Puede confundido

Question

I want to say (about some translation-related miscommunication) "it can be confusing". I'm afraid what I wrote may be closer to "you are confused/confusing"! I don't want to be insulting, so please help!! Thanks.

Answer 1

How about "Puede ser confuso"?

Confundido can mean confused, or embarrassed. I think confuso is the right word.

Actually, I typed my header incorrectly. It should have read "Puede estar confundido". I was thinking "estar" , but now am rethinking this - being confusing would be a condition of something and therefore should have used "ser". - DR1960, AGO 6, 2009

Answer 2

"Confuso" defines how something or someone is. "Confundido" refers to a person's mental state at a given time

"Ser" is used for definitions. "Estar" is used for states at a given place and time

"Ser aburrido" defines how you are "Estar aburrido" explains what is your current state

"Ser torpe" defines how you are "Estar torpe" explains what is your current state

Answer 3

Hi Dr, I teach my students the following:

how to distinguish confusing/confused?

the ing ending takes "ser", the ed ending takes "estar"

This is confusing. Es muy confuso.

You are confused. Estás confundido.

Boring/bored

Peter is boring. Es (un hombre) aburrido. Peter is bored. Está aburrido.

At the very least you need to add some sort of qualification so as to exclude -ing cases that are progressive tenses e.g. "This is confusing me." Esto me confunde. - samdie, AGO 7, 2009