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> “The keys have lost themselves.” I didn’t lose the keys. They did it to themselves. A better translation would be: "The keys have been lost", this is how you
by patrickaljord 16y ago
> “The keys have lost themselves.” I didn’t lose the keys. They did it to themselves.
A better translation would be: "The keys have been lost", this is how you translate Spanish passive voice. Passive voice is always impersonal, even in English. Looks like the article author got confused. Also, passive voice is not used that often in Spanish, maybe a bit more than in English but not that much.
- Mz 16y agoSometimes, transliteration has it's value. I don't know much Spanish, but my understanding is that "se" basically means "themselves". It might not be how it is officially translated, but it seems to me it does convey something about Spanish that you probably can't convey by translating it into the standard English it would typically be translated into. I do a lot of transliteration when learning a new language. I find it helpful.
- patrickaljord 16y agoI speak Spanish everyday, this is just the passive voice, it's just as impersonal as English passive voice, nothing special here. It's like a Spanish guy transliterating "the keys have been lost" to spanish and then claiming: "In English, it's not your fault". Doesn't make sense.