"pasar" y "pasar por"

Question

I just read a sentence: ¿Pasaron todos por el restaurate para comer algo?

Since pasar has many meanings like "to happen," "to pass," "to go," how do you translate "pasaron" here?

Or, is "pasar por" a set phrase which means "go for"? Can it be translated as "stop by" in this sentence?

Answer 1

In this case "stop by" would be an excellent translation. As always, no translation is perfect and all translations are debatable. I would translate your sentence something like this: "Did you guys stop by the restaurant and grab something to eat?". Keep in mind that your audience and the context of the sentence(s) play an important role in your translation decisions.

Detenerse is also useful in this case. Why didn't I think of that? - PapoPaz, Nov 6, 2013

Excellent pescador! - rogspax, Nov 6, 2013

Muchas gracias! - joygogo, Nov 6, 2013

Answer 2

Context of the entire sentence is what I use. I admit that I lose translation sometimes when pasar is used because it has so many uses. Personally, I only use "pasar" when communicating to happen, to go through(pasar por), to pass by(pasarse) and a few choice expresions(pasarla bien, pasar la asipriadora). To communicate something that's happening I usually use the verb "ocurrir."

Hola, PapoPaz. As you said, "pasar" has many uses, so it is not an easy word for me. By the way, do you mean the above sentence can be written as "¿Se detuvieron todos por el restaurate para comer algo?" - joygogo, Nov 6, 2013

Yes. I was stating that "detenerse" is a verb can be used to communicate "stopping by." The sentence you wrote is grammatically correct. - PapoPaz, Nov 11, 2013

Answer 3

passed through