# Podria parecer



## Dusk

Hi again! some translation trouble here, help would be very appreciated.

I wanna say: Podrai parecer como si fuera una cancion muy depresiva.

My try: It could look like if it were a very depressive song.

Sounds good to me, bue i'm not sure if it's correct at all.


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## blasita

Hello Dusk.

My try (quite literal): _It could look as it was a very depressing song._

But please wait for confirmation/other ideas.

Un saludo.


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## Irma2011

Dusk said:


> Hi again! some translation trouble here, help would be very appreciated.
> 
> I wanna say: Podrai parecer como si fuera una cancion muy depresiva.
> 
> My try: It could look like if it were a very depressive song.
> 
> Sounds good to me, bue i'm not sure if it's correct at all.


 
Se me occurre: "It could sound like a very depressing song"


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## inib

Dusk said:


> Hi again! some translation trouble here, help would be very appreciated.
> 
> I wanna say: Podrai parecer como si fuera una cancion muy depresiva.
> 
> My try: It could look like if it were a very depressive song.
> 
> Sounds good to me, bue i'm not sure if it's correct at all.


Estas son mis ideas:
Si usas _look like_, sobra el _if_ (y _it were_ no es necesario, aunque tampoco mal).
Puede depender del contexto, pero no es lo más habitual que formes tu impresión *viendo* una canción, por lo que _look_ no me parece el verbo idóneo.
Si formas esta impresión escuchando la canción (bastante más probable), estoy de acuerdo con _sound like_.
Si formas la impresión de cualquier otra manera, o no se sabe la manera, lo más seguro es _seem like_.
Estoy de acuerdo con Blasita e Irma en que _depressing_ es mejor que _depressive_.


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## blasita

> Si formas la impresión de cualquier otra manera, o no se sabe la manera, lo más seguro es seem like.
> Estoy de acuerdo con Irma en que depressing es mejor que depressive.



Yo voto por _seem_, pero desde luego nadie como Dusk para saber lo que quiere expresar con exactitud. No dice sonar o algo así, pero es una muy buena idea, aunque Dusk sabrá lo que es mejor aquí.

Y desde luego, ´depressing´. Gracias por quitarme los pocos méritos que tengo, Inib .

Un saludo a todos.


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## Irma2011

blasita said:


> Gracias por quitarme los pocos méritos que tengo, Inib.QUOTE]
> 
> ¿Quirarte o reconocerte, o quizá sacarte? Y los muchos, no los pocos.
> 
> Me debes otra encuesta, a ver si hoy tengo más suerte.


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## inib

Irma2011 said:


> blasita said:
> 
> 
> 
> Gracias por quitarme los pocos méritos que tengo, Inib.QUOTE]
> 
> ¿Quirarte o reconocerte, o quizá sacarte? Y los muchos, no los pocos.
> 
> Me debes otra encuesta, a ver si hoy tengo más suerte.
> 
> 
> 
> Si le quitara unos pocos (que no era mi intención), no pasaría nada. Le sobran méritos.
Click to expand...


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## Irma2011

inib said:


> Irma2011 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Si le quitara unos pocos (que no era mi intención), no pasaría nada. Le sobran méritos.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lo suscribo.
Click to expand...


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## Dusk

Thanks a lot guys, i think "sound like" it's the most proper option.

I just got a question blasita.



blasita said:


> Hello Dusk.
> 
> My try (quite literal): _It could look as it was a very depressing song._
> 
> But please wait for confirmation/other ideas.
> 
> Un saludo.



Can i use were instead of was?


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## blasita

Hello Dusk.

So, Irma (not surprising at all) was right about ´sound like´ !



> I just got a question blasita. *Ooops... I hope it´s easy ... *
> 
> Can i use were instead of was? *Yes, I think you can use ´were´, but it may be more formal; both forms are accepted here* (as inib said.)



Un saludo, Dusk .

Thank you very much again, Inib and Irma for everything .


