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Colloquial translation please!

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beeb
November 01, 2014, 11:56 PM
Hello
I'm not sure what this means? Con qué lo quiere
can somebody tell me please.





Also what does it mean when "ahi" and "hay" are used together??
for example: ¿Ahí hay un señor o una señora?.....Is this just a colloquial way of using two negatives to enforce the question?????

Regards
Aaron

Rusty
November 02, 2014, 01:00 AM
'ahí' = 'there'
'hay' = 'there is'

The first is used to designate location.
The second is used to indicate existence.
I don't know why you associated either word with 'negative'.


As to your first question, more context is needed to give a proper translation.

beeb
November 02, 2014, 04:38 PM
Thanks for your reply Rusty
So can you please translate the sentence below for me as it doesn't make any sense to me....it seems to me that 'is there' is being said twice?
Is there, is there a Sir or a Madam???????

¿Ahí hay un señor o una señora?.....

Regards
Aaron

Rusty
November 02, 2014, 07:35 PM
Is there an adult (a man or a lady) there?

There's only one 'is there' (known as the 'existential there'), the Spanish word 'hay', and only one 'there' (known as the 'demonstrative pronoun there'). In the Spanish version, the demonstrative pronoun 'ahí' appears at the beginning of the sentence, but could very well be placed at the end, where it appears in the English translation, with absolutely no change in meaning.

If this still seems confusing, substitute 'aquí' (another demonstrative pronoun) for 'ahí'.

¿Aquí hay un señor o una señora?
Is there an adult here?

The demonstrative pronoun can be moved to the end of the sentence.

¿Hay un señor o una señora aquí?
Is there an adult here?



Also, consider these sentences:
¿Hay un libro en este cuarto?
= Is there a book in this room? (Is there a book to be found here? - Does it exist?)
Sí, está ahí en la mesa.
= Yes, it's there on the table. (It can be found here (it does exist), and it is (physically located) there, on the table.)

beeb
November 03, 2014, 04:07 AM
Thanks again Rusty...I get it now.....When you said that Ahi could have been put at the end of the sentence it all made sense...Thanks