((puntuacion))
And you thought only the words were different...
If I write 10,000 in Spanish, I am wrong. The proper way to express this number is 10.000! Notice the difference? It's a big one. If I use a comma after the 10 I am saying that the number is complete and any digit expressed after that is a completely different number. That is why something that costs 4.95 Euros is 4,95 Euros. (not 4.95) That means that here in Spain, if I write 10,000 I might as well just write 10 because those zeros after the comma don't mean a thing.
Now it gets tricky. 10.000 is actually called 10 mil. So, that means that 10.000.000 is called 10 million? Yes! Actually it translates as 10 millones. So that makes the number 10.000.000.000 - 10 billion (billones) correct? No! That would be 10 mil millones. Yes, I said 10 mil millones. In Spain, 10.000.000.000.000 is 10 billones. That would be 10 trillion to us. And don't forget that the number 10,000,000,000,000 is just 10 because of the comma. Makes "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and international debt more exciting over here.
Now for a luxurious break from the numbers game. When you write or read a question in Spanish, you usually see it written thus: ?Is this a question? In other words, there is a question mark before the question as well as after the question. But the first question mark at the beginning of the sentence is actually written upside down. I cannot do that on this keyboard, so just indulge me a little.
Also, if you use an exclamation mark to make a declarative statement, the same rule applies: !This is crazy! And following the rule of the upside down question mark, the first exclamation mark is written upside down as well. ?Really? !Yes, really!
Have you ever heard someone ask a question with a spanish accent and follow it with the word "no" or "true"? Example: "You have a funny leetle smile No?" That is not a weird speaking habit. Actually, that is the structure of their questions. Our english questions are not structured like that ?true? !Si!
The english language has a double negative trap that can be seen in this simple sentence: "Are we not going to the store now?" How do you answer that? In English, the proper way to answer would be to say "Yes, we are NOT going to the store now." But we all break the English rule and say "No, we ain't going." Did you catch the contradiction? In Spanish they have done away with all of this confusion. If the answer is "no"... you first say: "No. No we are not." This structure eliminates the word confusion.
This is confusing, ?yes?
No. No this is not confusing.... yet.
I have a bad habit of using a dash or double-dash when I want to make a point in a sentence. Here is an example: "The wind felt like a sweet soothing breath - from a big man's mouth." Now, we can all agree that the dash placement seems to make sense in that context ?right? But the double-dash in Spanish text is used the same way we use quotations marks in a story when someone speaks. Like this: "That truck is red," he said. In Spanish, that would look like this: - !That truck is red! - he said.
The lesson is almost over. Did you notice my title: ((puntuacion)) ? Wonder why I didn't entitle it: "punctuation" ? Because you don't use the " " in Spanish the same way we use it. They use the (( )). (Actually the Spanish ( looks more like a < but that messes up the code on this text!)
Final example:
-You read ((Newsweek)),?right?- he asked.
-!No! No I do not. I read ((Cosmo)) because is just costs 3,99.- she replied.
?Claro?
!Si!
If I write 10,000 in Spanish, I am wrong. The proper way to express this number is 10.000! Notice the difference? It's a big one. If I use a comma after the 10 I am saying that the number is complete and any digit expressed after that is a completely different number. That is why something that costs 4.95 Euros is 4,95 Euros. (not 4.95) That means that here in Spain, if I write 10,000 I might as well just write 10 because those zeros after the comma don't mean a thing.
Now it gets tricky. 10.000 is actually called 10 mil. So, that means that 10.000.000 is called 10 million? Yes! Actually it translates as 10 millones. So that makes the number 10.000.000.000 - 10 billion (billones) correct? No! That would be 10 mil millones. Yes, I said 10 mil millones. In Spain, 10.000.000.000.000 is 10 billones. That would be 10 trillion to us. And don't forget that the number 10,000,000,000,000 is just 10 because of the comma. Makes "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and international debt more exciting over here.
Now for a luxurious break from the numbers game. When you write or read a question in Spanish, you usually see it written thus: ?Is this a question? In other words, there is a question mark before the question as well as after the question. But the first question mark at the beginning of the sentence is actually written upside down. I cannot do that on this keyboard, so just indulge me a little.
Also, if you use an exclamation mark to make a declarative statement, the same rule applies: !This is crazy! And following the rule of the upside down question mark, the first exclamation mark is written upside down as well. ?Really? !Yes, really!
Have you ever heard someone ask a question with a spanish accent and follow it with the word "no" or "true"? Example: "You have a funny leetle smile No?" That is not a weird speaking habit. Actually, that is the structure of their questions. Our english questions are not structured like that ?true? !Si!
The english language has a double negative trap that can be seen in this simple sentence: "Are we not going to the store now?" How do you answer that? In English, the proper way to answer would be to say "Yes, we are NOT going to the store now." But we all break the English rule and say "No, we ain't going." Did you catch the contradiction? In Spanish they have done away with all of this confusion. If the answer is "no"... you first say: "No. No we are not." This structure eliminates the word confusion.
This is confusing, ?yes?
No. No this is not confusing.... yet.
I have a bad habit of using a dash or double-dash when I want to make a point in a sentence. Here is an example: "The wind felt like a sweet soothing breath - from a big man's mouth." Now, we can all agree that the dash placement seems to make sense in that context ?right? But the double-dash in Spanish text is used the same way we use quotations marks in a story when someone speaks. Like this: "That truck is red," he said. In Spanish, that would look like this: - !That truck is red! - he said.
The lesson is almost over. Did you notice my title: ((puntuacion)) ? Wonder why I didn't entitle it: "punctuation" ? Because you don't use the " " in Spanish the same way we use it. They use the (( )). (Actually the Spanish ( looks more like a < but that messes up the code on this text!)
Final example:
-You read ((Newsweek)),?right?- he asked.
-!No! No I do not. I read ((Cosmo)) because is just costs 3,99.- she replied.
?Claro?
!Si!
posted by windarkwingod | 5:44 AM
5 Comments:
impressive dar dar! I thought I had forgotten all my 1 year of spanish, you just brought back probably all the memories, I'll ever have. PUNTUACION! I never knew why the ? marks and ! points were uses differently, I just knew that they were. We didn't get into numbers, I was taking Algebra at the same time, so I am really glad we didn't!
!WHOA!
?Sounds like you have a good grasp on this, yes?
confusing me thinks this is...just like yoda talk
The double-negative contradiction always confused me growing up. When I was a kid I would answer a lot of questions with ((you're right)) or ((you're wrong)) rather than ((yes)) or ((no)).
Ow my brain hurts, I'm going to go lie down now. Then again, maybe I'll just play a yachtzee game on my phone behind door number 2.
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