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## Irma2011

blasita said:


> So, Irma (not surprising at all) was right about ´sound like´ !
> 
> Thank you very much again, Inib and Irma for everything .


 

blasita, stop it, please! I get bad conscience when I read you say this kind of things, always praising others! Am I just the opposite, too proud to admit I make constant mistakes and have a tendency to hide them? I hope not. Anyway, there is a church very near, it won't take me long to go for confession when I feel guilty!

Gracias por tus curas de humildad.


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## gael62

Dusk said:


> Thanks a lot guys, i think "sound like" it's the most proper option.
> 
> I just got a question blasita.
> 
> 
> 
> Can i use were instead of was?


 Dusk; Como si fuera = as if it were. Entonces no es una cancion depresiva pero se da la impresion de ser una cancion depresiva. no? Parerciera como si fuera una cancion depresiva? Que piensa usted?


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## gael62

Lo siento : PARECIERA


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## blasita

> Dusk; Como si fuera = as if it were. Entonces no es una cancion depresiva pero se da la impresion de ser una cancion depresiva. no? Parerciera como si fuera una cancion depresiva? Que piensa usted?



Hello gael.  Are you saying then that ´as if it was´ is incorrect?

Un saludo.


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## gael62

Dusk said:


> Hi again! some translation trouble here, help would be very appreciated.
> 
> I wanna say: Podrai parecer como si fuera una cancion muy depresiva.
> 
> My try: It could look like if it were a very depressive song.
> 
> Sounds good to me, bue i'm not sure if it's correct at all.


 
I could sound like a depressing song. (depending on who is listening) but it could also sound like a happy song! Podria ser considerado una cancion depresiva. Podria ser visto como  una cancion depresiva?


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## blasita

> I could sound like a depressing song. (depending on who is listening) but it could also sound like a happy song! Podria ser considerado una cancion depresiva. Podria ser visto como una cancion depresiva?





> Dusk; Como si fuera = as if it were.





> Hello gael. Are you saying then that ´as if it was´ is incorrect?
> Un saludo.



Sorry, gael, but I´m thinking of Dusk, and I´d like you to answer my question above: do you think that ´was´ is incorrect here??

Thanks.  Saludos.


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## gael62

blasita said:


> Hello gael.  Are you saying then that ´as if it was´ is incorrect?
> 
> Un saludo.



No, both are fine. Were is more formal.


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## Andoush

Dusk said:


> I wanna *want/would like* to say: Podr*ía* parecer como si fuera una canci*ó*n muy depresiva.
> 
> My try: It could look like if it were a very depressive song.


 
Tengo mis dudas en cuanto a "parecer" + "como si fuera" (me suena a redundancia). Enfin.

Otra sugerencia mencionada por Blasita: "It could seem like a very depressing song".


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## gael62

The only way this can be solved is if we know 
what the context is. Is the person sayng
this could be interpreted as being a depressing song? So watch how you sing it!
Or is the song in the process of being composed and it has all the makings (potential) of being a depressing song but it does not have to be.
As a speaker of English I could say: this sounds like a depressing song.
This seems like a depressing song.
 To the one composing it: if you wanted to you could turn this into a depressing song (if you wanted to it can be appear to be a depressing song.


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## blasita

> Is the person sayng this could be interpreted as being a depressing song? So watch how you sing it!
> Or is the song in the process of being composed and it has all the makings (potential) of being a depressing song but it does not have to be.
> As a speaker of English I could say: this sounds like a depressing song.
> This seems like a depressing song.
> To the one composing it: if you wanted to you could turn this into a depressing song (if you wanted to it can be appear to be a depressing song.



Thanks for your contribution, gael.  Actually, I think you agree on ´_sound like/seems like_´(Irma´s and inib´s ideas.)



> No, both are fine. Were is more formal.



I´d said this in post #10; just insisted because you said: 





> Dusk; Como si fuera = as if it were.


 And I didn´t want it to be confusing for Dusk/others.

Saludos para todos.


