I have had a go at the Spanish - is this grammatically correct?

Question

I have had a go at the Spanish - is this grammatically correct? This is the English sentence I need in Spanish.

Okay, my love. If we can’t be lovers then please let us be friends. I care for you very much and would like us to keep in touch - but only if you want to. I will always be here for you whenever you need me.

Bueno, mi amor voy a respetar sus deseos. Si no podemos ser amantes, por favor, seamos amigos. Me importa mucho y quisiera que mantenerse en contacto - pero sólo si lo desea. Yo siempre estaré aquí para ti cada vez que me necesitan.

In this context, the formal ("usted") address strikes me as a bit odd. - samdie, Sep 19, 2011

Answer 1

OK, here's a go. I'm not a native speaker. Your English and Spanish versions are quite different from one another, for whatever reason.

Bueno mi amor - voy a respetar tus deseos. (That's not in the English at all!) Si no podemos ser amantes, por favor déjanos quedar como amigos. Me importas muchisimo y quisiera que nos quedemos en contacto - pero solo si quieres. Para siempre estoy aquí para ti, cuando me necesites.

Nice one J, just one thing I didn't think that si could be followed by the present subj? - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 19, 2011

Maybe you are right, I never thought on that. But this is not a conditional clause. I am using the subjunctive to express doubt - the way the pres subj can follow tal vez. Talvez quiere, tal vez no. De acuerdo? - Jeremias, Sep 19, 2011

yes you can do that with tal vez but I don't think that you can with si - the only reason i remember is that it didn't make sense to me je je I always wanted to say things like si tengas tiempo but it can't be done it must be tienes or here quieres :) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 19, 2011

What's wrong with seamos amigos? - jeezzle, Sep 19, 2011

Thanks Kiwi. - Jeremias, Sep 19, 2011

Jeezle - the "then" part of a conditional clause is never in the subj, similar to the point Kiwi made above. - Jeremias, Sep 19, 2011

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 19, 2011

Seamos amigos means let's be friends, I don't see how the clause is relavant. Si no podemos ser amantes, seamos amigos. That strikes me as exactly correct. - jeezzle, Sep 19, 2011

Answer 2

I have had a go at the Spanish

For real? this is the same translation of Google.

Thanks for that. It was really helpful! - Robstar, Sep 19, 2011