# Ya puedes correr bien que este tiene una pinta de animal que no veas



## Jan Albé

Hi there!

I would love to know how I can translate this quote. It's a scene where a person is talking to his friend just before leaving a pub without paying looking at the waiter:

"Ya puedes correr bien que este tiene una pinta de animal que no veas".

My try:
You better run well that this one looks like an animal you wouldn't believe. or "You better run well that this one looks like such an animal"

Does it sound right? I see that "que no veas" is like "you wouldn't believe" or "just look how!" but I'm not sure if the sentence makes sense 🤔.

Thanks in advance 😊.


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## Mr.Dent

Maybe "You can run out of here quickly because this guy looks like he can't see/won't be able to see you."
or
"You can run out of here quickly because this guy looks like the type that won't see you."


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## Bevj

I think that 'que no veas' has nothing to do with the person being able to see you.
It means more like 'you can't believe your eyes', 'incredible'.


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## BLUEGLAZE

Jan Albé said:


> My try:
> You better run well that this one looks like an animal you wouldn't believe. or "You better run well that this one looks like such an animal"


This does not sound right.
You'd better be fast 'cause (because) this guy looks like he could tear you apart.


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## Jan Albé

Mr.Dent said:


> Maybe "You can run out of here quickly because this guy looks like he can't see/won't be able to see you."
> or
> "You can run out of here quickly because this guy looks like the type that won't see you."




Hey, thanks for the reply.

They are talking about running out of there, that's why one of them says something like "better run well because if not, the animal will catch you and you won't want that". That's why I shouldn't use "run out" because they were talking about running out a second before. You know "we are going to run off/run out so, you better run well because if not...

As for "this guy looks like the type that won't see you", it's like "Este es el tipo de persona que no querrás ver o con el que no querrás cruzarte" which is not exactly the same. I mean, it's the idea and I know we can't expect an exact translation but maybe there's another way to be closer to that "tiene una pinta de animal *que no veas*".

"Que no veas" is a colloquial expression to express emphasis. It's something similar to say "tiene una pinta de animal *que flipas*". And like @Bevj said, it means more like 'you can't believe your eyes', 'incredible' as warning you the guy it's too big and you would freak out if he catches you.

Anyway, you gave me some ideas, so thank you again👍.


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## Jan Albé

Bevj said:


> I think that 'que no veas' has nothing to do with the person being able to see you.
> It means more like 'you can't believe your eyes', 'incredible'.


Yep, you're right. Thanks!

Maybe "better run well because you wouldn't believe how this guy looks like an animal?" or "because it's incredible how this guy looks like an animal?" It sounds a bit stilted though...


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## Jan Albé

BLUEGLAZE said:


> This does not sound right.
> You'd better be fast 'cause (because) this guy looks like he could tear you apart.


Hm, that's starting to sound better to me 😁 . Still, I think we're missing there the "que no veas" part. Thank you for your help!


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## BLUEGLAZE

If you want to stick closer to the Spanish, then perhaps -

You'd better be a fast runner -_ but we know he plans on running so I prefer simply_ - You'd better be fast...
'cause this guy has the look of some animal that staggers belief.


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## Jan Albé

BLUEGLAZE said:


> If you want to stick closer to the Spanish, then perhaps -
> 
> You'd better be a fast runner -_ but we know he plans on running so I prefer simply_ - You'd better be fast...
> 'cause this guy has the look of some animal that staggers belief.


Great🥳. How about "You'd better be fast cause this guy looks like a beast you wouldn't believe"? Would it make sense or does it sound weird for a native? Anyway, it was so helpful. Thank you!


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## SuperScuffer

"You'd better be fast because you won't believe how much of an animal this guy looks like."

That only works if the other person hasn't seen the waiter with his own eyes.


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## Jan Albé

SuperScuffer said:


> "You'd better be fast because you won't believe how much of an animal this guy looks like."
> 
> That only works if the other person hasn't seen the waiter with his own eyes.


Thanks for the explanation 😀. I suppose it would also work if the other person had seen the waiter but hadn't realized how big he is. Like when you look at something/someone, but you're not paying real attention. Would it work in this case too?


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## SuperScuffer

Jan Albé said:


> Thanks for the explanation 😀. I suppose it would also work if the other person had seen the waiter but hadn't realized how big he is. Like when you look at something/someone, but you're not paying real attention. Would it work in this case too?


In that case maybe one of these two versions:-

"You'd better be fast because (I can't believe)(it's unbelievable) how much of an animal this guy looks like."


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## BLUEGLAZE

Jan Albé said:


> "You'd better be fast cause this guy looks like a beast you wouldn't believe"


This is good but a little weak.
SuperS has a good idea but I would say - You won't believe

You'd better be fast cause you wont believe the look on this guy; he's loaded for bear.

'Loaded for bear' is a common expression you can search.


