The cat has been missing / missed.

Question

The cat has been missed for 5 days. El gato se ha perdido durante 5 días.

The cat has been missing for 5 days. El gato ha estado desaparecido durante 5 días.

The above is what the translator says - but the Spanish does not "feel" right to me.

Is it? Gracias.

I feel sorry for the cats today, this one's missing, the other one's tail is on fire..... : ) - margaretbl, Dec 12, 2010

haha that's right.. :) - culé, Dec 12, 2010

Answer 1

El gato hace 5 días que no aparece.

Hace 5 días que no se ve al gato.

Hace 5 días que no veo al gato.

P.D. El gato lleva perdido cinco días is the closest one, I think.

Answer 2

I think to be missed is not a common usage to say that something is not in the place where it should be. What I'd understand from the first sentence is that the cat is not home and the owner or the person talking wants to be with the cat so he misses it.

The cat has been missed for 5 days. El gato se ha echado de menos desde hace 5 días.

The cat has been missing for 5 days. El gato ha estado perdido desde hace 5 días.

This is what I think.

Thanks for that culé - the above examples are used in teaching books to illustrate how the participles can used in English, and it confuses most students. - ian-hill, Dec 12, 2010

Of course the cat may in fact not be "lost" - perdido - just not visible. - ian-hill, Dec 12, 2010

Yes, you are welcome and right.. :) - culé, Dec 12, 2010

Answer 3

Qué te parece "extraviado" en ese sentido?

(En México: "niño extraviado" - "missing child")

Answer 4

Thanks for that culé - the above examples are used in teaching books to illustrate how the participles can used in English, and it confuses most students.

As well it might. Part of the problem is that the participle can be used as an adjective (in this case predicate adjective) in English, while the gerundio cannot (although it is used as an adverb). This difference pretty much rules out any possibility of the kind of simple word-for-word translations that people so often seek/prefer.