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Author: Subject: Straight, Right
vandenberg
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[*] posted on 2-24-2014 at 12:57 PM


I'm a native Dutch speaker who came to the States as a 25 year old. Had 5 years of school English, French and German.

Had very little trouble with English, basically found it fairly easy.

However French , even with 5 years of instruction, is a language in which I can barely function at all.

Same goes for Spanish. I believe it's the similarity between the Germanic languages as opposed to Latin based ones.




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dasubergeek
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[*] posted on 2-24-2014 at 01:59 PM


Quote:
Originally posted by AASelf
Crazy thing is, it's the same in French:

Straight - 'droite' or tout droite
Right droit or a la droit

I thought that was interesting when I saw the similar problem in Spanish. Latin roots?

As an aside, the word for above in French is dessus and the word for below is dessous. That's not confusing at all.


Hm. Sort of. (Bona fides: I speak English and French with native fluency.)

"Droit" means right as in something you have (the right to live peacefully, etc.), and it means "law" as in the area of study ("il est diplômé en droit"), just as in Spanish. It is pronounced without the T on the end, even when it might otherwise be. ("Son droit est lucratif.") It also means "right" as an intensifier. ("Elle m'a claqué droit dans l'estomac.")

"Droite" means "right" as in the direction. ("Tournez à droite.") The T is always pronounced.

"Tout droit" (no T pronounced) means "straight", as in "straight on", and it's a fixed expression, and it never varies.

In Spanish, at least it's got the a/o difference. Derecho means straight, (a la) derecha means (on/to the) right. Also, Mexican Spanish speakers will often use "mano" to make it clearer. "... y luego verás la ruta para Papa Fernandez a mano derecha."

As for the question about passive voice, it happens all the time in Mexican Spanish. Instead of saying "Olvidé mi llave" for "I forgot my key," nearly everyone would say "Se me olvidó mi llave" (My key was forgotten to/by me).

One place where French is easier than Spanish: a shot of liquor, neat, is "derecho" in Spanish but "sec" (dry) in French.
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alacran
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[*] posted on 2-24-2014 at 02:17 PM


we can also adapt thatto spanish:
ve adelante
ve afuera
ve adentro
ve por ve visita
ve alredodor
ve abajo
ve ariba
ve para
ve debajo

And many more.
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Ken Cooke
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[*] posted on 2-24-2014 at 08:16 PM


Quote:
Originally posted by alacran
I like the word "ajar"and "jump a car" "jump bail" etc explain that to a non native american.


That's easy! :light:





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