional object. Therefore, it's a noun (not a verb). This form is technically known as the English gerund. It's a non-finite verbal, stemming from the verb 'live', but can only function as a noun.
The Spanish preposition por can't be followed by estoy for the exact same reason. Estar is its prepositional object. The Spanish infinitive functions as a noun, just as the English gerund does.

[chileno]

Yes, por eso... :rolleyes:

Excellent explanation.

One question though...because it is a noun it needs an article, but many times, literarily is used just like that, without a noun, like in poetry etc.

I might be wrong though...

Besides when one adds an article ie: tengo una añoranza... one is making emphasis to the fact...

[Rusty]

In Spanish, the article isn't needed. It sounds better to use one in English, but it isn't required.
English also has the phrasal verb 'long for':
I long for my homeland ...

[chileno]

In Spanish, the article isn't needed. It sounds better to use one in English, but it isn't required.
English also has the phrasal verb 'long for':
I long for my homeland ...

Right, but that's the verb being conjugated. (Añoro mi tierra)

[BobRitter]

aleCcowaN, Rusty and all, thank you again. I DO want to learn at least basic grammar. Rusty's explanation of the prepositional phrase is excellent. It's all a bit involved but is getting clearer all the time.

Rusty

I have a longing for my homeland on account of living abroad.
"on account of" is prep. phrase and living ( gerund ) is the prep. object

Siento añoranza de mi tierra por estar viviendo en el extranjero.
"por" is a preposition and estar is the object? What is viviendo?

The Spanish preposition por can't be followed by estoy for the exact same reason. Estar is its prepositional object. The Spanish infinitive functions as a noun, just as the English gerund does.

In this case living is the English gerund, yes? Isn't viviendo then the Spanish equiv.

I thought I had it and then my brain went sideways. Please don't give up on me. I'll get it eventually. Thanks Bob Ritter

[Rusty]

The words 'estar viviendo' work together. The first word is the infinitive (infinitives can be conjugated). The second is called a gerundio in Spanish (it cannot be conjugated). In English, a gerundio is called a 'present participle'. In other words, an English gerund (a noun that ends in -ing) is the same as the Spanish infinitive, and an English present participle (a non-finite verbal that ends in -ing) is the same as the Spanish gerundio. As you can see, an English gerund and a Spanish gerundio are two very different things.

The English equivalent of the estar + gerundio is the present progressive (or continuous) aspect ('to be' + present participle). In English, 'estar viviendo' is translated as 'to be (currently) living'. Only the 'to be' portion (the infinitive) is eligible for conjugation (I am (currently) living, he is (currently) living, etc.). The present participle is not conjugated.
In Spanish, when you use the continuous aspect, it means that you are currently in the act of doing something. That's why I included '(currently)' in the translation.

The Spanish infinitive vivir is actually the equivalent of the English gerund living. The original sentence used estar viviendo, instead of vivir, to convey the continuous aspect. Both estar and viviendo must be considered together to get the correct translation, but only the infinitive estar is acting as a noun. Viviendo remains a participle. I considered them both and translated them as 'living'. You could, if you wanted to be more explicit, add the continuous aspect by including the word 'currently' - '... currently living abroad'.