# Us parents



## thimbles96

_Can anyone help me with this sentence?_
 
_I want to say in Spanish, "Us parents always worry about our children." _
 
_Mi intento."Nos padres siempre preocuparse por nuestros niños." o nunca nos padres dejamos preocupar por nuestros niños."_
 
_Thanks for any advice, am completely lost on this sentence.  Thimbles 96 _


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## blasita

thimbles96 said:


> _Can anyone help me with this sentence?_
> 
> _I want to say in Spanish, "Us parents always worry about our children." _
> 
> _Mi intento."Nos padres siempre preocuparse por nuestros niños." o nunca nos dejamos *de *preocupar por nuestros niños."_
> 
> _Thanks for any advice, am completely lost on this sentence.  Thimbles 96 _



_Nosotros, los padres, siempre nos preocupamos por nuestros niños/hijos._

Wait for other replies, please.  Saludos.


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## mimosa23

Nos does not mean 'us'. My guess would be 'Nosotros, como padres' but perhaps this will help a native speaker to correct both of us!


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## blasita

mimosa23 said:


> Nos does not mean 'us'. My guess would be 'Nosotros, como padres' but perhaps this will help a native speaker to correct both of us!



Hola.

A mí me parece que "Nosotros, como padres,"  estaría muy bien (incluso puede que sea una traducción más literal y/o mejor del inglés que la que yo he dado; pero no lo sé, lo siento). Las dos son posibles, pero no sé la que sería mejor traducción.

Un saludo.


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## Tormento

Hola, 
I think that the "Us" written at the beginning of the sentence is confusing us. 
I would say: Los padres siempre nos preocupamos por nuestros hijos or Como padres siempre nos preocupamos por nuestros hijos, if it's a misspelling of As. 

Un saludo.


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## thimbles96

Thank you Tormento and welcome to the forum.  Regards, thimbles 96


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## blasita

Well, I´ll try again (even though I´m being ignored ). I understand the "Us" before "parents" as a kind of "we", not "as"; could you please clarify this point, Thimbles?


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## mimosa23

blasita said:


> Well, I´ll try again (even though I´m being ignored ). I understand the "Us" before "parents" as a kind of "we", not "as"; could you please clarify this point, Thimbles?


 
Ignored? Nunca!!

The 'us' is perhaps not grammatically correct, but it is very widely used colloquially as a way of sounding less formal and more identified with the statement. For example 'The British like a nice cup of tea.' is very formal and impersonal, whereas 'Us Brits like a nice cup of tea.' means the speaker is British and includes themselves in the statement.

I'm not sure there's a Spanish equivalent?


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## blasita

mimosa23 said:


> Ignored? Nunca!!
> 
> The 'us' is perhaps not grammatically correct, but it is very widely used colloquially as a way of sounding less formal and more identified with the statement. For example 'The British like a nice cup of tea.' is very formal and impersonal, whereas 'Us Brits like a nice cup of tea.' means the speaker is British and includes themselves in the statement.
> 
> I'm not sure there's a Spanish equivalent?



¡Gracias, Mimosa!

No estaba segura de que había entendido bien la frase en inglés (aunque ahora veo que sí lo había hecho). Entonces creo que tu traducción sería correcta (e incluso la mía también, y en sí, todas las dadas).

Un saludo.


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## kayokid

mimosa -- You mention that the "Us" is perhaps not grammatically correct but widely used and colloquial... You are absolutely correct in that it is widely used and colloquial but it is definitely not grammatically correct. The correct form is "We". The original sentence should be: "We parents always worry about our children." I don't know if that will help anybody with the sound of the Spanish sentence but that is my thought...


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## mimosa23

kayokid said:


> mimosa -- You mention that the "Us" is perhaps not grammatically correct but widely used and colloquial... You are absolutely correct in that it is widely used and colloquial but it is definitely not grammatically correct. The correct form is "We". The original sentence should be: "We parents always worry about our children." I don't know if that will help anybody with the sound of the Spanish sentence but that is my thought...


