Why are you wasting your time with...

Question

I'll try:
Por qué estás perdiendo tu tiempo con...(eso) (')

and 'a waste of time' as well please.

Answer 1

Just a bit redundant, I guess, but people just don't normally say that (in Spain).

Answer 2

Ah, thanks, I was wondering about 'tu' or 'el'

Horrible how, bad construction or rude'

Answer 3

I would have said "perdiendo EL tiempo", and not "tu tiempo" in this case

P.S. My family and friends here (Spain) tell me that "perdiendo tu tiempo" sounds horrible to them.

Answer 4

Thanks for the alternaves James and Eddy. In this case I think the original is fine. The sentence will be something like:
¿Por qué estás perdiendo tu tiempo haciendo películas así'

Answer 5

Waste of time - no vale la pena'

Answer 6

I agree with you, James,

is more polite ¿Por qué estás perdiendo tu tiempo con esta chica/chico ? Why are you wasting your time with this girl/boy?

more usual ( at least in spain) is:

¿ Por qué pierdes el tiempo con este chica/chico ?
¿ Por qué malgastas el tiempo con esta tía/tío ?
¿ Por qué sales con esta tía/tío ?
¿ Por qué andas con un pendejo como esa/ese ? ( "pendejo" tiene aquí un significado peyorativo)

Answer 7

Tad, Iker has given you perfectly good translations of these, but assuming that the "with..." is followed by a person's name, I think a native speaker might phrase it differently. For example, they might say "¿Por qué andas con un pendejo como....'" That is, while the translations given are fine, what we should strive for is not just rewording correctly, but saying it how a native would say it in the same situation. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, so I can't say for sure, but you might want to think about other ways to express the idea.

Answer 8

Gracias iker.

Answer 9

Hi tad
the translation is correct

Why are you wasting your time with...¿Por qué estás perdiendo (o desperdiciando) tu tiempo con...(eso) (')

and 'a waste of time' is "una pérdida de tiempo"