The Trip Home

45.1 Basic Sentences — A Baptism

John White and José Molina are having a conversation in the office.

Dialogue

English	Spanish
José. You don’t know what I got myself into.	José. No sabes en lo que me he metido.
Some trouble?	¿Algún lío?
No, man. A typist at the office has asked me to be the godfather of her child.	No, man. Una mecanógrafa de la oficina me ha pedido que sea el padrino de su hijo.
Oh, how nice. When is the baptism?	Ah, qué bien. ¿Cuándo es el bautizo?
Saturday afternoon, unfortunately.	El sábado por la tarde, desgraciadamente.
Why? Do you have something else to do?	¿Por qué? ¿Tienes otra cosa que hacer?
Yes. The fact is I have a date for that afternoon.	Sí. El asunto es que tengo una cita para esa tarde.
Since the baptism is early, you’ll have time for everything.	Siendo el bautizo temprano, tienes tiempo para todo.
Do I have to pay the priest?	¿Tengo que pagarle al cura?
Yes, and give something to the child besides.	Sí, y además regalarle algo al niño.
What do you think I should give him?	¿Qué crees que le puedo llevar?
A gold chain with a medal is a good gift.	Una cadena de oro con una medalla es un buen regalo.
I had thought of a toy.	Yo tenía pensado un juguete.
Nevertheless, I’ll think about what you say.	Sin embargo, voy a ver lo que tú dices.
Who is the godmother?	¿Quién es la madrina?
A sister-in-law of hers.	Una cuñada de ella.
What are they going to name him?	¿Qué nombre le van a poner?
Alvaro, or something like that. I don’t remember.	Alvaro, o algo así. No recuerdo.
Well, pal. Hope everything turns out OK for you.	Bueno, chico. Que te salga todo bien.
I’m going now. I don’t feel well. Seems like I caught a cold.	Yo ya me voy. No me siento bien. Parece que pesqué un resfriado.

Vocabulary

English	Spanish
the trouble, difficulty	el lío
the typist	la mecanógrafa
the godfather	el padrino
the baptism	el bautizo
unfortunately	desgraciadamente
the matter, business	el asunto
the date, appointment	la cita
the priest	el cura
to give a gift, to present	regalar
the chain	la cadena
the gold	el oro
the medal	la medalla
the toy	el juguete
nevertheless	sin embargo
the godmother	la madrina
the sister-in-law	la cuñada
to name him	ponerle nombre
to feel	sentirse
to fish, to catch	pescar
the cold	el resfriado

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45.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) The institution of godparenthood, though it no longer has all of its historical functions, is still very much alive in the Hispanic world. Historically, godparents were to care for the child if the parents became unable to. Functionally, the more important purpose was to bring two more people, preferably people of consequence, into the family (compadres, co-parents).

(2) The Spanish literally says ‘The baptism being early, you have time for everything.’ The present participle siendo specifies the relationship between the subordinate introduction and the main clause.

(3) The obligations of godparenthood in urban Latin American society are becoming formalities: pay the priest, present the child with a memento, and remember him with a token present on birthdays or special holidays.

(4) Literally, ‘What do you think I can take him?’

(5) A medal of the Virgin, of Christ, or of some favorite saint.

(6) Tenía pensado is not a perfect tense but rather ‘I had (in mind) (already) thought (out) a toy.’

(7) Voy a ver literally means ‘I’m going to see (about).’ (Vamos) a ver is used generally to mean ‘Let’s see,’ ‘Let’s give it some thought.’

(8) English uses a special form of the possessive when followed by a noun: ‘a sister of hers.’ In Spanish the subject form of third person pronouns appears as objects of prepositions: una cuñada de ella.

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45.2 Drills and Grammar

45.21.1 The Past Perfect Construction

The past perfect consists of a past 1 form of haber plus the -do form of another verb. It refers to an action or event that took place or ended prior to a point of time in the past.

English	Spanish
I hadn’t returned to that beach since last summer.	Yo no había vuelto a esa playa desde el verano pasado.
I had never seen him.	Jamás lo había visto.
But you hadn’t told me you were going to take pictures.	Pero no me habías dicho que ibas a tomar fotos.
Had you never been here?	¿Tú nunca habías estado aquí?
We had never seen him before.	Jamás lo habíamos visto antes.
We had already gone to the immigration office.	Ya habíamos ido a la oficina de inmigración.
They had never studied Spanish.	Ellos nunca habían estudiado español.

45.21.2 The Shortening of Certain Adjectives

Some adjectives in Spanish appear in a shortened form when they occur before nouns. There are three groups: those which shorten before masculine singular nouns (uno → un, alguno → algún, ninguno → ningún, bueno → buen, malo → mal, primero → primer, tercero → tercer, grande → gran); those which shorten before any singular noun; and those which shorten before singular or plural nouns (possessives mío → mi, etc.).

English	Spanish
He only has one overcoat.	Sólo tiene un abrigo.
Do you know some engineer here?	¿Conoce algún ingeniero aquí?
It’s a good company.	Es una buena compañía.
It’s a good building.	Es un buen edificio.
They live on the first floor.	Viven en el primer piso.
I live on the third floor.	Yo vivo en el tercer piso.
Juan is a great friend.	Juan es un gran amigo.
José didn’t bring any baggage.	José no trajo ningún equipaje.

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45.4 Readings

45.41 Life in Surlandia

A reading selection from the Surlandia series.

45.42 Features

A features reading on Latin American topics.