 
I'm sorry - I was not using perhaps to mean maybe, but as an acknowledgement._ Perhaps_ that was ambiguous!


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## kayokid

mimosa23 said:


> I'm sorry - I was not using perhaps to mean maybe, but as an acknowledgement._ Perhaps_ that was ambiguous!



Oops. Got it! My mistake. (Well, maybe this helps clarify something about the sentence, anyway.)


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## blasita

Well, I can´t do anything else; my opinion is in posts #2 & #9 (but more, and probably better, ideas will come).

Thank you, Mimosa and Kayokid.


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## gringuitoloco

The problem comes with the original sentence. Us parents is not correct.
We, the parents,....should be used. Us parents was probably just someone shortening the phrase, "As for us, the parents,..."
I would agree with #2


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## Istriano

*Us parents* is normal in spoken British English,
I remember a sitcom called ''Us two'' from a few years ago. 
It's not dissimilar to* It's us *(for *It is we*).


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## mimosa23

Istriano said:


> *Us parents* is normal in spoken British English,
> I remember a sitcom called ''Us two'' from a few years ago.
> It's not dissimilar to* It's us *(for *It is we*).


 
Normal - yes, correct - no. It is used colloquially instead of 'we parents' or (in your example) 'we two' as these both sound a little too 'posh'.


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## mirx

Correct or not is not the point. 

The most natural thing to say in Spanish is what _tormento_ suggested. The verbs already include the appropriate conjugation and there is no need to overburden the statement with a "nosotros" at the beginning.


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## blasita

mirx said:


> Correct or not is not the point.
> 
> The most natural thing to say in Spanish is what _tormento_ suggested. The verbs already include the appropriate conjugation and there is no need to overburden the statement with a "nosotros" at the beginning.



You may be right, Mirx.  But I suggested "_Nosotros_, los padres, ..."  because of  "_We (Us)_, the parents, ..."  I thought that it was interesting to keep this kind of emphatic "we" (maybe not necessary?, but I think it´s not wrong.)

Un saludo.


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## ribran

mimosa23 said:


> Normal - yes, correct - no. It is used colloquially instead of 'we parents' or (in your example) 'we two' as these both sound a little too 'posh'.



I don't mind "It's us!", but, "Us parents..." makes me groan. I'm probably just being picky, though.


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## mimosa23

blasita said:


> You may be right, Mirx. But I suggested "_Nosotros_, los padres, ..." because of "_We (Us)_, the parents, ..." I thought that it was interesting to keep this kind of emphatic "we" (maybe not necessary?, but I think it´s not wrong.)
> 
> Un saludo.


 
I agree - not necessary, but not wrong, and keeps the spirit of the original intention to emphasize 'US'! (the parents).

Ribran - if _that_ makes you groan, you need earplugs!!


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## k-in-sc

I agree with ribran that "us parents" is just about too colloquial for any form of writing. "We parents" sounds perfectly fine to me, not "posh" at all. But who knows how it sounds to the Brits ...


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## Lurrezko

En cuanto a la traducción, creo que el pronombre es innecesario y poco idiomático en este ejemplo: la desinencia verbal ya es inclusiva.
_
Los padres nos preocupamos por nuestros hijos._


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## blasita

Lurrezko said:


> En cuanto a la traducción, creo que el pronombre es innecesario y poco idiomático en este ejemplo: la desinencia verbal ya es inclusiva.
> _
> Los padres nos preocupamos por nuestros hijos._



Y yo no digo que no tengas razón (¡Dios me libre!).  Mi opinión es que, como creo que en inglés es enfático, creo que con "Nosotros" podría ser mejor (más literal) en español (mi opinión es que es natural con una pausa después de "Nosotros*,*").

Un saludo.


