# I'll send you an e-mail or letter. . .



## mirrordrum

i'm trying to say "i'll send you an e-mail or letter after my translator gets back from [her] vacation." is this even close?

"Mandaré un e-mail o una carta después de me tradujera regresa de vacaciones."

please excuse lower case. i have extreme difficulty shifting. 

thanks.


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## Bienvenidos

Te mandaré una carta o correo electrónico después de que mi traductora regrese de vacaciones.


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## KateNicole

Te (or le) mandare' un correo electro'nico (or e-mail is fine, too) o una carta despue's de que regrese de vacaciones mi traductora.

You can't shift, and I can't use accent marks!


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## KateNicole

Bienvenidos' version is better, except it needs to be traductora.


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## ausum

*"Le enviaré un correo electrónico o una carta, después de que mi traductor regrese de sus vacaciones."*


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## Bienvenidos

KateNicole said:


> Bienvenidos' version is better, except it needs to be traductora.



Oops, didn't notice the "her" vacation part. Thanks KateNicole.


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## mirrordrum

Bienvenidos said:


> Te mandaré una carta o correo electrónico después de que mi traductora regrese de vacaciones.



okay i left out "you," probably shouldn't use "e-mail," it should be después de _que_ because "después de" means "afterward" not "after," i used the verb for translate instead of the noun and got the tense wrong on regresar. verdad?

thank you all again.

i _will_ get this young man something tonight and he might even understand parts of it, thanks to all of you.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> okay i left out "you," probably shouldn't use "e-mail," it should be después de _que_ because "después de" means "afterward" not "after," i used the verb for translate instead of the noun and got the tense wrong on regresar. verdad?
> 
> thank you all again.
> 
> i _will_ get this young man something tonight and he might even understand parts of it, thanks to all of you.



Post any and all questions that you have. I'm glad to help!  You are great at analyzing language, I must say.  You have an eye for translation, you know. 

The *mood* for regresar is the Subjunctive. 

*De que* is something that helps the FLOW of the sentence. And usually the subjunctive always starts with a "que" so that helps. But I would just as freely say, "Después de que murió mi madre, me mudé a Los Angeles." It just helps the sentence flow better.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> okay i left out "you," probably shouldn't use "e-mail," it should be después de _que_ because "después de" means "afterward" not "after," i used the verb for translate instead of the noun and got the tense wrong on regresar. verdad?
> 
> thank you all again.
> 
> i _will_ get this young man something tonight and he might even understand parts of it, thanks to all of you.



Actually, e-mail is perfectly fine. It's understood, and it's actually pretty common. But I really dislike Spanglish because it's taking away from the beauty of the Spanish language, so use correo electrónico instead.


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## mirrordrum

ausum said:


> *"Le enviaré un correo electrónico o una carta, después de que mi traductor regrese de sus vacaciones."*



ausum, why would you suggest enviaré rather than mandaré? 

does "le" refer to "un correo electrónico"?


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## KateNicole

If it helps at all, I understood what you MEANT without having to read the English version . . .


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## KateNicole

Le (or te) refers to the person to whom you are sending the e-mail.  It would be like the "you" component of your English version.  Te is informal and le is formal.  You'll have to decide which is best.  If you maintain a strictly business relationship with this person, I'd use the formal (usted).  If you two are "pals," go ahead and use the informal.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> ausum, why would you suggest enviaré rather than mandaré?
> 
> does "le" refer to "un correo electrónico"?



Enviar and mandar both mean "to send." Depending on where you live--or your personal preference--you use one verb over the other. I almost always use "mandar."

In one of your earlier posts you said that the soldier uses the familiar conjugation when addressing you. *Te *is the familiar indirect object pronoun (I'll send it *to you*,) and *le *is the formal indirect object pronoun.

So, if I were talking to my teacher that I met two days ago:

Le daré la tarea.

But if I were talking to my friend:

Te daré la tarea.


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## mirrordrum

KateNicole said:


> If it helps at all, I understood what you MEANT without having to read the English version . . .



katenicole, you have no idea how much that helps. no idea. if i can just be remotely comprehensible, then at least he knows someone cares. "he" is a young puerto rican soldier in afghanistan whose friends are on leave for el día de los tres reyes.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> katenicole, you have no idea how much that helps. no idea. if i can just be remotely comprehensible, then at least he knows someone cares. "he" is a young puerto rican soldier in afghanistan whose friends are on leave for el día de los tres reyes.



Que tenga suerte.  When it comes to a simple message of thanks, I think that regardless of what language we speak, we can get the message across. I applaud you for your wonderful efforts--and let me say that you're Spanish is ten times better than what I've seen from beginners or even intermediate students who don't know their way around the grammatical rules.


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## mirrordrum

Bienvenidos said:


> Enviar and mandar both mean "to send." Depending on where you live--or your personal preference--you use one verb over the other. I almost always use "mandar."
> 
> In one of your earlier posts you said that the soldier uses the familiar conjugation when addressing you. *Te *is the familiar indirect object pronoun (I'll send it *to you*,) and *le *is the formal indirect object pronoun.
> 
> So, if I were talking to my teacher that I met two days ago:
> 
> Le daré la tarea.
> 
> But if I were talking to my friend:
> 
> Te daré la tarea.



again, exceptionally helpful. he calls me his "new good friend" and i'm about 40 years older so i feel comfortable with using the familiar pronoun. 

you're a fine teacher.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> again, exceptionally helpful. he calls me his "new good friend" and i'm about 40 years older so i feel comfortable with using the familiar pronoun.
> 
> you're a fine teacher.



Aw. Who, me? Thanks so much!  I love Spanish, and I love translating, and I love to help people. So I've found my niche. 

