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- Topic: Spanish >
- "Es cierto."
54 Comments
I also think of sure as being secure or certain. Not just a state of mind, but as in a mechanical sense. The bolt is sure, as in a sure hold.
2013
I think that Está seguro, would be better for "It (the bolt) is secure."
I think ¡Verdad! could mean "truth" in limited American idiomatic use. In some casual, regional slang, after a person says something others find to be a profound truth, and they agree that what s/he has spoken is truth, they might respond, "(It)'s truth!" followed by a fist bump &/or nodding of heads, just as a short way of saying, "That's the truth!"
There was a trend about 20 years ago when people might say "Word!" to show approval &/or agreement for a truth that was spoken, in much the same way. It was even said by the actor who played the son of the Danny Glover character in a "Lethal Weapon" movie, then awkwardly repeated by the father, who was trying to speak the son's slang to seem "cool."
It was mostly urban use, from my understanding, so not widespread enough to commonly use, but just to point out that it was used for a time in that manner.
To quote EleanorD1 below, "Sure" in its usual sense is a state of mind, not a state of affairs. It is possible to use "sure" in this sentence, but it's kind of unusual or archaic and it means "reliable" more than "true". Like "God's justice is sure".
The phrase "For sure" has the same meaning. At least as a native (American) English speaker.
- 2013
skybanner, I thought so also, and was surprised to learn that it meant "By the way"!
Anyway "sure" can't be wrong, so even if it's not perfect, it's acceptable, I think... to say something else... "como" and "yo como", should be the same, but I wrote "yo como" and it's considered an error because the translation is just "como"... why?
"It's" means "It is", so "It's is right" will be like saying "It is is right."
- 620
Grammatically, you would say either "it is right" or "it's right." The meanings of "it is right" and "it is certain" are different.
En ingles, "Its is right" es como decir "Esta es correcto" en español. In English, "It's" means "that thing is" or "That has" or "It is" if used as a contraction. "Its" means "That thing is owned by that other thing". http://www.its-not-its.info/ What is your native language? Someone here might be able to translate more accurately.
Actually, you have them mixed up. [Its] is ownership. [It's] is short for it is. http://grammarist.com/spelling/its-its/
- 2013
archon88, it may be a SURE thing that someone's pet dog, who thought you were going to harm its master (so is rushing toward your throat with its jaws open), is going to bite you, but that would not make it "correct." ;-)
"It's true", was not accepted, is "It is true" significantly different or is it a glitch?
- 933
"Por cierto" has a closer meaning to "of course" or "indeed" (or "for sure" if you want to go really literal). You can use it to change the topic of the dialogue, as you do with "by the way".
I wrote 'you are true' - as in usted es, but that wasn't accepted. Should it have been?
- 2013
DyN1..., Using "its" is the possessive form of "it" (unlike most other English words that use an apostrophe-"s" for possessives); to shorten "It is," you must use the apostrophe to show the contraction (the missing letter) of the Subject Pronoun and the Verb.
- 620
Only nouns use an apostrophe-"s" for possessive. Pronouns consistently do not use apostrophes to show possessive.
- 933
Ethel, verdad is the noun "truth". If you want to use the adjective "true", you'll usually go for cierto.
- 354
Thanks - that has helped me a lot - so "es cierto" = it is true - "es la verdad = it is the truth. Am I on the right track here?
- 933
Pking, verdadero rather means "real, true, genuine" and it's mostly used as a descriptive adjective:
- amidstad verdadera - true friendship
- Los rumores son verdaderos. - The rumours are true.
Cierto is more along "right, true, sure". They are close in meaning but have different applications. You can say "Es verdadero", but it's far less common than "Es cierto".
