"Me and my father": is it Yo y mi padre?

[pineapplegal]

Hello, can someone please tell me how to say, "Me and my father." in Spanish please? Am I correct or incorrect in saying: Yo y mi padre? It's for a caption under a photo of my father and I. Thanks to anyone who can help!

[JPablo]

Mi padre y yo.

In Spanish we tend to put our names or our identities, after the other persons.

Otherwise, you are right.

[pineapplegal]

Gracias!

Originally Posted by JPablo

Mi padre y yo.

In Spanish we tend to put our names or our identities, after the other persons.

Otherwise, you are right.

[Mickey Sam]

Also, the correct English would be 'My father and I' which also translates as per response
from JPablo 'Mi padre y yo'

[JPablo]

@ Pineapplegal
¡De nada!

@ Mickey Sam
Thank you, Mickey.
I had an inkling that British people had also these nice and kind good manners!

(¡Sin menoscabo de los americanos, ojo!)
(Without detriment to the Americans, watch out!) ;-)

[aleCcowaN]

In my country, when kids say "yo y mi amigo", their mothers reply "el burro adelante, para que no se espante".

[JPablo]

More or less, like in Spain:

"Y el borriquito por delante, para que no se espante". ;-)

[wrholt]

While I agree that "me and my father" has the two people in reverse order, the correct phrase depends on whether it occurs where subject pronouns are required ("my father and I") or where object pronouns are required ("my father and me").

My father and I went to the store yesterday. = Mi padre y yo fuimos a la tienda ayer.

They sold it to my father and me last week. = Nos lo vendió a mi padre y a mí la semana pasada.

[Rusty]

But 'Me and my father' is widely used as a subject in American English, albeit incorrect.
I never use it, but wanted to point that out.
The only correct translation into Spanish is the grammatically-correct 'mi padre y yo' which translates back into English as the grammatically-correct 'my father and I'.


Of course, you're right to use 'me' in the object case, even when a multiple object is used (contains a conjunction ('and', 'or', etc.)).
Way too many Americans are choosing 'and I' in the object case. Worse yet, I'm also hearing 'and myself'.
If the object is 'me' in 'sold it to me', it is still 'me' when multiple objects occur (before 'me'), like in your example - 'sold it to my father and me'. Never 'I'. Never 'myself'.

[JPablo]

Methinks thou speak sooth!

[Rusty]

Thou speakest aright. Blessed be thy day.

[JPablo]

Most thankful of thy corrections!

[pineapplegal]

Yes, the correct English is to say, "My father and I."
But it was informal for a caption under a photo. The viewer would be seeing me on the left and my dad on the right, so logistically using the widely used and accepted, "Me and my father," (sort of a slang/informal version) would be fine.

Thanks for the follow up posts.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by pineapplegal

Yes, the correct English is to say, "My father and I."
But it was informal for a caption under a photo. The viewer would be seeing me on the left and my dad on the right, so logistically using the widely used and accepted, "Me and my father," (sort of a slang/informal version) would be fine.

Thanks for the follow up posts.

In the absence of context, we forum participants tend to favor/focus on standard usage. As you observe, within a particular context pragmatic considerations can override the norms of standard usage when the degree of formality of the context would normally require observing standard usage norms.

I've just realized that in the discussion most of us who responded didn't notice or didn't pay attention to the fact that you stated that the translation was for a photo caption.

I agree that for a photo caption, particular in an informal context, using "me and my father" or "me, my father" to match the left-to-right positioning of individuals within the image makes more sense than the formally-correct "my father and me". In this case translating the caption into Spanish as "yo y mi padre" could also be acceptable because of the same pragmatic considerations.

[JPablo]

Yes, yes..., providing we are not writing Arabic... but the obvious thing is that your father would look slightly older than you, (just a couple of decades or so), and I have to admit that sometimes mother and daughter look like two peas in a pod...