# to have fun



## anaywilly

I would like to say "Para divertirme, me gusta mirar series de comedia en la television" 

Is well written? thanks!

*To have fun, I like to watch comedy TV series. *


----------



## Ushuaia

Yo diría "for fun" (¡y saldría a andar en bici!). 

Saludos.


----------



## Tazzler

Yo estoy de acuerdo con Ushuaia.


----------



## anaywilly

gracias!!!!


----------



## DWO

Hola! Yo diría *"I like to watch sitcoms to have fun"*. "For fun" es por diversión y "to have fun" es para divertirme.


----------



## Ushuaia

DWO said:


> Hola! Yo diría *"I like to watch sitcoms to have fun"*. "For fun" es por diversión y "to have fun" es para divertirme.



DWO, ¡no entiendo la diferencia!

(Entiendo que mi propuesta es un cambio sintáctico, pero significa lo mismo. La pregunta clásica de las clases de inglés es "What do you like to do for fun?", que se traduce con el mismo sentido como "¿Qué hacés para divertirte?")


----------



## DWO

La diferencia es que hacer algo "por diversión", en general tiene connotaciones negativas: "Pablito robaba naranjas por diversión"; mientras que para divertirse, no las tiene: "Para divertirme, me gusta mirar TV"


----------



## Ushuaia

"Por diversión" no tiene necesariamente connotaciones negativas: "robar" suele tenerlas. 

Es verdad que la primera frase que viene a la mente es "matar por diversión", que se traduciría como "to kill *just* for fun". "Por diversión" y "for fun" no son ciento por ciento equivalentes (que haya que agregar ese "just" es una señal clara de esta diferencia, mal que le pese a Pablito, _who used to steal oranges just for fun_). 

"What do you like to do for fun?" da 48.400 resultados en google... la mayoría son tests, entrevistas y formularios varios en los que le preguntan a la gente qué hace para divertirse.

Van muchos saludos de la Reina del Plata a la Docta.


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

DWO said:


> Hola! Yo diría *"I like to watch sitcoms to have fun"*. "For fun" es por diversión y "to have fun" es para divertirme.



En inglés, se dice "for fun", no "to have fun".

Qué hacés para divertirte? *What do you do for fun?

*


----------



## el ruben

To have fun  and For fun are two different things!  it is different when you say  "  i am going to go to the concert and i will have  fun at it"  from  " i do what i do just for fun".     I sounds   different, does it not???


----------



## pablo1

Buenas, 

'Para divertirme' can be translated into English as 'to amuse myself' and therefore you can say ' para divertirme me gusta mirar la tele' 

I also think its better to use the verb 'ver' instead of 'Mirar' especially when it comes to watching Television!

Saludos,


----------



## FromPA

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> En inglés, se dice "for fun", no "to have fun".
> 
> Qué hacés para divertirte? *What do you do for fun?*


 

I disagree.  Both are used.


----------



## Ushuaia

pablo1 said:


> Buenas,
> 
> 'Para divertirme' can be translated into English as 'to amuse myself' and therefore you can say ' para divertirme me gusta mirar la tele'
> 
> I also think its better to use the verb 'ver' instead of 'Mirar' especially when it comes to watching Television!
> 
> Saludos,



"To amuse myself" does sound a lot better here! I´d go with that one.

I don´t think "ver" is necessarily better than "mirar". I recall reading somewhere in the forum that "ver (televisión)" (literally, see) is more commonly used in Spain; around here we mostly say "mirar" (literally, watch)... although when it comes to going to the cinema we say "ver una película". The usage difers from place to place, but they´re both correct.

Muchos saludos.


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

FromPA said:


> I disagree.  Both are used.



*What do you do to have fun?*  I've never heard this used.
*What do you do for fun?*


----------



## FromPA

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> *What do you do to have fun?*  I've never heard this used.
> *What do you do for fun?*


 
You need to get out more often.


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

FromPA said:


> You need to get out more often.



Lo que digás.


----------



## stasikprotege

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> *What do you do to have fun?*  I've never heard this used.
> *What do you do for fun?*



I'd have to concur with VivaReggaeton.  "What do you do to have fun?" sounds somewhat awkward to me.  Though it's grammatically correct, I don't think I have ever heard it used by a native speaker.


----------



## FromPA

stasikprotege said:


> I'd have to concur with VivaReggaeton. "What do you do to have fun?" sounds somewhat awkward to me. Though it's grammatically correct, I don't think I have ever heard it used by a native speaker.


