Le da pena la muerte de su madre.

Question

Our translator gives the following:

Penalty gives him the death of his mother. Audio Microsoft Translator
Gives You worth the death of his mother. Audio SDL
The death of its mother makes him sad. Audio PROMPT

Is this pretty close to the correct translation?

He/She is sad for the death of his mother.

"The death of its mother makes him sad" is the closest so it seems to me.... "The death of his/her mother pains him/her" - sinsonte, Jun 4, 2012

Answer 1

Julian, of course you are correct with "La pena de muerte=death sentence," and I agree that "tristeza" is probably a more accurate word for what one feels about the death of a loved one; however, I think that you overlooked the "da" in the sentence.

Le da pena, la muerte de su madre.

(It pains (hurts) him, the death of his mother.)

Could also be written as:

La muerte de su madre.le da pena.

The death of his mother pains (hurts) him.

I was about to write the same thing, I vote for you instead. - annierats, Jun 4, 2012

Mariana, rather than oversight of "da" I was just offering a possibilty for translator confusion. I agree with your other option - it´s exactly what I suggested too - 005faa61, Jun 4, 2012

The thing is, "Le da pena la muerte de su madre" is quite understandable when spoken and mostly understood when written. But it doesn´t work in a translator - 005faa61, Jun 4, 2012

Answer 2

La pena de muerte ...... death sentence

The translator is confused probably due to the structure. If you try "La muerte de su madre le da pena" it will probably understand, but when my mother died, I felt much more than "pena." I felt "tristeza."