Lost in translation

As you may know, in the past, people used to study English by translating word by word. Back then, high school students would write their essays by looking  every word  up in a dictionary, mistakenly thinking that this would lead to a successful essay. Nowadays, some people think the same thing and it is this that leads to funny statements and utterances.

The most common mistakes made by low-level students of English is the use of the verb 'have' every time the verb 'tener' appears in Spanish. English is quite logical in this aspect. It is perceived that the verb 'have' (or 'have got') means 'own' or 'possess' and is used to express possession. Thus, it cannot normally be used in contexts where that means otherwise. Therefore, some mistakes such as 'I have 10 years old', or 'I have luck' are constantly made. 

If I received a penny every time a student of mine has used the verb 'to have' to refer to their age, I would be wealthy!

Now, I'm going to list some of the most common expressions where the verb 'to be' in English replaces the verb 'tener'  . I hope you enjoy it:

• To be eighteen years old to have eighteen years old: tener dieciocho años
• To be hungry  to have hunger: tener hambre
• To be thirsty to have thirst: tener sed
• To be successful to have success: tener éxito
• To be unsuccessful not to have success: no tener éxito
• To be careful to have care: tener cuidado
• To be envious to have envy: tener envidia
• To be afraid to have fear: tener miedo
• To be right to have reason: tener razón
• To be wrong not to have reason: no tener razón/equivocarse
• To be lucky to have luck: tener suerte
• To be unlucky not to have luck: no tener suerte/tener mala suerte
• To be sleepy to have dream: tener sueño
• To be cold to have cold: tener frío
• To be hot to have heat : tener calor
• To be logical to have logic: tener lógica
• To be illogical not to have logic : no tener lógica
• To be tricky to have trick: tener truco/tener trampa
• To be in trouble/to have a problem: tener problemas
• To be in pain to have pain: tener dolor
• To be in control to have control: tener control

As seen in the previous examples, the verb 'to be' is used since we are not dealing with possession: we don't possess the age or the hunger. Spanish seems illogical in that aspect. 

The verb 'to be' in English can sometimes replace the verb 'hacer' in Spanish:

• It's cold it does cold: hace frío 
• It's hot it does heat: hace calor
• it's sunny it does sun: hace sol
• it's windy it does wind: hace viento

The verb 'to be' is also used to replace other verbs in Spanish. This is used with the structure: subject + verb 'to be' + number + measure unit + adjective (the same structure used to talk about our age):

• I am two metres tall: mido dos metros.
• This building is forty metres high: este edificio mide cuarenta metros.
• the lake is two metres deep: el lago mide dos metros de profundidad.
• my house is twenty metres long: mi casa mide veinte metros de largo.
• this car is 200 kilometres fast: este coche va a 200 kilómetros hora.
• my computer is one hundred centimetres wide: mi ordenador mide doscientos centímetros de ancho.
• the station is two kilometres far from my house: la estación está a dos kilómetros de mi casa/dista dos kilómetros de mi casa.
• my fridge is minus twenty degrees cold: el frigorífico tiene una temperatura de menos veinte grados

As seen in the examples, the verb 'to be' is used to express different states (heat, cold, age...), so the English language is quite logical here. Some people consider that the English language is difficult because it is different from Spanish. However, if English uses the same verb ('to be') for different constructions in Spanish, I may as well say that it is because English is much easier. 

To conclude, we cannot speak a second language if we are constantly thinking about the structures of our own mother tongue. The important thing here is not to translate from one language to another, but to understand the logic of the second language. You know, to speak English you have to think in English.