tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 1 of 6 18 December 2005 at 4:13pm | IP Logged |
Is it correct that both translations are correct below?
I'm going to call you =
Te voy a llamar
Voy a llamarte
I think so, just checking to be sure :)
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Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7106 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds
| Message 2 of 6 18 December 2005 at 4:22pm | IP Logged |
I think you should use the second one. Whenever you use the infinitive of a verb (to ___) the pronoun goes at the end and is combined with the verb. The first one doesn't sound right to me, it sounds more like "I'm going to you, to call."
If the first one is correct, can someone explain why?
Edited by Sir Nigel on 18 December 2005 at 4:25pm
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patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map
| Message 3 of 6 18 December 2005 at 4:22pm | IP Logged |
They both look OK to me, although the second one sounds better.
Edited by patuco on 18 December 2005 at 4:24pm
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tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7036 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish
| Message 4 of 6 18 December 2005 at 5:01pm | IP Logged |
I also like the second one more, it's easier for me.
But today I heard the first one in Pimsleur so I wondered if what I had thought (number 1) was correct.
But so I gues both are ok then and I can choose :)
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KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7193 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian
| Message 5 of 6 18 December 2005 at 7:30pm | IP Logged |
They are both correct. Remember, too, that future is often implied from the present tense, which gives a hint of why you would see the first case used.
For example, "te llamo mañana" means, "I (will) call you tomorrow." Similarly, "te llamaré mañana" is the correct, albeit less common way to say the same. Te voy a llamar follows the same sentence structure using the ir+infinitive construction instead.
If I had to guess, I would say that you'll hear "voy a llamarte" about 60% of the time and "te voy a llamar" roughly 40%.
Here are some similar constructions using other verbs.
"Me vas a decir lo que te pasó?" - Are you going to tell me what happened to you?
"Cuando me los van a traer?" - When are they going to bring me them?
"Que me ibas a platicar ayer?" - What were you going to tell me yesterday?
All of these could put the pronouns at the end as well. Which is used when is often arbitrary but often makes sense from the context.
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luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7207 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French
| Message 6 of 6 18 December 2005 at 8:59pm | IP Logged |
FSI has an exercise doing both translations.
I'm going to call you: Te voy a llamar.
I'm going to call you: Voy a llamarte.
The same unit also has a similar exercise like:
I'm calling you: Te estoy llamando.
I'm calling you: Estoy llamandote.
Their idea is to get comfortable with both ways.
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