Tiene gracia......She is graceful VS It's funny

Question

I wonder how you can tell which to use and when. In the show she gives a captured girl to her new master and says "Tiene gracia verdad"..... At first I thought it was "She's graceful right?" but then I thought "It's funny isn't it?" and I wasn't sure which was the right meaning. Gracias.

Answer 1

Gracia can also mean something similar to Cute. In the context given, I am guessing this is what is being said.

I agree. - Gekkosan, MAY 30, 2010

Julian you may well be right in which case the meaing would seem to be: she is really cute/attractive - FELIZ77, MAY 30, 2010

No, FELIZ, Cute as in behaviour - not appearance - 005faa61, MAY 31, 2010

Answer 2

I agree with Julian - tener gracia can mean 'to have charm'

if it means to have charm would it have been said sincerely I wonder or sarcastically if the girl had been feisty in Spirit ??? - FELIZ77, MAY 30, 2010

No, I would say it would be meant sincerely, it's definitely a compliment in Spain. - margaretbl, MAY 30, 2010

Answer 3

Tener gracia = to have grace it must mean, in the context, to have grace in otherwords, this (person here ) is a gift for you It is unlikely to mean 'you are funny' as that would be out of place in the contect of what was taking place. It would make no sense unless the person handing over the girl was supposed to have had a warped/perverted sense of humour.

I undertsood that to be funny is Ser graciosa

entonces ella es graciosa = She is funny

Reviewing Paralees Lesson on Ser v Estar helped confirm the reason for the use of Ser

Ser is used for characteristics (see acronym: D.O.C.T.O.R.) - personality, rather than physical characteristics For example: María es estudiosa = Maria is studious

whereas Estar is used for emotions: (Ella) está preocupada = She is worried

están contento = they are content

Answer 4

You left out the other meaning of gracia (thanks) or God's grace. Why not "She is thankful"?

I don't know if tener gracia carries the other contexts beyond "to be funny". It is the only definition given for the phrase (tener gracia) under gracia in our dictionary.

Maybe to say "to be graceful" you would have to use ser/estar and graciosa.

I hope that a native can answer your question.

You are right about the God's grace bit, but in the context, it is extremely unlikely. - Gekkosan, MAY 30, 2010

Creo que tienes razón con respecto del verbo Ser - FELIZ77, MAY 30, 2010

Answer 5

Well the dictionary lists about a thousand things for gracia and cute is not one of them, and tener gracia is listed as to be funny but gracia means cute here? That's super wierd. Gracias.

I suppose it is possible that tener gracia could also mean to be funny if it is a more colloquial expression but according to Paralee's lesson on Ser v Estar Ser would be used for personal characteristics as I mentioned above - FELIZ77, MAY 30, 2010

Alternatively Julian maybe correct regarding his post about tener gracia meaning she is cute/attractive Only a native would know that use - FELIZ77, MAY 30, 2010

I have done all the lessons, and many other sets of lessons including the entire Pimsleur, Rocket, Rosetta, Driveby, Michele Thomas, and any other course you can think of.. and our dictionary lists "tener gracia" as to be funny, and I have heard it that - jeezzle, MAY 30, 2010

used that way before many times, of course the ser/estar is the obvious thing but the show uses tener gracia and I guess it means cute, which in all my years I have not heard for gracia. Thanks. - jeezzle, MAY 30, 2010