# If only I was Spanish



## tinyjodes

Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct.  Any help translating would be much appreciated!


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## aztlaniano

Welcome, tinyjodes! 
That's correct.
Also, Ojalá fuera español.
It depends on what you mean - All I needed was to be Spanish (your version) or How I wish I were Spanish (my version).


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## gengo

tinyjodes said:


> Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct.



Your question has been answered, but I'll add that the English is incorrect, and should be "If only I *were* Spanish."

In general, when you are expressing an implied wish by the structure "If only...," you can use "ojalá (subjunctive verb)" in Spanish.


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## borgonyon

What do you mean by Spanish? From Spain or a Spanish speaking person? The two are not the same thing.


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## gengo

borgonyon said:


> What do you mean by Spanish? From Spain or a Spanish speaking person? The two are not the same thing.



"If I were Spanish" can have only one meaning:  that of being from Spain.  Otherwise it would be "If I spoke Spanish."  That is, "to *be* Spanish" always means to be from Spain.


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## rgp

tinyjodes said:


> Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct.  Any help translating would be much appreciated!


I think that the right way to say it is  wherever)..........Spaniard, related to a person not to a language: for example: I wish we were Spaniards.


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## gengo

rgp said:


> I think that the right way to say it is  wherever)..........Spaniard, related to a person not to a language: for example: I wish I were Spaniard.



Not necessarily.  See my posts above.


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## rgp

gengo said:


> Not necessarily.  See my posts above.


Sorry but not in agree with you.


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## gengo

rgp said:


> Sorry but not in agree with you.



Hmmm, as a native speaker of English I am quite sure about this, but you are free to disagree with any post, of course.

Por cierto, lo correcto sería "Sorry, but I don't agree with you."


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## rgp

gengo said:


> Hmmm, as a native speaker of English I am quite sure about this, but you are free to disagree with any post, of course.
> 
> Por cierto, lo correcto sería "Sorry, but I don't agree with you."


Yes,you are right, I agree!  Regarding Spanish/Spaniard: Please check this thread: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=123064  .
By the way what is the plural of Spanish?


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## BrooklynBoy

tinyjodes said:


> Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct. Any help translating would be much appreciated!



tinyjodes, welcome to the forum! You will learn a lot and have fun at the same time, as I have.

One question: When you say "If only I [were] Spanish," do you mean Hispanic? That is, do you mean from a Spanish speaking country, either yourself or your parents/grandparents? I ask this because I often hear English speakers say "Spanish" when they mean Hispanic (Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Dominican, etc.). If this is what you mean, the Spanish translation would not be "española" [note the ñ], but rather "hispana" or perhaps "latina". Just a thought.

De nuevo, ¡Bienvenidos al foro!


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## aztlaniano

rgp said:


> Yes,you are right, I agree!  Regarding Spanish/Spaniard: Please check this thread: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=123064  .
> By the way what is the plural of Spanish?


As an adjective, there is no plural, because adjectives are all invariable.
As a noun, it is a collective noun and is always used in the singular.
Ej, The Spanish (el pueblo español) hate the French as much as the British do.

Para evitar ambigüedad, sí sería mejor decir en inglés: If only I were a Spaniard.


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## SuperScuffer

aztlaniano said:


> Para evitar ambigüedad, sí sería mejor decir en inglés: If only I were a Spaniard.


For me at least I can not see any ambiguity with "If only I was/were Spanish" - the phrase only has one meaning (i.e. a native of Spain) and again, for me at least, sounds more natural than "If only I were a Spaniard."


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## aztlaniano

SuperScuffer said:


> For me at least I can not see any ambiguity with "If only I was/were Spanish" - the phrase only has one meaning (i.e. a native of Spain) and again, for me at least, sounds more natural than "If only I were a Spaniard."


En EE. UU., si dices "I'm Spanish", van a creer que eres hispanohablante. Echa un vistazo al hilo que cita rgp en la entrada #10.


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## SuperScuffer

aztlaniano said:


> En EE. UU., si dices "I'm Spanish", van a creer que eres hispanohablante. Echa un vistazo al hilo que cita rgp en la entrada #10.


Interesting - but that isn't the case in BrE.  In BrE if you want to say you speak Spanish you have to say just that, i.e. "I speak Spanish" or "I am a Spanish speaker."


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## aztlaniano

It's simple geography ande demography. Britain is much closer to Spain than it is to Latin America. In the U.S. Latin America is closer and amidst the dozens of millions of Spanish speakers in the U.S. those who are from Spain are a tiny drop in the ocean.

See this previous thread:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1303191&highlight=spaniard


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## SuperScuffer

aztlaniano said:


> It's simple geography. Britain is much closer to Spain than it is to Latin America. In the U.S. Latin America is closer and amidst the dozens of millions of Spanish speakers in the U.S. those who are from Spain are a tiny drop in the ocean.
> 
> See this previous thread:
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1303191&highlight=spaniard


Thanks for the link.  Its a very interesting cultural difference.  Here, if someone is "English" they are from the UK (much to the annoyance of the Scots and Welsh), so I suppose it is the same thing as "Spanish" being anyone who speaks Spanish.