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## SuperScuffer

BLUEGLAZE said:


> This is good but a little weak.
> SuperS has a good idea but I would say - You won't believe
> 
> You'd better be fast cause you wont believe the look on this guy; he's loaded for bear.
> 
> 'Loaded for bear' is a common expression you can search.


Would you say that to someone who already knows what the "animal" in question looks like?

BTW "loaded for bear" sounds very American to me (I don't know what audience the OP is aiming at, pun intended).


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## Galván

Jan Albé said:


> Hi there!
> 
> I would love to know how I can translate this quote. It's a scene where a person is talking to his friend just before leaving a pub without paying looking at the waiter:
> 
> "Ya puedes correr bien que este tiene una pinta de animal que no veas".


Here is my try: Are you able to run quickly? this individual has the looks of an animal you won't believe.

Sé que en el original se utiliza "bien" como adverbio pero se utiliza con la intención de "correr ágilmente".
En inglés, el adverbio "well" no fuenciona de la misma forma, tal vez "quickly or swiftly".


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## Jan Albé

SuperScuffer said:


> "You'd better be fast because you won't believe how much of an animal this guy looks like."
> 
> That only works if the other person hasn't seen the waiter with his own eyes.


Oh, I think you know which way the wind is blowing 😁 (just trying to use new expressions here 😬🤷‍♂️). Anyway, now we're talking✌️

"You'd better be fast because it's unbelievable how much of an animal this guy looks like" or  [...] because you won't believe how much of an animal [...]" as @BLUEGLAZE suggests, could be the most accurate and best option for now. You get the idea, and you keep the animal thing👌🥳.


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## Jan Albé

BLUEGLAZE said:


> This is good but a little weak.
> SuperS has a good idea but I would say - You won't believe
> 
> You'd better be fast cause you wont believe the look on this guy; he's loaded for bear.
> 
> 'Loaded for bear' is a common expression you can search.


 I wasn't very convinced by my suggestion to be honest.

From what I saw, *Load for bear* is more like having a predisposition to fight. The definition here says that's like "keen for confrontation". I mean, the waiter is big and looks like an animal, but that doesn't mean he's ready to fight. He might be a peaceful person, but of course, since you don't know it, the smart thing would be to be "afraid" of big people and run faster just in case 🤭. So, as a complement to the sentence, it works great, but if we adhere to the sentence itself, maybe it wouldn't fit entirely.

I like  "you won't believe the look on this guy" but, we'd lose the comparison with the animal. Quite interesting your option, though, and I learned new interesting vocabulary even if it sounds very American 😜.


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## Jan Albé

Galván said:


> Here is my try: Are you able to run quickly? this individual has the looks of an animal you won't believe.
> 
> Sé que en el original se utiliza "bien" como adverbio pero se utiliza con la intención de "correr ágilmente".
> En inglés, el adverbio "well" no fuenciona de la misma forma, tal vez "quickly or swiftly".


The point you make is interesting but I think that "you'd better be fast" fits a little bit better. Thank you!🙂


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## LVRBC

You'd better run fast, because this guy looks like a real animal.


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## OtroLencho

LVRBC said:


> You'd better run fast, because this guy looks like a real animal.



That's about what I would have suggested.


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## Jan Albé

LVRBC said:


> You'd better run fast, because this guy looks like a real animal.





OtroLencho said:


> That's about what I would have suggested.


Thank you both 🙂. That sounds quite natural but, we'd forget the "que no veas" which is what is driving me crazy🤯😁. I guess it's a matter of ignoring that part to make it more natural and short or continue with the previous example and add that "you won't believe"...🤔. I don't know yet 😩


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## OtroLencho

Jan Albé said:


> we'd forget the "que no veas" which is what is driving me crazy🤯😁.



Go beyond the words and focus on the meaning.  That phrase is an intensifier, which "...looks like a *real* animal" accomplishes as a native would express it.

When you hear "que no veas", are you actually paying attention to the thought of someone _not being able to believe_ what an animal he is?  I allege not; the intention is to intensify the idea, and that specific phrase is just a common expression that accomplishes the goal.


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## Un Adorador

Jan Albé said:


> That sounds quite natural but, we'd forget the "que no veas" which is what is driving me crazy🤯😁


As OtroLencho stated it's an intensifier.
My suggestion would be to use the word "*impressive*'.
One possible translation; This guy has an impressive build, like an animal.


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## Un Adorador

Other synonyms for your consideration.
massive 
imposing
awesome
huge
amazing
intense
astonishing


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## Jan Albé

OtroLencho said:


> Go beyond the words and focus on the meaning.  That phrase is an intensifier, which "...looks like a *real* animal" accomplishes as a native would express it.
> 
> When you hear "que no veas", are you actually paying attention to the thought of someone _not being able to believe_ what an animal he is?  I allege not; the intention is to intensify the idea, and that specific phrase is just a common expression that accomplishes the goal.



