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"I would rather..."Vocab questions, definitions, usage, etc |
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#3
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Thanks, Rusty!
So how would I make it more generic? "I would rather be doing......" I would rather be playing football. Que jugaría fútbol. o... Jugaría estar fútbol. o... Sería mejor si jugaría fútbol. ?? Is any of that correct?
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- Lou Ann, de Washington, DC, USA Específicamente quiero recibir ayuda con el español de latinoamerica. ¡Muchísimas gracias! |
#4
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Sorry, but you must use the imperfect subjunctive instead. Your first sentence used the conditional 'I would prefer' (preferiría), followed by an infinitive. This works well for everything you'd rather be doing:
I would rather play ... than ... (preferiría jugar a ... a ...) I'd rather stay home than go to the movies. Preferiría quedarme en casa a ir al cine. It's also perfectly fine to use the present tense in those sentences (slightly different meaning, though): Prefiero quedarme en casa a ir al cine. My second example shows the use of the conditional with a conjunction (que) and a secondary clause that must take the imperfect subjunctive. This gets away from using preferir, not that there is anything wrong with that. Sería mejor que jugara al futbol. (It would be better if you were playing soccer.) My first example has no secondary clause, but is cast in the subjunctive because it expresses something contrary to fact (or a wish). This is like saying 'would that I were outside'. Another way to translate it is 'I wish I were outside.' Last edited by Rusty; March 18, 2009 at 02:32 PM. |
#5
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#6
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I'll just chime in and say that in my opinion, preferiría is the most common, generic way of saying I would rather.
I'd rather be reading = Preferiría estar leyendo I would rather play soccer = Preferiría jugar futbol. I'd rather go inside = Preferiría ir adentro (or if you were talking about yourself and the person with you-- Preferiría que fuéramos adentro)
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#7
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Thanks, all. That is VERY helpful. In fact, at this point, I ought to concentrate on just ONE way to say something.
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- Lou Ann, de Washington, DC, USA Específicamente quiero recibir ayuda con el español de latinoamerica. ¡Muchísimas gracias! |
#10
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I agree that "preferiría" is the best one.
You can also say "me gustaría más" "Preferiría estar en el jardín"/"Me gustaría más estar en el jardín" = "I'd rather be in the garden"
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#14
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![]() You can always do things like I do. Instead of saying "Preferiría ir al cine", try "¿Porqué no vamos mejor al cine?".
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If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it! |
#15
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![]() But, given the example from my original post ... "How are you doing?" "Fine, but I'd rather be outside." I can't really express it like that. I'll keep thinking on the gustaría idea ... but am still working on saying "preferiría". ![]()
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- Lou Ann, de Washington, DC, USA Específicamente quiero recibir ayuda con el español de latinoamerica. ¡Muchísimas gracias! |
#16
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-Hola, ¿Como está?
-Estaría mejor fuera, bajo el sol -Estaría mejor en la calle -Estaría mejor fuera disfrutando de la pimavera -Estaría mejor en el exterior other ways -Bien, pero estaría mejor en la calle -Bien, pero preferiría estar en la calle -Nien, pero me gustaría estar en la calle Saludos ![]()
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#17
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- Lou Ann, de Washington, DC, USA Específicamente quiero recibir ayuda con el español de latinoamerica. ¡Muchísimas gracias! |
#18
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I'm asuming you're inside of a building, working.
When you're saying "salir/ir a la calle" literally "to go out/go to the street" means "to stop working and go wandering ¿in? the streets (outside)" Saludos ![]()
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History, contrary to popular theories, "is" kings and dates and battles. Small Gods Terry Pratchett |
#19
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Right - that is what I took it to mean. But why would one go wandering in the streets? Isn't that very, very dangerous? Or is it a figure of speech? One wouldn't actually wander in a street, right?
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- Lou Ann, de Washington, DC, USA Específicamente quiero recibir ayuda con el español de latinoamerica. ¡Muchísimas gracias! |
#20
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When you say to the kids "go playing outside!" we say "¡salir a la calle a jugar!".
To us "the street" it's everything outside our house. We do not say really to the kids "go lost ourselves in the most terrific streets of the city" (where Elaina lives ![]() ![]() Saludos ![]()
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History, contrary to popular theories, "is" kings and dates and battles. Small Gods Terry Pratchett |
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