Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related How do you say "Help, Superman" in Spanish?

Let me edit a couple of things (I won't be fixing the accents, though):

Te duele la pierna?
Le duele usted la pierna?

Por favor, no preguntes. Y por favor, no hables de eso con otros. (familiar form)
Por favor, no pregunte. Y por favor, no hable de eso con otros. (polite form)

No hablare. Tienen miedo de el.

No se. Escuchame. Pediré a dos amables personas que vengan a buscarte. [...] (familiar form)
No se. Escucheme. Pediré a dos amables personas que vengan a buscarle. [...] (polite form)

Also, note that the familiar form is the one more likely to be used between a conversation between Superman and a little girl.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Thanks Anna. You're right in your suggestions. Except I have trouble with this:

To translate "don't ask" and "don't talk", we have to use the imperative form "no pregunta" et "no habla", and not the subjonctive present tense "no preguntes" and "no hables". That would be wrong to say it that way.

But you noticed a couple of faults that I am ashamed (I wouldn't never have made them 8 years ago):

wrong: "No hablaro. Tienen miedo de el."
right: "No hablare. Tienen miedo de el."
my god, I'm really ashamed of that one. I knew it, that was "hablaré". Eck, I used the future correctly in others sentences but here, I typed a silly thing. I'm running to hide.

Thanks, Anna! (Are you a language wizard or what, by the way? Clearly, your native language is Greek. Yet you speak - and write - extremely good English, and you have obviously done that for a couple of years now, and you are only - what? eighteen years old? And now you show us your excellent command of Spanish, too.

Wow, Anna. What a language whiz you are!!!

Ann

Okay, that's weird. Where is my Spanish coursebook?

Anyways...

I can't find my coursebook, so as to double-check, but I'm pretty certain I was taught that, when used in negation, the imperative form changes and coincides with subjunctive present. This site agrees with me.

Ann - thank you for the compliments Truth is, I enjoy learning foreign languages, and my teachers have said I'm talented at it. It's practice that makes perfect, though - and hanging around the boards, reading and writing fic, is the best practice one can hope for

Also, I don't know how much it counts coming from a non-native English speaker, but I think your English is excellent If you hadn't said it yourself, I still wouldn't have realized you're not a native English speaker, either.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

My mistake. You're right.

I just asked one of my friend (who is spanish but lives in France) to double-check myself. She just say the same thing to me with the negative and the subjunctive present, but she added that was a written from, and that the spanish rarely use it when they spoke. She said that at oral, they most easily use the imperative, even with a negative. But the correct form is what you said.

OK, to clarify the imperative confusion . . .

For the familiar form, positive is 3rd person indicative, as in the "Ayúdame, Supermán". Negative would be "No me ayudes", using 2nd person subjunctive. Or "No hables", in the other example.

For the polite form, positive is 3rd person subjunctive, as in "Ayúdeme". Negative is 3rd person subjunctive also, as in "No me ayude" or "No hable".

Does that make things a bit clearer? That's what I was taught, and I've studied Mexican Spanish--am in Honduras right now, and they do the same thing.

Okay, people, I'm trying to write that scene now, and wouldn't you know it turns out I need other lines than I thought. Clark has left because of that thing that made people afraid of him. The little Mexican girl is saying to Lois:

"He is gone." (She is making the observation that Superman is gone.)

She is also saying to Lois: "You were sad" (on the night when he left.) Oh, and perhaps she also need to point out that Lois is still sad, so she would say "You are sad" or "You are still sad". Perhaps she would also say: "You love him." Or, perhaps, "You loved him."

Also, when Lois has asked her not to talk to people about the fact that Superman may be Lois's boyfriend, the girl answers: "I promise."

What would this little girl say to Lois?

Ann

Okay, here's the next thing I need the girl to say: "When will you be back?"

Ann

"He's gone" . . . Do you mean something like "He already left?" In my experience, they use "Ya se fue" here, which basically means "he left already, he's gone". That's probably what you want.

"When will you be back?" - "Cuando va a volver?" (Since I assume you want the polite form, this being a girl talking to an adult she doesn't know that well.)

"You were sad." - "Estaba triste."
"You're still sad." - "Todavía está triste."

"You love him." - "Usted lo ama."

"I promise." - "Lo prometo."

If I'm wrong, someone correct me here. Anna's caught a few mistakes of mine before . . .

I think it's correct, Doranwen, but we'll have to wait for Anna to be sure. She's definitely better than I

But I know than in America Latina, they use the verb "amar", but in Spain, they use more easily the verb "querer" to say "love" (yes, in Spain they use the same verb to say "love" and "want" - so when someone say "te quiero", be careful - LOL). So, in Spain, that would be "Usted lo quiere".

Doran's suggestions look fine to me I think I'd leave the 'usted' out, but that's a matter of choice.

Note, Ann, that she's used the polite form. So, if you're going to go with it, you'll have to make sure the girl always uses the polite form when speaking. Otherwise, I (or someone else) could transfer these lines to the familiar form.

(Personally, I think that, if the girl is too little, she might use the familiar form even though Superman is an adult she doesn't know well... but I might be projecting from Greek. Anyways, polite should be okay.)

Also:
"When will you be back?" -- Cuando regresaras?

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Wow, thanks, everybody. Imagine, getting a crash course in Spanish on these boards!

Ann

Chiming in here a little late. I'd say she'd definitely use the polite form. Superman is basically a god to people who don't know him, and she would be in awe. She'd have been using the usted form from infancy anyway, because a lot of Mexican children, especially rural ones, address their parents with "usted", not to mention grandparents and other people.

As an aside, a lot of writers don't try to translate dialogue into another language. It's actually easier for the reader if you give one sentence in the target language, then say something like "Superman continued in Spanish..." and write it in English. Since not all your readers will speak Spanish, and putting translations in a story is somewhat awkward, it's okay to just do it in English. We will all know that the two are speaking Spanish with just a few indicators in the text. Just something to consider.

Hi Ann!

I can't wait to see your fic! I have a suggestion though: you might want to include translations beside the Spanish parts of your story so that people who don't speak a word of Spanish will be able to understand too.

Happy writing!

ChriscyK
(who should have been more diligent in going to Spanish class this year and is in a bit of a tizzy for her exam on the 24th :p )

hope you havnt finnished yet...\\

just wanna say that i think it depends on how old the girl is whether or not she uses familar or formal/polite speech to superman...

8 would be the oldest i could see using the familar form... any older and then they realise they have to be polite... between 5-8 children tend to slip in and out of familiar and formal, not realising to whom they are speaking to... and any younger than that would definately be familiar as even though he is a "godlike figure" they do not know enough of their language to distinguish bettween the formal and informal


but btw...
on a more L+C based note.... does Lois know spannish... i didnt think so....
from untrawoman all the languages are learnt, and are not a superpower.... so i dont think you couuld work that into the story


lol
good luck