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Qué tal (Spanish) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 13 10 December 2005 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Qué tal means how are things.
But I just heard this in Pimsleur: "How about the day after tomorrow? = Qué tal pasado mañana?" Is their translation literally correct? Or should the English translation be: "how are things the day after tomorrow"? Meaning, how are things then?, can we make an appointment then? Or does Qué tal also literally mean "how about"? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 13 10 December 2005 at 2:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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"How about" can be used, but it's not literal (few things are in translation).
¿Qué tal si dejamos la cita para mañana? = How about leaving the appointment for tomorrow? Also, as you mentioned, "¿qué tal?" can be used as an informal greeting meaning "how are you?" (not literally though). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 13 10 December 2005 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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So you can use Qué tal in both these cases.
I know literal translation is not possible often. But what do these 2 words literally mean? And does that change depending what you use it for? (I'm just curious for such things, understanding every word as much as possible.) Edited by tuffy on 10 December 2005 at 5:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 13 10 December 2005 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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"Qué" means what (or how sometimes)., e.g. "¿qué dijiste?" = what did you say? OR "¡qué asco!" = how revolting!
"Tal" means such (or so if used as an adverb), e.g. "tal cosa no existe" = such a thing doesn't exist. Here are some of the constructions you can get when they are used together: ¿qué tal? = how's things? (how goes it?) ¿qué tal es? = what's he (or she) like ¿qué tal estás? = how are you? ¿qué tal estoy? = how do I look? ¿qué tal si lo compramos? = how about if we buy it? Hope this helps. Edited by patuco on 10 December 2005 at 5:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 13 10 December 2005 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks Patuco, very helpfull!
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| cbashara Senior Member United States adventuresinspanish. Joined 7131 days ago 186 posts - 188 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 13 13 December 2005 at 11:29am | IP Logged | ||
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I need to carry Patuco around in my pocket everywhere I go so he can answer all of my questions! You are always so helpful!
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| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 13 13 December 2005 at 11:43am | IP Logged | ||
Two problems with that: 1. My wife might object. 2. I'm fairly heavy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cbashara Senior Member United States adventuresinspanish. Joined 7131 days ago 186 posts - 188 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 13 13 December 2005 at 12:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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True, and my pockets really aren't that big. I can only imagine that my husband would find it quite odd as well. But, seriously, thanks for all of the help. It is so nice to get a native speaker's perspective on these things.
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