h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

mejorar: to improve
mejorarse: to recover
***
Estudio para mejorar mi situación laboral---I study to improve my working condition, situation.
to do something in order to/ hacer algo para, aquí Para expresa finalidad. it expresses objective.

movement: saldremos mañana para Barcelona/ We´ll leave tomorrow to Barcelona ( is to the right preposition? , correct me, I´m here to learn English!)
Estuvimos paseando por Barcelona---we were walking around the city.

Acabará la obra para finales de marzo---He will end the work by the end of March.

....I can´t think about more, my book is not here, I´ll find another one.

Air enters through the nose---el aire entra por la nariz.
Esa calle debe estar por Atocha, that street must be about/around Atocha
Esto pasa por tonto--- this happens to you because you are silly.

¿Por qué no the callas? Why don´t you shut up?!

No creo que el Rey pensara en lo famosas que se harían esas palabras---
Never the King could think about the popularity of that sentence.

Hi Mar!

Thanks for responding. Unfortunately, I can't be online as often as I'd like at the moment because we have the builders in (to completely refurbish both kitchen and bathroom).

Did this make you think about the poem? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7357831.stm

Thanks also for correcting my errors Would you be insulted if I were to correct some of your slips in English?



ps I see you've posted again I'll comment when I have more time.

pps "Nice to read you" - You probably know that, although that's literally true (I hope), 'Nice to hear from you' (or perhaps 'Nice of you to write') is usual.

Lo que queria decir es que aquí hay muchísimo polvo, mucho ruido y no hay calefacción - tambien, el aire frio entra por varios agujeros de varios tamaños y tengo que llevar un abrigo cuando estoy aquí. ¿Una excusa buena, no?

What I wanted to say is that it's very dusty, there's a lot of noise, there's no heating, the cold air rushes in through various holes of various sizes, so that I have to wear an overcoat when I'm here. A good excuse, isn't it?

"¿Por qué no te callas? Why don´t you shut up?! "

Boy, did I laugh at that. Made me proud to be 'Spanish'.

Hi reindear
insulted?
venga hombre! encantada! , not at all!, I m pleased!

The Pirates...

En mi PS tengo dos poemas traducidos, y pensaba incluir más, entre otros éste de Espronceda, pero el entusiasmo se agotó, entre otras razones porque me quedé sin internet y me fui a Granada de vacaciones. Estaba en el paro y tenía más tiempo
--- I´ve got two translated poems in my PS, I intended to add more, among others this of Espronceda, but enthusiasm finished, some reasons: not internet, I went on holidays. I was out of work and had plenty of time too.

***
De ese poema me gusta el ritmo, la musicalidad,---I like the rhythm , the music of that poem.
Los piratas de Senegal, menudo marrón! no veo una solución fácil.--- The pirates of Senegal, what a brown( that´s not the translation, "what a problem!" would be a neutral translation, do you know a coloquial expression for that?)
I can´t see an easy solution for that.

hey, I must leave now, you must tell me about your builders. That´s deserves an entry
The tribulations of people when they want to get something fixed at home
tómate un par de y relájate
Mar

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You're very welcome, WG! I don't have much time at the moment and Mar does, so your appearance is timely. I'd suggest, though, that you treat my efforts with due caution .


Just a few suggestions for you, Mar, though I wouldn't dream of criticising your translation of the poem [I once had to translate a song so I know how tough it can be].

Post 77:

"This author took inspiration on popular songs." You could say 'took inspiration FROM', but 'was inspired by' is better.

Cañones = cannons (probably just a typo)
Bergantín = brig - an abbreviation of brigantine
Bajel: The dictionaries give the general terms 'ship & vessel'.

Post 81:

"improve my working condition": should be 'working conditions'.

"We´ll leave tomorrow to Barcelona": you could say 'We're leaving for Barcelona tomorrow.', or simply 'We're going to Barcelona tomorrow'.

"He will end the work": He will finish the work (there are lots of words for 'end' in Spanish too, so I understand the confusion).

"I can´t think about more": 'I can't think of any more examples' or 'I can't think of anything else'.

"that street must be about/around Atocha": you could say 'that street must be somewhere around Atocha', but 'must be near Atocha' is usual.

"Never the King could think about the popularity of that sentence.": 'The king could never have imagined how popular that phrase would become.' (or perhaps he did )


I have to go. No time to translate this... perhaps WG will oblige

Hi , hola
gracias por corregirme. Debería ser más cuidadosa, a mí sí que me da vergüenza!
thanks for correcting me. I should be more careful, It´s me who is ashamed!

***
WG tiene la culpa,, dijo que estaba bien que alguien despabilara este sitio, así que le dí unas cuantas patadas a la gramática inglesa,

---WG is to blame, he said that it was good to kick-startear the place, so I gave a few kicks to the English grammar
***
I don´t know how much free time I´ll have to be here, but I´ll come around from time to time. Tomorrow I´ll visit the doctor. I don´t want to come back yet to work

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es lo que un soldado LLEVA en su cabeza, no? it´s what a soldier wears on his head, no?