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## nonchalant slacker

tinyjodes said:


> Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct.  Any help translating would be much appreciated!



"Si tan solo fuese Española -----  or --- Si tan solo Fuera Española "   fuese or fuera are the verbs you can use there, "Fuera" is more common though.

Good look. < - - -wth?? I mean good luck


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## jaimehm

So, "if only I were Spanish" and "I wish I were Spanish" are interchangeable?


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## User With No Name

jaimehm said:


> So, "if only I were Spanish" and "I wish I were Spanish" are interchangeable?


There may be some difference in nuance, but the basic idea is the same.


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## SuperScuffer

User With No Name said:


> There may be some difference in nuance, but the basic idea is the same.


Surely it depends on the context?  You might just be making a general comment rather than actually wishing for something.


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## gengo

User With No Name said:


> There may be some difference in nuance, but the basic idea is the same.



I agree that the basic idea is the same, but we might choose one or the other depending on the situation, so I wouldn't say that they are completely interchangeable.

The difference is probably not that different from the following Spanish.

Si yo tan solo fuera español.
Ojalá yo fuera español.


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## User With No Name

SuperScuffer said:


> Surely it depends on the context? You might just be making a general comment rather than actually wishing for something.


Yes, upon further consideration I think you are correct.

I believe I was thinking about the two phrases in isolation. "If only I were Spanish...." and "I wish I were Spanish." Said as isolated statements, I do think they mean pretty much the same thing.

But as part of a complete sentence ("If only I were Spanish, I would know how to make a tortilla"), they are clearly not interchangeable. 

Although I do think that the inclusion of "only" does sort of suggest a desire or wish.


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## Galván

aztlaniano said:


> En EE. UU., si dices "I'm Spanish", van a creer que eres hispanohablante. Echa un vistazo al hilo que cita rgp en la entrada #10.


No estoy de acuerdo con lo que dices Aztlaniano. Me parece que Gengo tiene razón. Si dices: "if I only were Spanish", la única traducción posible es que se trata de alguien de origen español, es decir, un español nacido en España.  Si dices: "if I only spoke Spanish" entonces la traducción sería: Si tan solo hablase español.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

gengo said:


> Si yo tan solo fuera español.
> Ojalá yo fuera español.




Ooh, those sound horrible, Gengo... Much better without the subject.  

Also, they are exclamatives, as they are emphatic expressions of a wish, so they would be much clearer with exclamation marks...

- ¡Si tan solo fuera español / española! 
*- ¡Ojalá fuera español / española!*

However, the first one still sounds weird... Better without the 'tan sólo';

- ¡Si + SUBJUNCTIVE (fuera) + adj!

*- 'If only (I were)...' = 'Si (fuera)...'*
(The 'tan sólo' is just a literal translation of the English 'only', but not really used in Spanish).

*'¡Si fuera español / española!'  *


But, the structure we normally use is:

- ¡Me gustaría + INF + adj!
(a direct equivalent of 'I wish I were + adj!')

*- ¡Me gustaría ser español / española!*

This one is more colloquial and common than the others, I think, and sounds much more natural than the first one.


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## User With No Name

Galván said:


> Si dices: "if I only were Spanish", la única traducción posible es que se trata de alguien de origen Español


I'm afraid that in practice (as opposed to theory), @aztlaniano is right. If Miguel's parents immigrated to the U.S. from, say, Guatemala, and Miguel speaks Spanish, many, many people in the U.S. will say that "Miguel is Spanish."

As another example, there is a neighborhood in Manhattan called "Spanish Harlem." It is one of the centers of Puerto Rican culture in the U.S., and I suspect the number of Spaniards living there could be counted on one's fingers and toes.

It's wrong. It doesn't make sense. It shows a lack of cultural awareness. But it is a linguistic and social reality. 

I think this thread has outlived its usefulness, so I will leave it here.


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## gengo

Galván said:


> No estoy de acuerdo con lo que dices Aztlaniano. Me parece que Gengo tiene razón. Si dices: "if I only were Spanish", la única traducción posible es que se trata de alguien de origen español, es decir, un español nacido en España.



Aztlaniano and I are talking about somewhat different things here.  I am referring to grammar, and what I said is correct.  On the other hand, there is what Americans actually say, and that is where Azt is correct, because some Americans incorrectly use the word "Spanish" to refer to anyone whose native language is Spanish.  That is, they might say that a Mexican is Spanish.  That is obviously wrong, but it's not that uncommon.



Cerros de Úbeda said:


> Ooh, those sound horrible, Gengo... Much better without the subject.



