Practical/práctico

[poli]

Practical/ práctico are false cognates we need to know about, because
dictionaries that I've consulted don't help much.
Practical in English very often means viable with common sense, and I am not sure if there is a direct translation for it in Spanish. Is there a practical decision maker out there who can help me find a Spanish equivalent?

[sosia]

depending on the context...
you can use "útil" for a tool
"viable" or "realizable" for an idea
"sensata" for a person
saludos

[poli]

Sosia
Sensata was the word I was looking for. Thanks.
It sounds Japanese
Poli

[Tomisimo]

Sensata, I would usually translate as sensible, wise.

I think in some cases you can use práctico-practical.

Ella es una persona muy práctica.
She is a very practical person.

Oh, and "Sensei (先生, Sensei?) is a Japanese title used to refer to or address teachers, professionals such as lawyers and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other authority figures." ^wiki, although all those people may not be sensatos.

[poli]

I still don't feel comfortable with the use of práctico in Spanish.
For example: Changing incandescent light bulbs for flourescent bulbs
is a practical idea. I suspect you cannot use idea práctico,can you?
I suppose you can use sensible,but I have questions about that word too.
Dictionary definitions of that word seem to contradict.
Razonable o viable (as Sosia suggested) is what I would choose but I don't think they really mean practical. I am curious to see if práctico o sensible can be used.

[Tomisimo]

Sensible (Spanish) means sensitive, not sensible (English).

[sosia]

Cambiar bombillas incandescentes por halógenas es una idea...
muy sensata
muy rentable
muy económica
muy inteligente
muy práctica
muy útil
saludos

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by poli

I suspect you cannot use idea práctico,can you?

Yes, you can say una idea práctica. I'm not sure if it's got the same meaning as a practical idea, but think that práctico means the same as pragmático, although this last word is more formal and usually appears with a different kind of words from those that práctico usually appears with (what a fuss I did here, is it clear? what a verse!).

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by poli

Practical/ práctico are false cognates we need to know about, because
dictionaries that I've consulted don't help much.
Practical in English very often means viable with common sense, and I am not sure if there is a direct translation for it in Spanish. Is there a practical decision maker out there who can help me find a Spanish equivalent?

I see that práctico is a good translation for the meaning you explain of practical.
I'm sorry to insist that práctico and pragmático are much the same. I hope this will clarify their meanings.

[Alfonso]

I see what you mean, Gatito. I can only say that I'm not very fond of grammar rules, especially if these are far from language usage.
It's usage itself what writes the grammar rules.
So, I wouldn't think if this is correct or not, since for knowing this you only have to consult the proper book. Instead, I would try to analyse what's the use you hear the most in your area, and what the use you consider formal, colloquial and vulgar.

I hope this will somehow help you!

[gatitoverde]

I deleted my objections. From now on, I'll restrict my corrections to blatant violations of rules most people follow. I never should have said anything about "it's got" because it is common, and for all intents and purposes, accepted usage. The Beatles had a hit song called "I've got a feeling" in fact, and it would sound strange to say "I've gotten a cold." To be more helpful, and less argumentative, here is a list for common verbs of past participles and preterites that differ:

Preterite, Participle:
ate, eaten
awoke, awoken
began, begun
broke, broken
chose, chosen
fell, fallen
got, gotten
gave, given
ran, run
sang, sung
saw, seen
shook, shaken
showed, shown
spoke, spoken
stole, stolen
swam, swum
took, taken
woke, woken
wrote, written

[Tomisimo]

There's a classical fight between two camps of grammarians. On one side you've got the prescriptivists and on the other side the descriptivists. You take your pick whether you think grammarians should prescribe what's right or if they should describe actual, common usage. Which is right? Dunno. Which camp am I in? Try to guess.

[Tomisimo]

BTW, gatito, that's a useful list of verbs you've got* there. And it reminded me of something I've heard before. Now to me this sounds wrong but I've heard native speakers use bought and have boughten instead of the correct bought and have bought.

*Sorry, couldn't help it.

[gatitoverde]

Y la verdad es que siempre utilizo "I've got, it's got, et. al.," yo mismo. Estaba discutidor. Le dije lo siento en privada.

[Rusty]

I've got and it's got are the equivalents of I have and it has. I use both. And I think most Americans do, too.

What's bad is when some forget, or don't understand, that the auxiliary (helping) verb have belongs in the first construction. They say, 'I got a cold' instead of "I've got a cold" or "I have a cold." They don't recognize the difference between 'I got a pair of pants' (Conseguí un pantalón) and "I've got a pair of pants" (Tengo pantalón).

All of these popular phrases are wrong: 'Whatya got there?' 'You gotta go?' 'Got milk?'

By itself, got is correctly used only when it means received or obtained.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by gatitoverde

I deleted my objections.

Gatito, I don't think you need to delete your objections. I think the journey is as much important as the conclusion. On the other hand, if you do, the thread will not be easily understood, as there is people who doesn't write, but read it and consult their doubts. Can you imagine Plato deleting Timeo's responses? Dialogue is the way to learn.
Anyway, it's up to you.

[gatitoverde]

Qué astuto tus palabras sobre Plato. Y creo que debes buscar una photo de Fonzie, de Happy Days, para poner como tu imagen.

[poli]

Ok, so práctico and pragmático mean the same in Spanish, but pragmático is a high tone word.
It is identical in English with practical and pragmatic. This solves my question: práctico and practcal are true cognates.
THANK YOU.

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

... the way is as much important as the conclusion.

I think a more natural way of saying this would be with journey. The journey is as important as [the destination/the conclusion/arriving].

What you wrote is not really wrong, it just doesn't sound natural.

I might also mention that the word way is not often used in the literal sense (camino), rather it's more often used in the figurative sense (forma, manera).

[Alfonso]

Thank you very much, David. Actually, I was wondering if this usage of way was common. I didn't think of journey, but I thought to substitute it by path. I remember a thread on which Rusty came out with a phrase I like very much:
... in the path to further knowledge.