Ana
Se le han quedado pequeños?? In the sentence: “those shoes don’t fit the boy any more. He’s grown out of them.” Can I translate “He’s grown out of them” like “Se le han quedado pequeños” or is there a better translation for this Thank you in advance!
Oct 21, 2019 4:46 PM
Answers · 2
Thanks Jose, I prefer “ha crecido”. “Ya no le quedan” doesn’t sound very natural in Spanish (from Spain) or at least in the area where I live. Of course, the sentence is clearly understood but It sounds a little bit “hispano” (from latinoamerica). Do you know what I mean? These slights between similar languages are interesting and curious to me. I suppose it also takes place with British an American English. Thanks again :)
October 21, 2019
”Ya no le quedan” Spanish has a funny way of the inanimate object being at fault. It’s not the boy’s fault, in other words. Think of it more like, it’s a matter of fact statement. The boy is meant to grow, so he’s grown out of them, yes, but frankly it’s the shoes that simply just don’t fit anymore. If you want more of a direct translation to include both sentences, it’d be “le quedan pequeños”. “le han quedado” Implies they used to. “Los zapatos ya no le quedan al niño. ¡Ha crecido!” “¡Ha crecido el niño y ya no le quedan los zapatos!”
October 21, 2019
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