Cuál es la mejor frase para decir?

Question

Which of these two sentences is the most correct, or are they equally correct? Want to say I'am sorry for a broken table.

1. Me pone triste que la mesa se rompe.

2. En que me hace triste que la mesa es roto.

   I'am still a beginner to intermediate in Spanish, and do not know many of the finer points of grammar and structure. Maybe they are incorrect? Thankyou.

Maybe they are incorrect? - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

David, please remember to capitalize names of languages in English (but not in Spanish). - Jubilado, Apr 14, 2016

Gracias Jubi. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

Answer 1

*Me pone triste que la mesa se rompe.

En que me hace triste que la mesa es roto.*

Your first sentence means, "It makes me sad that the table breaks."

I think that your second sentence is trying to say the same thing.

Here's the way I would do it.

Me entristece que la mesa esté rota. Literally: It saddens me that the table is broken.

Is this what you want??? If not, I'll try again. Note that the verb "entristecer" triggers the subjunctive.

If you say "No me entristece..." do you still need the subjunctive? - Jubilado, Apr 14, 2016

Yes, it's one of those "emotion" verbs that trigger the subjunctive. - Daniela2041, Apr 14, 2016

I think that you got it. In my mind I want to express sorrow and regret also. Sad and regretfull? - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

Thankyou for this answer. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

All I tried to do was to determine what your thought in English was, then put it into Spanish! Sheesh!! - Daniela2041, Apr 14, 2016

Answer 2

¡Hola!

Correcting gringojrf:

2- Discúlpame por romper la mesa.

3- Discúlpame por haber roto la mesa.

Punctuating what JulianChivi said:

Siento que haya roto / quebrado la mesa the subject is "usted", so you are saying Siento que (usted) haya roto / quebrado la mesa

Siento que se haya roto / quebrado la mesa is said when the table broke by itself.

Siento haber roto la mesa the subject is "yo", so you are apologizing for breaking the table. This and the gringojrf's phrases would be the correct ones.

Sorry for my English. I hope to be helpful.

Thankyou for these corrections of my post. Gracias amigo de España. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

Thank you. Infinitives after preposisitions. - gringojrf, Apr 14, 2016

de12wey, this is a case that I think in the Americas we use subjunctive more than in Spain. In this case it makes the blame "softer", ie "I may have broken ...." Of course if there are more than 2 people involved, then I agree that "yo" is necessary - 005faa61, Apr 14, 2016

... obviamente tomando en cuenta que las dos personas involucradas se tutean - 005faa61, Apr 14, 2016

Answer 3

Discúlpame por la mesa rota Forgive me for the broken table.

Discúlpame por romper la mesa. Forgive me for the broken table.

Discúlpame por haber roto la mesa. Forgive me for having broken the table.

rotA - 005faa61, Apr 14, 2016

Darn gender issues. - gringojrf, Apr 14, 2016

Thankyou for these examples. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

Answer 4

"Sorry " is different than "sad" in Spanish. If you want to say that you´re sorry for breaking the table, ie: Siento que haya roto / quebrado la mesa.

Gringo´s use of "disculpar" is also good if you are asking for forgiveness.

Here in Baja you almost never hear the use of Sentir in this context. It is almost always disculpar. I tend to use sentir and get corrected all the time. Sorry/Sentir just go together in my mind but not in the locals here. - gringojrf, Apr 14, 2016

Sorry is different than sad, a very good point. The hardest part for me is to loose the angloese meanings. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016

Julian, could you not also simply say: Lo siento por romper la mesa ? - FELIZ77, Apr 14, 2016

I mean do you have to use the que + subjunctive form here? I am not at all bothered by using the subjunctive, I just want to know whether I could have advised a learner to use a sentence in the active form: I am sorry for breaking the table instead of - FELIZ77, Apr 14, 2016

Feliz, yes - 005faa61, Apr 14, 2016

instead of saying I am sorry that the table is broken. - FELIZ77, Apr 14, 2016

Muchas gracias por contestarme / responderme, Julian :) - FELIZ77, Apr 14, 2016

Thankyou Julian, I always respect your posts, and this one too. - 00cc0117, Apr 15, 2016

Answer 5

Hello David,

Thank you for your question and your active participation in our SpanishDict forum

You asked:

Which of these two sentences is the most correct, or are they equally correct? Want to say I'am sorry for a broken table. Me pone triste que la mesa se rompe. En que me hace triste que la mesa es roto. I'am still a beginner to intermediate in Spanish, and do not know many of the finer points of grammar and structure. Maybe they are incorrect? Thankyou.

You have said that you are sad that the table is broken ...did you really want to apologize for having broken the table? Perhaps you not know the best way to say it and you were doing the best you could as a learner with a limited vocabulary.

You can say: Lo siento (mucho) por romper la mesa = I'm (really/very) sorry for breaking the table.

This sentence admits shows personal responsibility for having done the damage, even unintentionally of course!

I hope this helps

Thankyou for this answer amigo. - 00cc0117, Apr 14, 2016