This monkey's gone to Heaven

Question

From the Pixies, the translation I see says "este mono se ha ido al cielo" But I really thnk "este mono se habia ido al cielo" works better since one you go to heaven you can't come back, he went and he is there, that is what I always thought the song meant and I feel that "este mono se ha ido al cielo" means he went and he came back, which is impossible, anybody agree or disagree or want to comment just to say hi? Gracias.

Answer 1

ha ido (present perfect)

The present perfect describes an action that happened in the past and continues or repeats into the present or an action that happened in the recent past. Therefore, the monkey has gone to heaven and he continues to be there.

había ido (past perfect)

The past perfect describes an action in the past that happened before another action in the past. This begs the question, what happened after the monkey had gone to heaven. Did he come back? Did he get rejected and get sent to hell? The possibilities are endless.

Ohhhh...!! Very good explanation! - SonrisaDelSol, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 2

If anything, "se había ido al cielo" might give the impression that he came back.

Se ha ido al cielo = He has gone to heaven

Se había ido al cielo = He had gone to heaven

Why? Habia, he had gone, like he was gone (to me he had gone and that is the.......gone of it if you catch my drift) Gracias amigo, your imput is always appreciated and I have been practicing your indirect command lately so thanks for that bro. - jeezzle, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 3

anybody agree or disagree or want to comment just to say hi

Hola I, like Joyce, enjoy seeing your questions!!

What are "Pixies"?

The Pixies are a great old group. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7IY8Vxti8 - jeezzle, Aug 14, 2011

Thank you for the link! - SonrisaDelSol, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 4

Jeezle, I love your questions.

You're a little bit further down the road in understanding the language, so your desire today to grasp the nuances of the verb form is important for me to see questioned and discussed.

Thanks!

Gracias. ;) But it's thanks to people like Gintar77 that things actually get discussed. :) Hope you are doing well. - jeezzle, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 5

Yeah! I love that song! Love the Pixies, too! What a cool, cool band! And I agree that "se ha ido" makes the most sense. But to satisfy Jeezle's desire for a sense of finality in the Spanish translation, wouldn't it be better to say "...se fue al cielo?" I know that the lyrics say "...has gone to heaven." I just mean to say that it seems that Jezzle is looking for a verb expression that doesn't leave the door open for the possibility that the monkey could have come back.