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## Lurrezko

blasita said:


> Y yo no digo que no tengas razón (¡Dios me libre!).  Mi opinión es que como en inglés creo que es enfático, creo que con "Nosotros" podría ser mejor en español (mi opinión es que es natural con una pausa después de "Nosotros*,*").
> 
> Un saludo.



Sí, no te falta razón, pero en inglés el pronombre no es facultativo, es necesario para que incluya al hablante, y en español no. En español, aunque este énfasis exista, el pronombre es prescindible sin que cambie el sentido. Pero _nosotros, los padres..._ suena bien, desde luego.


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## blasita

Lurrezko said:


> Sí, no te falta razón, pero en inglés el pronombre no es facultativo, es necesario para que incluya al hablante, y en español no. En español, aunque este énfasis exista, el pronombre es prescindible sin que cambie el sentido. Pero _nosotros, los padres..._ suena bien, desde luego.



Sí, Lurrezko, tienes razón en que sería seguramente más enfático en español. Yo creo que para no liarlo más, se podría decir que de las dos formas estaría bien; dependerá del énfasis que se quiera dar, ¿no?.

Un saludito.


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## roanheads

Pues, la autora de este hilo es una chica inglesa, que quiere saber cómo se traduce esta frase coloquial inglesa al español, y punto. Cabe decir que " blasita " lo ha hecho perfectamente, y además esta frase que arranca con " us " es una construcción que se oye de vez en cuando, es parte del idioma coloquial normal.

Saludos a todos.


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## mimosa23

k-in-sc said:


> I agree with ribran that "us parents" is just about too colloquial for any form of writing. "We parents" sounds perfectly fine to me, not "posh" at all. But who knows how it sounds to the Brits ...


 
The original question was how to "say" it.

To _some_ (not "the") Brits it sounds posh, as indeed I am sure that some things sound posh to _some_ Americans.


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## inib

ribran said:


> I don't mind "It's us!", but, "Us parents..." makes me groan. I'm probably just being picky, though.


 And it makes me squirm. No ear plugs can remedy that!


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## mimosa23

Personally, I think we've had more than enough negative social comment on this one.


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## Wandering JJ

roanheads said:


> Pues, la autora de este hilo es una chica inglesa, que quiere saber cómo se traduce esta frase coloquial inglesa al español, y punto. Cabe decir que " blasita " lo ha hecho perfectamente, y además esta frase que arranca con " us " es una construcción que se oye de vez en cuando, es parte del idioma coloquial normal.


 
Cien por cien de acuerdo. Aunque no me gusta 'us parents' lo importante es que le ofrezamos a la chica una buena traduccion. La traducción estandar de frases del tipo "We [sustantivo] [verbo]" es "Nosotros, [def. art.] [sustantivo], [verbo~1a persona plural]. Blisita nos la dió enseguida.

Saludos


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## capitas

Just to clear doubts up. All of next senteces are correct.
Los padres se preocupan (The speaker is not including himself: he's not a father)
Los padres nos preocumamos (The speaker is including himself as a father)
Nosotros los padres nos preocupamos ( The speaker is including and emphasizing himself as a father)
Note: change herself, mother if needed.


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## blasita

> *Wandering JJ*
> Cien por cien de acuerdo. Aunque no me gusta 'us parents' lo importante es que le ofrezamos a la chica una buena traduccion. La traducción estandar de frases del tipo "We [sustantivo] [verbo]" es "Nosotros, [def. art.] [sustantivo], [verbo~1a persona plural]. Blisita nos la dió enseguida.



Gracias, Roanheads y Wandering.

Sí, como dije antes, todas las opciones dadas me parecían, y aún me parecen, correctas y posibles (y creo que estamos todos de acuerdo en eso), pero creo que "Nosotros, ..." puede ser más adecuada si tenemos en cuenta la frase original en inglés. No voy a insistir ya más, porque personalmente creo que todo esto no ayuda a responder la pregunta de Thimbles y puede estar confundiendo a muchos otros que lean esto.

Un saludo.


