It would be "as well"
¡Hola a todos! Necesito que me den una mano con la traducción de la siguiente oración:
"Our subject tonight is "why I am not a christian". Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try and make out..."
Tengo problemas con ese "as well". ¿Quiere decir algo como "sería mejor empezar por..."'
24 Answers
"Our subject tonight is "why I am not a christian". Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try and make out..."
It would be as well to... = We might as well...
Esta construcción es difícil traducir a español, pero el significado es más o menos "Quizá más val que empecemos por..." Pero tu traducción también puede servir.
Espero que te ayude.
Now he may well not know his Spanish as well as he should, despite being a native speaker. But that was my point - don't trust native speakers just because they are native speakers.
I find the same problem with native English speakers. They often confuse "it's" and "its", or "affect" and "effect", to cite two examples that immediately come to mind.
This is very true, Aurino. Most Spanish natives have a problem with accents and pronouns, for example. Being a native is no garantee for "perfect Spanish".
Same in English of course.
As to Spanish, what do you more knowledeable, less stubborn guys make of this: http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/politics/navarromay03.html
Did you actually read that article? There are so many misspellings and typos in it that article that I wouldn't use it as an example for anything. I certainly wouldn't trust any punctuation.
I actually read the article, found the author quite versant, and was puzzled by so many obvious misspellings. Then I noticed it was simply that the accented letters were not showing up properly. Somehow the accented 'é', 'í' and 'ó' became 'i', 'm' and 's', respectively. A technical problem surely.
Now he may well not know his Spanish as well as he should, despite being a native speaker. But that was my point - don't trust native speakers just because they are native speakers.
I find the same problem with native English speakers. They often confuse "it's" and "its", or "affect" and "effect", to cite two examples that immediately come to mind.
Heidita Posted: 24 April 2009 06:55 AM
[España sería más corriente el uso de
antes que nada deberíamos
Antes que nada también suena muy bien:
'pero antes que nada deberíamos definir qué significa ser Cristiano.
Heidita Posted: 24 April 2009 06:55 AM
[España sería más corriente el uso de
antes que nada deberíamos
Antes que nada también suena muy bien:
'pero antes que nada deberíamos definir qué significa ser Cristiano.[/color]
Mira, woa, la palabra qué en este caso lleva tilde.
yo soy horrible con las tildes 
ok, ya lo arreglo, gracias.
Heidita Posted: 24 April 2009 06:55 AM
[España sería más corriente el uso de
antes que nada deberíamos
Antes que nada también suena muy bien:
'pero antes que nada deberíamos definir qué significa ser Cristiano.[/color]
Mira, woa, la palabra qué en este caso lleva tilde.
Nuestro tema de esta noche es: 'Por qué no soy Cristiano', pero creo que primeramente deberíamos definir qué significa ser Cristiano.
En España sería más corriente el uso de
antes que nada deberíamos....
A veces nos aferramos a querer utilizar ciertas frases y por eso es que luego no podemos encontrar la forma de expresar la idea.
**Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try and make out **
I don't think this part of the sentence makes any sense...it sounds like a bunch of phrases all jumbled up. I would write instead:
Our subject tonight is 'why I am not a Christian', but perhaps it would be better to define first what it means to be a Christian.
Nuestro tema de esta noche es: 'Por qué no soy Cristiano', pero creo que primeramente deberíamos definir que significa ser Cristiano.
Our subject tonight is 'why I am not a Christian',but perhaps we should as well, try to define first, what it is to be a Christian
In this instance the expression "as well" can be replaced by the word "also".
',pero quizás deberíamos también primeramente definir, que significa ser Cristiano.
I cannot rephrase it, because that is the sentense I am supposed to translate:
......
"Our subject tonight is 'why I am not a christian'. Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try and make out what we mean by Christian.?
......
I was pointing at the use of "as well" that I cannot really figure out how it is being used in English.
By the way, the proper translation is "por qué no soy cristiano". You must use an interrogative pronoun with indirect questions.
El tema de esta noche es 'por qué no soy Cristiano'. Antes que nada,deberíamos definir el significado de la palabra Cristiano.
Did you actually read that article? There are so many misspellings and typos in it that article that I wouldn't use it as an example for anything. I certainly wouldn't trust any punctuation.
Justo lo que iba a decir yo. De hecho , en algún momento he pensado que a lo mejor estaba escrito en catalán o algo.
**el porqué **lo pone siempre sin acento y eso es un error claro.
As to Spanish, what do you more knowledeable, less stubborn guys make of this: http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/politics/navarromay03.html
Did you actually read that article? There are so many misspellings and typos in it that article that I wouldn't use it as an example for anything. I certainly wouldn't trust any punctuation.
It is either an error, or the author is using the noun porqué, which does not have to take the accent when written in upper-case letters. This noun means "the reason," as in Quiere saber el porqué (She wants to know the reason). I don't know if that fits in this context without the article (Reason I'm not a Conservative), but maybe it could work as a title.
He writes in the same article "el porque de los ataques al neoliberalismo". I'll take the position that he does not fully master his native tongue, despite being an academic. That puts me in good company and saves my pride 
As to Spanish, what do you more knowledeable, less stubborn guys make of this: http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/politics/navarromay03.html
It is either an error, or the author is using the noun porqué, which does not have to take the accent when written in upper-case letters. This noun means "the reason," as in Quiere saber el porqué (She wants to know the reason). I don't know if that fits in this context without the article (Reason I'm not a Conservative), but maybe it could work as a title.
Aurino, here is what the DRAE gives.
por qué.
1. loc. adv. Por cuál razón, causa o motivo. ¿Por qué te agrada la compañía de un hombre como ese? No acierto a explicarme por qué le tengo tanto cariño.
The second example given above corresponds to the context of this thread: I can't seem to explain why I have such affection for her.