I only included the subject for the purpose of making it clear here.  Naturally, I wouldn't include it in real speech, unless I wanted to emphasize the subject.  My point (which you seem to have missed) was that the difference between the two constructions in Spanish is somewhat similar to the difference between the two in English.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

gengo said:


> I only included the subject for the purpose of making it clear here.  Naturally, I wouldn't include it in real speech, unless I wanted to emphasize the subject.



Ok, that's correct. I do agree with that.

I think the difference between both in English is the one mentioned by 'User' (#23). That is, that while 'I wish...!' just expresses a vehement desire or longing, 'If only...!' points to a continuation of the sentence. Indicates that the idea is followed up by the motive or an associated idea...

The Spanish works in the same way; '¡Ojalá...!' is more of an interjection, expressing an emphatic wish, in itself. Whereas the '¡Si pudiera...!' points to a reasoning, and to other associated ideas.


I just wanted to insist on the fact that often, Spanish sentences make much more sense if you omit the subject. And this is a good example of this.

Also, note that the 'I wish...' structure has this other equivalent that I pointed out, with the verb in the conditional:

*'¡Me gustaría / encantaría ser *español / española!'
*'¡Desearía ser* española!'

Also;

*'¡Ya me gustaría ser *español / española!'
*'¡Ya quisiera* *ser *español / española!'

Another possibility, exclamatives with the 'Wh-' words:

*'¡Quién fuera* español / española!'
*'¡Cómo me gustaría* *ser *español / española!'




User With No Name said:


> many, many people in the U.S. will say that



Quite right...  I really liked this post and Aztlaniano's  (#14 & 16).

I've recently seen this very usage, and I've wondered about it... So, I've found this thread rather clarifying.

Many uses in language are not logical, and just respond to quirks or cultural nuances, and that's what's most interesting for us translators; knowing the peculiarities in usages, not just the grammatical or the standard uses.


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## Galván

gengo said:


> Aztlaniano and I are talking about somewhat different things here.  I am referring to grammar, and what I said is correct.  On the other hand, there is what Americans actually say, and that is where Azt is correct, because some Americans incorrectly use the word "Spanish" to refer to anyone whose native language is Spanish.  That is, they might say that a Mexican is Spanish.  That is obviously wrong, but it's not that uncommon.



Creo que estamos hablando de lo mismo Gengo. Aztlaniano habla del uso indebido de la palabra Spanish en USA como algo aceptable y yo digo que no lo es. No por ser algo común entre algunas personas deberá tomarse como un signfiicado más o algo coloquial porque no lo es. Sigue siendo un error garrafal y debe ser corregido en cualquier instancia. El único uso correcto de "Spanish" en el contexto de este hilo es para referirse al español nacido en España o de padres españoles viviendo fuera del país. Ahora si el OP nos aclara que se trata de una mención incorrecta de un hispano de origen latinoamericano entonces es otra cosa, pero hay que hacer siempre la aclaración pues sin más contexto, Spanish solo puede ser un español.


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## Ansina Nomás

The misuse of Spanish (and 5 de mayo!) is widespread in the U.S. However, I will side with Galván on this one. Even though languages are living and constantly changing by common usage, there are times where popular usage should not be the guide. 

So as not appear to be pontificating, I‘ll illustrate by noting the almost visceral reaction of many South Americans when a citizen of the US identifies  him/herself as an “Americano/a“.

Even more illustrative is the tendency to identify all Asians as “chinos” or the 20th century tendency to call all immigrants from the Middle East “turcos”. Both are/were very widespread and unacceptable.


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## User With No Name

Ansina Nomás said:


> there are times where popular usage should not be the guide


I don't think anybody is arguing that this use of "Spanish" is "correct" or "acceptable." (I would certainly never use "Spanish" this way myself.)

It is, however, fairly common. And this is a translation forum. So translators need to know that this usage exists.


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## gengo

User With No Name said:


> I don't think anybody is arguing that this use of "Spanish" is "correct" or "acceptable." (I would certainly never use "Spanish" this way myself.)
> 
> It is, however, fairly common. And this is a translation forum. So translators need to know that this usage exists.



Well said.



Ansina Nomás said:


> The misuse of Spanish (and 5 de mayo!) is widespread in the U.S. However, I will side with Galván on this one. Even though languages are living and constantly changing by common usage, there are times where popular usage should not be the guide.



Agreed, but just as you have made the extremely common mistake of using "where" for a situation that calls for "when," native speakers, even those who are well educated and well spoken, make such errors, and that is a part of the living language which a good translator should be aware of.


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## Ballenero

tinyjodes said:


> Hi all, I'm trying to say "If only I was Spanish" and I've come up with "Si tan sólo fuera espanola" .... but not sure if the verb is correct.  Any help translating would be much appreciated!


- Si tan siquiera fuera española...
- Si por lo menos fuese española...
- Solo con que fuera española...


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