Question regarding Spanish
Among the first thing I do each morning is run through my Spanish flashcards. Anki feeds them to me in both directions: Spanish as the prompt and, separately, English as the prompt. (You can set up the deck to use only one side as the prompt or both sides—and the two sides get different review schedules if one direction is easier than the other.)
I enjoy this interlude because I know 80-90% of the cards immediately (most of them now are review), which makes me feel good. The rest are either new—fine, I’m happy to learn a new word—or difficult—fine, I do need to review those daily (and, of course, with that sort of review they are quickly learned and I don’t see them for a while).
I came across derecho/a this morning. It means both “right” (the direction) and “straight”. So if I’m driving and I come to an intersection, and I ask, “¿Izquierda?” (“Left?” — the word looks weird because it’s a Basque root: Spanish has a fair number of words from Basque and also from Arabic.), and I get the answer “¡Derecho!“, do I turn right? or go straight?
English, of course, has a similar ambiguity: driving at speed on a freeway, you suddenly see the road split. “Left?” you say, and the navigator responds, “Right!” Does that mean “correct” or “take the right-hand path”?
In fact, when I lived in Cleveland, a Christian quartet on tour missed their flight by exactly that mistake—and the plane subsequently crashed and killed everyone on board. The quartet saw that as God sending a message to them personally about how important their work was. Hard cheese for the others on that flight. They probably wish God had just sent a telegram or some such.
To the right: A la Derecha
Right turn: Vuelta a la Derecha
Derecho – means straight
Derecha – means right
Go straight: Seguir derecho
I think this area is a very good point you bring up because here is a real twist:
El Derecho de la Ley – The right of the Law
You have rights under the law – Usted tiene derechos bajo la ley
Now I am all confused !!!
I agree it is quite confusing and practice will help.
Nick
18 April 2011 at 8:57 am
Y por supuesto, puedo decir..”mi hijo estudio’ derecho” o “mi hijo estudio’ leyes” o “mi hijo estudio’ jurisprudenza” !
derecho=leyes=jurisprudenza en las facultades universitarias
Voy derecho?? No, equivocado, dice el GPS
Voy a la derecha? Si, correcto, dice el GPS
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:05 am
“volver” a la derecha sounds like one must return back to the right
while
“girar” a la derecha sounds like one must make a right hand turn
“dar la vuelta” turn around (implied: start over!)
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:09 am
unless, of course, you are saying: “Vamos a dar una vuelta.” That means “let’s go for a ride (car/bike/motorcycle), or a stroll (on foot)”!
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:12 am
OK…last one…vamos a dar la vuelta…let’s turn around
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:15 am
But then it would be an incomplete command as –
Vamos a dar vuelta…! and then the proper response would be – en un U ? o a la dercha o isquierda ?
So you have to finish the “Let’s turn” – “Dar Vuelta”
Where vamos a dar una vuelta por alla o por el centro means “Let’s go for a round” or let’s go cruise downtown….
Nick
18 April 2011 at 11:36 am
No command here at all…
“Vayamos a dar una vuelta en bici.” would be a complete command. Let’s (implied imperative) could be “Vamos a dar una vuelta en bici.”
UNA vuelta does not equal LA vuelta …. I have never heard “en una U” before.. or “for a round” as a translation…”dar una vuelta” is idiomatic for sure
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:53 am
“dar la vuelta” is definitely Go back to square one…or to where we began to get lost!
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 11:56 am
then I guess you’ve never used -
Maria…Date una vuelta por el Centro..haber si me encuentras…
No quieres darte una vuelta conmigo… Maria ?
Nick
18 April 2011 at 12:20 pm
Querra’ decir “a ver” y no “haber” en este caso!
De todas formas, usted ha usado “una vuelta” en su posicion gramatical correctisimamente.
Por eso, el uso de UNA y LA ( y hasta DE) siguen teneniendo una importancia bastante grande.
Si, si Don Nicolas, me encantaria darme una vuelta, acompanada de mis amigas, para ver si nos encontramos en el centro. Pero una vuelta a solas con Ud., no me es posible. Mis padres me mandarian de vuelta al convento, y la vuelta a ese lugar no me gustaria nada.
!!!!!!
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 2:52 pm
jejejeje !!!
“I see…” said the blind man !!
Nick
18 April 2011 at 3:31 pm
Maria Luisa
18 April 2011 at 5:47 pm
I think I may have it, but how does one say “to go straight”? Ir derecho is not correct (though derecho is an adverb meaning “straight”, so I’m not sure when you could use the adverb: that certainly seems like a logical use).
LeisureGuy
19 April 2011 at 7:45 am
Para (seguir) derecho uno tiene que tener coraje y comer un huevo diario ?
to go straight one must have courage and eat an egg a day…
just kidding….
seguir derecho
or maybe
ir derecho
Maria Luisa will know…
Nick
19 April 2011 at 8:18 am
Bad boys…you roped me in…sorry I got “preachy” yesterday!!!
Yo voy derecho a Winchells Donuts despues de la clase de pilates. Softened you could say..voy derechito…cuando estamos en una fiesta, mi marido va derechito al bar.
Using “ir” is good in these examples.
I am on the 101 going north, but am unsure if I’ve passed my exit, so I stop and ask…am told
Siga usted derecho otros siete u ocho quilometros, luego salga a la derecha donde dice Agnew State Hosp.
Maria Luisa
19 April 2011 at 11:54 am
Para llegar al cielo, el hombre debe ser un ejemplo hecho y derecho para sus hijos.
Juanito cumplio’ 18 anos…ya es un hombre hecho y derecho. Come huevos y tiene coraje.
Maria Luisa
19 April 2011 at 11:57 am
sooo…cute !
Nick
19 April 2011 at 5:00 pm