a bit difficult sentence for me

Question

Hola a todos!

I am now translating a Spanish text into English and however I understand what this sentence is trying to say, I find it very complicated towards the end of the sentence.

"Urbanísticamente la verdad no es muy bonita pero el paisaje y las playas que hay sí que lo son.

So, basically it means:

"Urbanistically the truth is not very nice, but the landscape and the beaches which are there are."

Am I correct with my translation, please?

I just find it very weird the way it is composed: "el paisaje y las playas que hay sí que lo son. " Can someone please explain this bit of the sentence?

Gracias por todos por sus respuestas!

I would suggest: ....but the landscape and the beaches which are there are nice.. It seems to me that the Spanish phrase has omitted to repeat the adjective "nice", which seems perfectly acceptable to me - margarita1943, Jan 19, 2013

I find the first part of this sentence very, very strange! Why is the truth "urbanistic" and "nice" or "pretty"? I agree with magarita about the second part of the sentence. - Jubilado, Jan 19, 2013

Answer 1

The word "urbanísticamente" can be translated many ways, but to me "urbanistically" doesn't sound like very natural English, and I don't think I have ever seen it or heard it before. In many cases, I have found that the phrase "sí que" translates beautifully into English as "certainly", and I think it works well in your example. That being said, I would translate your phrase as "The truth is that the central area is not very nice (pretty), but the landscape and the beaches that are there certainly are".

Note: many speakers of Spanish and English have trouble differentiating between "that" and "which". I don't have time to get into all of the details, but in this case you must use "that".

That is another great option. In the field of translation there are usually several "correct" answers, it always amazes me to see the variations and creativity that different people come up with. - pescador1, Jan 19, 2013

Also a good answer! My translation would have avoided the "which" "that" problem and just said: the landscape and beaches there certainly are. - Jubilado, Jan 19, 2013

Answer 2

My best guess is that this sentence is talking about a geographic place, and it is saying:

"In regards to the cities [In terms of the cities], the truth is that it is not very pretty (perhaps meaning that the cities in the place are not that nice/pretty), but the [natural] landscape and beaches that exist [in this place] are [pretty/nice]."

Basically: The cities are not that nice but the natural landscapes and beaches are beautiful.

This is my best guess. Hope this helps!!

So, "urbanisticamente" means "in the cities"? I've not run across that word before. Good answer. - Jubilado, Jan 19, 2013

Yes, the urban landscape, I was going to write, but I vote for you instead. - annierats, Jan 19, 2013

Answer 3

Thank you Everyone for your suggestions, the whole sentence makes more sense now!

Gracias!