The second half of the sentence deals with reality (I’m not a flight attendant) so you can stick to the indicative. The second half of the pick-up line is written in the indicative, with two present tense indicative verbs: soy (I am) and llevo (I take).īecause the first half of the sentence describes a dream or a hypothetical (If I were a flight attendant…), it requires subjunctive and conditional tenses. The first half is a si clause like the ones we’ve seen so far, including the past subjunctive verb fuera from ser (to be) and the conditional verb llevaría from llevar (to take). This cute rhyming pick-up line consists of a compound sentence. Si yo fuera azafata, te llevaría en mi avión, pero como no lo soy, te llevo en mi corazón.Įnglish Meaning: If I were a flight attendant, I’d carry you in my airplane, but since I’m not, I’ll carry you in my heart. In this case, the past subjunctive verb is viera, from the verb ver (to see). Take note: Although this is also a si clause, it differs from the two we’ve seen so far because its verb doesn’t come from ser. With all that in mind, go back and read the Spanish version of the piropo. Now that we have the historical context, it’s also important to remember that Santa María (Saint Mary) can be used as an interjection in Spanish, like “oh my God!” and that tener pinta is a colloquial way to say that someone (or something) looks good. And if you’ve forgotten elementary school American history, here’s a quick reminder: The three ships that Columbus sailed to America were the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María. First, remember that Cristóbal Colón is Christopher Columbus’s name in Spanish. This one has several different layers to work through. This piropo is a great example of how certain things just don’t translate between English and Spanish. Si Cristóbal Colón te viera, diría: ¡Santa María, qué Pinta tiene esta Niña!Įnglish Meaning: If Christopher Columbus saw you, he’d say, “Saint Mary, that girl looks incredible!” Remember, those two verbs are completely interchangeable! Any time you see a verb in the past subjunctive, keep in mind that it has an equivalent form. Note that this pick-up line uses the verb fuese instead of fuera. Here we have another si clause, this time using the same verb in the past subjunctive and conditional forms: ser (to be). Si el agua fuese belleza, tú serías el océano entero.Įnglish Meaning: If water were beauty, you’d be the whole ocean. Since piropos are by definition colloquial Spanish, you should expect to hear these variations quite a bit. Using the conditional verb caminaría (I would walk) is technically correct, but in colloquial Spanish you could also use the imperfect caminaba. Lots of piropos take this structure, so you’ll want to learn it and learn it well! Note the structure of this sentence: It starts with the word si (if) and contains a past subjunctive verb as well as a verb in the conditional tense. Si besarte fuera pecado, caminaría feliz por el infierno.Įnglish Meaning: If kissing you were a sin, I’d happily walk through hell. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy.
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