What is this thing called love?

[jrhjazznblues]

thanks in advance

[Rusty]

What would be your attempt?

[jrhjazznblues]

To translate this sentence.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Rusty is asking you to propose a translation so we can help you with corrections and explanations if needed.

[jrhjazznblues]

This is a song title. I was trying to write the title of this song in Spanish in a book of mine, but I realized that you probably couldn't translate this title literally; I would think that you would have to translate it as "What is this thing that is called love?" Is this correct?

[poli]

The forum really wants you to attempt to write translate the Cole Porter lyric before offering their opinion. Clue: You may want to start with ¿Qué es (the translation won't fit the music unfortunately)

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by jrhjazznblues

This is a song title. I was trying to write the title of this song in Spanish in a book of mine, but I realized that you probably couldn't translate this title literally; I would think that you would have to translate it as "What is this thing that is called love?" Is this correct?

You can translate it the way you proposed (which introduces a noun clause) or you can translate it as written in the thread title, word-for-word.
Give it a shot.

The point poli is trying to make is that the translation, no matter which one you choose, will not fit the meter of the song. Translations will seldom have a syllable-to-syllable match in quantity, but I'm sure you've already discovered this.

[jrhjazznblues]

Qué es esta cosa llamó amar?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by jrhjazznblues

¿Qué es esta cosa llamó amar?

I added a punctuation mark. The last two words need to be fixed.

The last word is an infinitive. What you need instead is a noun.
(The infinitive plays the role of a noun in Spanish and is the equivalent of the English gerund, which acts as a noun. The translation of 'amar' is 'loving', which is not what you wanted to say.)

The phrase 'thing called love' can be translated two different ways.
-You asked about using a noun clause before ('that is called love'). That is one way to translate it, but I wanted to point out that it is a noun clause and it's using the passive voice. The passive voice exists in Spanish, but isn't used nearly as often as we use it in English. What they would use instead is called a "passive 'se'" construction. So, give that a whirl.
-I mentioned that the thread title could be translated word-for-word. I couldn't find the grammatical words to describe 'thing called love', but basically, the word 'called' is not a verb. It's a past participle. The Spanish equivalent can be used, just as it is in English, but remember that adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify (cosa). So, give that a try.

Given that much, are you now able to provide two translations of 'thing called love'?

[aleCcowaN]

Literal:

¿Qué es esto que llaman amor?

Traditional:

¿Qué es esa cosa llamada amor?

where this is replaced by that to convey a sense of puzzlement, besides keeping the way the phrase is laid out in English.

[jrhjazznblues]

Thank you for that explanation Rusty, but I forgot all the grammar that I learned in school and wasn't any closer to translating the sentence after I read it. Alec, why did you change llaman to llamada in the traditional translation?

[poli]

I think you can say: Qué es la (or esa) cosa que se llaman el amor.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by jrhjazznblues

Thank you for that explanation Rusty, but I forgot all the grammar that I learned in school and wasn't any closer to translating the sentence after I read it. Alec, why did you change llaman to llamada in the traditional translation?

you're asking me the difference between "called" and "they call" in Spanish.