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## weeshus

There are some times when I struggle! This is one of them. Please clarify the following for me.

This is a Grammar Forum - so "Us Parents" is bad Grammar, as has been said the correct form would be "We Parents"

Therefore to translate the correct English Grammar into Correct Spanish Grammar do we need the pronoun nosotros or not? I think so to maintain the emphasis on "We Parents". But I really am not sure

Regards
weeshus


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## Magnalp

weeshus said:


> This is a Grammar Forum - so "Us Parents" is bad Grammar, as has been said the correct form would be "We Parents"
> 
> Therefore to translate the correct English Grammar into Correct Spanish Grammar do we need the pronoun nosotros or not? I think so to maintain the emphasis on "We Parents". But I really am not sure.


But we don't say _nosotros padres_, we need the article, hence Blasita's suggestion _Nosotros los padres..._ (you don't need the commas). And, as Lurrezko pointed out, we don't even need the pronoun _nosotros_, either: _Los padres nos... _(_nos_ includes the person in what he is saying).

If I'm not wrong, in the cases where in English you should use the nominative form (and you don't) in Spanish you need to.

It's us - Somos nosotros (and not *_somos nos_).

Although you may some day hear the phrase_ Acá entre nos...,_ which is the legacy of its ancient use (I think you may also see it in old--fashioned biblical texts). For the record...


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## blasita

weeshus said:


> There are some times when I struggle! This is one of them. Please clarify the following for me.
> 
> This is a Grammar Forum - so "Us Parents" is bad Grammar, as has been said the correct form would be "We Parents"
> 
> Therefore to translate the correct English Grammar into Correct Spanish Grammar do we need the pronoun nosotros or not? I think so to maintain the emphasis on "We Parents". But I really am not sure
> 
> Regards
> weeshus



Hello Weeshus.

I repeat, I think we do agree that "Nosotros, los padres, ..." is perfectly correct in Spanish (more emphatic).  Now, I understand "We (Us) parents" as being also emphatic, so that´s why I think the above translation would be appropriate.

As to "We" vs "Us", I can´t (actually, shouldn´t) give my opinion, sorry.

Un saludo a todos.

Edit: sent at the same time as Magnalp. Reply to his last editing (1:07): yes, it´s just that starting with "nosotros" is even more emphatic.  I repeat, my opinion is that both are correct but it depends on how emphatic you want/need to be.


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## Lavernock

blasita said:


> _Nosotros, los padres, siempre nos preocupamos por nuestros niños/hijos._
> 
> Wait for other replies, please.  Saludos.




Creo que es la mejor traducción


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## weeshus

Thank you for Magnalp & Blasita. So I thought I would refresh my English grammar

"Us parents worry about children" is totally incorrect according to the Oxford Library of English Usage Vol 1 Grammar. This is because the personal pronoun "us" is used as direct object or indirect object of the verb, never as the subject. The personal pronoun "we" is used for subject.

But Spanish for "we" (subject) is nosotros and Spanish for "us" (D.O. or I.O.) is nos - except after prepositions, so it looks like Spanish "auto corrects" this instance of bad English Grammar by translating "us parents" as "nosotros, los padres"!

This little struggle is over for me I hope - now to deal with the other million waiting in the wings!

Thank you
weeshus


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## The Prof

weeshus said:


> Thank you for Magnalp & Blasita. So I thought I would refresh my English grammar
> 
> "Us parents worry about children" is totally incorrect according to the Oxford Library of English Usage Vol 1 Grammar. This is because the personal pronoun "us" is used as direct object or indirect object of the verb, never as the subject. The personal pronoun "we" is used for subject.
> 
> But Spanish for "we" (subject) is nosotros and Spanish for "us" (D.O. or I.O.) is nos - except after prepositions, so it looks like Spanish "auto corrects" this instance of bad English Grammar by translating "us parents" as "nosotros, los padres"!
> 
> This little struggle is over for me I hope - now to deal with the other million waiting in the wings!
> 
> Thank you
> weeshus


 
Have you noticed that a well know brand of fabric conditioner is ending its latest TV advert with one of the clothes characters saying, _" (be)cause *us* clothes are worth it"!_

Ungrammatical or not, this misuse of 'us' is _very_ widespread!