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## gael62

Having said that....what bothers me is the spanish como si fuera which leads me to believe that the song is not depressing but it is made to appear  AS IF IT WERE. In that context then  we would have to say that
The song appears to be depressing because it was composed to appear that way. " It was sung AS IF IT WAS/WERE depressing."
It was presented AS IF IT WAS/WERE depressing. But guess what : it is not!!


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## Irma2011

gael62 said:


> Having said that....what bothers me is the spanish como si fuera which leads me to believe that the song is not depressing but it is made to appear AS IF IT WERE. In that context then we would have to say that
> The song appears to be depressing because it was composed to appear that way. " It was sung AS IF IT WAS/WERE depressing."
> It was presented AS IF IT WAS/WERE depressing. But guess what : it is not!!


 
Totalmente de acuerdo contigo. 
No le encuentro mucho sentido a la frase, pero se podrían imaginar algunas situaciones en las que cabría decirla, como has dicho en tu mensaje 19:
 
1. Se rueda una película en la que la actriz canta una canción, y el director dice:
 “No pongas esa cara, por favor, _podría parecer como si fuera una canción muy depresiva"_ 
 
2. Se quiere que uno de los personajes llore en la película, pero no se ve ningún motivo claro para que llore (la película es muy mala), así que alguien dice:
¡Tengo una idea!:_ “Podría parecer como si fuera una canción muy depresiva (_la que está escuchando_)"._
 
En fin, habría que tener un contexto que explicara esta construcción, si no no sabemos de qué estamos hablando, creo.


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## Dusk

Hi guys, thanks again. The context is somethin like this:

There's this song called 'X', which is kinda depressing, but extrangely enough, it has upbeat lyrics. So the person says: "It could sound as it was a very depressing song, but it actually has some upbeat lyrics" .

Thaks again!


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## inib

Dusk said:


> Hi guys, thanks again. The context is somethin like this:
> 
> There's this song called 'X', which is kinda depressing, but extrangely enough, it has upbeat lyrics. So the person says: "It could sound as *if* it was/*were* a very depressing song, but it actually has some upbeat lyrics" .
> 
> Thaks again!


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## Irma2011

Dusk said:


> Hi guys, thanks again. The context is somethin like this:
> 
> There's this song called 'X', which is kinda depressing, but extrangely enough, it has upbeat lyrics. So the person says: "It could sound as it was a very depressing song, but it actually has some upbeat lyrics" .
> 
> Thaks again!


 
Entonces yo cambiaría el español un poco, a ver qué te parece: 
 
_"Puede/Podría parecer una canción muy triste, pero la letra en realidad es optimista"._
_O:_
_"Puede sonar como una canción muy triste, pero la letra en realidad es optimista"._
_'Depresivo’_ no sé si sonaría bien en este contexto, se emplea siempre o casi siempre para referirse a personas con tendencia a la depresión o para calificar una enfermedad, trastorno maníaco-depresivo, igual que el inglés _'depressive'_. Tenemos ‘_deprimente’_, que estaría bien, pero se usa tanto en el sentido de ‘lamentable’, ‘penoso’, 'pésimo' etc. que, no sé, yo me quedaría con simplemente ‘_muy triste’._ No sé si te gusta así.


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## Dusk

Si yo creo que si , triste suena un poco mejor.


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## capitas

Dusk said:


> Si yo creo que si , triste suena un poco mejor.


 Anyway, "depresiva" is used for persons in Spanish. For something which gets you depressed, I'd use "deprimente" instead.


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## kevcito

Similar to Spanish, English requires the subjunctive in "if...then..." and "as if..." constructions.

If I were a rich man, I would buy a mansion. 
If I was a rich man, I would buy a mansion. 

We would raise over $303 million if everybody in the U.S. were to donate a dollar. 
We would raise over $303 million if everybody in the U.S. was to donate a dollar. 

Her youngest daughter acts as if she were a princess. 
Her youngest daughter acts as if she was a princess.


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## blasita

Hay que ver lo buenos que son estos foreros, ¿eh, Dusk? ¡Incluso han mejorado la oración en español!

