Sun rise / Sun set

Question

Hola!

Please could somebody help me translate the following to English?

"El sol se está poniendo. A esto lo llamamos atardecer."

I can't figure out if it means "The sun is rising. This is what we call the dawn." or "The sun is setting. This is what we call getting darker" (or something else entirely!)

Searching the dictionary hasn't helped me much, as poner seems to mean both "set" and "grow"/"start", and atardecer seems to mean both "dawn" and "get dark"!

Also, am I right in thinking "A esto lo llamamos" means "this is what we call"?

Any help much appreciated,
Rangi

Answer 1

The sun is setting. This is what we call dusk/evening.

Atardecer never means dawn.

You could also say "...which is what we call," "which we refer to as...," and so on.

Answer 2

Completely agree with James.

Answer 3

huh''?

When you look up the word "atardecer" in the dictionary on this page, you get VERY mixed translations according to types of spanish...

Atardecer
General spanish: dawn
The two others: late afternoon, get dark, dusk

Answer 4

OK, yes - perhaps a mistake.

Just by reading the two words, it makes a lot of sence
Amanecer - 'mane' as in 'mañana' meaning: morning
Atardecer - 'tarde' as 'tarde' meaning: late

Answer 5

Ah yes I see, thanks for that, that will help me remember which is which!

Answer 6

Thanks for all the help everyone, I really appreciate it.