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## weeshus

The Prof said:


> Have you noticed that a well know brand of fabric conditioner is ending its latest TV advert with one of the clothes characters saying, _" (be)cause *us* clothes are worth it"!_
> 
> Ungrammatical or not, this misuse of 'us' is _very_ widespread!


  Sadly I am afraid you are right "The Prof". I really do think that we must attempt to halt the incursions of grammatically incorrect English into common parlance.

How we go about it is not clear, but forums such as WR are a great asset in the fight against the incessant dumbing down of our language.

kind regards

weeshus


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## bzu

weeshus said:


> Sadly I am afraid you are right "The Prof". I really do think that we must attempt to halt the incursions of grammatically incorrect English into common parlance.
> 
> How we go about it is not clear, but forums such as WR are a great asset in the fight against the incessant dumbing down of our language.
> 
> kind regards
> 
> weeshus


^Sorry, but what a pile of nonsense. Standardised English could itself be considered just the product of incessant dumbing down. Maybe we should go back to a full Anglo-Saxon case system in an attempt to halt any further incursions on our already super dumbed down, Latin-ridden creole?

Thimbles, if I were you I'd just use blasita's translation in the second message, and not bother with the rest of the thread  (including this post).


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## thimbles96

Thanks bzu and to everyone else who helped me with this sentence.  Regards thimbles 96


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## weeshus

bzu said:


> ^Sorry, but what a pile of nonsense. Standardised English could itself be considered just the product of incessant dumbing down. Maybe we should go back to a full Anglo-Saxon case system in an attempt to halt any further incursions on our already super dumbed down, Latin-ridden creole?
> 
> Thimbles, if I were you I'd just use blasita's translation in the second message, and not bother with the rest of the thread  (including this post).



I will defend your right to disagree, however I do not agree with your somewhat hyperbolic rhetoric. But if you are happy - then enjoy!!

I do agree however that Blasita's translation is quite perfect - it is just that (in my opinion) - and really you should never dismiss a valid opinion as a pile of nonsense - "us" being used as a subject is quite simply wrong/incorrect/slovenly/slang/uneducated and unacceptable *if* we are talking about correct grammar as it exists at the present time. 

Regards

weeshus


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## k-in-sc

Technically it's ungrammatical, but it sets a colloquial tone, and it's easy to see how that might be more important to the writer than adhering to grammar rules.


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## k-in-sc

No, grammar dictates that the subject of a sentence be nominative. But it's common usage anyway, the same as "Me and Johnny went to the store."


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## ribran

No, the grammar of _Standard_ English. _Us parents_ is not ungrammatical, but it is definitely non-standard.


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## k-in-sc

What's your source?


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## ribran

The fact that it is widely accepted in informal contexts. It is ungrammatical in Standard English, but there's more to English than Standard English.


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## k-in-sc

So we agree: It's ungrammatical, yet still acceptable in certain situations.


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## smehret

"us parents" is incorrect....I groaned too....let's not translate to any language an incorrectly written/spoken sentence!

s


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## Irma2011

Yo sólo me pregunto que si "we parents" le suena perfectamente a casi? todo el mundo, ¿por qué complicarse la vida utilizando una construcción cuya corrección gramatical es altamente dudosa? A no ser que la gramática ya no sirva para nada.

Pero la aceptación o no de esta forma de expresarse no influye en la traducción al español, que, en mi opinión, sería (coincido con Lurrezko y una de las traducciones de blasita) _"Los padres siempre nos preocupamos de...."._ No es muy probable que ninguno de nosostros dijera espontáneamente _"nosotros, los padres,......"_ salvo quizá en contextos formales (discursos, documentos escritos, etc.) o en casos en que la frase hubiera empezado con "_nosotros_" y se hiciera necesario prevenir un malentendido.


