getting something done
I saw this:
--The girls are getting their nails done.
translated as this:
--Las chicas se están arreglando las uñas.
To me, this translation misses the nuance of having someone else do their nails for them, and seems to me to say that the girls are doing their own nails.
Is this a bad translation?
If so, what is the normal way to express "get something done"?
Examples:
He is getting his house painted next month.
I'm getting my car fixed today.
They are getting their kitchen remodeled right now.
If the person were doing the action himself, the above would be:
He is painting his house next month.
I'm fixing my car today.
They are remodeling their kitchen right now.
(This last one could also be used if someone else were doing the work.)
23 Answers
Gus said:
To me, this translation misses the nuance of having someone else do their nails for them, and seems to me to say that the girls are doing their own nails
Not if you say "Me van a pintar las uñas hoy", but girls usually prefer to say "Voy a pintarme las uñas", and give further explanations if others ask whether she is going to paint them herself, or she is going to go to a place to get them done. I'd say that most girls don't announce that they are going to paint their own nails, as they probably do it all the time, but they like to tell others that they are going to get them done, as if it was something special worth talking about, so they simply say "Me voy a...", and everyone understand what she means. This is what it is called "encyclopaedic knowledge" among linguists and educators: a set of implicit rules of things that make sense (or not) that most people in a particular society have, that help interpreting the language correctly. This is why a machine translator can't translate properly, and why it is so difficult to learn a language if you don't live in the country.
To me, this translation misses the nuance of having someone else do their nails for them, and seems to me to say that the girls are doing their own nails
pense que esta era la pregunta original.
If the person get others to do the job:
He is getting his house painted next month.
I'm getting my car fixed today.
They are getting their kitchen remodeled right now.
' Le van a pintar la casa el mes que viene. / Va a pintar la casa el mes que viene (understood from context)
' Me van a arreglar el coche hoy. / Voy a (llevar a) arreglar el coche hoy (with "llevar a" there is no need for clarification)
' Les están remodelando la cocina ahora mismo. (I wouldn't say "Estoy remodelando ahora mismo" if others are doing it. People would wonder how can I talk and remodel at the same time)
If the person were doing the action himself, the above would be:
He is painting his house next month.
I'm fixing my car today.
They are remodeling their kitchen right now.
' Va a pintar la casa (él mismo) el més que viene ("él mismo" might be necessary if the context is not clear enough)
' Voy a arreglar (yo mismo) el coche hoy
' Están remodelando la cocina ahora mismo (here "ellos mismos" is less likely to be necessary)
However, in:
Se va a cortar el pelo hoy
there is normally no need to say "ella misma", since few people cut their own hair. Of course, you can always say "Me van a cortar el pelo", which is impossible to misunderstand... but an unusual choice of words, for whatever the reason.
After all, if a businessman says "I'm building a factory", he is obviously not building it himself with his own hands, but since this interpretation is rather ridiculous, you are not forced to say "I am getting others to build a factory for me", which is unnecessarily long and complicated. With hair cutting is the same thing.
easy problem
le estan arreglando las unas a las muchachas
le estan arreglandolas unas a las chevas ( from peru girls)
le estan arreglando las unas a las patojas (from Guatemala girls)
le estan arreglandolas unas a las (gueras ...girls no se de donde es esta palabra,puede ser de Guatemala o Mexico)
mi dicionario dice manicura for manicure..creo que esta errado
I think this is really striking in Spanish , tell you the truth.
We here in Spanish:
Me voy a cortar el pelo.
Me voy a lavar el coche.
Me estoy arreglando el piso.
Me voy a sacar una muela.
ETc.
Especially amazing, you enter a hairdresser's and the girl asks:
¿Qué se va a hacer?
I mean...(sic)
However, that's the way it is, the sentence implies automatically that you are not doing it yourself.
¿Has visto? Me he cortado el pelo.
¡Pues seguro que lo has hecho tú misma de lo mal cortado que está!
Or the other way round, to be on the safe side:
El dentista me va a mirar la boca.
This last one would be very unusual though and sounds "foreign".
James Santiago said:
Thanks. So, you would say that the translation was bad? Or do you think that it could encompass the English meaning as well?
No I don't think it's necessarily a bad translation. But I guess you're right about it coming up short when compared to the English version.
Thanks. So, you would say that the translation was bad? Or do you think that it could encompass the English meaning as well'
I could be wrong but I have heard it said,
'Las chicas se están haciendo arreglar la uñas.'
'ÿl va a hacer pintar su casa el próximo mes.'
'Voy a hacer arreglar mi carro hoy.'
As for the last sentence I don't see why you couldn't use the same sentence structure, but I haven't actually heard it said like that. Instead I'd say, 'Están remodelando la cocina ahora mismo.'
