Beginners Translation Exercise (Eng to Sp) - Pets Come First
Here is another exercise in 'thinking in Spanish' for beginners. The objective is to translate this in a natural way from English to Spanish. (También para los que aprenden hablar inglés será en ejercicio útil.) This is another quote from the news:
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, one in four Australians say their pet is the most valuable member of the family, even more important than their partner or parents.
Give it your best try. Do you think it won't be perfect? Do it anyhow! 
That leap into the possible unknown may prompt you to do even better than you thought you could!
If you haven't already seen the 'answer' to the previous exercise, click here.
Tip: Click 'watch this question' to be informed when the winner is selected and the answer is posted. 
Update: Click here for the 'answer'!
8 Answers
Según The Sydney Morning Herald uno de cada cuatro australianos dice que su animal doméstico es el más precioso miembro de la familia, aún es más importante que su pareja o sus padres.
Okay! Disculpe la demora! Here is my answer:
Las mascotas primero
Según The Sydney Morning Herald, uno de cada cuatro australianos afirma que su mascota es el miembro más valioso de la familia, incluso más importante que su pareja o sus padres.
I picked Bomberapolaca's answer (click here to see it) because it was almost 100% correct. Feel free to give her your vote to congratulate her. 
(Of course the answer of Carlos-F was pretty good too, but, well... he's been speaking Spanish since he was knee-high to a grasshopper! 
)
Here are a few learning points to take away:
one in four
In this context the correct translation is uno de cada cuatro. Clearly there are many more people than one (or four) being discussed; this is a statistical average. In English, using the word "in" implies the word every: "One in (every) four..." But in Spanish, not using cada (every) conveys the sense that there are only four things being discussed. Such as: 'Gordo' es uno de cuatro apodos que tiene. - 'Gordo' is one of four nicknames that he has.
Nizhoni1 said:
Not sure if I should have used dice or dicen. I stuck with dicen because it would actually be more than one person.
Based on what we just discussed regarding 'one in four...' there are clearly many people with this opinion. However grammatically (in Spanish) only one person is expressing this opinion. "uno (es decir, una persona de cada cuatro) dice..."
marido / compañero vs pareja
One person used marido to translate partner, but it would be good to point out that this can only refer to a husband. There is no feminine form of marido. Compañero works, in that you could make this masculine or feminine (compañera), but to be gender-generic you would have to use both words. On the other hand, pareja could refer to a person of either sex, and is a closer translation of partner.
their partner or parents
Which is it?
- sus pareja o padres
- sus parejas o sus padres
- su pareja o padres
- su pareja o sus padres
In English, "their" does not change from singular to plural with the noun. However in Spanish it does. "Their apple (singular)" is "su manzana". It does take some getting used to the fact that "su" can be 'his/her' or it can mean 'their'. But when used for 'their' it is only plural if the noun is plural, not because you are talking about more than one person in the possessive form.
Also, when there are multiple items in a list that change from singular to plural quantities, you have to change the possesive su to match it. So the answer is: the last one. Su pareja o sus padres...
Thanks to everyone for participating! Y'all come back now, y'hear? 
According The Sydney Morning Herald, one in four Australians say their pet is the most valuable member of the family, even more important than their partner or parents.
De acuerdo con el Sydney Morning Herald (I don't translate it because is a proper noun), uno de cada cuatro australianos dice que su mascota es el miembro más preciado de su familia, aún más importante que su pareja o sus padres.
Según el Sydney Morning Herald, uno en cuatro australianos dice que su mascota es el miembro más precioso de la familia, aún más importante que su marido o sus padres.
Según el Heraldo de Mañana de Sydney uno de cada quatro australianos dicen que su mascotá es el miembro más valioso de la familia aún más importante que su pareja o de sus padres.
Not sure if I should have used dice or dicen.I stuck with dicen because it would actually be more than one person.
Según el Syndney Morning Herald, uno de cuarto australianos dicen que su animal doméstico es el miembro más importante de la familia, aún más importante que sus parejas o sus padres.
Según la Mañana Heraldo de Sydney, uno en quatro Australianos dice sus mascota es el más valiosa miembro de la familia, incluso más importante que su compañero o padres.
It is amazing how difficult it is to translate one single sentence. Maybe one day (or year or decade) it will get easier.
Anyone else? ¿Alguien más?
