Help! There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.

Question

Please tell me what is wrong or right with this sentence! I am confused because this was my entry in the word of the day: temer.

No hay nada temer, salvo miedo mismo

Or: There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Issabella suggested a different translation and I am not questioning her suggestion...that's not the issue. I had come up with this translation without a dictionary or translation engine, and figured there might be some grammatical errors.. After Issabella's suggestion I plugged my phrase into the translation engine on the sight. It read perfectly. Now I know translation engines are not to be trusted... and I prefer to use my own brain, so this made me insatiably curious!

• First, how would a native speaker say this phrase?
• Second, is there different ways to say this and still be grammatically correct?
• Third, is this a saying in Spanish as well that is worded just so?
• Fourth, is my sentence understandable in Spanish or way off and why?

I really, really want your input because I am interested not only in learning to speak correctly, but also why it is correct! Please help!

I only know about #2: There are likely umpteen ways of saying this correctly. Such is, in general, the nature of virtually any language. (Well, maybe not umpteen.) - 0057ed01, ENE 30, 2010

Answer 1

• First, how would a native speaker say this phrase?
• Second, is there different ways to say this and still be grammatically correct?
• Third, is this a saying in Spanish as well that is worded just so?
• Fourth, is my sentence understandable in Spanish or way off and why? - Answers:
  • No hay nada que temer, salvo al miedo mismo
  • Yes, there are different ways, like other people mention it.
  • I was looking up and I didn't find it as a proverb or saying
  • Yes, I think it's understandable, instead of lacking of contraction "al" (a el).

Thank you Carlos! I really appreciate the input. You have finally satisfied my curiosity. I don't know what I would have done without this awesome answer. - renaerules, ENE 31, 2010

Answer 2

¡Hola!

I have found a website that explains the word "Fear". It is rather complicated.

There are 3 words used for fear: 1. temer (verb), temor (M noun), and miedo (M noun).

The correct way to say "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" is:

No hay nada que temer sino el miedo mismo (There is nothing to fear but fear itself).

Here is the link link text

Answer 3

I have no correction but I think there are a number of ways to say anything in any language. Your sentence may be one.

Answer 4

What you have written is not a "saying", as such, but rather a famous quotation from Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the 32nd president of the United States.

So I cannot imagine that there is an equivalent in Spanish. Nor did I find one looking through my dictionaries for such a "modismo",

But have a look here in Wikiquote, la colección libre de citas y frases célebres. The author of the entry is most likely a native speaker an translated Roosevelt's famous quote this way:

"Lo único que debemos temer es el temor mismo."

> >

"de lo único que tenemos que tener miedo es del propio miedo."

Answer 5

I don't see anything wrong with what you have written. To get the same alliteration as the original quote I might have written it as:

No hay nada temer, salvo el temor mismo

This way echos the repetition of the word "fear" in the English.

Answer 6

Rena, I've been learning Spanish since June 2009 and my suggestion is nothing but a suggestion I just googled for similar phrases and checked the sources... that's all. That's what I usually do when I've got lots of doubts, as my command of Spanish is still rather poor, thoug slowly improving, thanks to this site and many of its great members.

Answer 7

Hi Issabela!

The suggestion you made in no way offended me or annoyed me! I welcome input as I want to be open to learning in a well rounded humble manner. Your suggestion was good for me because it made me want to dig deeper into my grammar and find my weakness in this phrase. Apparently that would be the omission of a contraction. Contractions and pronouns! They are what I am always battling with these days. Please don't think this thread was pointed at you at all! I simply had to know more...I thought maybe I was fooling myself thinking that my translation was correct and I didn't want to go on in ignorance! I love what you do here at SpanishDict! Keep it up!

Renae