Translating a simple paragraph (Exercise 7-11)

[laepelba]

Okay - so having discussed this with a friend who is a native Spanish speaker and who has lived in the US for several years and who is an expert with both languages... She says that we're both correct. In the Spanish sentence, "rico" is an adverb, modifying "saber". And in the English, "good" is an adjective that modifies "food". She also told me that just because the sentence "me gusta que la comida sepa rico" is distinctly translated as "I like food that tastes good", doesn't mean that "rico" and "good" have to be the same part of speech. The Spanish syntax is different from the English. Hmmm.... That's the part that confuses me. This isn't a question - just rhetorical: I don't get how the same word in the same sentence could be an adverb in Spanish and an adjective in English...........

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Okay - so having discussed this with a friend who is a native Spanish speaker and who has lived in the US for several years and who is an expert with both languages... She says that we're both correct. In the Spanish sentence, "rico" is an adverb, modifying "saber". And in the English, "good" is an adjective that modifies "food". She also told me that just because the sentence "me gusta que la comida sepa rico" is distinctly translated as "I like food that tastes good", doesn't mean that "rico" and "good" have to be the same part of speech. The Spanish syntax is different from the English. Hmmm.... That's the part that confuses me. This isn't a question - just rhetorical: I don't get how the same word in the same sentence could be an adverb in Spanish and an adjective in English...........

Correct. However, if you leave out "good" and "rico" from the sentences, it just means that you like food that (has) taste to it, whether it is good or bad wouldn't matter.

Right?

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by chileno

Correct. However, if you leave out "good" and "rico" from the sentences, it just means that you like food that (has) taste to it, whether it is good or bad wouldn't matter.

Right?

Well, I would never quite say that in English. I would never say "I like food that tastes". I would say something like, "I like food that has good taste", or, better yet, "I like food that has good flavor". Right?

[Rusty]

@Lou Ann:
In English, the dependent clause "that the food tastes good" has three parts (ruling out the conjunction at the beginning) - a subject, a linking verb (copula), and a subjective complement (these used to be called predicate adjectives).
An adverb may follow the linking verb, but its purpose would be to modify the complement, never the linking verb. The complement describes the subject. So, it is very logical to assume that 'la comida' is being described by the complement 'rica'. However, this is not the case. One very important difference exists.

In Spanish, taste (saber) is NOT a linking verb. The adverb 'rico' qualifies the verb.

[laepelba]

Hmmmmmmm..... Interesting, Rusty - THANK YOU. I am NO grammarian ... so I have to read this a few times. But it makes sense. Thanks!

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Well, I would never quite say that in English. I would never say "I like food that tastes". I would say something like, "I like food that has good taste", or, better yet, "I like food that has good flavor". Right?

Right.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you, Rusty!


@Lou Ann:

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Rusty

@Lou Ann:
In English, the dependent clause "that the food tastes good" has three parts (ruling out the conjunction at the beginning) - a subject, a linking verb (copula), and a subjective complement (these used to be called predicate adjectives).
An adverb may follow the linking verb, but its purpose would be to modify the complement, never the linking verb. The complement describes the subject. So, it is very logical to assume that 'la comida' is being described by the complement 'rica'. However, this is not the case. One very important difference exists.

In Spanish, taste (saber) is NOT a linking verb. The adverb 'rico' qualifies the verb.

So, as I try to wrap my arms around this thinking, I have a question. I may or may not be able to understand the answer, but I'll try. If "saber" in Spanish isn't a linking verb, what kind of verb is it?

Now, to go back to what I was thinking earlier. "Saber" doesn't quite mean "to taste", but "to have flavor" (in RAE, "tener sabor"). That is actually quite different. In English, I would make the direct translation (although it's awkward): "I like food that has flavor well." THAT makes sense to me as an adverb. It's just not the way we talk about food in English. We talk about food itself BEING good or bad or tasty or rich or spicy or whatever. We talk about flavor (noun) being strong or savory or sweet or whatever. But we don't talk about food doing something well.

THIS has been a VERY interesting discussion! Almost time for my next paragraph to translate.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by laepelba

If "saber" in Spanish isn't a linking verb, what kind of verb is it?

Intransitive. It takes no object.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

So, as I try to wrap my arms around this thinking, I have a question. I may or may not be able to understand the answer, but I'll try. If "saber" in Spanish isn't a linking verb, what kind of verb is it?

Now, to go back to what I was thinking earlier. "Saber" doesn't quite mean "to taste", but "to have flavor" (in RAE, "tener sabor"). That is actually quite different. In English, I would make the direct translation (although it's awkward): "I like food that has flavor well." THAT makes sense to me as an adverb. It's just not the way we talk about food in English. We talk about food itself BEING good or bad or tasty or rich or spicy or whatever. We talk about flavor (noun) being strong or savory or sweet or whatever. But we don't talk about food doing something well.

THIS has been a VERY interesting discussion! Almost time for my next paragraph to translate.

Duh! it just dawn on me!

I like food that's tasty

Would that work for you?

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by chileno

Duh! it just dawn on me!

I like food that's tasty

Would that work for you?

Yes - that totally works for me. The thing that I was getting stuck on is that it's one of those sentences that can't really be translated except for a general meaning. You can't say (in English) "I like food that is tasty well." Implying that this food, amongst others, is one that does that tasting good thing better than the rest. We don't really talk about taste in that sense in English.......

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

I like food that's tasty

Would that work for you?

Originally Posted by laepelba

Yes - that totally works for me. .

It might work for you grammatically, but it makes no logical sense to me. If you like a food, you express that by saying it's tasty. So saying "I like food that's tasty" is the same as "I like food that I like". This does not convey any useful information.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by Perikles

It might work for you grammatically, but it makes no logical sense to me. If you like a food, you express that by saying it's tasty. So saying "I like food that's tasty" is the same as "I like food that I like". This does not convey any useful information.

You're right.

You can say the food is tasty for me and for someone else.
Or simply you can say I like that food, I believe that the second choice get hear more nature that the first one.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

It might work for you grammatically, but it makes no logical sense to me. If you like a food, you express that by saying it's tasty. So saying "I like food that's tasty" is the same as "I like food that I like". This does not convey any useful information.

I meant that grammatically. But I didn't really consider your point here..... Hmmm.....