Help with Spanish please. I am making an apron for a friend and want to put a spanish phrase across the bottom, I want to put ...Family, Friends, Good Food, Lets Eat..... Can someone tell me if I have it correct, la Familia, Amigos, Buena comida, Comamos!!! Thanks for any help.

Okay, I got a response of my teacher, like others said it is not so easy to translate wordsthat express "feelings", she wrote "Amar, amigos, alimentos, a la mesa????"
But I even think the "Buen provecho", would even be better in stead of the la mesa
Good luck !

Please get a native speaker to help you, you can get soooo far off base with slang-type expressions it isn't funny! Um, you're speaking English to a native English speaker, and even I'm not sure exactly what you're meaning to say on that apron. Is your friend, the cook, wearing the apron? Are you using the words separately, like say as pictures of food things like apple, orange, cherry would be used, or is the cook wearing the apron saying to the people, "Family & friends, I have good food, let's eat!" See? And they would be said differently. Maybe Maria will be around and see this. Just a sobering thought, a story from my far past, about getting the translation right: I've had over 6 years of Spanish, in college a young nun was showing off her Spanish at a conference table, mixed group, but native Mexican & Central American priests among them. OK? Now, in Spanish, "ser" and "estar" both mean "to be", but different ways of being. Long explanation, but sort of like ser is permanent being, as in feminine, white, Catholic, Protestant; and estoy is transitory, like being hot, cold, tired, etc. Way more complicated, but there is a difference, and that's where the nun and the slang come in. Poor Sister was trying to tell a story, and making out ok, till she got to the part where she said she was so embarassed at what had happened in the story. She used the wrong "to be". She was even more embarassed when she found out she told the group of priests "I was so very pregnant" instead of "I was so embarassed". Needless to say, dinner conversation stopped, forks hit the floor, and someone finally extricated Sister from her faux pas. We all learned a valuable lesson about verbs and slang that night, for sure, hee hee hee. Foreign languages can be a minefield (the foreign exchange student who was so proud of learning the name for his new jacket that he announced to the entire cafeteria he was going to "put on his new wind-breaker and go break wind!!" with a huge smile on his face. We were politer in those days, we just sat choking back laughter while Art yanked him down & explained). Those translation programs can give you the gist of something, but word for word, oh, never! Or maybe by accident. If it's really important, find a native speaker, and make clear what you're actually trying to get across, not just the words, but the emotion, etc. Like your "let's eat"= comamos. I think that's the wrong case, but again, slang, I'm not sure. "Comer" is the verb "to eat", so comemos would be "we eat", but I think "comamos" is more like an order to us to eat, not an invitation. Unless it's been too long & I'm wrong, now I'm curious. Native speaker, please, and good luck with the apron. Hope she appreciates the right words as well as the good work, hee hee hee, hugs, Marji

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LOL this looks like its going to be harder than I thought, I think I may have a coworker ask about these phrases so the surprise is not given away.

Also, South America, Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican etc all are different dialects. Spain is very different-its the mother tongue of Spanish. Sorta like UK english vs American english.

Ask your friend

If you can wait.. i could ask my Spanish teacher ?

google translate came up with this. I put the link below so you can try it and play with the options. Familia, amigos, buena comida, deja comer

Call a High School or community college where students take Spanish and ask the instructor to help you.

I am far from good in spanish, but can say that La familia is good. Amigos is good and I would say buen comida or bueno comida and lets eat. the spanish always say, que aproveche, that is used on the table to tell them to enjoy their meal as someone mentioned bon appetit in france.So I would put, que aproveche. Anita might have some input if she sees this. Good luck

2 comments

by edithfarminer 04 May 2012

DO NOT USE TRANSLATE, WOULD BE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE. If I see some translations from Dutch I am rolling from laughter.It gives the approx. nothing more

by ansalu 04 May 2012

This translations often sounds like those instructions for electric stuff from China: You will never get them to work when you try to follow them ;o)

Well,

Family= La familia ok
Amigos= Friends ok
Good Food= Literally Comida Buena but sounds weird as a phrase to me
I seem to recall a very good phrase Buen Provecho =Bon Appetit (french) =have a good meal when toasting a good meal in spanish
Lets eat= Vamos a comer - but it doesn't carry the same slang intention or meaning as in english
Most of the time slang phrases dont translate the same
IE In english We say Stop pulling my leg
but in spanish it doesn't translate to the same
meaning or intention
Comamos might be slang for lets eat but not sure
Last Yummy=sobroso
or in a phrase "comida sabrosa" might be used for good food
Hope this helps a bit and maybe someone has other phrase ideas which is different than direct translation

1 comment

by bumblebee 04 May 2012

err yummy=sabroso

You can send a PM directly to one of the cuties from Spain. I have to admit that I also did not read every post with a question about german phrases so maybe they have missed this.
I know that edithfarminer and anitapatch live in Spain so I hope they can help you :o)
Greetings, Bettina

Hope some of our Spanish cuties can confirm for you. Hugs Yvonne

This will just bring it to the top. ttt

I sure thank everyone for helping me with this, I want this apron to be so special and don't want to spoil the surprise by asking how to spell what I have in mind. Thank you all

According to Google translate:
Let's eat is: vamos a comer
good food is: comida buena

I believe the adjective follows the noun in Spanish. food good - comida buena - I think.

I went & tried to translate it on the Internet. You can download free translator to your computer & do it or hopefully someone that speaks Spanish will see your post. I didn't want to download the translator to my computer. They are free if you wish to download one just put into your browser From English To Spanish Translation. It will convert words or whole sentences. Hugs, Alta

5 comments

by lidiad 04 May 2012

My son has used an Internet translating program to translate into Italian, with terrible result. If the spanish translation is anything like that, please don't use it. Wait until some spanish-speaking Cute will answer here. Hugs, Lidia

by ansalu 04 May 2012

You are so right Lidia ;o) Often the translations are terrible. Most of the time I use LEO-dictionary cause they have also sayings at the bottom belonging to the searched word and native speakers help with translating quotes and sayings. This is very interesting and sometimes i copy them to delevelope my english-skills :-)

by ansalu 04 May 2012

-eresting cause often other countries use another picture to describe the same meaning. Sometimes I copy them to develope my english-skills :-) Greetings, Bettina
PS: LEO offers 6languages! But the best is alswys asking a native speaker ;o)

by bumblebee 04 May 2012

Thats because the way we talk in different languages doesn't translate directly as intent or meaning into another language. Just because the word is accurate doesn't mean the intended meaning is the same. This directly affects
phrases and slang that we use every day to express or convey meaning.

by marjialexa 04 May 2012

No kidding, hee hee hee, don't use anybody's translation except a native speaker's. No Google! See my answer for why. M

I think you got everything right except Comamos (and this might be proper spanish), but Vamos a Comer translates to let's eat. Someone here that is spanish might have a different meaning.

I can't help, but i'll take it ttt for you so that someone sees it :)

2 comments

by momhome 04 May 2012

I always wondered what ttt meant.

by bnilla9241 05 May 2012

To The Top is what TTT stands for.
Good luck on your Spanish phrase.

Hugs, Bonnie