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.

 

My / Mi / Mis

 

"My" is a possessive adjective. It goes before objects and does not change with number as the Spanish equivalent does, which are: "Mi" (singular) or "Mis" (plural):

 

My sister lives near here

Mi hermana vive por aquí

 

My brothers are all older than I am

Mis hermanos son todos mayores que yo

 

As mentioned in another lesson, Spanish does not usually use the possessive adjective when referring to parts of the body:

 

Me duelen los ojos

My eyes hurt

 

Tengo agujetas en las piernas

My legs are stiff

 

The Spanish also use mío/mía/míos/mías as possessive adjectives with very little or no difference in meaning from mi/mis:

 

Amor mío / Mi amor. Te necesito

My love. I need you

 

Ellas son buenas amigas mías

or

Ellas son mis buenas amigas

They're good friends of mine

or,

They're my good friends

 

Though sometimes the expression is idiomatic and cannot be changed:

 

¡Eso es asunto mío y no tiene nada que ver contigo! (not: mi asunto)

That's my business and it's got nothing to do with you!

 

On the left I've listed some idiomatic English "my" expressions with the Spanish translation underneath. While on the right are some Spanish "mi" and "mis" expressions with the English translation below.

 

English expressions

 

Spanish expressions

- Can I borrow your ruler?

¿Me prestas tu regla?

- Be my guest

Adelante / Claro que sí

- ¿Quién ha escrito esto? Es una maravilla.

Who wrote this? It's marvellous

- Pues, yo mismo.

- Actually, I did

- ¡Tú! que no serías capaz de escribir semejante prosa.

You! You wouldn't be capable of writing such beautiful prose.

- Pues, yo he sido. Mira, es de mi puño y letra.

Well, it was me. Look, that's my handwriting

- Listen, I never said that about your grandmother. Cross my heart (and hope to die).

Oye, nunca he dicho eso acerca de tu abuela. ¡Te lo juro!

- En mi fuero interno sabía que decías la verdad.

In my heart of hearts I knew you were telling the truth

- Dave, did you know you've got odd socks on?

Dave, ¿sabías que llevas dos calcetines desparejados?

- Oh, my God! And I've got to show the chairman around the plant right now. Don't tell anyone, will you?

¡Dios mío! Y tengo que enseñar ya mismo la planta al presidente. No se lo digas a nadie ¿vale?

- My lips are sealed!

¡Prometo no decir nada!

- Juan, me han quitado el coche.

Juan, my car's been stolen

- Pero ¿cómo es posible?

But how did that happen?

- No sé. Me lo quitaron en mis propias narices.

I don't know. They took it from right under my very nose.

- John, you've been nicking (Br.E) (stealing) my biscuits (Am.E cookies) again.

John, has vuelto a mangar mis galletas.

- I haven't touched your bloody biscuits!

¡No he tocado tus malditas galletas!

- John, what are these in my biscuit tin?

John, y estos en mi lata de galletas qué son?

- You've got me there! They're my car keys!

Me has pillado. Son mis llaves del coche

- I rest my case.

A las pruebas me remito

Jane: Mi vida, ¿cenamos en un sitio romántico esta noche?

Jane: Darling, shall we dine out tonight?

Tarzán: Pues, el Revolcadero de los Jabalíes es muy bonito. ¿Reservo un tronco?

Tarzan: Well, the Wild Boar Wallow is very nice. Shall I reserve a tree trunk?

Jane: Mmm. Quedamos en casa.

Jane: Ehh. Let's stay in

 

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