Que te quede bien claro

Question

I saw this earlier. Seems like I hope you stay very clear, but I don't get it.

Gracias.

Answer 1

Imagine a guy keeps asking a girl to go out with him but she doesn't want to. She may say: "Que te quede bien claro, no voy a salir contigo"

Doesn't translate that well. "Let me make it clear for you" would work, but more literally "may it result clearly to you" or something.

This is at least how I understand it.

Good example! - webdunce, Jun 2, 2011

Let me make it clear TO you. - margaretcorwin, Jun 3, 2011

@margaret: generally, we say "let me make clear *for* you" - webdunce, Jun 3, 2011

"to" sounds more natural to me. Maybe it's an Yank vs. Brit thing? - Beatrice-Codder, Jun 3, 2011

Just read both your bios, definitely not a Yank/Brit thing. Beatrice is such an eejit. - Beatrice-Codder, Jun 3, 2011

Well maybe she should see a specialist for help about talking to someone who talks to herself. :) - ian-hill, Jun 3, 2011

@margaret, well, I should have said, "Generally *I* say..." because it can be said both ways. - webdunce, Jun 5, 2011

Answer 2

FYI

I made a girl cry tonight by saying "Que te quede bien claro" Apparently, it is mean and is a bit more harsh than just saying, Let me make it clear for you....

It's apparently not a "Just so you know" but more of a way to say "look, stupid, let's be clear about this since you obviously can't figure this out" or something.

Just so you know. Don't incorporate this into your daily conversations with people at work etc.... We need to learn more about it first, it wasn't fun saying that with a smile on my face and then watching tears well up in her eyes and slowly roll down her face while I said "What's wrong, I don't know what I said and I didn't mean it".

oh no, you poor thing :( - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 3, 2011

Were you able to convince her that you didn't intend to come across mean? - webdunce, Jun 3, 2011

Yes, but I had to talk to Maria about not practicing with everybody if I'm not sure about it. - jeezzle, Jun 3, 2011

Who is Maria? The girl who cried? Maybe a supervisor? - webdunce, Jun 5, 2011

Answer 3

You can't go word by word or you will go crazy. The off shoot is, there are some expressions that do not translate, this is one of them. All you have to know is that it means, Be sure you understand, or make sure you're very clear.

Other examples of this are Es de armas tomar, which means he will do something about it, but literaly means he is of taking arms. Or Nada que ver, nothing to do with it, but translates as nothing to see.

So, if someone say this is the expression that means that, try to learn it.

Answer 4

The "let me make it clear for you" is a totally free translation to make it sound normal in English, so que doesn't mean let and quedar doesn't mean make here.

And this type of "que" is like "may" in these examples, although it doesn't get used all that much in normal English speech.

Que descanse en paz -> may he rest in peace

Que tengas un buen día -> may you have a good day

Que te mejores pronto -> may you get well soon

In English we normally omit that "may" part.

So in my literal translation I put the "may" there. "may it result/remain clear to you" may from the que, and result/remain from quedar.

EDIT: Oh yeah, as per webdunce's link the que could be "let", which basically means the same thing as "may" here. (I think) "let it result/remain clear to you"

Yes, let, may...same thing in this case. - webdunce, Jun 3, 2011

Answer 5

Hey Jeezle, there's lots of idiomatic expression where 'quedar' is translated very similarly to 'estar'. Quedar

Deber quedar claro que - It should be clear that ...

quedar inmóvil to be/remain motionless

quedarse helado to be scared stiff

quedar asombrado to be amazed

so for your example I'd see - 'just so you're clear!' :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 2, 2011

Well, it's not idiomatic so much in thast case though, because "to be" is also one of quedar's meanings. Although I wonder even in those cases if it means exactly the same thing. - jeezzle, Jun 2, 2011

Answer 6

From Wikipedia's article on Subjunctive Mood...

In many cases, the Romance languages use the subjunctive in the same ways that English does; however, they use them in other ways as well. For example, English generally uses the auxiliary may or let to form desiderative expressions, such as "Let it snow". The Romance languages use the subjunctive for these; French, for example, would say, "Qu'il neige"

Answer 7

Jeezle,

I think we've left out "bien." It's probably more like "Let me make it real clear for you" which I would find harsh and condescending in English in almost all contexts. Honestly, even without "real," I would find the English condescending in many (but not all) contexts.

When trying to clarify something, I tend to say things like "Hmmm. Maybe it would be better if I explained it like this..." or "Hmm. Let me try putting it a different way..."

I'm pretty sure the Spanish below is wrong in some way, but maybe something like...

Hmm. Tal vez sea mejor si lo digo así...

Hmm. Quizás si lo pongo en otra forma...

.

A lot of times, I will try to reduce the "condescension factor" even more by prefacing the re-explanation with phrases like..."Well, it is confusing at first..." or "Hey, don't feel bad. Lots of people find this part a little confusing at first." It's even better if you yourself found it confusing or whatever. "Hey, don't feel bad. It took me three weeks to catch on to this. It'll make more sense after you've done it a hundred-gazillion times. But let me see if I can do a better job of explaining it..."

.

I'm probably a bit over-sensitive to this kind of thing, though, being a customer service representative.

Answer 8

This must to be very clear for you

or it must be ... - laloblues, Jun 3, 2011

Answer 9

You know, I figured that is what it meant, yet I can't see the reasoning of how quedar could mean "make" there.

Or even "let" with "que".

That it's clear to you, I can see that, but I guess it's moderately idiomatic. Gracias.