como es el abuelo
¿como es el abuelo?
4 Answers
If "el abuelo" is not, in fact, an actual grandfather, it would make sense to translate it as "how is the grandfather?" Perhaps "el abuelo" is a new roller coaster at the fair and you want to know if it is any good or not. I know this is unrealistic, but it is possible.
¿Cómo es el abuelo? would never translate to How is the grandfather? You then have to give a lesson on why it doesn't mean "How is the grandfather?"
Why not go ahead and translate it as "What type of person is the grandfather?" and be done with it?
¿Cómo es el abuelo? How is the grandfather?
In the sense of what is he like, not how is he feeling, because “es” and not “está” is used.
Is he tall or short, thin or fat, mean or nice, etc. Characteristics.
But not things that are not characteristics like sick, happy, tired, etc. Those would be appropriate only if "estar" rather than "ser" had been used.
Why not go ahead and translate it as "What type of person is the grandfather?" and be done with it?
Perhaps I thought that starting with the word for word translation that would be done by someone who is presumably just beginning to learn the language, followed by the thought process necessary to lead to a proper conceptualization would be of more learning value than simply writing: "What is the grandfather like?” and leaving it at that.
But if someone said to me:
“How is your teacher?” My instinct would be to answer: good, bad, strict, easy or some other characteristic and not with well or sick. You would have to ask me “How is your teacher feeling?”
I could easily ask “How is your grandfather as grandfather’s go?” or “How is your father as a father?” to evoke that type of answer, but because we do not have a “ser” vs. “estar” distinction in English, we have to otherwise modify the basic sentence if we are looking for an answer that is different than how normal societal behavior would lead us to interpret the question "How is X?".
I have no intention to debate, so this is all I will say.
