My dictionary Spanish wasn't good enough

Question

Below is a caption I posted for Picture of the Day. I was told my Spanish made no sense. Would somebody please translate my Spanish and then tell me what I should have written instead?

Esto me molesta. Si puedo recoger mis latas de cerveza, las aerolíneas pueden recoger sus vacíos también.

This bothers me. If I can pick up my beer cans, the airlines can pick up their empties too.

matt!!! wonderful to open a new thread, this will help others to understand the structure , too - 006595c6, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 1

Here's my attempt after having looked at the picture of the day.

Si yo tengo que recoger mis latas vacías, creo que las aerolíneas deberían recoger la suya.

If I have to pick up my empty cans I think the airlines should pick up theirs.

Could I say:

Si yo tengo que recoger mis latas vacías, creo que las aerolíneas deberían hacer lo mismo con la suya.

I am referring to the broken metal shell of the airplane as if it were an empty can. I'm not sure if this works "is understood" in Spanish, but I'm guessing it would as a funny caption.

Versus the original post, I thought it made sense to get rid of puedo and pueden because I didn't think that this "tongue in cheek" use of English..."If I can do it, they can to it do" would work. "If I am able to do it, they are able to do it" wouldn't sound very good in English either, and I think the use of poder in a case like this it more literal than the tongue-in-cheek use of can as an auxiliary verb. That's why I replaced those verbs with tener que and deber.

By the way, in the right context, or even just seeing a picture as was the case here, "can" in English, just by itself, "can" mean so many things. In this case the English sentence clearly meant "If I can do my part for the environment by picking up my beer cans, the airlines can do their part as well by picking up their damaged airplane." I'm guessing that "poder" cannot be used in such as loose / implied manner, but let's see what the natives say.

Thank you, Ken. I'm tempted to answer POTD a second time using your attempt here :) - mattb1of6, Jul 13, 2017

Matt: You're welcome and feel free to do so :) No guarantees that it's right, however. :) - DilKen, Jul 14, 2017

Excellent answer, ken, :) - 006595c6, Jul 14, 2017

Thank you Heidita: I keep trying. :) - DilKen, Jul 15, 2017

Answer 2

I think that "vacíos" can only be used as an adjective in Spanish and you've used it as a noun here. "Envases" or maybe "envases vacíos" might work instead.

Ah, I see now. Thank you, Alba - mattb1of6, Jul 13, 2017

good job :) - 006595c6, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 3

"Vacío" used as a noun means "vacuum" or "outer space." As alba3 suggests, "envases vacíos" is probably what is called for in your sentence.

I like Ken's attempt too. Simplifies and clarifies things at the same time. - AnnRon, Jul 13, 2017

Ann: I made a major change to mine. I don't know if the "ironic" - I can translates well into Spanish so I changed to tener que and deber. - DilKen, Jul 13, 2017

As in...if I am able to do it, the airlines are able to do it. I just don't think it works in Spanish. Could be wrong. - DilKen, Jul 13, 2017

Ann: envaces -> envases - jtaniel, Jul 13, 2017

Thanks, Ann - mattb1of6, Jul 13, 2017

Thanks, jtaniel. Sometimes my fingers get the best of me. :-) - AnnRon, Jul 14, 2017

Ken, I am immune to the finer shades of meaning in Spanish :-) so I like both your attempts equally well. - AnnRon, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 4

I realized how it came about that I tried to use the adjective vacío as a noun meaning empty. I once read an SD grammar article about using adjectives as nouns. It started off
"In Spanish, almost any adjective can be used as a noun."
Well, I was in a rush to write my sentence and my brain was happy to use this adjective as a noun. My brain forgot that the article continued
"Most of the time these nouns will be translated into English as the ____ one, where the blank is an adjective in English"
and
"Adjectives are often used as nouns to refer to a noun that was recently mentioned."
Vi una casa grande y una pequeña.
I saw a large house and a small one.

Answer 5

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread. This was the first time I ever posted a question.

Really? Wow, that is a shame, matt. I believe in posting questions even if you don't understand a certain correction, maybe even on a post which is not yours.

Only by asking does one learn...I used to be a superstar in my English class. My teachers loved or hated me, there was no in-between, , as I was forever asking questions!!

Keep them coming, matt

In the past I've always been able to answer my questions by researching old SD posts. I might have one question to ask if I ever resume looking into a certain correction you once made to my writing - mattb1of6, Jul 15, 2017

Answer 6

Si tengo que recoger mis latas vacías, creo que las aerolíneas deberían recoger la suya.

If I have to pick up my empty cans I think the airlines should pick up theirs.

Could I say:

Si yo tengo que recoger mis latas vacías, creo que las aerolíneas deberían hacer lo mismo con la suya.

Excellent , Ken.

However, and only after seeing yours, I got it!!!

let's see if you all like it. And yes, this is one of the few cases when you should use the pronoun.

Si yo tengo que recoger mis latas vacías, digo yo que las aerolíneas pueden hacer lo mismo con su chatarra también.

Thanks Heidita. I appreciate your comments and suggestions, always :) - DilKen, Jul 15, 2017

Answer 7

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread. This was the first time I ever posted a question. The experience was more meaningful than if I had read someone else's post. Now excuse me, just like with any other post, I have some followup studying to do.

Answer 8

Here is the definition of chatarra that I think Heidita was referring to. I see why this would work well in this situation.

1. (pieces of metal) a. scrap Juan se dedica a comprar y vender chatarra.Juan buys and sells scrap for a living. b. scrap metal Todos los autos viejos y chocados terminan siendo chatarra.All the old and crashed cars end up as scrap metal.