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desgraciaods pudiesen

19:06 Dec 24, 2000
Spanish to English translations [Non-PRO]
Tech/Engineering
Spanish term or phrase: desgraciaods pudiesen
...para que los desgraciados pudiesen comer.
meg


Summary of answers provided
na...so that the unlucky ones could eat
Agua
na... so that all the unfortunate persons could eat.
Maria Rye
naSo the poor wretches might eat...
Yolanda Broad
naSo that the homeless could eat.
Luis Luis
naSo that the ungrateful could eat
Infobureau


  

Answers


31 mins
...so that the unlucky ones could eat


Explanation:
or "so that the poor ones could eat", "so that the wretched ones were able to eat".

I hope it helps,

Mar

Agua
Spain
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in pair: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Yolanda Broad
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18 hrs
... so that all the unfortunate persons could eat.


Explanation:
Unlucky also is okay but I prefer Unfortunate , because unlucky is someone without luck. A homeless person to me is an unfortunate person. Someone that goes to Las Vegas and lost all their money is unlucky.

Maria Rye
United States
Local time: 09:40
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in pair: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Yolanda Broad
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21 hrs
So the poor wretches might eat...


Explanation:
Pudiesen = past subjunctive. Expresses intention or purpose in the past (also known, grammatically, as the mode of *volition*). *Might* is the closest we have in English to that particular Spanish mode--English prefers to indicate difference modes by adding verbs (called, of course, *modal* verbs), rather than using various verb forms.

From the Oxford SuperLex, for the noun form of *desgraciado (as opposed to the adjective, which means *unhappy*, *unfortunate*, *ill-fated*, *unwise*, *horribe/nasty* ):

desgraciado2 -da m, f 1 (desdichado) wretch; la pobre desgraciada the poor wretch


    Oxford SuperLex
Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 09:40
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 668
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1 day 11 hrs
So that the homeless could eat.


Explanation:
Regards.
Luis M. Luis

Luis Luis
United States
Local time: 08:40
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in pair: 171
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5 days
So that the ungrateful could eat


Explanation:
How about a different take??? I live in Miami and a lot of times, an insult is "desgraciado" when telling someone they're not grateful, selfish, etc. I would be interested to see the rest of the context.

Infobureau
Local time: 09:40
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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