3-8

Question 1

I just came back from Spain.

Answer 1

Acabo de volver de España. (acabar de + infinitive means “to have just done something” and is used in the present tense.)

Question 2

I was in Spain, two days last week.

Answer 2

Estuve en España, dos días de la semana pasada.

Question 3

I more or less understood everyone and I think they understood me too.

Answer 3

Entendí más o menos a todo el mundo y creo que ellos me entendieron a mí también.

Question 4

It’s not bad at all

Answer 4

no está nada mal

Question 5

Today we are going to talk about something that happened to me while I was in Gerona.

Answer 5

Hoy vamos a hablar de algo que me pasó mientras estaba en Gerona.

Question 6

I realized that I was hungry.

Answer 6

Me di cuenta de que tenía hambre. (darse cuenta de que = to realize that)

Question 7

Well, I looked for a free table and sat down, ordered some tapas and a glass of red wine.

Answer 7

Pues busqué una mesa libre y me senté, pedí unas tapas y una copa de tinto.

Question 8

Just then I noticed that the woman sitting at the next table was about to light a cigarette.

Answer 8

Justo entonces me di cuenta de que la mujer que estaba sentada en la mesa de al lado estaba a punto de encenderse un cigarrillo.

Question 9

The truth is that it caught me off guard.

Answer 9

La verdad es que me pilló desprevenido. (pillar desprevenido/a a alguien = to catch someone unawares. Note that the subject of the verb is whatever catches you unawares)

Question 10

Well, in Spain we have an anti-smoking law but it is not as strict as here in Scotland.

Answer 10

Bueno es que en España tenemos una ley antitabaco pero no es tan estricta como aquí en Escocia.

Question 11

Let’s say I am the owner of a restaurant. If it is less than a hundred meters, I can decide if I want the restaurant to be for smokers or non-smokers.

Answer 11

Digamos que yo soy el dueño de un restaurante. Si tiene menos de cien metros, yo puedo decidir si quiero que el restaurante sea para fumadores o para no fumadores. (The verbs “tiene” and “medir = to measure” are used more commonly to directly indicate dimensions than “ser de”)

Question 12

She had the right to smoke.

Answer 12

Tenía derecho a fumar. (tener derecho a + infinitive = to have the right to do something)

Question 13

What happens if the restaurant is more than one hundred square meters?

Answer 13

¿Qué pasa si el restaurante tiene más de cien metros cuadrados?

Question 14

A separate area for smokers

Answer 14

una zona separada para los fumadores

Question 15

Well, it’s different from what happens here.

Answer 15

Pues es distinto a lo que pasa aquí.

Question 16

It suits me well because I don’t like to eat food that smells like tobacco.

Answer 16

Me va bien porque a mí no me gusta comer comida que huele a tabaco. (Oler a = to smell of/ to smell like)

Question 17

I understand perfectly your attitude. So I like that there are two spaces, each person should go where they want.

Answer 17

Entiendo perfectamente tu actitud. Entonces me gusta que hayan dos espacios, cada uno que vaya a donde quiera. (Qué + present subjunctive is used to express a wish/ command. Otherwise deber (conditional tense) + infinitive = should + verb) (also note me gusta que is followed by the subjunctive. Other expressions of feeling or emotion also require the subjunctive)

Question 18

Well, it is the opposite of what happens in Spain.

Answer 18

Bueno es el contrario de lo que pasa en España.

Question 19

In Spain, smoking is considered a social vice. It’s for socializing.

Answer 19

En España, fumar es considerado como un vicio social. Es para socializarse.

Question 20

One smokes quite a lot in company.

Answer 20

Se fuma bastante en sociedad.

Question 21

If I want to smoke a cigarette, I have to distance myself from people.

Answer 21

Si quiero fumarme un cigarro, tengo que apartarme de la gente.

Question 22

Are there people outside that are smoking too?

Answer 22

¿Hay gente fuera que está fumando también?

Question 23

For me, of course, it is difficult to understand the point of view of a smoker, but we must not forget the people who work in bars or restaurants.

Answer 23

Para mí claro es difícil entender el punto de vista de un fumador, pero no hay que olvidar a la gente que trabaja en los bares o en los restaurantes. (Deber (indicative) + infinitive = must + action)

Question 24

I have decided that I don’t want to smoke so I don’t want to breathe in the smoke of others either.

Answer 24

Yo he decidido que no quiero fumar así que tampoco quiero respirar el humo de los demás. (Tampoco introduces a second negative, similar to the English “nor”.)

