9. My Spanish cousin
Spanish

9. My Spanish cousin

by

language learning

My Spanish cousin and I talk weekly. Today he wrote: “Michael, podemos vernos mañana? Hoy a las 7pm (Spain) tengo misa porque se murió el padre de un amigo.” I replied in English but for this journal entry, I want to try and write my reply in Spanish.

Draft: Disculpe, acabo de ver este mensaje. Lo siento por el padre de tu amigo. Si, mañana funciona bien. Podemos hacerlo al mismo tiempo (unless?? Tienes un tiempo diferente). Voy a enviarte un enlace

DeepL: Disculpe, acabo de ver este mensaje. Siento lo del padre de tu amigo. Sí, mañana está bien. Podemos hacerlo al mismo tiempo (a menos que tengas otra hora). Te enviaré un enlace

English:Sorry, I just saw this message. I’m sorry about your friend’s father. Yes. Tomorrow works fine. We can do it at the same time (unless you have a different time). I will send you a link

Questions and Reflections My version: Lo siento por el padre de tu amigo

DeepL: Siento lo del padre de tu amigo. I assume it’s one of those prepositions I need to be aware of where I used “por el” and DeepL says “del.” I do not know why the phrase is “siento lo” instead of “lo siento” I assume I am translating too literally here. The correct phrase means “I feel for him?....” Not sure.

a menos que tengas otra hora - I didn’t know how to say “unless” and this also looks like “a menos” or unless triggers the subjunctive. Also, DeepL says "otra hora" instead of "tiempo diferente"

Te enviaré un enlace - I wrote “voy a enviarte” Are the meanings close enough. I think my version is “I’m going to send you…” and DeepL is “I will send you…”

Headline image by sam_williams on Unsplash

1