If That Won't Teach the Kids Subjunctive, What Will?

Yesterday, in the middle of going over the American Beauty script in my translation class, my professor stopped and asked us, the class, quite casually, "Have we gone over 'fuck' yet?" Immediately, everyone's ears perked up, because what college student doesn't love palabrotas*? Especially when nonchalantly inserted into academic context?

The next twenty minutes were spent discussing various Castilian vulgarities--convenient, considering the fact that everyday I wonder how I would verbally fend myself against unpleasant Spaniards should the need arise. Fortunately, that knowledge has now been bestowed upon me, for the low cost of $50,000 a year. But I digress.

Tapping the list of tacos** on the board with the chalk, the professor said, "Now, remember, if it starts with que,*** it's always subjunctive because it's really supposed to be espero que.****" Swear words and a grammar lesson in one? I say sí.*****

In case you are interested, here are some of the lovely phrases I learned (and don't forget to never say coger un taxi****** in Argentina):

joder

vete a la mierda

que te den

que te jodas

que te folles un pez

*bad words

**bad words

***that (in that particular context)

****I hope that

*****yes

******in Spain it means 'to get' or 'to grab,' but in Argentina it is a vulgar term

To Get: A Language Lesson

One of the classes I am taking this semester is called Translation Through Film and Theatre. Apart from getting the opportunity to translate some pretty awesome screenplays, such as Annie Hall and American Beauty (pass the asparagus), I get to compare the grammatical nuances of English and Spanish, which, for me, is fascinating. What really captured my attention was the difference between the two languages regarding the simple verb to get. Ok, perhaps it isn't that simple of a verb considering it has a plethora of uses--in the English language. Observe:

to get (an object)

to get (a concept)

to get (a person)

to get into

to get out of

to get on

to get off

to get up

to get down

to go get

You get the general idea. While, in English, to get serves as your best friend, in Spanish there is a different verb for each to get phrase I listed. For your enjoyment and personal vocabulary lesson:

to get (an object)-coger, obtener, conseguir, recibir

to get (a concept)-comprender, entender

to get (a person)-recoger

to get into (physically)-meterse, entrar

to get out of-salir

to get on-subir

to get off-bajar

to get up-levantarse

to get down-agacharse

to go get-ir a buscar

The interesting thing is that while English seems to recycle more verbs than does Spanish, translating colloquial English phrases becomes considerably more wordy in Spanish when you throw in all the necessary articles, prepositions, and direct object pronouns that can sometimes make you tear your hair out. For example:

now that I think about it-lo cual ahora que lo pienso

kind of-en cierta manera

to grin and bear it-poner al mal tiempo buena cara

to fly away (to escape)-largarse volando

and what about me-y qué pasa conmigo

Perhaps my examples do not prove my point as much as I thought they would, but take my word for it! After translating Z's opening speech in Antz, the Spanish version was mucho más* longer.

*much, way more