Question 25

I don’t want to work in a bar where people are smoking.

Answer 25

No quiero trabajar en un bar donde la gente esté fumando. (This bar is qualified: it’s a bar which may or may not exist, so the subjunctive is required.)

Question 26

There is where the interests of smokers and non-smokers come into conflict.

Answer 26

Allí es donde entran en conflicto los intereses de fumadores y no fumadores.

Question 27

I have no idea.

Answer 27

No tengo ni idea. (Double negative is the typical construction used in spanish)

Question 28

Do you think you will stop smoking one day?

Answer 28

¿Tú piensas que dejarás de fumar algún día?

Question 29

As a deadline, well when I get pregnant.

Answer 29

Como fecha límite, bueno cuando me quede embarazada. (Quedarse = to become; used with adjectives) (note use of subjunctive with cuando in the future)

Question 30

And is this what one tends to do in Spain?

Answer 30

¿Y esto es lo que se suele hacer en España?

Question 31

Let’s talk a little about youth and tobacco.

Answer 31

Hablemos un poco de la juventud y el tabaco.

Question 32

For example, in my case, I smoked my first cigarette at a party on an end-of-year school trip.

Answer 32

Por ejemplo en mi caso, yo me fumé mi primer cigarro en una fiesta en un viaje de final de curso.

Question 33

And I don’t know why, because at the next party they offered me another one again and alright, well, here I am.

Answer 33

Y no sé porque pues a la siguiente fiesta me volvieron a ofrecer otro y bueno vale, pues aquí estoy. (volver a + infinitive = to do something again) (pues here = because)

Question 34

In Spain, is there aid from the Government, or from Health so that people stop smoking?

Answer 34

¿En España, hay ayudas por parte del Gobierno, o de la Sanidad para que la gente deje de fumar?

Question 35

Moreover they are free and it seems that it’s quite good.

Answer 35

Además son gratis y se ve que está bastante bien. (Verse = to seem. Can also mean to see oneself)

Question 36

For example, you can go to your family doctor and tell him “I want to quit smoking” and then he will give you some advice, if you have to take nicotine patches, he will prescribe it for you etc etc

Answer 36

Por ejemplo tú puedes ir a tu médico de cabecera y decirle “quiero dejar de fumar” y entonces él te dará unos consejos, si tienes que llevar parches de nicotina, pues te lo recetará etc, etc. (Pues here introduces a solution to the problem)

Question 37

In other words, society is becoming aware and, really, we don’t know how things will end in… or how things will be in four or five years.

Answer 37

Es decir, la sociedad se está concienciando y realmente no sabemos cómo terminarán las cosas dentro de… o cómo serán las cosas dentro de cuatro o cinco años. (concienciarse = to become aware; dentro de X años = within X year; in X years’ time)

Question 38

Let’s hope they always get better.

Answer 38

Esperemos que siempre vayan a mejor. (ir a mejor = to improve)

Question 39

Will you have stopped smoking?

Answer 39

¿Habrás dejado de fumar? This is the future perfect tense: the future of the verb haber, added to the past participle.

Question 40

I promise you.

Answer 40

Te lo prometo. (Prometer = to promise)

Question 41

On entering a cafetería he realized that the people were smoking.

Answer 41

Al entrar en una cafetería, se dio cuenta de que la gente estaba fumando.

Question 42

He was very surprised because now in Scotland smoking is prohibited in bars and cafes. *

Answer 42

Le sorprendió mucho porque ahora en Escocia está prohibido fumar en los bares y en las cafeterías. Sorprenderse = to be surprised. (Note that it may be more accurate to use “se sorprendió” or “lo sorprendió = it surprised him” although there may be some scenarios where “le sorprendió” may be appropriate”)

Question 43

Sometimes he is embarrassed to smoke.

Answer 43

A veces le da vergüenza fumar. (le da vergüenza = he/she is embarrassed; literally “to him/her it gives shame”)

Question 44

She has even made us a promise.

Answer 44

Incluso nos ha hecho una promesa. (Incluso = even (in addition to))

Question 45

I am very much in love with a twenty year old girl.

Answer 45

Estoy enamoradísimo de una chica de veinte años. (estar enamorado/a = to be in love)

Question 46

Do you think she would marry me if I said I was fifty?

Answer 46

¿Cree usted que ella se casaría conmigo si yo dijera que tengo cincuenta años? (Note Imperfect subjunctive of decir.)

Question 47

On the contrary, tell her that you are eighty years old. (Usted)

Answer 47

Al contrario, dígale que tiene usted ochenta años.