Help translating/understanding some questions

Question

Hello! I am having trouble understanding what these questions are asking.

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1. ¿Qué dice la Peregrina que se espera al «otro lado»?

2. ¿Por qué le llamaría la muerte «libertad» el sabio más grande del pueblo?

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Thank you!

Have a go yourself at translating them and we can correct them for you , that is the best way of learning. - ray76, Jul 9, 2015

Answer 1

¿Qué dice la Peregrina que se espera al «otro lado»?

¿Por qué le llamaría la muerte «libertad» el sabio más grande del pueblo?

I am not a native Spanish speaker but my translations would be (I did mine without looking at yours- so some of the differences are meaningless, I think you got the idea of the first, not so much the second):

What does the pilgrim say is expected/awaits on the other side? (the other side being presumably where one goes after death).

Why would the greatest wise man of the village call death “freedom”?

Yes, answering the questions is rather more difficult than translating them. - annierats, Jul 9, 2015

Okay! I still don't have a clear grasp of the word order of Spanish questions, especially when pronouns are thrown in, but I understand these questions a lot better now. Thank you for your help! I appreciate it. :) - Mimibear, Jul 9, 2015

If "el sabio" were an object, he would need a personal "a", and be "al sabio" - so even though he is way at the end, if it is proper Spanish you know he is still the subject. If it was written by an English speaker you don't know, as we sometimes forget. - bosquederoble, Jul 9, 2015

Thank you for the explanation; this is definitely going in my notes. Thank you! - Mimibear, Jul 9, 2015

De nada. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 9, 2015

Answer 2

@ray76 I've been trying to translate it word by word all night and this is what I've come up with... but I feel like I'm not on the right track...

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1. What does the pilgrim say to expect from the "other side"?

2. Why is death called the greatest "freedom" of the town? Why would death call "freedom" the greatest wiseman of the town?

Hi at least you are trying , one of the Spanish native speakers will help you I am sure now. - ray76, Jul 9, 2015

Yes, the first one is perfect. - annierats, Jul 9, 2015