El caballero hace sus propios modales / Manners maketh the man...

Question

This isn't really a Spanish language question because it relates to an English expression, but it was thinking about how to say it in Spanish that made me consider what it actually means in English. The expression is 'manners maketh the man', which is used is the recent film, Kingsman (it's actually rendered 'manners maketh man' in the film, but the dropping of the 'the' isn't my point).

The way in which it's used in the film creates the impression that it means something like 'having good manners is what makes you a gentleman'. However, in my view it actually means 'a man decides his own manners'. This is because 'maketh' is the (archaic) third person singular form of the verb 'to make' (equivalent to modern 'makes'), thus the subject must be 'the man' (which is singular) as opposed to 'manners', which is the object (and plural).

Thus in Spanish I would say something like:

• El caballero hace sus propios modales (corrected version)

As opposed to:

• Buenos modales hacen al caballero (which is the way in which it's used in the film)

The only other explanations are: (a) 'manners' actually acts like a singular noun despite being in plural form or (b) it's bad English.

It made me realise how little attention native English-speakers pay to their own verb forms, probably because these have relatively little inflection (compared with Spanish and some other languages), and we rely more on syntax or word order to determine meaning. Thus when the word order is unusual, it can lead to misunderstanding.

I wonder how the expression is translated in the Spanish version of the film...

Buenos modales hacen al caballero pero buena gramática lo hace más claro...

Correction: El caballero hace suS propiOs modales. However, the sentence in Spanish sounds strange - txustaboy, Jun 26, 2015

Thanks. The English version isn't commonly used & also sounds strange, but it's a well-known saying nonetheless, just not well understood in my view... ;-) - Faldaesque, Jun 26, 2015

Answer 1

To me:

Las maneras hacen/forman al hombre.

Lo cortés no quita lo valiente.

e t c

Edit:

Las (buenas) maneras hacen/forman al hombre.

I think it makes more sense by adding "buenas".

Thinking and remembering better, I decided to edit the entry. - chileno, Jul 1, 2015

Answer 2

I always took this literally. Having (good) manners is a pre-requisite to being a gentleman. So literally, Manners maketh the (gentle)man.

So I would agree with Chileno's: Las maneras hacen al hombre.

Answer 3

La conducta forma al hombre, según Collins dicionario. Creo que este es una buena traducción.

Answer 4

Worth another go around the traps mate.

Answer 5

The word 'manners ' can be termed a 'collective noun' therefore not plural

'Maketh' is more of a biblical term than a word moving from old Norse and

German ,it is third person.

Answer 6

It's a strange one. 'Manners make the man' is perhaps a more fitting sentiment than 'man makes his manners', but I still have a problem with manners being plural whereas the verb maketh is obviously singular. It should be 'manners make the man', even in the archaic form...

I think in Old ( ancient) Middle Englsish) the th ending could be plural as well, but it is hundreds of years since I studied linguistic history. - annierats, Jul 1, 2015