Dear readers,<\/p>\n
It’s a pleasure to begin this series of explorations into language, and particularly into the curiosities and riddles of translating between English and Spanish. I invite you to explore with me, starting with some cases of “mirrors” in which the same concept is expressed in opposite ways in the two languages.<\/p>\n
One curious case: giving or taking a test<\/strong>. In English, the teacher gives the test, the student takes it. The Spanish situation is more complex. In some countries (e.g. Peru, Chile, Argentina), it’s reversed: El estudiante da <\/em>(gives) el examen, el maestro lo toma<\/em> (takes it).<\/em><\/p>\n This isn’t because the student hands the completed exam to the teacher; rather, the logic is historical: in past times, oral examination was much more common in schools. The teacher tomaba<\/em> (took) the exam, in much the way that a judge would tomar declaración<\/em> (hear or receive testimony).<\/p>\n In other countries, usage can be different. In Mexico, for instance, the teacher usually da <\/em>(gives) the exam, which the student tiene<\/em> (has) or toma<\/em> (takes).<\/p>\n However, in formal Spanish everywhere, students rinden<\/em> (give) an exam.<\/p>\n Another mirror that can lead to confusion has to do with the word substitute<\/strong>. <\/em>In English, “to substitute pepper for salt” means to use pepper instead of salt. In Spanish, the mirror sentence sustituir pimienta por sal<\/em> means to drop pepper and use salt.<\/p>\n Moving from one language to another is fascinating—but sometimes traps of confusion lie in wait if we’re not careful!<\/p>\n Buenas palabras,<\/p>\n Pablo<\/p>\n This essay was first published, alongside its Spanish version, in <\/em>La Prensa Latina, Memphis, Tennessee, on 22 July 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear readers, It’s a pleasure to begin this series of explorations into language, and particularly into the curiosities and riddles of translating between English and Spanish. I invite you to explore with me, starting with some cases of “mirrors” in which the same concept is expressed in opposite ways in the two languages. One curious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[161,59,30,162,44,10,45,163,164,165,166,47,48,24,167,14,111,51,17,168,169,170,54,55,19,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-interflows-language-culture-blog","7":"tag-certified","8":"tag-cultura","9":"tag-culture","10":"tag-dar","11":"tag-davis","12":"tag-english","13":"tag-espanol","14":"tag-exam","15":"tag-examen","16":"tag-give","17":"tag-idiomas","18":"tag-ingles","19":"tag-julian","20":"tag-language","21":"tag-lenguaje","22":"tag-memphis","23":"tag-mid-south","24":"tag-pablo","25":"tag-spanish","26":"tag-take","27":"tag-test","28":"tag-tomar","29":"tag-traduccion","30":"tag-traductor","31":"tag-translation","32":"tag-translator","33":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n