Sí, a mí también me parece mejor ´triste´, y también ´deprimente´.



> Similar to Spanish, English requires the subjunctive in "if...then..." and "as if..." constructions.
> 
> If I were a rich man, I would buy a mansion.
> If I was a rich man, I would buy a mansion.



I´m afraid, kevcito, I disagree about this (hope you don´t take it amiss). Even though I´m a non-native speaker, I know that both are possible.  It´s true that ´were´ is the subjunctive and that it´s more used (esp in formal style). More people consider ´were´ more correct, esp in AmE, but ´was´ is widely accepted too, and in my opinion, should not be crossed out because it´s not incorrect.

Saludos para todos.


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## Irma2011

blasita said:


> Hay que ver lo buenos que son estos foreros, ¿eh, Dusk? ¡Incluso han mejorado la oración en español!
> 
> Sí, a mí también me parece mejor ´triste´, y también ´deprimente´.
> 
> 
> I´m afraid, kevcito, I disagree about this (hope you don´t take it amiss). Even though I´m a non-native speaker, I know that both are possible. It´s true that ´were´ is the subjunctive and that it´s more used (esp in formal style). More people consider ´were´ more correct, esp in AmE, but ´was´ is widely accepted too, and in my opinion, should not be crossed out because it´s not incorrect.
> 
> Saludos para todos.


 
Muy buenos días a todos, aunque lo de buenos en Madrid es un decir, llegó otra vez el frío y yo estoy venga a estornudar.

Primero querría quedarme por fin cómoda con la frase original en español, porque si no se tiene clara, es obvio que la traducción resulta bastante imposible. Todas las versiones que hemos dado hasta ahora, incluyendo las mías, me parecen poco convincentes.

Dice Andoush en el mensaje 19:
“Tengo mis dudas en cuanto a _"parecer" + "como si fuera"_ (me suena a redundancia)”

Y sí, suena raro.
Yo creo que si decimos simplemente (corrígeme Dusk, si esto no es lo que tú quieres transmitir): 

_“Por la música la canción puede parecer triste, pero la letra es alegre”_
_“Por la melodía se diría que es una canción triste, pero la letra es alegre”_
_“La música de la canción puede sonar triste, pero la letra es optimista”_
_“La melodía de la canción suena muy triste, pero la letra es alegre”_

Pueden hacerse toda clase de cominaciones, pero creo que siempre es mejor utilizar indicativo porque el subjuntivo puede enturbiar el significado. Es Dusk quien tiene que decir si esto es así. 

Y en caso de que Dusk prefiera conservar el subjuntivo, os doy la explicación que un buen profesor de inglés llamado Mark Shea da sobre el uso de ‘was’ vs. ‘were’ (no he suprimido la primera parte, que ya conocemos todos, perdonad), que coincide en buena parte, no en toda, con lo que dice blasita: 

*(Mark Shea*_ has been a teacher and teacher trainer for fifteen years. He has taught English and trained teachers extensively in Asia and South America, and is a qualified examiner for the University of Cambridge oral examinations. He is currently working with journalists and is the author of the BBC College of Journalism's online English tutor)_

“We need to have a little look at history. 

English is a member of the *Indo-European* group of languages - it includes Germanic languages, that's languages like English and German, Romance languages like Italian and Portuguese, Persian languages and many of the languages of the Indian subcontinent. And these languages all shared a common ancestor - for those of you who are interested, it was called proto-Indo-European. This language divided ideas into things which are real on the one hand, and things which are imaginary on the other. 

This difference still exists in Latin languages like Portuguese, where you have *indicative tenses* to describe real things and *subjunctive tenses* to describe things which are 'wishes', 'untrue at the moment' or 'imaginary'. 

If you translate the two sentences: 

_'He comes every Tuesday_' and _'I *hope* he comes'_ 

into Portuguese, the form of the verb is probably different - the first is *indicative* and the second is *subjunctive*. 

