El colmo...

[gatitoverde]

Y también se debe decir que poster child es lo más gracioso de esos ejemplos.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by gatitoverde

Estoy de acuerdo que "epitome" es una palabra más o menos común escucharse en inglés.

Hola, Gatitoverde. Esta frase no funciona en español, pues no hay un nexo entre escucharse y el núcleo nominal palabra. Una buena opción sería:

• Estoy de acuerdo con que es habitual escuchar en inglés la palabra "epitome".

Therefore, word order changes. I can't think of a sentence in good Spanish respectful with the word order you have proposed (note I'm using the perfect past tense, instead of the simple past, since you've warned to do it in other thread. Anyway, I think that, as it happens in Spanish, this is very stylistic subject which depends very often on the geographical origin of the speaker. We could discuss it other place).

I hope this will help you.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by gatitoverde

Y también se debe decir que poster child es lo más gracioso de esos ejemplos.

Y se puede saber, por favor, porqué a ti lo parece gracioso?

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Jane

¿Y se puede saber, por favor, por () qué te parece gracioso?

.....

[gatitoverde]

Maybe I don't understand "gracioso." I mean to say sarcastic or mocking. Picture the little girl on a UNICEF poster, looking up at the camera with big sad, hungry eyes, the epitome of need. This is the image I think of when I say poster child. As far as your tenses, Alfonso, you actually used present perfect (have/has + participle) when I had counseled using the pluperfect (had + pariciple) but otherwise you followed my suggestion perfectly. And forgive me the English, but I wanted to write a reply in a hurry, whereas Spanish takes me a little longer.

[gatitoverde]

And thanks very much for the corrections. I make a flashcard from every one.

[Jane]

Gracias Alfonso por corrigirme.
Gatito, I get the picture, but with my very limited Spanish, I think gracioso means funny or amusing.

[gatitoverde]

Well, that's kind of what I mean. It's funny because it's so mocking, but I do need some sort of native advice, y'all.

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, Gatitoverde!
You understood gracioso perfectly. It was Jane who asked you. I only corrected her post. Pls, don't be in hurry, and practise your Spanish as much as you can.
Yes, you spoke about pluperfect tense. But I thought there is a connection between not using pluperfect and not using present perfect, as it happens in Spanish. The phenomena is that some speakers, most of American Spanish speakers and a good portion of Spanish speakers from Spain, that's to say, the majority of Spanish speakers, simply don't use at all any compound tense.
I, as a Spaniard, from Madrid, usually use pretérito perfecto and pretérito pluscuamperfecto, but all my South American friends never use it. For an unknown reason, I feel more comfortable speaking English without using these corresponding tenses. Do you think this is wrong? Do you think this is acceptable somewhere in the English speaking countries?

Thanks a lot for your help!

[gatitoverde]

No, la verdad es que la mayoria de los americanos no conocen (¿conoce? ¿porque es "mayoria"?) las normas de su propio idioma ni los interesan, lamentablemente. Pero los más educados ya las conocen. Mi carrera en la universidad es "English" y por lo tanto, noto todas las reglas rotas. Pero necesito pensar en cuanto la gente acá usa el PP y el Pluperfect.

I guess a good way to put it is that, yes, they're used often enough, but you can get away without using them, and for the most part, people won't take exception or even notice.

[gatitoverde]

And I never meant to confuse the use of got as an auxillary verb with it's improper usage as a replacement for the past participle gotten. Honestly I was confused and trying to figure out why I've got worked in the one case but sounded improper in the other. That's why I made the comment. In hindsight, I agree with Rusty that as an auxillary verb, got is correctly used with have or has. But I stick by my guns in saying that if you replace your past participle with your preterite, as in I had ran and we had went, you sound like a moron.

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by gatitoverde

No, la verdad es que la mayoria de los americanos no conocen (¿conoce? ¿porque es "mayoria"?) las normas de su propio idioma ni los interesan, lamentablemente. Pero los más educados ya las conocen. Mi carrera en la universidad es "English" y por lo tanto, noto todas las reglas rotas. Pero necesito pensar en cuanto la gente acá usa el PP y el Pluperfect.

I guess a good way to put it is that, yes, they're used often enough, but you can get away without using them, and for the most part, people won't take exception or even notice.

You're right about mayoría ... la mayoría de los americanos no conoce... is technically correct, however many native speakers break that rule and use conocen.

otras cositas..

... ni les interesan ...
... en cuanto a la gente acá ...

[gatitoverde]

Thank you for your always so respectful and succinct corrections.