Sí, es para proteger la cara y la cabeza, forma parte de la armadura de un caballero o soldado. Es medieval, dónde has leido eso?
---yes it´s to protect the face and the head, it belongs to the armour(?) of a knight or a soldier. It´s medieval, where have you read that?

hola, (first of all, the type of the tilde, graphic accent, doesn-t work, sorry I like to be careful with that, it-s important in Spanish, but...)

hoy he ido otra vez al medico y me ha confirmado la baja, aun me duele la pierna y tengo que estar en casa mas dias, al menos hasta el martes que viene
---Today Ive visited the doctor again and has prescribed the leave, my leg still hurts and I have to stay at home more days, at least, untill next Tuesday.

Estoy empezando a hartarme, no me puedo mover. Leo, escucho la radio...interneteo... mañana me tumbare y no pensare en nada. Debo relajarme.
--- Im getting fed up with this, I can-t move. I read, listen to the radio...do internet... tomorrow, I-ll lay and won-t think of anything.I must relax myself

<>


Es posible hacerlo asI?
Por ejemplo "hoy he ido otra vez al mEdico " con letras, cOmo se dice? Pues, ya ves.





Do it like this? For example i've been to the doctor today with capitals.

Lo siento, Mar, pero no intiendo el problema que tienes con los acentos. ñ, á, é, í, ó, ü, deben ser en tu teclado - si no, siempre puedes robarlos o usar las teclas ALT: http://www.lingolex.com/spanishascii.htm y http://www.zyra.org.uk/kcodes.htm

I'm sorry, Mar, but I don't understand the problem you have with the accents. ñ, á, é, í, ó, ü must be on your keyboard - if not, you can always steal them or use the ALT keys:

The electricity is about to be switched off, so I'll have to go now.

hi

No entiendo/ instead of no Intiendosorry, it sounds funny I can even listen to you saying it. (I like anyway the guiri accent)

deben estar/instead of deben ser---they must be

Deben ser especialistas los que lo hagan/ it must be specialists who do that.
El trabajo debe estar acabado para las tres---Work must be finished by three
***
Es mi teclado, no funciona la tecla de la tilde, harE lo que dice WG.---it's my keyboard, it doesn't work the tilde key, I'll do what WG says.



fijaos en la diferencia que hay entre.

deber+infinitivo: obligaciOn
deber de + infinitivo: especulaciOn

Debes de estudiar mucho--- you must study hard ( surely, you've got good marks)
Debes estudiar mucho---you must study hard ( you've got very poor marks)

That's a distinction not always made and you can find Spaniards making the mistake.

¿ quE tal con la obra? What about the refurbishment?

Nosotros cerrramos la terraza hace un tiempo, una buena idea, el piso estA orientado al sur, entra el calor y no se va. Ahorramos calefacciOn y electricidad.
---We closed the balcony time ago, a good idea, the flat is southern oriented (?) heat enters and doesn't go out. We save heating and electricity.

My marido y yo tiramos el muro que separaba el salOn de la terraza. Un trabajo duro. Usamos martillo, cincel...
SOlo llamamos a los carpinteros para el suelo, para hacerlo todo igual. Es de madera.
---My husband and me pulled down the wall that separated the living-room from the balcony. A hard work. We use hammer,cincel (?)...
We only called the carpenters for the floor, to make it all the same. It's out of wood.

ya ya, I know, " I can even HEAR you

***

No entiendo cOmo no hay aquI un montOn de gente hablando, con lo apasionante que es el tema de las reformas en casa

---I cant understand why there aren't here a lot of people talking, considering how exciting is the topic of home refurbish

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Yes, but perhaps people don't get how exciting it is.

¿La gente puede cambiar la tema, no? People can change the subject, can't they?

'intiendo' was a typo, and I must say that I see no more logic (I know, language isn't supposed to be logical ) in 'estar' *permanently* part of your keyboard than, for example, 'estar' muerto .

¡Hay mucho polvo por aquí! It's very dusty here!

Polvo?
Es peligroso para la salud.
Tienes que hablar con tu mEdico.






Dust?
That's bad.
Get help.

¿De polvo al polvo verdad, WG? From dust to dust eh, WG?


A point or two on your English, Mar:

"(I like anyway the guiri accent)": 'Anyway' does not go in mid position - You can say 'Anyway, I like the foreign accent.' Or 'I like the foreign accent, anyway.'

"it doesn't work the tilde key, I'll do what WG says." = 'the tilde key doesn't work, so I'll do what WG says' [It might be a whole lot easier if you just buy a new keyboard - the last one I bought cost less than €10.]

"We closed the balcony time ago": 'We closed the balcony some time ago' "the flat is southern oriented": 'the flat faces south'.

"My husband and me pulled down the wall": 'My husband and I [subject] pulled down the wall': "A hard work." 'Hard work.' We use hammer,cincel (?)...: 'chisel'.

"It's out of wood": 'It's parquet'.


I think that's enough for now . (You can see how I'd rather pick at your English than let you rubbish my Spanish .)