- Forum >
- Topic: Spanish >
- "Ella me vuelve loco."
59 Comments
can someone explain this? isn't volver to return? i wrote she comes to me crazy, and was marked wrong.
Technically, that is correct. You must keep in mind though that you should try to translate meaning and not words. For example, "Lo siento" literally translates to "I feel it" but we all know that it means "I'm sorry". It can be tough sometimes especially because a system like this is not very forgiving, but I would just suggest to try to translate meaning as well as you can.
Yes, well, with many of us having to repeat this lesson due to lost hearts, we ought to have ample opportunity to translate meaning.
192
I couldn't translate the "meaning" by trying to decipher the word "vuelve". That's a far reach for me.
That's interesting. I both recognized the meaning of this expression immediately and knew the meaning of the words. But it wasn't until you mentioned it that I actually did the direct translation. I guess it's another sign of knowing Spanish's personality. I guess the idea is that we start out crazy and people can return us to that state. As I say, it seemed to make sense in Spanish, but I never even thought about it.
- 192
Thanks lynette, lesson learned. I should have pondered the whole sentence instead of getting fixated on "vuelve".
Volver also means to turn and to "convert" in the sense "she turned him into a criminal. "
Thank you for the only the only explanation that wasn't essentially "deal with it" :)
Probably, or they could add a definition to volver. I think we have major and minor idioms which are treated differently. A good dictionary includes idioms in a definition. Some idioms are more difficult than others depending on your native language.
No, because it's not an idiom. Volver, especially in the reflexive, can be translated into "turn" or "become." For example, "La habitación se volvió oscura" or "The room became/turned dark." So in this sentence, "Ella me vuelve loco" literally means "she turns me crazy."
Yes. That's an important point for people to consider. Most people learn incomplete translations/definitions for a lot of words. That means that a lot more expressions appear idiomatic. An expression is only idiomatic when the meaning is different from the sum of the meanings of the words, and all the meanings of all the words are allowed.
If you translate word by word, in English, it makes no sense either. She drives me crazy: ella me conduce loco? You see...
But you're right. English is the only language in which you can chop a tree down and then chop it up.
Not really because drive means to push toward or conduct toward. So, she pushes me toward being crazy. Or simplified with a word wraps it in a smaller package, she drives me crazy.
Desafortunadamente los habladores frecuentemente no usan las formas correctas por sus sextos.
- 105
I have heard "She drives me crazy" or "She makes me crazy" in English. I have never heard "She turns me crazy" but I cannot speak for English speakers everywhere.
Is this the only way spanish speakers say "She drives me crazy" because its an idiom? Or is there another more common way to say it? Thank you
"Ella me enloquece" is also correct and more direct. Enloquecer means to make, or cause to be crazy.
In English, this can indicate great annoyance or sexual attraction. Would I be right in presuming only the former applies for the Spanish phrase?
Because "she is driving me crazy can have more temporary connotations where as "she drives me crazy" (ella me vuelve loco) can be a more permanent situation implying that you don't get along with her in general. It could also imply attraction. She's so beautiful, she drives me crazy. "She's driving me crazy" is best translated "ella me está volviendo loco".
Would a Spanish-speaking person understand this expression (in somewhere like Spain)? I'm curious.
the reflexive verb, "volverse" means "to become, to turn into". This seems like a use of that verb, though I haven't gotten to the reflexive module yet.
Can someone tell me how "volver" has come to be used in the same manner as "hacer" for this phrase. Is it slang? Is it more common to say "me hace loco"?
No, because it's not an idiom. Volver, especially in the reflexive, can be translated into "turn" or "become." For example, "La habitación se volvió oscura" or "The room became/turned dark." So in this sentence, "Ella me vuelve loco" literally means "she turns me crazy."
If you are a man you can say: ella, él, eso, esto me vuelve loco. If you are a woman you can say: ella, él, eso, esto me vuelve loca.
