Translation help, por favor

Question

Hi, all:

I'd like to know if I'm saying this correctly in Spanish:

English text: I'm glad you liked my essay. It's difficult to know how to describe myself.

Spanish: Estoy contento que quiso mi ensayo. Es difícil saber cómo describirme.

Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

Me alegra de que te gustara mi ensayo.

Your 2nd sentence is good, I think I fixed your first one a bit, we need imperfect subjunctive due to an emotion, however let's wait for a native for a better translation

"Me alegra que te..." o "Me alegro de que te...". Muy bien el subjuntivo ;) - Cordobesa, May 3, 2012

Hi Brady! :) - GuitarWarrior, May 4, 2012

Hola amigo! - BradyLabuda, May 4, 2012

Answer 2

You have to be a little careful with this one, and the answer will differ according to where you live and your level of grammatical knowledge. If you choose to use "Me alegra" you don't use the preposition "de" (the improper use of this is known as deísmo). Furthermore, many grammarians would say that the use of "gustara" in the second clause should actually be "haya gustado" because of rules pertaining to the sequence of tenses (In the first clause the verb is in the present tense, so the verb in the second clause has to be in a present tense form). However, many, many native Spanish speakers use the imperfect subjunctive in this case, and in fact it was deemed acceptable by the RAE in 2005. Being a non-native spanish speaker I would suggest saying either: "Me alegro de que te haya gustado..." o "Me alegra que te haya gustado...".

Buena respuesta. Yo usaría uno u otro, según el contexto. Si me dicen: "El otro día leí tu ensayo y me gustó", contestaría "Me alegro de que te gustara". Si me dicen "ya he leído tu ensayo y me ha gustado", respondería "Me alegro de que te haya gustado" - Cordobesa, May 4, 2012

Cordobesa, gracias por los ejemplos. ¡Me alegro de verte de nuevo! - pescador1, May 4, 2012

This answer leaves little room for further explanation ;) - GuitarWarrior, May 4, 2012