Translation of "I am given" or "You are given"...

[santanu20001999]

How do I translate; "I am given this book"

Is it "Se me da este libro" or " me da este libro"

[aleCcowaN]

Me dan este libro

[santanu20001999]

can "Me dan este libro" be interpreted as: "Give me this book" - where I am asking a group of people to give me a book?

If I try to tell a group of people to give me a book that they have, then also won't I say this phrase, i.e. "me dan este libro"?

Thanks

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by santanu20001999

can "Me dan este libro" be interpreted as: "Give me this book" - where I am asking a group of people to give me a book?

If I try to tell a group of people to give me a book that they have, then also won't I say this phrase, i.e. "me dan este libro"?

Thanks

No: one uses verbs in the imperative mood when saying commands; "dan" is indicative mood, and not imperative mood.

The usual translations of "give me this book" into Spanish when addressing a group fo people are:

a. "Dadme este libro" (when you normally would address the group using either "vosotros" or "vosotras")

b. "Denme este libro" (when you normally would address the group using "ustedes")

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by santanu20001999

can "Me dan este libro" be interpreted as: "Give me this book"

In "advanced colloquial" and with the right intonation, yes.

Originally Posted by santanu20001999

- where I am asking a group of people to give me a book?

It's very advanced colloquial. And it supposes you to know very well Spanish moods, specially subjunctive. Do you want to follow that path? Much probably it will be more confusing than helpful.

Originally Posted by santanu20001999

If I try to tell a group of people to give me a book that they have, then also won't I say this phrase, i.e. "me dan este libro"?

"¿me dan este libro?" is a usual way to ask it, when you're trying to avoid a "no" for an answer.

[poli]

Me han bdado este libro.

[Rusty]

There was no subject given in the original post. The English sentence is an example of the passive voice.
Since the passive voice is not used in Spanish nearly as often as it is in English, the sentence was rendered in the more colloquial, "They (meaning no one in particular) give me this book," in the response. This sentence is in the active voice, with a plural third-person subject that is intended to represent no one in particular, just like we say "They (no one in particular) give me this book" in English.

The original translation that was given ('Se me da este libro') is correct Spanish, but it's an impersonal 'se' construct instead of the passive voice.
While this construct is certainly used in Spanish, the active voice equivalent would be the colloquial "go-to." That is most likely why the response was to change the passive voice to the active voice.

Still using the impersonal 'se' construct, the present perfect tense would be a tad more likely:
'Se me ha dado este libro' (passive: I have been given this book).

The other question was how to insert 'you' in the impersonal 'se' construct. 'Me' is an indirect object pronoun in the original translation, so we can just change that pronoun to the indirect object pronoun for the desired person and number (te, os, le or les).
The active voice translations would be 'Te|Os|Le|Les dan este libro'.

'Me han dado este libro' makes use of the present perfect tense (active: They have given me this book), which would be a bit more common.

[Tomisimo]

Translating meaning and not literal constructs:

I was given this book. = Me dieron/regalaron este libro. / Me han dado/regalado este libro.

You can translate literally and say "Me fue regalado este libro", but it sounds kinda strange.

I do have a question though-- the original question refers to "I am given" in the present instead of "I was given", which is what I translated. When would you use it like this in English?

[poli]

That's a really good question. The only way I see this in a sentence is in a supernatural or holy context. Example: I am given this book to preach the gospel....
More commonly I hear things like: I am given to laughter under those circumstances.

Or maybe in a hypothetical circumstance: So I'm given this book, then what?

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by poli

I am given to laughter under those circumstances.

Quite interesting that example. Who is supposed to be the "giver" in that sentence?

I imagined it to be: "en tales circunstancias, me doy/abandono a la risa" (I am driven to laugh in such intense way that I may not resist -doy- or I cannot help it -abandono-) or "en tales circunstancias soy dado a reir" (I have a tendency to laugh)

[Rusty]

You can find at least one instance of "I am given" in some versions of the Bible in Matthew 28:18. The original Greek has also been translated as "I have been given" in other versions.

In either case, the statement is rendered in the English passive voice and the Spanish passive voice equivalents are 'Me es dado' and 'Me ha sido dado', respectively.

"Todo poder me es dado en el cielo y en la tierra" [Mateo 28:18]

The agent, the giver of said power/authority, is not provided in this verse, but is given elsewhere (Mateo 11:27). The Spanish passive voice is also used in that verse.

[aleCcowaN]

Thanks. I'm detecting a difference when given is indeed the main verb, like in those references from the gospels, and when given affects another verb.

If I am not mistaken:

"They were given to understand that there would be no tax increase, but after the election taxes went up." = "Se les dio a entender que no habría incremento en los impuestos, pero después de la elección los impuestos subieron"

I was given to believe ... = me hicieron creer ...

in these cases give is not deliver or handle, like in "dar comida", but cause, like in "dar un infarto".

or other cases like "he is not given to joking" that I understand as "(él) no es de andar bromeando"

[poli]

In the case of I given to laughter under those circumstances, wouldn't you translate it as se me da risa in esos casos? I would say soy capaz de reir eb esas circunstancias.

[aleCcowaN]

Me da risa, en esos casos

(Spanish saying it shorter, that's a surprise)

but I'm sure there's a nuance there that I can't grasp. In a popular local register they say "me viene risa" to avoid the hint of predisposition contained in "me da" or "me provoca".