- Forum >
- Topic: Spanish >
- "Siempre me acuerdo de lavar …
67 Comments
I've never heard "wash the floor" said in English. It would be "clean the floor."
There is a difference between what is customary and what is correct. "Wash the floor" may not be customary, but it is not incorrect.
1281
or "mop the floor." I just suggested that. We used to wash and scrub the floor as clean up at a burger joint. But even there floor cleaning was called "mopping."
- 144
I learned stuff from this discussion thread, but I actually wanted to know why "Always I remember to wash the floor" is considered incorrect. It would not be the more common phrasing, but I would consider it correct.
- 928
It sounds a bit awkward. The adverb "always" (and other adverbs of frequency) usually influence the word that comes right after. So if you say "Always I do something", it tends to sound like "I am the only one who does this." It's always me.
Thank you, RyagonIV, your explanation made this clear for me. Don't spend your new Lingot all in one place. 8-)) That second smile is my double chin.
- 655
I did exactly the same thing. Take heart that in another thread you'll put an answer in a way that makes sense in English, but you'll be told, "you can't apply English syntax to Spanish." Here, you have to.
- 394
The sentence is not formed correctly. I this example no matter how you decide to answer, the sentence has to start with "I". The forms are:
-
I always remember to wash the floor.
-
I always remember to washing the floor.
-
I remember to clean the floor all the time.
-
I always remember cleaning the floor.
-
I always remember [cleaning/to clean] the [floor/apartment/flat/condo]
I think this is unlikely because you "clean" (limpiar) or "tidy" (ordenar, poner en orden) a flat rather than "wash" it. These examples from real translated speech are all about the floor as well: https://www.linguee.com/spanish-english/translation/lavar+el+piso.html
Thanks for your thoughtful reply and link. Wales46 was asking that question as a kind of joke, because "piso" doesn't just mean "floor", it also means "flat" or "apartment". So the question could also be saying "I always remember to wash the apartment". Obviously, that wasn't the intention, so it's just a funny coincidence. Besides, "piso" meaning "flat" is right there at the top of the link you provided, under the definition.
The issue hear is English and Spanish don't agree on what exactly is the precise word to mean cleaning, I am not surprised to see so many examples between both languages to represent this concept, still lavar and limpiar are synonymous up until I say it's cleaned.
So, the reflexive acordarse means "to remember, and acordar means "to agree."
Not exactly... Strictly speaking this is not a reflexive verb construction. A true reflexive requires the subject to act on itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexive_verb
This is an example of a type of verbal construction that is not used in English!
This is a Pronominal Verb Phrase. Reflexive verbs are a smaller subset of this larger group.
Here is a good explanation (sorry about the pop-ups):
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/pronominal-verbs-spanish/
"wash the floor" sounds strange to my ear, but i understand how it's correct. clean or mop should be accepted alternatives, though.
- 928
If you want to talk about "remembering something", these words are synonymous, but they use different grammar:
- Me acuerdo de algo. = Recuerdo algo. - I remember something.
- 1281
While technically washing a floor might be different, it feels like "mop" should be an acceptable word here. "I always remember to mop the floor," is in effect what we'd say in English.
I did work at a Hardee's restaurant one time where they'd dump soapy water down and use a scrub brush. But rarely, if ever, would we do that in a domestic setting.
To mop the floor (specific) = trapear el piso. To clean, wash (general) = limpiar or lavar. I imagine Duo is just sticking with the verbs that have broad meanings for our benefit. I donʻt think we students get to stretch the meanings at will.
No.
You should read the other comments and this:
https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/acordarse%20de
https://www.spanishdict.com/answers/209334/introduction-to-pronominal-verbs
Just curious, would I have been wrong in saying "mop the floor"? After all in English we say that instead of wash the floor.
- 928
David, I thik "mopping the floor" would be a good translation for "lavar el piso". It doesn't seem like English has a more general term for "cleaning the floor with water", even if you don't use a mop.
Well I've always referred to it as mopping the floor, even if one didn't use a mop. It just should be accepted as one translation because no matter the "tool" you use it means the same.
- 928
Jake, that won't work. Acordarse only uses the preposition de in this situation. You generally cannot exchange a and de.
If you want to explicitly state what is being remembered, you need the "de" because "acordarse" is intransitive.
Intransitive verbs cannot have a direct object; so, they must use prepositions. Just like "Jugar" needs an "A" to connect to a sport or game.
- 928
Peter, do you mean "I remember that I washed the floor at an earlier point"? I would express that with a Perfect construction:
- Me acuerdo de haber lavado el piso. - I remember having washed the floor.
But simply leaving out the siempre of the original sentence already goes a long way.
Similar question: How would one say "I remember always washing the floor," as in, I remember that that was something I had to do all the time! Would the answer be the same as what RyagonIV posted?
I thought "piso" meant appartment, not floor. Anybody who knows about this?
Piso means floor. Next time you have a question like this, you can find a quick answer at SpanishDict.com
According to my VOX Spanish dictionary, the first meaning given for "piso" is floor, the second meaning given is for flat or apartment.
I think it's safe to say that a large number of Duo sentences fall into this category. I can't remember ever saying, I like swimming in the pool with my cat, and I am highly unlikely to ever say it in the future, However, we are not being taught sentences. We are being taught vocabulary, grammar, and sentence construction. It's up to us to (eventually) construct our own sentences in Spanish just as we do in English.
What is usually said in Spanish? Lavar or limpiar? Can we say 'clean the floor' since that is what would be said in English as common usage (even though its not the direct translation)
Can Wednesday just say all the sentences? I have no problem understanding this depressed senorita.
No one in English would say "wash the floor." It should be either mop or clean.
It has been my experience that a claim that "no one" would say whatever it is you think no one would ever say almost always turns out to be incorrect.
I might have been tempted to claim that no one would say "no one in English would say" to mean "no one in England would say" or possibly "no one would say ____in English," but there it was right there. Somebody actually said it, just as I now say that when my kitchen floor gets grungy, I do indeed "wash" it --- or "mop" it, depending on which word pops into my head at the moment.
However, I am USer, so if you meant to say "no one in England," my floor-cleaning vocabulary is irrelevant.
In English we don't say 'wash' the floor, we say 'clean' or 'mop' or something, but not 'wash'
- 144
As a native English speaker, I know of many people who do say "wash the floor". It generally implies mopping, rather than sweeping or tidying.
Having lived in Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, California, New York, Washington, and Oregon, I agree with you. But maybe there is a place where it's more common.
- 1602
Living in Illinois my whole life, I would completely say wash the floor. We don't have a mop, so the floor is washed by hand.
