My confusing spanish book...

   Share on Facebook  
j404  #16964  Thu, 29 Mar 07 09:01 PM

in my spanish book it says:

hasta la noche = see you this evening

hasta el sábado = until Saturday

is the "this" in "hasta la noche" implied? why doesnt that sentence read "see you the night"? and where are they getting the word "until" in hasta el sábado? of course "see you Saturday" and "until Saturday" mean the same thing but it seems like there has to be a specific spanish word for "until".

Thanks alot for any help!

  
Not Ranked
Joined on 26-03-2007
Usuario Nuevo (02)
walla  #16966  Thu, 29 Mar 07 09:40 PM
"hasta la noche" literally means "until the night".

We don't typically say "until the night" in English. That is why your book says "see you this evening".

Similarly, "hasta la vista" literally means "until the sight". But since that phrase has no meaning in English, it is better to say it means "Until I see you again" or "Until we meet again".

You can think of the word "hasta" as meaning "until", "till" , or "up to".
  
Top 50 Contributor
Joined on 01-03-2007
Usuario Aficionado (98)
j404  #16973  Fri, 30 Mar 07 10:33 AM

thanks for the help :)

in regards to "hasta la vista = until the sight"

the phrase "until the sight" really sounds awkward without any reference to what they are seeing or will see... is the "you" only implied? as in "until the sight of you" ..?

one other question.

my book says this:

por allá = that way

however other sources say "that way" is: esa manera

and apparently por allá really means:  by there

im trying very hard to see at least some of the big picture as far as how this language works -- hopefully something will click soon. thanks again

 

  
walla  #16985  Fri, 30 Mar 07 08:14 PM
"Until the sight" does sound really weird.  You can assume the sight will be "you" if the person is talking to you. It is implied.  But is better to understand how the phrase is used rather than trying to interpret the literal meaning of the phrase.

"por allá" - as I understand it, the meaning changes based on what you are referring to.

If you are referring to a direction, "por allá" would mean "over that way". The destination is not certain.
If you are referring to a place "por allá" would mean "over by there (that place)". The destination is certain.

"esa manera" - "that way(manner)", such as "that way of doing things", which does not refer to a destination or direction.

I am relatively new to learning Spanish. The key to understanding these types of things is knowing how they are used in a conversation. What I recommend is try the literal translation first. If it doesn't make sense to you, try to look for the phrase in a conversation (do a Google search or ask on this message board).

Here is a website I recommend to you: [link]

Look up words that you don't know. If there is a phrase you don't know, look up the main word in the phrase. Often you will find the phrase on this website, and it will tell you how it is used and what it means.



  
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: Beginner's Spanish - Español para principiantes
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions & Terms of Service