Ya no falta mucho

Question

Why does this mean "I won't be long" ie "I won't take a long time" if for instance, faltar means "to be lacking" or "to miss". I don't get it, but I would like to. Gracias.

Answer 1

Not much left now. Not long left now. It won't be long now.

Not much is lacking now, more literally. In Spanish, you don't really say "largo" to talk about "tiempo," but rather you would use "mucho tiempo."

It's odd, but I think sometimes faltar can be translated as to be left, like quedar. I was playing Final Fantasy XI with a Spanish-speaking group and we were fight these monsters to get through a maze. When we had three left to fight, one guy said "Faltan 3."

You sound pretty awesome. - jeezzle, May 23, 2010

haha gracias. - 003487d6, May 23, 2010

Answer 2

Faltar mucho = to be a long way off

Answer 3

Wait so is "Ya no falta mucho" short for "ya no falta mucho tiempo"? That would make sense. There isn't much time left. "ya no queda mucho tiempo" Doesn't this work? Gracias.

That's one good way to put it. I think that works. - Gekkosan, Jun 3, 2010