That was excellent advice and that was my struggle because in the original sentence, "looks like a real animal" is like saying "tiene una pinta de animal" so, in Spanish, you can say "he looks like a (real) animal" and use "que no veas" too exaggerate even more the idea. That's why I thought a native could use something more to intensify that idea in the same way. As you well said, I needed to go beyond the words and focus on the meaning👍.

That being said, I saw that English natives can use some words or expressions to get there (que no veas). Here are some examples I found:

-¡Tiene una casa que no veas! — He's got a hell of a house!
-¡Hace un calor que no veas! — It's terribly hot!
-Se meten contigo que no veas — They lay into you like you wouldn't believe
-¡Había un ruido que no veas! — It was hellishly loud!
-Eso se te va a pegar que no veas — That's going to stick like hell



Un Adorador said:


> As OtroLencho stated it's an intensifier.
> My suggestion would be to use the word "*impressive*'.
> One possible translation; This guy has an impressive build, like an animal.



As for "This guy has an impressive build, like an animal", I think if you say that "he looks like an animal" we could save ourselves from saying that he has an impressive build. Sounds more like another description, not the element of exaggeration we're looking for. I hope what I say makes sense.

Thanks to everything you've been telling me all, I'm more and more convinced to opt for this: 

*You'd better run fast because this guy looks like a real animal* or [...] *this guy looks like a hell of an animal*. Maybe instead of using "a hell of" change it to "impressive" or one of the synonyms that @Un Adorador suggested. Thank you so much.


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## BLUEGLAZE

Jan Albé said:


> You'd better run fast because this guy looks like a real animal


This is best. 'hell of an animal' doesn't convince me. 'Impressive' doesn't fit the idea of threat here.


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## Nomenclature

"You better run fast because that guy is one mean-looking (motherfucker/son of a gun)"

Warning that the first word is very vulgar, but "son of a gun" seems like an artificial example from a movie script; it doesn't convince me like the first one does in terms of believability.

I feel like the translations with "animal" are too literal and not capturing the idiomatic use of "animal" in Spanish.


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## Jan Albé

Nomenclature said:


> "You better run fast because that guy is one mean-looking (motherfucker/son of a gun)"
> 
> Warning that the first word is very vulgar, but "son of a gun" seems like an artificial example from a movie script; it doesn't convince me like the first one does in terms of believability.
> 
> I feel like the translations with "animal" are too literal and not capturing the idiomatic use of "animal" in Spanish.


Thanks for the input 🙂 . The point is that "it looks like an animal" "que no veas" is a bit soft. The ones who talk are a bit snob (pijos), so I think that maybe, both "motherfucker" and "son of a gun" would be too vulgar for them, or at least that's my feeling. I'll give it further thought 🤔


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## Ballenero

My try:
You must run a lot, the guy looks like a bloody beast.


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## Nomenclature

Jan Albé said:


> Thanks for the input 🙂 . The point is that "it looks like an animal" "que no veas" is a bit soft. The ones who talk are a bit snob (pijos), so I think that maybe, both "motherfucker" and "son of a gun" would be too vulgar for them, or at least that's my feeling. I'll give it further thought 🤔



Thinking about it now, in my opinion "... is one mean-looking dude" is a nice non-vulgar option.


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## Jan Albé

Ballenero said:


> My try:
> You must run a lot, the guy looks like a bloody beast.





Nomenclature said:


> Thinking about it now, in my opinion "... is one mean-looking dude" is a nice non-vulgar option.


Thank you both!


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## elroy

Nomenclature said:


> I feel like the translations with "animal" are too literal and not capturing the idiomatic use of "animal" in Spanish.



I would use “beast.”

_You better run because, this guy looks like one hell of a beast. _



Ballenero said:


> You must run a lot, the guy looks like a bloody beast.


“You must run a lot” is not right.
“bloody” is good but it’s British, so it won’t work for a US audience.


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## Ballenero

elroy said:


> “You must run a lot” is not right.


Why is it not right?


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## BLUEGLAZE

Ballenero said:


> You must run a lot


Tienes pinta de una persona que corre mucho.
En el contexto del OP no quiere decir - Tienes/tendrás que correr mucho ni debes/debieras ni has de.


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## Magazine

LVRBC said:


> You'd better run fast, because this guy looks like a real animal.


Or maybe : If I were you I would run like hell this guy looks.../..would start running right now...


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## Ballenero

BLUEGLAZE said:


> Tienes pinta de una persona que corre mucho.


Ok, thanks.



BLUEGLAZE said:


> En el contexto del OP no quiere decir - Tienes/tendrás que correr mucho ni debes/debieras ni has de.


Estuve pensando sobre esto pero todavía no he llegado a una conclusión.


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