Sentences that begin with infinitve.

Question

Could you tell me if these sentences are grammatically correct? I’m a native Spanish speaker, so if anyone of you is a bilingual English-Spanish speaker you can find these sentences written also in Spanish. I will appreciate all your comments.

1.- To be able to read is to be able to walk. (Saber leer es saber andar)
2.- To have been able to love is to have been able to walk. (Haber podido amar significa haber logrado andar).
Thank you

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

Yes, I think they are grammatically correct, just strange choices of verbs.

PoorRichard · Answer

You may want to consider the idiom 'to know how + infinitive' for 'saber + infinitive', e.g.

To know how to read is to know how to walk.

CalifJim · Answer

These are grammatically correct in English, but they are not good translations of the Spanish.

The main problem is with "andar", which just cannot be translated as "walk" in these contexts.

I think I would translate the Spanish like this:

Once you know how to read, you can be a success.
If you have ever loved, you've learned how to deal with life.

These are "off the top of my head" translations. I did them too quickly, perhaps, but I think you get the basic idea that "walk" has nothing to do with the meaning of the Spanish.

Hope that helped!

PoorRichard · Answer

I would argue that 'walk' is an acceptable translation of 'andar' in the saying 'saber leer es saber andar'.

'Walk' is used elsewhere as a metaphor in English, to stand for 'a basic activity' (e.g. 'learning to walk before you run'). There is no danger that the English reader will take the aphorism literally, and so the metaphor may be retained.

Moreover, if we intend to complete the ***, we need a flat plain pedestrian word that will contrast with 'ascender'/'climb'.

*'...Saber escribir es saber ascender.'

Nona the brit · Answer

No I disagree. I'm a native English speaker and the original sentence had no coherent meaning for me. 'Walk' cannot be used as a metaphor in that way. 'Learn to walk before you run' works as a metaphor for learning the basics before trying the difficult stuff, purely as 'walk' does relate to 'run'. You do actually learn to walk first, then learn to run.

Walk has no connection with 'love' or any other of the phrases given before, so it is nonsensical.

A phrase comparing an early stage of an activity to a later stage of an activity only works if the second realistically follows on from the first.

To say 'learn to walk before you scuba dive' is daft.
'Learn to swim before you scuba dive' works, but only if it is an instruction to someone wanting to scuba dive. You wouldn't just substitute it for 'walk before run' as a metaphor for a completely different situation. You can't just switch the words in a metaphor/idiom and expect it to still work, because it doesn't.

CalifJim · Answer

I agree with you, Nona. In the original, I could not connect "read" with "walk" nor "love" with "walk" because I could find no metaphor in English that used those pairs.
It was only by knowing that "andar" included many different concepts having to to with moving forward or progressing (and not just walking) that I was able to piece together what the sentence meant.

Jim

PoorRichard · Answer

In sentence (1), we need a 'going' verb that will permit the contrast with 'ascender' in the second half of the aphorism (= 'saber escribir es saber ascender', which isn't given here). It must therefore be a pedestrian verb, as 'leer/read' is the pedestrian activity in this comparison.

I'm not sure I see the objection to 'walk'. It's already used in a similar way in 'walk before you can run'. Eladio's translation has the virtue of allowing a natural transition into 'saber...ascender'.

I agree with Nona that some readers would find 'read...walk' nonsensical. That's how the antithesis works: the puzzle of 'saber...andar' is resolved by 'saber...ascender'. So if you only have the first part of the aphorism (as above), you only have the puzzle.

It's interesting to note that Jim's translation makes 'leer...andar' self-contained. This could create problems when translating the 'escribir...ascender' half of the antithesis.

Sentence (2) is quite another matter, & may well require a different English verb.

Nona the brit · Answer

I don't think you can just translate the words to move an aphorism into another language. It often just doesn't work. Every language has its own 'sayings' and they usually sound nonsensical if translated and you can't just use bits of them.

For example ' to pull someone's leg' means to mildly tease them. That doesn't mean that you could say 'My manager really legs me' to mean he bullies you, or 'I'm only pulling' for 'I'm only teasing.'

Sorry, but walk is just not going to fit in these contexts however much you want it to. Honestly, you cannot just bung 'walk' into a new aphorism that doesn't already exist in English. No-one will be able to follow what you mean.

CalifJim · Answer

We can only translate what we are asked to translate!
Personally, I am not clairvoyant! Fortunately, you knew that this was part of the larger context of an aphorism, but the same is not true for the rest of us.

Given this new information, "If reading is flying, writing is soaring." (and probably quite a few others) would be an equally good try at a translation, don't you think? I imagine you could find quite a few others that get that point across. But I'm not sure we're still within the realm of the question asked if we get into all these possibilities.

Nona the brit · Answer

Sorry I didn't mean to sound sharp, I was talking to the original poster and poorrichard who seemed determined to invent a new English aphorism out of a direct translation of a Spanish one.

I liked your fly/soar idea, but it doesn't have the same meaning as 'walk before you run' which is a warning not to set your targets unrealistically high.

Sentences that begin with infinitve.

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