No me importa
No me importa = i dont care.
No me importa = i dont mind.
How can i know what does a person mean by No me importa because it can be both of the meanings above.
is it it`s place in the conversation AND the way of saying it?
OR it depends on in wich part of the world it is used? (like if it can only have one meaning in some countries but it could be the other or both meanings in some other countries).
8 Answers
lazarus1907 said:
No me importa lo que le pase = I don't care what happens to him No me importa si vienes = I don't mind whether you come along
Your second sentence (the English [anything you choose to say in/about Spanish, I will take as Gospel]) makes me uncomfortable. "whether" (to my ears) cries out for both alternatives to be explicitly mentioned (even if the second is the mere mechanical negation of the first). Substituting "if", clears up (for me) the problem and the expression of the alternative is, then, truly optional. (but vide infra)
As for the more general care/mind issue, I don't think that they are really equivalent. "care" implies that one is indifferent to the outcome (any result would be equally acceptable). "I don't mind ..." is equivalent to "It wouldn't (or doesn't or won't) bother me if ..." and addresses an the implication that the event would/should (usually) be considered bothersome. Obviously, whatever the event in question, there is the logical possibility of the corresponding non-event but when we say "I don't mind ..." we are focusing on one outcome and declaring that we don't find it objectionable.
No me importa lo que le pase = I don't care what happens to him
No me importa si vienes = I don't mind whether you come along
No me importa means the same all over Latin America and I am sure also in the mother country - Spain-
You might hear, no importa instead of no me importa, Angry people will say no me importa. Angry people and not too nice would say , me vale and they add a four letter word. In Mexico and Guatemala you would hear, no le hace for no importa.
never mind, never you mind, I do'nt mind I cant translate these words into Spanish.
In my humble opinion, never mind is anEnglish language thing.
Might be that the mood of the person will give you a clue.
Give me an example where it can mean both.
A more literal translation would be "it is of no importance to me". Surely you can see how that covers both. If not, the context will probably give you the English meaning, but you should always strive to not translate everything into English.
Machine Translation, Yo me puse la mente
i don`t mind. to me is like molestia or no me molesta
I can't think of any other way to say, I don't mind. Of course, the machine translation is no help . I hope you get other ways to say it.
Or some sentences contrasting the two phrases in English. To me they can be synonymous or > just carries a larger degree of than . To express the increased lack of concern for
thanx, but i mean when i hear someone saying No me importa how do i know if he means i don`t care or i don`t mind.
is it the way of saying it and also depends on the conversation? or in some parts of the world it has only one meaning and in other parts it means the other meaning '