 
Try googling it.


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

stasikprotege said:


> I'd have to concur with VivaReggaeton.  "What do you do to have fun?" sounds somewhat awkward to me.  Though it's grammatically correct, I don't think I have ever heard it used by a native speaker.



Thank you stasik. And to answer the OP's question, estaría mejor así:

*For fun, I like to watch comedy TV series'.*


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

FromPA said:


> Try googling it.


 
I did google it, and absolutely no webpage came up that has the question "What do you do to have fun?" There is, however, "What do you do for fun."


----------



## Morgana51

FromPA said:


> Try googling it.


 
I wouldn't trust googling that much!!! You might find many pages which have been badly translated!! It happens a lot with official Brazilian pages.


----------



## roanheads

"To enjoy myself, I watch ----etc."


----------



## DWO

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> I did google it, and absolutely no webpage came up that has the question "What do you do to have fun?" There is, however, "What do you do for fun."


 
That's strange, I've came up with this:
- Resultados *1* - *50* de aproximadamente *10.200* de *"What do you do to have fun?"*. (*0,57* segundos)* FROM GOOGLE*
- 1 - 10 of 1,730 for *"What do you do to have fun?"* *FROM YAHOO*
- Web Results 1-10 of 166. Powered By Google *FROM MYWEBSEARCH*

*Just a few examples *


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

Of course there are results, but no straight sentences that say "What do you do to have fun?" Only separately. Believe me, it is not used and it's awkward. No one would ask the question "What do you do to have fun?" The question is "What do you do for fun?"


----------



## DWO

I see. So my English teachers (who were born in England) had taught me a wrong question. On the other hand, I think you can say both, for me, it's just the _intention_ you want to give to the question.


----------



## Morgana51

DWO, I studied at an English school in Buenos Aires, most of my teachers were either native speakers or 2nd/3rd generation Argentinians who barely spoke Spanish and even so after I left school I realized the English THEY taught us was completely outdated. One thing is what you learn at school and another what people really use.


----------



## DWO

Justamente, me parece muy importante tu acotación. Y por ello propongo que diferenciemos lo que es el correcto inglés o español, del lenguaje coloquial. A veces, los threads se refieren a una traducción que alguien tiene que hacer de un libro y, a mi entender, debería respondérsele correctamente. Y sería distinto en el caso de que alguien pregunte sobre una frase hecha o modismo de un país en particular (coloquial). Pero, como siempre, es una apreciación personal y lo dejo al consenso de todos.
En mi caso, no sólo me enseñaron el correcto inglés británico, sino también el de los otros países y sus modismos.


----------



## Morgana51

No dudo que nuestros profesores tuvieron la mejor de las intenciones y creían firmemente que lo que nos enseñaban ERA lo correcto. No hay nada errado (gramaticalmente) con "What do you do to have fun?" pero estoy de acuerdo con algunos foreros en el sentido que no se usa, ni en una traducción.


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

Morgana51 said:


> No dudo que nuestros profesores tuvieron la mejor de las intenciones y creían firmemente que lo que nos enseñaban ERA lo correcto. No hay nada errado (gramaticalmente) con "What do you do to have fun?" pero estoy de acuerdo con algunos foreros en el sentido que no se usa, ni en una traducción.



Exactamente.


----------



## FromPA

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> I did google it, and absolutely no webpage came up that has the question "What do you do to have fun?" There is, however, "What do you do for fun."


 
I got 267 results: 
http://www.disaboom.com/forums/t/39241.aspx
http://www.surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2120
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/470006
https://www.houston411magazine.com/ASPIRING_MODELS_2008.php


----------



## Peterrobertini7

Ushuaia said:


> "To amuse myself" does sound a lot better here! I´d go with that one.
> 
> I don´t think "ver" is necessarily better than "mirar". I recall reading somewhere in the forum that "ver (televisión)" (literally, see) is more commonly used in Spain; around here we mostly say "mirar" (literally, watch)... although when it comes to going to the cinema we say "ver una película". The usage difers from place to place, but they´re both correct.
> 
> Muchos saludos.



VER you are not concentrated on the sitcom.
MIRAR, you are focused on the TV program, is the same difference between 'OIR' and 'ESCUCHAR'


----------



## babalinda

I would certainly say "What do you do to have fun?  The two phrases are interchangelable.


----------

