# How do I say \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in Spanish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037 "2009-10-16T16:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/1 "2009-10-16T16:12:32Z")
Synopsis of the situation: I’m a terrible awful horrible not good very bad housekeeper and my house is so bad that I’ve called for help. I’ve hired a cleaning lady who comes highly recommended. She is Mexican and though I was told “her English isn’t great” the truth seems closer to “She knows 12 words of English and 8 of them are related to lagomoprh biology”, and I speak even less Spanish. She’s at my house now, she seems to be a very sweet lady and she’s doing a great job, but using [babelfish.altavista.com](http://babelfish.altavista.com) has been hit and miss. Highlighted words are what I would like translated (as simply as possible, por favor), but the context may be important as well. -She charges $8 per hour. I want to tell her that I’ll pay her $8 in the future but because my house is particularly messy I would like to pay her $12 per hour for this first cleaning. Unfortunately I think it came out that I want her to work 12 hours. How should I say **“I’ll pay you $12 per hour this time/$8 per hour for any future cleanings?”** -For this time I would like her to concentrate mainly on the downstairs (the living areas); if she has any time left she can do the two smaller upstairs bedrooms, but downstairs first. I imparted _abajo_ courtesy of babelfish but I think it may have come across as “Only downstairs” instead of " **downstairs first- if you have time the upstairs, otherwise next time"**. Any suggestions? And this both a translation and a cultural question: -She is approximately the same size as my mother (who is dead). I recently found some nice clothes of my mother- jackets, cardigans and blouses, rarely if ever worn- in storage. If she would like them then I would like for her to have them. So- while I’m sure not all Mexicans are hivemind, for those more familiar with their culture, would it be interpreted as offensive if I offered them to her? (I have a mortal phobia of offending the innocent.) If you think it would be fine, how would I tell her in such a way that **“You may have them if you like, if you don’t want them I’m not offended”** and for that matter that I mean no offense? (If she doesn’t want them I’m giving them to Goodwill since they’re cool weather clothes, but I’d rather give them to somebody for free than for Goodwill to sell.) Thanks for any help (or _gracias_- one of about 8 Spanish words I know (nine if Risotto is Spanish). ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/2 "2009-10-16T16:34:32Z")
babelfish will translate sentences, not just words. I can read spanish, but cannot translate to it. (All recall memory) I’m not an expert and not a fluent speaker but these will get you by if need an answer now - hopefully someone fluent will come along and give a better answer. I’ll pay you $12 per hour this time/$8 per hour for any future cleanings Le pagaré $doce por hora ahoy/$ocho por la hora para futuras downstairs first- if you have time the upstairs, otherwise next abajo primero- si usted tiene tiempo arriba, si no, después tiempo You may have them if you like, if you don’t want them I’m not offended Usted puede tenerlos si usted quiere, si usted los no quiere no soy ofendido ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/3 "2009-10-16T16:51:30Z")
1. Por la primera vez te pagaré doce dólares la hora. En adelante serán ocho dólares la hora. 2. Limpia el primer piso y si tienes tiempo haz el segundo. Si no, haces el segundo puiso la siguiente vez. 3. Cultural: I’d wait until you had a “relationship”. In Latin America it is common to give the maids all-but-still-good clothes for them or their family. Just tell her to pick what she likes. Language: Tengo ropa que era de mi madre y creo que es tu talla, si quieres escoge lo que te guste. 4. Gracias por todo. Nos vemos el \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (Thanks for everything. See you on\_\_\_\_\_) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/4 "2009-10-16T16:53:45Z")
The translations above [ETA: in post #2. Post #3 is flawless] would be understood by any Spanish speaker, I think. They sound slightly off but IANA native speaker, and they’re clear. For the clothes, how about “Tengo mucha ropa aquí que fue de mi madre; necessito hacer qualcosa con esa. ¿Quiere, o conoce alguin que quiera?” (pidgin Spanish for “I have a lot of clothing here that used to be my mother’s; I have to do something with it. Do you want it, or do you know someone who might want it?” Makes it sound more like “can you help me out / perhaps get some advantage” vs. “You look poor: want some clothes?” Obviously, the latter is not your intention and given the language barrier I think she’d get that anyway. Just a suggestion. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/5 "2009-10-16T17:05:21Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > babelfish will translate sentences, not just words. > > I can read spanish, but cannot translate to it. (All recall memory) > I’m not an expert and not a fluent speaker but these will get you by if need an answer now - hopefully someone fluent will come along and give a better answer. > > I’ll pay you $12 per hour this time/$8 per hour for any future cleanings > Le pagaré $doce por hora ahoy/$ocho por la hora para futuras > > downstairs first- if you have time the upstairs, otherwise next > abajo primero- si usted tiene tiempo arriba, si no, después tiempo > > You may have them if you like, if you don’t want them I’m not offended > Usted puede tenerlos si usted quiere, si usted los no quiere no soy ofendido [Moderator note] Babelfish is actually terrible to use to for translations if you want any accuracy. It may give you a general sense of the original, but is almost guaranteed to be incorrect and/or ungrammatical, as those examples are. Given that we have a number of native Spanish speakers on the board, and others who are pretty fluent, it is generally worthless to provide a Babelfish or other machine translation, especially for a first response. In general, I would like to discourage people from posting machine translations of common European languages such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and others; we have enough native or fluent speakers of those languages to make this unwarranted. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/6 "2009-10-16T17:06:48Z")