You're a great student, too, I must say!


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## ausum

mirrordrum said:


> ausum, why would you suggest enviaré rather than mandaré?
> 
> does "le" refer to "un correo electrónico"?


 
As KateNicole have just said, regarding the formality issue, I used _enviaré_ instead of _mandaré_ because is more precise than mandaré.

Yes, both mean _to send_, but the verb _mandar_ has some other meanings. In fact its first meanings are related to _to command someone_ or _to rule_.

So, when you want to be formal, specially in written documents, chances are that you'd like to pick the exact words for the task.


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## mirrordrum

Bienvenidos said:


> Que tenga suerte.  When it comes to a simple message of thanks, I think that regardless of what language we speak, we can get the message across. I applaud you for your wonderful efforts--and let me say that you're Spanish is ten times better than what I've seen from beginners or even intermediate students who don't know their way around the grammatical rules.



wow! thank you. i spend a lot of time on the forum an i grrew up hearing spanish so maybe some of it stuck.

por favor, cómo se dice en inglés "que tenga suerte?" is it "good luck"? what would it be literally, please? that always helps me for some reason.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> wow! thank you. i spend a lot of time on the forum an i grrew up hearing spanish so maybe some of it stuck.
> 
> por favor, cómo se dice en inglés "que tenga suerte?" is it "good luck"? what would it be literally, please? that always helps me for some reason.



The literal translation is "that he have good luck." It basically means good luck, but it's more of a personal touch than saying "buena suerte." So if you want to wish him luck with his operation/tasks in Afghanistan, you could end your letter by saying, "Que tengas suerte."  or "Que tengas suerte con todo" or "Que tengas suerte con todo lo que hagas"


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## ausum

mirrordrum said:


> por favor, cómo se dice en inglés "que tenga suerte?" is it "good luck"? what would it be literally, please? that always helps me for some reason.


 
*You have luck*, maybe


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## mirrordrum

ausum said:


> As KateNicole have just said, regarding the formality issue, I used _enviaré_ instead of _mandaré_ because is more precise than mandaré.
> 
> Yes, both mean _to send_, but the verb _mandar_ has some other meanings. In fact its first meanings are related to _to command someone_ or _to rule_.
> 
> So, when you want to be formal, specially in written documents, chances are that you'd like to pick the exact words for the task.



very helpful distinction from both of you. i do like to be precise [exact] in english. i'm less concerned about it with this young man but what you say clarifies the difference beautifully.


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## ausum

Bienvenidos said:


> The literal translation is "that he have good luck." It basically means good luck, but it's more of a personal touch than saying "buena suerte." So if you want to wish him luck with his operation/tasks in Afghanistan, you could end your letter by saying, "Que tengas suerte."


 
Is it possible to start a sentence like that? 

"That he have good luck" ?


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## KateNicole

How nice that you are writing to him!  I'm sure he would be impressed if he knew what lengths you are going to!  No matter what, he'll be touched when he reads your letter.  I think the fact that you are from two different culture and speak two different languages makes it that much more endearing.


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## Bienvenidos

ausum said:


> Is it possible to start a sentence like that?
> 
> "That he have good luck" ?



In this case, it's a clause, not a complete sentence. As a fragment statement, it would literally be translated as "that he have good luck." But with a predicate clause , it would be "I hope that he has good luck."


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## ausum

Bienvenidos said:


> In this case, it's a clause, not a complete sentence. As a fragment statement, it would literally be translated as "that he have good luck." But with a predicate clause , it would be "I hope that he has good luck."


 
That's very interesting. Specially the way the verb conjugates. Would you please point me to where you've seen more information about this part of English grammar?


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## mirrordrum

ausum said:


> *You have luck*, maybe



thanks for trying to translate, ausum.


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## KateNicole

I think of "que' tenga buena suerte" as "MAY he have good luck."  
It makes perfect sense in Spanish as a clause, but "that he have good luck" does not make sense in English when it stands alone.


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## Bienvenidos

ausum said:


> That's very interesting. Specially the way the verb conjugates. Would you please point me to where you've seen more information about this part of English grammar?



It's used with clauses, although it's not overly common.

For exemple:

His wish was that he have good luck in all that he does.
Your wish that he have good luck came true.


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## mirrordrum

Bienvenidos said:


> In this case, it's a clause, not a complete sentence. As a fragment statement, it would literally be translated as "that he have good luck." But with a predicate clause , it would be "I hope that he has good luck."



i am now thoroughly confused and am going to finish my e-mail and call it a night. how wonderful you all are.

so delightful to be among agreeable, friendly and helpful people. this has made my day. 

buenas noches.


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## Bienvenidos

mirrordrum said:


> i am now thoroughly confused and am going to finish my e-mail and call it a night. how wonderful you all are.
> 
> so delightful to be among agreeable, friendly and helpful people. this has made my day.
> 
> buenas noches.



Glad to be of help. Hope to see you soon.


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## ausum

KateNicole said:


> I think of "que' tenga buena suerte" as "MAY he have good luck."
> It makes perfect sense in Spanish as a clause, but "that he have good luck" does not make sense in English when it stands alone.


 
That is what made me to ask the question. "May he have..." sounds more familiar to me, at least in movies.


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## ausum

Bienvenidos said:


> It's used with clauses, although it's not overly common.
> 
> For exemple:
> 
> His wish was that he have good luck in all that he does.
> Your wish that he have good luck came true.


 
Thank you Bienvenidos. That was very helpful.


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## Bienvenidos

ausum said:


> Thank you Bienvenidos. That was very helpful.



No problem.  Bueno, me voy a acostar. Que la noche te pase bien, ausum, y lo mismo a vosotros KateNicole y mirrordrum.


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