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## weeshus

Irma2011 said:


> Yo sólo me pregunto que si "we parents" le suena perfectamente a casi? todo el mundo, ¿por qué complicarse la vida utilizando una construcción cuya corrección gramatical es altamente dudosa? A no ser que la gramática ya no sirva para nada.
> 
> Pero la aceptación o no de esta forma de expresarse no influye en la traducción al español, que, en mi opinión sería (coincido con Lurrezko y una de las traducciones de blasita) _"Los padres siempre nos preocupamos de...."._ No es muy probable que ninguno de nosostros dijera espontáneamente _"nosotros, los padres,......"_ salvo quizá en contextos formales (discursos, documentos escritos, etc.) o en casos en que la frase hubiera empezado con "_nosotros_" y se hiciera necesario prevenir un malentendido.



I agree with you Irma. 

I don't think that as native born English speakers we would actuall say _"We parents always worry about our children." _It sounds stilted and a little pompous. Normally the construction used would be "As parents we....." or "speaking for parents in general, we always worry about our children." or....we could say "as parents, children are always a worry to us/ as parents, children always worry us/ as parents, we always worry about our children" or just simply "parents always worry about their children!.

I also agree with Blasita's translation!

regards
weeshus

and no, my first sentence could not be rewritten as "I don't think that us English speakers....!"


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## svila

Como padres, siempre nos preocupamos por nuestros niños.


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## Irma2011

weeshus said:


> I agree with you Irma.
> 
> I don't think that as native born English speakers we would actuall say _"We parents always worry about our children." _It sounds stilted and a little pompous. Normally the construction used would be "As parents we....." or "speaking for parents in general, we always worry about our children." or....we could say "as parents, children are always a worry to us/ as parents, children always worry us/ as parents, we always worry about our children" or just simply "parents always worry about their children!.
> 
> I also agree with Blasita's translation!
> 
> regards
> weeshus
> 
> and no, my first sentence could not be rewritten as "I don't think that us English speakers....!"


Tomo buena nota de lo que dices, weeshus. Yo tampoco diría _'we parents'_, pero sólo porque no está entre las construcciones que me resulten más familiares en inglés. Al no ser nativa, no me atrevo a opinar sobre algunas cosas y parece que hay nativos a los que sí gusta esta forma. En todo caso, has dado alternativas con las que creo que todo el mundo estará de acuerdo.

Saludos.


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## roanheads

Por supuesto el uso de "us" así,( en vez de " we ") un pronombre objeto como nominativo,es agramatical, pero sin duda alguna se encuentra en la lengua coloquial, nos guste o no, y la ubicación al comienzo de la frase sirve para enfatizar ( aunque sea levemente) el papel de los padres, dicho énfasis mantenido por usar " Nosotros" para
traducir " us " que, de hecho, implica " we "
No veo nada raro en una frase que se inicie con " We parents-- " o " We the parents ", a mi parecer bien se podría oír en la calle entre dos madres de familia hablando informalmente.
Pero se nota que existe una variedad de opiniones. 

Que tengais un buen día.


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## blasita

I agree, Roanheads.

I´ve been trying not to write another post, but I think we should respect Thimbles (and many others), who opened this thread and asked only for a grammatically correct translation of the original sentence (all last translations had already been given in the first page of this thread).

Por favor, ruego que por respeto a ella y a otros, no mareemos más el tema si no es necesario. Gracias.


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## thimbles96

Thanks for those kind words blasita.  Nos mujeres tenemos que permanecer unidos- ja ja.  Regards thimbles 96


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## blasita

thimbles96 said:


> Thanks for those kind words blasita.  *(*Nos*otras) * * Las* mujeres tenemos que permanecer unid*a*s- ja ja.  Regards thimbles 96



Saludos.


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