"Como você tem passado o tempo livre?"
Translation:How have you been spending your free time?
15 Comments
What have you been doing with your free time, should be accepted as correct
English speakers would always say "...spending your...". However, the Portuguese sentence also translates as "How have you spent...". In that case, "your" or "the" could be used, the latter for a specific period. For example, free time after lunch or before classes.
466
does the genitive have to be used in this case? i mean "your free time" instead of the simple "the free time". just to translate as mirroring as possible, por favor.
the genitive is not necessary actually to make a more "word-for-word" sentence...
- 466
yes, i have already got that! :) if the object is obvious than the genitive can be missed. but in this case "your free time" or generally "the free time" to spend, well, even in english is all the same. at least for me, yes... i reported, btw.
To my ears (my mother tongue is Canadian English), "How have you been spending the free time?" sounds like something a non-native speaker would say. I would say "your free time".
Portuguese speakers use the word 'the' more than we do. E.g. "A minha mãe" for my mum, or " "o seu carro" fot your car.
- 231
"how have you been spending free time" cannot be a wrong sentence ..... In english you can accept the the sentence with or without "the" in front of "free time"
Não. Me parece que a sua frase representa uma tradução ao pé de letra. Um falante nativo usaria "your" neste frase. DL está certo.
you....your free time; he....his free time; they....their free time, etc.
- 231
Thanks for your words. What you write is true, but it is important to mark that, in the common language and in this case, if someone does not put the possessive adjective is not wrong. Also in the english grammar it is not a mistake. We can say that it is a good general rule. ;)
In English, by omitting the possessive adjective, your sentence sounds strange.
Diferente do português, não existe uma diferença importante entre o inglês formal e o inglês informal. As regras são bem definidas.
As a native English speaker, I agree, "your free time" is normal, "the free time" is a little strange, could be provocative or funny, simply "free time" would be unusual.
