"Muy nadador"

Question

A Spanish teacher used the expression, "alguien es muy nadador," i.e. he's a good swimmer. One of my fellow students, Swiss German, found this a strange locution: "Schwimsam?" Can someone elucidate what's going on here grammatically?

Welcome to the forum! - rac1, Feb 5, 2013

Answer 1

Interesting.

Nadador can being noun or adjective

Schwimsam can be either adjective or adverb, and with that ending, more commonly adverb, but not a word I´ve ever heard. It´s a valid construction, but I doubt that any but the most seriously unabridged German dictionary would contain it, if any.

I think the locution sounds odd too, but suspect it´s my mediocre Spanish, rather than theirs, behind that

I´m pretty sure in any event, it is equivalent to English´s ¨Someone is quite the swimmer¨, OR ¨Isn´t he quite the swimmer¨ Or, He swims like a fish.

Let´s see what the natives say.

:"Quite the swimmer" sounds exactly right. Thanks. ' - cwhig, Feb 5, 2013

I would translate my friend's "schwimmsam" as "swimmish"--which is why she found the locution "nadador" so strange. - cwhig, Feb 5, 2013

Answer 2

When you said that "alguien es muy nadador" mean that "someone likes swimming" .

Interesting, and thanks. So, it´s strictly an expression of them liking swimming, but not so much one saying that they´re really good at it? - rogspax, Feb 5, 2013