Spanish

[KimBoggs]

Originally Posted by LikeLuna

So...No sé hablar mucho español, pero quiero aprenderlo. ¿Verdad?

That's right...

[Lisa_Turpin]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Really? I find Italian much simpler than Spanish.

¿Verdad? ¡Creo que español es mucho más fácil que italiano!
Really? I think that Spanish is much easier that Italian!

Originally Posted by LikeLuna

I was told that either way is good. And thanks for the help with the accents!

¡De nada!
You're welcome!

So...No sé hablar mucho español, pero quiero aprenderlo. ¿Verdad?

Sí, muy bien, chica.
Yes, very good.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by deathly721

That's good, but you should change it to UNA clase de español, because "clase" is feminine.

thanks, i never get the feminine masculine thing. The good thing is that people can still understand what I'm saying, bad thing is that i can really annoy my spanish teacher with all the mistakes, lol

[hp_ultrafan]

Hey guys!

I'm fluent in Spanish so I can also help.

I was reading the first page and I have something to say about this sentece: "me gusta escucha la radio". Someone posted that the correct form is "Me gusta escuchar al radio," and it is absolutely correct; however, "Me gusta escuchar la radio" is also another sentence people often use. I guess it depends on the "spanish" you speak. For example, in some countries they refer people as "usted" when they want to say "You" and in other countries, they use "Tú" when they want to say "You".

[DeathlyH]

Originally Posted by hp_ultrafan

Hey guys!

I'm fluent in Spanish so I can also help.

I was reading the first page and I have something to say about this sentece: "me gusta escucha la radio". Someone posted that the correct form is "Me gusta escuchar al radio," and it is absolutely correct; however, "Me gusta escuchar la radio" is also another sentence people often use. I guess it depends on the "spanish" you speak. For example, in some countries they refer people as "usted" when they want to say "You" and in other countries, they use "Tú" when they want to say "You".

The way I learned it, usted is the formal way of saying "you," and tú is the normal way.

[GinnyIsGenius]

Originally Posted by deathly721

The way I learned it, usted is the formal way of saying "you," and tú is the normal way.

Yes, but in some countries USTED is the regular ("normal") word that is used (example, Colombia)

[hp_ultrafan]

In my opinion, I think there really is not "proper" or "normal" way. There are people in countries (i.e. Ecuador) who say "Tú" when most of the people use "Usted". Either way is fine as long as you know how to use the words XD.

[GinnyIsGenius]

Originally Posted by hp_ultrafan

In my opinion, I think there really is not "proper" or "normal" way. There are people in countries (i.e. Ecuador) who say "Tú" when most of the people use "Usted". Either way is fine as long as you know how to use the words XD.

Yes, that's why I said "normal". I prefer to say regular.
It depends on what's more commonly use in a place or not, not a matter of wrong or right.

In PR we use both: "tu" for a more colloquial style, "usted" as a more respectful variant.

[LudwigVan]

Yes it varies depending the countries, In Argentina you are addressing someone formally if you say "usted", the common way its "vos" unlike many other latin american countries that commonly use "tú"

[hp_ultrafan]

You would be surprise to know that some people find those words to be very rude. I remember when my friend went to Ecuador, she heard children addressing their parents using "Usted" and she was very upset because, in her own view, that was a rude thing to say since she is used to address her parents with the word "Tu".

Interesting, isn't it?

[DeathlyH]

Originally Posted by GinnyIsGenius

Yes, but in some countries USTED is the regular ("normal") word that is used (example, Colombia)

Oh, okay. My school taught us scrictly Spain Spanish. For example: "Me llamo", not "mi nombre." Sorry for the confusion.

[Lisa_Turpin]

Originally Posted by deathly721

Oh, okay. My school taught us scrictly Spain Spanish. For example: "Me llamo", not "mi nombre." Sorry for the confusion.

Really? That quite surprises me that you learned the Castellano dialect in class. Although, I don't know where you live, most schools in the States teach more of a Mexican dialect.

I was taught to use "Ud." with people who are older than myself and that "tú" is for more of an informal setting. I have, however, slipped into a habit of using "tú" with everyone because mainly I talk to people my own age or was asked by instructors to just use the informal you with them.

