English vs Spanish: Sendos


There are more words in English than in Spanish and in many ways English is also more versatile than several of the other languages currently in use around the world including Spanish, meaning for example that there are things that can only be said and understood under the parameters of that language and not another. Nevertheless, as there are expressions that are exclusive of English there are certainly words that only exist in each language and Spanish is no exception.
One such case is the word SENDOS that has no equivalent in English. Here is an example of its use:
Seis guerreros salieron del castillo llevando sendas espadas.
If translated into English the sentence would probably read as follows:
Six warriors came out of the castle and each one was wielding a sword. 
The word SENDOS (masculine) or SENDAS (feminine) is an adjective that when used indicates that the noun it modifies exists in equal number as another mentioned before in the same sentence. In the sentence we mention six warriors which means that there are also six swords. How do we know this? Thanks to the presence of the adjective SENDOS  which by the way is only used in plural (adjectives in Spanish have number and genre).
Curiously such a useful term is being slowly forgotten or misinterpreted as it is indicated by the image that accompanies this article. Apparently there are those who believe SENDOS is the same as LARGE and interpret the term that way, but that is only plain ignorance. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you say MIRADOR in English?

Image
"Hmm, why do I have this nagging feeling that someone is watching me watching?" In Spanish, a MIRADOR is any place that allows a privileged view of the surroundings. In English, a MIRADOR is a VIEWPOINT or a LOOKOUT. Another possible translation is VANTAGE POINT, though in a tourist context this term is a bit less common.
Read more

The Maps of Ship-Trap Island

Image
Once I had my high school students read The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell. Rainsford, the main character, is a professional hunter traveling by ship to his next hunting area, accidentally ends up in an island called Ship- Trap island. When he goes into the island he finds there are two men living in a palace in the island. One of them is a Cossack general and the other, his brutish servant.  The Cossack is called general Zaroff who is also  a game hunter but has become bored of hunting regular game and now uses the island's unique position to capture sailors from shipwrecks. He lets them go first and next after some time he hunts them down. Rainford's arrival who is worldwide famous presents Zaroff with a rare opportunity to find excitement in hunting again by hunting another hunter. Little does Zaroff know that Rainsford is The Most Dangerous Game in the World and hunting him will not be easy at all. My students enjoyed themselves at reading
Read more

How do you say EXAMEN SUPLETORIO in English?

Image
Darn! I wonder if there's a Make Up exam for this Make up exam! I remember that long ago I asked my distinguished and knowledgeable colleagues of that time to enlighten me and tell me the right English word for what we know in Ecuador as EXAMEN SUPLETORIO or EXAMEN DE RECUPERACION.  After hearing Recovery exam or Supplemenary test and even Supletory exam, I was not convinced so I decided to go to a higher authority and looked up one of those encyclopedic dictionaries from Oxford or Cambridge university (these were the pre-browser times) and found the right expression is MAKE UP EXAM which is taken when an exam has been missed or when a student needs to change one score with a more favorable one. The British say RECUPERATION EXAM which is perhaps more practical since to some people the term Make Up is confusing. Make-up is the word for the wearing of cosmetics. There are Make-up tests which are oriented to future Make-up artists.
Read more