One question. When you say these sentences to her, how are you going to understand her replies? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/7 "2009-10-16T17:22:11Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > 1. .. Si no, haces el segundo puiso la siguiente vez. This is just to note a typo here; _puiso_ should be _piso_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/8 "2009-10-16T17:29:56Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > “Tengo mucha ropa aquí que fue de mi madre; necessito hacer qualcosa con esa. ¿Quiere, o conoce alguin que quiera?” Just to correct the grammar: Tengo aquí mucha ropa que era de mi madre y necesito hacer algo con ella. ¿La quieres, o conoces a alguien que la querría? Qualcosa, like risotto, is italian. I’d skip the “necesito hacer algo con ella,” if you go with this version rather than **Ají** ’s. Hand-me-downs when the giver and recipient know each other are viewed as a gift among equals / friends, rather than as charity (and no, she wouldn’t owe you anything back, but like **Ají** said you need to wait until you’ve known her for a couple of months, ie, until you’ve established a relationship of trust). When you take it to Goodwill then yes, it’s charity. **Dewey Finn** , the answers can be shortened to either yes/no or, if she wants to negotiate the price, to hand signals. The most complicated case is the clothes, and then she can either say “no”, say “yes” and get into them or say something like “otro día” and get into them later - hopefully if it’s the third case and our esteemed **Sampiro** looks 😕 she’ll think of saying _mañana_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/9 "2009-10-16T17:50:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Just to correct the grammar: > Tengo aquí mucha ropa que era de mi madre y necesito hacer algo con ella. ¿La quieres, o conoces a alguien que la querría? > > Qualcosa, like risotto, is italian. Thank you, **Nava**. For what it’s worth, my Italian is full of Hispanicisms, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/10 "2009-10-16T18:07:37Z")
Hey, if we’re ever in a Dopefest together we can speak Itagnolo 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/11 "2009-10-16T18:14:55Z")
My Spanish sucks, but at least I try. When I was in Puerto Rico, I was at a little outdoor bar. I wanted some vodka. I asked the bartender, “Como se dice “vodka” en Espanol” (how do you say vodka in Spanish). The bartender, a very cute young woman, nodded her head to show she understood the question, then said, very slowly and clearly, “Vodka”. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/12 "2009-10-16T18:31:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Tengo aquí mucha ropa que era de mi madre y necesito hacer algo con ella. Can I just verify that ‘ella’ above isn’t a typo? I have never seen or heard it used that way. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/13 "2009-10-16T19:34:34Z")
Thanks to all for the responses. I’ve taken some of them and printed them and hope to get the point across. Question: is doce (twelve) pronounced more like doh-say or doh-chay? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/14 "2009-10-16T19:37:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Moderator note] > > Babelfish is actually terrible to use to for translations if you want any accuracy. That’s what I encountered. I think it gives what would in English would sound like “I am a store to go” circumlocution for “I am going to the store”. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/15 "2009-10-16T19:38:26Z")
Doe-say. With accent on the first syllable. C is only “ch” sounding if it has an h next to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/16 "2009-10-16T19:43:15Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Doe-say. With accent on the first syllable. C is only “ch” sounding if it has an h next to it. Thanks. I really want to learn Spanish; I’m thinking of buying the Rosetta Stone CDs. My understanding is that other than the accursed gender case article/nouns that English speakers just never seem to get the hang of (I was great in German except I could never remember if a table/chair/telephone/monkey wrench was male/female/neuter) it’s a much easier language than ours and the rules of pronunciation and grammer are more consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/17 "2009-10-16T20:08:25Z")
You should consider taking an Intro to Spanish class at a community college or continuing education center. They’re usually inexpensive and it is much easier to learn from a human than a computer. Plus, those Rosetta Stone CDs are wicked expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/18 "2009-10-16T20:30:03Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Plus, those Rosetta Stone CDs are wicked expensive. There are also caveats about buying them used, though I’m not sure if it’s more a legal concern or a functionality concern, but apparently they just don’t work as well second hand. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/19 "2009-10-16T20:46:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [I]t’s a much easier language than ours and the rules of pronunciation and grammer are more consistent. Spanish spelling and pronunciation are absolutely consistent, and there are probably fewer exceptions to grammatical rules than in English. Probably the hardest thing for an English speaker is the multiple verb forms; in Spanish, each verb usually has more than thirty different forms, compared to a half dozen or so for English. Gender/number agreement between nouns and adjectives can be difficult to remember to do, but for the most part doesn’t affect understandability. > [@Sampiro](#): > > “She knows 12 words of English and 8 of them are related to lagomoprh biology”, and I speak even less Spanish. I’m curious about how the subject of rabbits even came up. Do you have some in the living room?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Polly\_Glot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Polly\_Glot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polly_Glot)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037/20 "2009-10-16T20:50:12Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > Can I just verify that ‘ella’ above isn’t a typo? I have never seen or heard it used that way. I don’t believe it’s a typo, but the antecedent of ella (is it clothes, “ropa,” or mother, “madre”?) sure looks weird to American eyes. “I have these clothes that used to belong to my mother and I need to do something with her.” (“Que necesita Ud. hacer con la vieja, entonces, senor?”) 😃 I can’t figure out how to avoid the ambiguity, however, and as a non-native Spanish speaker, I’m not sure whether doing so is even necessary. * * * The one other thing I would mention though is that in Mexico, “madre” is considered a bad word! The substitute is generally “mama,” with an accent on the final “a.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-say-________-in-spanish/514037.md?page=2)