[MmeBergerac]

In Spain, the use of tú and usted is also quite related with the confidence you have with the other person. If you're speaking to an stranger whom you call by his surname (Mr García, for instance), you use the form usted. However, when you're in first-name terms, you use the tú. When someone tells you llámame Manuel (call me Manuel), it's understood that you can begin to call him by tú.

In Spain, usted is the formal way, while in many countries of South America it's a very usual form. The vos that's used in Argentina was the formal treatment in Spain till about XVIIIth century (during the XIXth, it was still used to address the King). Here it changed, and the other formal form vuestra merced (it means something like your mercy, or your grace) became the present usted; but in America they kept using it.

[wickedwickedboy]

A little Harry Potter?

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Lunático, Colagusano, Canuto y Cornamenta.

[MmeBergerac]

Originally Posted by wickedwickedboy

A little Harry Potter?

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Lunático, Colagusano, Canuto y Cornamenta.

Yep, that's the Spanish translation for the Marauders' nicknames. Lunático, Colagusano and Cornamenta are quite logical words for Moony, Wormtail and Prongs. However, I don't understand that of Canuto yet. I mean: I suppose Padfoot alludes to the form of a dog's paw. But Canuto...

In Spain, a canuto is a small tube (there's a saying: no saber hacer la "o" con un canuto means that a person is a total good-for nothing), and also the slang name for... well, a type of drug. The RAE dictionary brings more meanings (see here), but those two are the most usual.

Does any of you find any relation between these Spanish definitions and Sirius? It's my mother language, but, sincerely, I can't. Or maybe the word Padfoot has any meaning in English that is completely different from the one I guessed?

There's a third option (my favourite at the moment), and it is that my dear Spanish translators didn't find any fitting word (Spanish has a very rich vocabulary, but sometimes translators don't bother to look beyond the first entry of the dictionary) and used the first one that occured to them. That's one of the reasons why I prefer the HP book in English!

[wickedwickedboy]

Originally Posted by MmeBergerac

Yep, that's the Spanish translation for the Marauders' nicknames. Lunático, Colagusano and Cornamenta are quite logical words for Moony, Wormtail and Prongs. However, I don't understand that of Canuto yet. I mean: I suppose Padfoot alludes to the form of a dog's paw. But Canuto...

In Spain, a canuto is a small tube (there's a saying: no saber hacer la "o" con un canuto means that a person is a total good-for nothing), and also the slang name for... well, a type of drug. The RAE dictionary brings more meanings (see here), but those two are the most usual.

Does any of you find any relation between these Spanish definitions and Sirius? It's my mother language, but, sincerely, I can't. Or maybe the word Padfoot has any meaning in English that is completely different from the one I guessed?

There's a third option (my favourite at the moment), and it is that my dear Spanish translators didn't find any fitting word (Spanish has a very rich vocabulary, but sometimes translators don't bother to look beyond the first entry of the dictionary) and used the first one that occured to them. That's one of the reasons why I prefer the HP book in English!

I assumed it was just for the soft part of a dog's paw (padded foot) as well. I don't think the word padfoot is used very commonly in english tho (pad foot is something that has nothing to do with having padded feet) - so I think it was just a name the four friends came up with to do with him having pads on his feet. So Canuto works good as anything else, lol. But yeah, the translation was rough sometimes, I too ended up re-reading the whole thing in English. Actually HBP came out at Corte Ingles in English first so I read that in English first - but then my mum brought home the spanish translation and I read that too.

[GinnyIsGenius]

I always viewed "Canuto" as a reference for the word "Can" (in Spanish), which is used for domestic dogs (Canis Lupus Familiaris) ...

[MmeBergerac]

Originally Posted by GinnyIsGenius

I always viewed "Canuto" as a reference for the word "Can" (in Spanish), which is used for domestic dogs (Canis Lupus Familiaris) ...

Yes, can means dog since the times of Latin... But the end of the word, -uto , has no significance, as far as I remember.

[GinnyIsGenius]

Originally Posted by MmeBergerac

But the end of the word, -uto , has no significance, as far as I remember.

No, it has no significance. It is just a "suffix". (-uto, -uta, -ita, -ito, etc)
Any other suffix would've done the trick.

[mariebeth83]

I've found a great website Learn Spanish which seems to have some really good information about learning Spanish. I'm trying to relearn the Spanish that I learnt in school at the moment, which is interesting!