|
Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared Guía de la gramática inglesa...
En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.
A lot / Mucho (2)
Here are some more uses of these words. "Lot" in English can refer to a group of people in colloquial English.
My family is a funny lot Mi familia es un poco rara
Ok, you lot (you guys Am.E). Listen to me. Bien, vosotros /as. Escuchad. (Spain) (Bien, ustedes. Escuchen. S. Am. [In general, "usted" is used and not "vosotros" in South America])
In British English, especially, "the lot" can have this different meaning:
I want the lot of you out of here now! ¡Quiero que todos vosotros /as salgáis de aquí ya!
There's nothing left! They've taken the lot! ¡No queda nada! Se han llevado todo(s)!
Give me ten pounds and you can take the lot Dame diez libras y puedes llevarte todo(s)
Note the translation of "what a lot!" when an English speaker is surprised at a large quantity:
What a lot of cars there are on this road! ¡Cuántos coches en esta carretera!
What a lot of work you've done! ¡Cuánto trabajo has hecho!
What a lot of people on this beach! ¡Cuánta gente en esta playa! (Remember "gente" is a singular word in Spanish)
Then there is the expression: "such a lot", which has a similar meaning to the above:
I hate all this paperwork. It's such a lot of inconvenience. No me gusta nada todo este papeleo. Es tanta molestia.
Let's now look at some Spanish uses of "mucho" which differ from the meanings in the lesson, Mucho 1:
Por mucho que te quejes nadie te va a hacer caso (note the subjunctive "quejes" here) No matter how much you complain nobody will taken any notice of you or... However much you complain nobody will... or more colloquially... You can complain as much as you like but nobody will...
Por muchas cremas que te compres no te vas a poner más guapa No matter how many creams you buy you aren't going to get any prettier or, However many creams you buy you aren't going to get any prettier or more colloquially... You can buy all the creams you like but you aren't...
Imagínate. Ganó la quiniela y ahora mucho ji ji ja ja y mucho gastar Can you believe it! He / She wins the football pools and now it's all laughs and spend, spend, spend.
I finish with another colloquial expression with "lot" from Tarzan and Jane.
A fat lot of good... / eso sí que va a servir de mucho (sarcastic)
Jane: Oh, Tarzan. We're surrounded by giant spiders. We're in for it now! Tarzan: Don't worry, Jane. I've brought Cheetah. He'll save us. Jane: That dumb-ass (Am.E) monkey! A fat lot of good he'll be!
Jane: O, Tarzán. Estamos rodeados de arañas gigantes. ¡Estamos perdidos! Tarzán: No te preocupes, Jane. He traído a Cheetah. Nos pondrá a salvo. Jane: ¡Ese mono tarado! ¡Él sí que va a servir de mucho!
Five Minute Study es © copyright 2011 English Spanish Link
|