Adaptation of Americans in Surlandia

50.1 Basic Sentences — Adaptation of Americans in Surlandia

A gentleman and Molina discuss an American who has not adapted to the environment.

English	Spanish
the armchair	la butaca
Do you see that man sitting in that armchair?	¿Ve a aquel señor sentado en esa butaca?
the palm tree	la palmera
That American with the palm trees on his shirt?	¿Ese norteamericano de la camisa con palmeras?
Yes, that one that has his feet on the table.	Sí, ése que tiene los pies sobre la mesa.
to be around	llevar
to adapt oneself	adaptarse
the environment	el ambiente
You know, he’s been around here for two months and still isn’t adapting to the environment.	Fíjese que lleva aquí dos meses y todavía no se adapta al ambiente.
Doesn’t he speak Spanish?	¿Es que no habla español?
(he) should, ought (must, ought)	debiera (deber)
to take advantage of	aprovechar
to act	actuar
He scarcely understands. He ought to take advantage of every opportunity to practice, but he acts as if he didn’t care.	Apenas entiende. Debiera aprovechar toda oportunidad para practicar, pero actúa como si no le importara.
It could be that the same is happening to him as to Smith.	Pudiera ser que le pasara como a Smith.
to mistrust	desconfiar
to try	tratar de
At the beginning he mistrusted anyone that tried to help him.	Al principio, desconfiaba de cualquiera que tratara de ayudarle.
apropos of	a propósito de
nautical, naval	náutico
popular	popular
Speaking about Smith, last night I saw him in the Club Náutico and he seemed to be the most popular.	A propósito de Smith, anoche lo vi en el Club Náutico y parecía el más popular.
to feel at home	encontrarse a gusto
I wish the same happened to them all. But there are always some who, even if they lived here ten years, would never feel at home.	Ojalá que así pasara con todos. Pero siempre hay algunos que, aunque vivieran aquí diez años, jamás se encontrarían a gusto.
ill at ease	incómodo
And you ought to see how ill at ease they feel the first few days.	Hombre, y hay que ver lo incómodos que se sienten los primeros días.
Ill at ease?	¿Incómodos?
to throw	echar
to miss	echar de menos
the supermarket	el supermercado
the comfort	la comodidad
the home	el hogar
Yes. They miss their supermarkets and the comforts of their homes.	Sí. Echan de menos sus supermercados y las comodidades de su hogar.
And the water? What about the water?	¿Y el agua? ¿Qué me dice Ud. del agua?
the fear	el miedo
to be afraid	tener miedo
They are afraid of it when they arrive, but afterward it doesn’t matter so much to them. Don’t you think they are nice?	Le tienen miedo cuando llegan, pero después no les importa tanto. ¿No cree Ud. que son simpáticos?
to get to, succeed in	llegar a
simple	sencillo
sincere	sincero
Yes, anyone who gets to know them well realizes that they are simple and sincere.	Sí, cualquiera que llegue a conocerlos bien se da cuenta de que son sencillos y sinceros.
to renew	renovar
the contract	el contrato
I understand that Smith would like to renew his contract.	Entiendo que Smith quisiera renovar su contrato.
That’s what they tell me. He likes this so much that he’s planning to stay four more years.	Así me dicen. Le gusta esto tanto que piensa quedarse cuatro años más.

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50.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) Llevar + time expression is frequently used as a substitute for hacer + time expression + que + estar. Notice that it appears here in the present tense as the equivalent of hace… que está, i.e. lleva aquí dos meses = hace dos meses que está aquí. English, of course, would normally render these verbs in the present perfect construction. A fuller explanation of these constructions will be presented in Unit 52.

(2) Note that when the singular forms todo and toda are used without the definite article they have the meaning of every, rather than all, the whole (of a unit). Compare: todo libro ‘every book’ | todo el libro ‘the whole book’.

(3) Lo incómodos — an example of a fairly common construction: the neuter lo with an inflected adjective, usually translatable into English as how + adjective. The reference is always to a specific noun, and the adjective agrees with that noun. Compare this with the invariable lo incómodo ‘the uncomfortable part (aspect)’, where the adjective has been nominalized and the reference is not to a specific noun.

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50.2 Drills and Grammar

50.21.1 Past Subjunctive in Main Clauses

Past subjunctive forms of querer, deber, and poder are frequently used in main clauses as substitutes for the conditional tense. Like the conditional forms, they give a softer or more polite effect than present tense.

English	Spanish
I would like a tie for my husband.	Quisiera una corbata para mi marido.
I would like a visa for the United States.	Quisiera una visa para los Estados Unidos.
I understand that Smith would like to renew his contract.	Entiendo que Smith quisiera renovar su contrato.
We’d all like to help you.	Todos quisiéramos ayudarlo.
They would like us to go visit them.	Quisieran que los fuéramos a visitar.
He ought to take advantage of every opportunity to practice.	Debiera aprovechar toda oportunidad para practicar.
You shouldn’t worry so much.	No debieras preocuparte tanto.
The children ought to go to bed earlier.	Los niños debieran acostarse más temprano.
It could be that the same is happening to him as to Smith.	Pudiera ser que le pasara como a Smith.
Could you loan me five pesos?	¿Pudieras prestarme cinco pesos?

50.21.2 Past Subjunctive after ojalá, aunque, and como si

Construction	Use
Ojalá + subjunctive	Present subjunctive for hope; past/past perfect for wish (unlikely or contrary to fact)
Aunque + indicative	Fact: “although”
Aunque + subjunctive	Non-fact or contrary to fact: “even if”
Como si + past/past perfect subjunctive	Always “as if” (hypothetical)

English	Spanish
I wish the same happened to them all.	Ojalá que así pasara con todos.
I wish I were hungry.	Ojalá que tuviera hambre.
I wish we were rich.	Ojalá que fuéramos ricos.
I wish they had gone.	Ojalá que hubieran ido.
Even if they lived here ten years, they would never feel at home.	Aunque vivieran aquí diez años, jamás se encontrarían a gusto.
Even if I left early, I wouldn’t arrive on time.	Aunque saliera temprano, no llegaría a tiempo.
He acts as if he didn’t care.	Actúa como si no le importara.
He talks as if he knew everything.	Habla como si supiera todo.
They looked at me as if they hadn’t seen me before.	Me miraron como si no me hubieran visto antes.

50.22 Review — Spanish Second Person Familiar Commands

Formal (Ud.)	Affirmative (tú)	Negative (tú)
Cocine mañana.	Cocina mañana.	No cocines mañana.
Arregle los dormitorios.	Arregla los dormitorios.	No arregles los dormitorios.
Explíquemelo.	Explícamelo.	No me lo expliques.
Páseme las tijeras.	Pásame las tijeras.	No me pases las tijeras.
Métase al agua.	Métete al agua.	No te metas al agua.
Abra la puerta.	Abre la puerta.	No abras la puerta.
Venga conmigo.	Ven conmigo.	No vengas conmigo.
Hágale un favor.	Hazle un favor.	No le hagas un favor.
Déme más pastel.	Dame más pastel.	No me des más pastel.
Sea el primero en llegar.	Sé el primero en llegar.	No seas el primero en llegar.

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Readings

• “La Lotería y Ud.”