# Help with Spanish Translation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689 "2003-08-30T21:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Homer\_J.Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a698b9/32.png) [@Homer\_J.Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer_J.Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/1 "2003-08-30T21:11:24Z")
MEChA’s motto is: > [@](#): > > Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada. Which news services are translating as: > [@](#): > > For the race, everything. _ **For those** _ outside the race, nothing. Where do the words for “For those” come from? ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/2 "2003-08-30T21:22:53Z")
They are probably reffering to the people who don’t belong to the race, _for those_ who don’t belong to the race. Please notice that the race is The Race. La Raza is the bunch of people that conforms the chicano union. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/3 "2003-08-31T05:00:52Z")
Seems more straightforward: “For the Race, everything. Outside of the Race, nothing”. “For those” was added, unnecessarily I believe. The two words make the statement wordier and change the meaning just a hair. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/4 "2003-08-31T16:37:03Z")
I would characterize the translation given in the OP as inaccurate. In my opinion, it changes the meaning more than just a hair, it puts in an element that is not in the original. It makes it sound hostile towards outsiders (those outside _La Raza_), when the quotation as stated appears to emphasize solidarity within _La Raza_ more. The correct translation is the one **MaryEFoo** has stated. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/5 "2003-08-31T18:07:22Z")
I agree totally with **Colibri**. The first translation appears much more xenophobic than the original Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/6 "2003-08-31T19:08:11Z")
Pronouns are often dropped in Spanish, in my experience they get added as an emphasis: _¡Quedate, por favor!_ (Please stay!) _No, yo me yoy_ (No, I _am_ leaving), as opposed to _Me voy_, which is simply ‘I’m leaving’. I think that the person translated this added the pronouns to try to clarify the sentence, thinking that since the Spanish always leave out the pronoun, it should be added. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/7 "2003-08-31T19:55:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*Pronouns are often dropped in Spanish, in my experience they get added as an emphasis \*\* _Subject_ pronouns are frequently left out when the verb form or the context unambiguously indicates what person the verb applies to. If there is ambiguity, they will often be included for clarity. Direct and indirect object pronouns are usually included, because the verb form doesn’t indicate what they should be. The Spanish original is ambiguous, but perhaps intentionally so. The translation has given it a more specific meaning - one of several possible meanings - that it did not have in the original. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/8 "2003-08-31T20:36:42Z")
¿What I said, no? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-spanish-translation/198689/9 "2003-08-31T21:15:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*¿What I said, no? \*\* No, you said pronouns in general. Object pronouns are not usually dropped. In this case we are dealing with object pronouns. The distinction is significant because in translating Spanish to English one often needs to express an implied subject pronoun. This is not the case for object pronouns.