Dice que

Question number one Dice que para ella la cosa más importante no es su gusto sino el gusto de su novio. The most important thing is not her tastes but her boyfriend's tastes. Where is "Dice que" in the translation?

Question number two Es como si fuera el rey del mundo. It's like I / he was the king of the world. Where is the "si fuera" in the translation?

Question number three ¿Ya terminaste con la gramática? Have you finished with the grammar? Where is the "Ya" in the translation?

Hola Aurora, Answers to your questions: Dice que is not in the translation I guess it's implied. Dice que is "She says that". I would translate it as, She says that the most important thing for her is not her tastes but ( rather ) her boyfriend's tastes. #2 Si fuera is: It's like (As if he were) #3 The ya is not there. Ya means many things but in this case I would say: Have you already finished with the grammar? Hope this helps and if others disagree, or have better offerings, I hope they will respond. Saludos, Ricardo

I feel your pain, Aurora. I am advanced enough now to understand that there cannot be a literal, word for word translation of everything said in two different languages. But sometimes those little, implied things like "dice que" not being there can really trip me up. I wish that on some of these there would be parenthetical clarifications. It is interesting: awhile back I started reviewing a lesson from the first course every afternoon, after having done a new lesson in the second course in the morning. While doing these reviews I have encountered numerous non-literal translations that I remember being frustrated by first time through. Now I am advanced enough to recognize the meaning, if not the literal translation, is what I am supposed to understand. I keep reminding myself that language is an art, not a science and therefore has guidelines, not rules. Guidelines that can be pretty squishy at times.

Hola a todos, Dan is right, getting the meaning is of utmost importance and not to get hung up on literal translation, which at least for me, is an impediment to learning. I might add as I have advanced there are times when I see somethings that I think could have been translated better or at least differently. RS is superb and I love it but there is the occasional error or omission and if you spot them it means you're learning, pat yourself on the back. Saludos, Ricardo

I asked this because just memorizing them is not enough. I appreciate it more when someone explains why it is more of an art than a science. Thanks guys. I wish Diana has more time. She's able to convey the meanings and the nuances when I get a chance to talk to her.

Sometimes they are a little sloppy or loose in their translations. They seem more interested in finding the most common way of saying the same thought in English. In this example: ¿Ya terminaste con la gramática? Have you finished with the grammar? I honestly think the better translation in "Have you finished the with the grammar yet?" The 'ya' gives the 'yet' feeling. In English, we would probably convey it with an impatient sound in our voice. All said, many times there are "set phrases" that we just have to learn. There is no direct word-for-word translation.

Thanks RobertC7. It truly helps when we actually discuss it. I like what you said about the "Ya" and the impatience in the voice.

Hola a todos, Robert is right about the translations being a little loose sometimes, no big deal for me , and his translation regarding "ya" in this case as "yet", is far better than my choice of " already" . Saludos, Ricardo

I just came across a good example of, as Ricardo describes them, "loose" translations. In the Write It section of lesson 12.1 the Spanish sentence and English translation is: Yo sé, Mamá. Pero yo te pregunto: ¿cuál prefieres? I know Mom. But I ask you: which would you prefer? In the Know It section I would probably translate this as: Yo sé, Mamá. Pero yo te pregunto: ¿cuál preferirías?...using the conditional tense to get the "would" in.