La Palabra Del Dia: "sorprender"
sorprender ( sohr-prehn-dehr' )
verb ( to surprise, to take by surprise )
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There are many native English speakers here, most of us can offer great suggestions to the English sentences. I will do my best to go through them all, too. For the Spanish sentences, edit your posts according to the native Spanish speaker's suggestions. Use today's Word of the Day in your own Spanish sentence (and include the English translation as well). Try to use the word in a completely new way and vote on the sentences you like best. The winner will be chosen based upon the correct use of the word as well as the number of votes.
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Guidelines:
Write sentences at least 5 words long, but don't write a paragraph either. Write your Spanish sentence, but include the English translation as well. Make the corrections suggested by other users and moderators in the comments section (try not to use personal pronouns unless absolutely necessary). Use your own words! (Don't use a translator, copy from a book, use song lyrics, etc.) Please keep political, religious or personal statements to a minimum. This is a practice game.
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Examples:
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1. Para el Día de la Madre, mis hijos y yo sorprendimos a mi esposa con un desayuno en la cama.
For Mother's Day, my kids and I surprised my wife with breakfast in bed.
2. Estábamos en la playa cuando nos sorprendió una tormenta.
We were at the beach when a storm took us by surprise.
18 Answers
Aquí hay dos oraciones que me parecen muy similares.
Me sorprendí cuando María me propuso matrimonio.
Me sorprendí de que María me propusiera matrimonio.
La primera oración utiliza el indicativo, la otra utiliza el subjuntivo. ¿Por qué?
La conjunción "cuando" utiliza el indicativo, si la acción es completa.
La conjunción "que" utiliza el subjuntivo en todos los casos cuando la primera claúsula expresa emoción.
¿Estoy en lo correcto? Alt: ¿Tengo razón?
Here are two sentences that seem very similar to me.
I was surprised when Maria proposed marriage to me.
I was surprised that Maria proposed marriage to me.
The first sentence uses the indicative, the other uses the subjunctive. Why?
The conjunction "cuando" uses the indicative if the action is complete.
The conjunction "que" uses the subjunctive in all cases when the first clause expresses emotion.
I am right?
Hasta yo me sorprendí cuando vi a mi marido con la enfermera en sus brazos, besandola como si fuera su última noche en este mundo. Y puede ser que lo sea.
Even I was surprised when I saw my husband with the nurse in his arms, kissing her as if it were his last night on this Earth. And maybe it will turn out to be so.
En el mundo de los deportes, ya nada realmente me sorprende.
In the sports world, nothing really surprises me anymore.
Lo sorprendieron como al Tigre de Santa Julia.
Variante:
Lo agarraron como al Tigre de Santa Julia.
Slang:
He was caught in the act!
He was caugt off-guard!
The legend goes that Jesús Negrete, aka The Tiger of Santa Julia, a famous thief compared with Robin Hood, was pissing in the woods when he was caught off-guard by the police.
Según la leyenda, Jesús Negrete, alias El Tigre de Santa Julia, un famoso bandolero a quien se le compara con Robin Hood, estaba haciendo pipí en el bosque cuando lo sorprendió la policía.
Me sorprendió por un alce de comer comiendo las plantas del verano pasado de una maceta fuera de la puerta.
I was taken by surprise by a moose eating last summer's plants out of a planter outside the door.
(I'm always nervous about sentences with this many prepositional phrases. Have I written what I intended or some sort of nonsense?)
Los sorprendió robando. / She caught them stealing.
Sorprendieron a los atracadores. / They caught the robbers unawares.
Nos sorprendió la lluvia. / We were caught in the rain.
Se sorprendieron al vernos. They were surprised to see us.
Me sorprendió cuando ella me dijo que estaba embarazada otra vez.
I was surprised when she told me she was pregnant again.
Cuando quise activar mi sistema de aspersión hace unos pocos días, me sorprendí de que el agua no tuviera presión adecuada, y descubrí que cuando los plomeros arreglaron nuestra cañería hace unos pocos meses, colocaron la cubierta protectora (enterrada a casi tres pies) demasiado cercano de la válvula de la del sistema y por eso la cubierta plástica interfiere con la palanca de la válvula y no es posible abrirla completamente.
When I tried to activate my sprinkle system several days ago, I was surprised to find that the water did not have sufficient pressure, and discovered that when the plumbers fixed our water main several months ago, the located the protective cover (buried almost three feet down) too close to the valve for the system and so the plastic cover interferes with the valve lever and it is not possible to open it completely.
La cantidad de esfuerzo que se requiere para aprender español me sorprendió.
The amount of effort that it takes to learn Spanish surprised me.
¿Te sorprende la tardanza de esta entrada?
Does the tardiness of this entry surprise you?
Actualmente que soy mayor, creo que nada puede sorprenderme, pero recientemente he estado escandalizada por las noticias de que un grupo de altos funcionarios en el departmento de educación han malversado mucho dinero que debería haberse gastado con los niños desfavorecidos en nuestras escuelas públicas. Hay escuelas con agujeros en el techo, pero estas tipos teniendo viajes al extranjero y comidas en restaurantes caros.
These days now I am older, I think that nothing can surprise me, but recently I have been shocked by the news that a group of senior public servants in the Department of Education has embezzled a lot of money which should have been spent on disadvantaged children in our public schools. There are schools with holes in the roof, but these guys were having overseas trips and meals in expensive restaurants.
Estaba sorprendido de ver a Vanessa en el club. Debo decir que era una sorpresa agradable.
I was surprised to see Vanessa in the club. I must say it was a pleasant surprise.
To surprise him, they prepared a party in his house and then they hid behind the furniture. They took him by surprise on finish. He was really surprised when he came in.
Para sorprenderlo, prepararon una fiesta en su casa y luego se escondieron detrás de los muebles. Al final lo tomaron por sorpresa.
Estoy todávia sorprendido cuando recibo felicidades para sólo haciendo un trabajo,
pero me encanta , aunque.
I am still surprised when I receive congratulations for doing a job,
but I love it though.
Sorprendieron al ladrón cuando entró por la fuerza en la tienda y llamaron inmediatamente a la policía.
They surprised the thief when he entered the store by force they surprised him and immediately called the police.
Me sorprende que no he dado una respuesta a esta palabra hasta ahora.
I am surprised that I have not given a response to this until now.