*English* makes the same distinction, but it's much easier as *subjunctive forms* are usually *identical to indicative forms*, so you can't tell the difference. Basically *'I was'* is *indicative* - 

_'*I was* having dinner when you called'_ or _'*I was* happy' - _both describe real situations. 

*'I were'* is *subjunctive*. 

'_*If I were*_ you, I wouldn't go' is not a real situation, as I cannot be you ... 

'_*If* *I were*_you, I wouldn't go'. 

It's very common to use the *'I were'* construction in sentences with *'if'* - or *conditional sentences*. This is correct, and technically speaking: 

*'If I was you ...*' is incorrect, at least in formal speech and writing. 

Unfortunately, it is quite common to hear native speakers say it, and it might be that the subjunctive form is gradually disappearing from English. 

The *subjunctive form* is a little more flexible though - we can use *inversion* with the subjunctive, so instead of saying: 
_'*If I were* rich, I would build a new house for my family' - _
we can say: 
_'*Were I* rich, I would build a new house for my family'._


Although some people might say: 
_'If *I was* rich, I would build a new house for my family' -_
I don't think anyone would say: 
_'*Was *I rich, I would build a new house for my family'! _

This flexibility might mean that *'I were' *survives, at least in formal communication. I think that's a good thing!” 

*Esto ya es mío: En Inglaterra existe la asociación "Amigos del Subjuntivo". Estaría bien que la apoyáramos*.

Que tengáis un buen lunes.


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## blasita

Sorry, Irma, I just had a quick look at your post (it´s quite a long post, and I´m a simple person, I like simple things; a bit stupid too ). So, I understand you disagree with me that ´was´ is correct.  Actually I do prefer ´were´ always, and I didn´t say that´was´ better.  But I think *the fact* is that quite a few people use ´was´ informally in conditionals, even though we prefer the subjunctive ´were´. Most grammar books accept it.

Creo que todos deberíamos hablar lo mejor y lo más gramaticalmente correcto posible (yo lo intento siempre) pero no podemos cerrar los ojos a la realidad, ni tachar como incorrecto ´was´ en las oraciones de arriba: porque no lo es; ¿menos? seguramente, pero no incorrecto.

Saludos.


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## Irma2011

blasita said:


> Sorry, Irma, I just had a quick look at your post (it´s quite a long post, and I´m a simple person, I like simple things; a bit stupid too ). So, I understand you disagree with me that ´was´ is correct. Actually I do prefer ´were´ always, and I didn´t say that´was´ better. But I think *the fact* is that quite a few people use ´was´ informally in conditionals, even though we prefer the subjunctive ´were´. Most grammar books accept it.
> 
> Creo que todos deberíamos hablar lo mejor y lo más gramaticalmente correcto posible (yo lo intento siempre) pero no podemos cerrar los ojos a la realidad, ni tachar como incorrecto ´was´ en las oraciones de arriba: porque no lo es; ¿menos? seguramente, pero no incorrecto.
> 
> Saludos.


 
Sí, es un mensaje interminable, pero es lo que me encontré y no tuve tiempo de resumirlo. Pero si cuando estés menos ocupada, quieres leerlo con detenimiento, verás que este profesor dice prácticamente LO MISMO que tú, sólo me pareció que era más reacio a aceptar la realidad de 'was', pero la reconoce.
Trataré de ser más breve, pero resumir también lleva su tiempo.
Y ahora a trabajar, ¡qué pereza!


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## blasita

> Sí, es un mensaje interminable, pero es lo que me encontré y no tuve tiempo de resumirlo. Pero si cuando estés menos ocupada, quieres leerlo con detenimiento, verás que este profesor dice prácticamente LO MISMO que tú, sólo me pareció que era algo más reacio a admitir la realidad de 'was', pero la reconoce.
> Trataré de ser más breve, pero resumir también lleva su tiempo.



Gracias por tu respuesta, Irma .  Es que yo siempre pienso en los demás, y en que se pierdan y crean que no es correcto nunca decir ´was´ aquí, nada más.

Un saludito.


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