I'm glad you came- translation

Question

Hi, I was translating the lyrics to a song called Glad you cameby The Wanted.

The phrase "i'm glad you came" in Spanish would be "Estoy contento que hayas venido"? I thought this because its subjunctive with "espero que" and then you use either present subjunctive or past perfect subjunctive in the second part right? I also saw another translation on the internet that said "Me alegra que vinieras" but I thought you could only use the past subjuctive "vinieras" in this case, if the first part of the sentence was in the past as well. Is this correct? I'm getting confused. Thanks

Good question, see my reply below. - yahvey_hoffman, Aug 6, 2012

Answer 1

Hi ralphmat, I've been studying the imperfect subjective recently, and here is what I know.

The translation Me alegra que vinieras is the correct translation.. the fact that you are happy in the present still requires using the imperfect subjunctive (what you call the past subjunctive) because the person did something in the past (i.e. came).

The translation of "Estoy contento que hayas venido".. is more literally - I am happy that you have come, which is a little different.

On this website, there is an excellent lesson on using the imperfect subjunctive in lesson 3 or 4. Well worth checking out. Also, recently veijito on this website has been posting subjuntive practice in both present, and imperfect. If you can find his posts, you can read a cliff-notes version of using the subjunctive which can be very helpful.

Hope this post is helpful to you!

thanks - ralphmat, Aug 6, 2012

Answer 2

"Estoy contento que hayas venido"?

This sentence is from the present perfect subjunctive. What does the present perfect subjunctive mean?

It means that a present perefct (haber + a past participle) where haber is in subjunctive form.

Ha salido – (he has left ) becomes…que haya salido (that he has left)

When is a present perfect subjunctive used? Whenever one of the three rule calls for a subjunctive.

Es lástima que haya salido. ( It’s a pity that she has left)

Estoy contento que hayas venido. ( I am happy that you have come)

"Me alegro que vinieras

Hay ocasiones cuando hablamos de algo que ocurrió en el pasado. Y entonces, si tenemos usar el subjuntivo, usamos el imperfecto del subjuntivo.

There are occasions when we speak about something that happened in the past. Then, if we have to use the subjunctive, we use the imperfect of the subjunctive.

Siento que esté malo. (I’m sorry that he is sick.)

Siento que haya estado malo. ( I’m sorry that he has been sick)

Sentí que estuviera malo. (I regreted that he was sick.)

Siento que estuviera malo. ( I am sorry that he was sick)

Hope this helps. ?

ok thanks, that i was most confused about was that I thought you couldn't use the imperfect subjunctive if the first part of the sentence was in the present. But then looking at your example "Siento que estuviera malo." I see that is not the case? - ralphmat, Aug 7, 2012

Answer 3

Encantado que viniste, is a decent translation, but remember if you are translating lyrics depends of the rhyme, what type of language the song is using ( you do not use the same language in gospel than rap) if you give me some context ( sorry, I am not a music person) maybe I can help you better