G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 3, 2013
- #1
Buenas tardes.
Quisiera traducir la idea de "hacerse pasar por otra persona" para engañar o burlarse de alguien.
El ejemplo es el siguiente:
Mi amiga paula se hizo pasar por su hermana melliza para burlarse de su novio.Mis intentos en inglés:
¿Son correctos?
My friend Paula posed as if she were / made as if she were
her twin sister to mock of her boyfriend.
My friend Paula made herself pass off as / made herself pass for
her twin sister to make fun of her boyfriend.
Muchas gracias.
C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 3, 2013
- #2
My friend Paula passed herself off as her twin sister...
My friend Paula pretended to be her twin sister...
My friend Paula posed as her twin sister... (correcto así, pero no me gusta en este contexto)
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 3, 2013
- #3
Hi Chris! Would these words apply?
What about "simulate", "feign"" or "fake" in this context?
My friend Paula simulated / feigned / faked to be her twin sister to mock of her byfriend.
C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 3, 2013
- #4
Gamen said:
Hi Chris!
What about "simulate", "feign"" or "fake" in this context?
My friend Paula simulated / feigned / faked to be her twin sister to mock of her byfriend.Would these words apply?
You could say "she feigned being her twin sister," but it's not really idiomatic. "Faked" would be very colloquial and probably wouldn't be used except by children; "simulated," on the other hand, is too formal.
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 3, 2013
- #5
Regarding the construction "My friend Paula passed herself off as her twin sister..."
wouldn't be missing the act of simulation created to deceive?
I mean, in this case Paula passed for her sister because someone judged it that way, but I see something is missing there: the premeditated simulation action. Something like the verb "to make" to say "she made herself pass for her twin". Is not possible this construction to inidcate that it was a prepared and reflective action?
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C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 3, 2013
- #6
Gamen said:
Regarding the construction "My friend Paula passed herself off as her twin sister..."
wouldn't be missing the act of simulation created to deceive?
I mean, in this case Paula passed for her sister because someone judged it that way, but I see something is missing there: the premeditated simulation action. Something like the verb "to make" to say "she maded onself pass for her twin". Is not possible this construction to inidcate that it was a prepared and reflective action?
I'm not sure I understand you. "Passed for her sister" would be correct, but it doesn't put as much emphasis on her intentional action as "passed herself off as her sister" does. For instance:
When he was sixteen he passed for twenty-one / he could pass for twenty-one. (This doesn't necessarily mean he deliberately tried to falsely appear older than he was, just that he did in fact appear older.)
When he was sixteen he passed himself off as being twenty-one. (This means he deliberately deceived people about his age.)
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 3, 2013
- #7
Ok, I see the difference.
In "pass for" you cannot perceive the deliberate action that you can see, instead, in "pass oneself off".
I was just thinking that in Spanish we use the verbal form "hacerse pasar", which clearly denotes the fact that the action is deliberate and I wanted to draw a parallel with English. However, it is not possible to say in English: "She made herself pass off as if she was her twin sister", right?
C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 3, 2013
- #8
Gamen said:
[...] However, it is not possible to say in English: "She made herself pass off as if she was her twin sister", right?
Not in that exact form, no.
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 3, 2013
- #9
Ok.
And what about the verb "impersonate". Would it be better than "to pose as"?
My friend Paula impersonated as her twin sister to make fun of her boyfriend / to mock of her boyfriend.
I don't know if the construction is ok.
After "simulate" and "pretend", do you use both infinitivo and gerund?
She simulated to be her twin / She simulated being...
She pretended to be her twin / She pretended being..
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C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 4, 2013
- #10
"Impersonated" doesn't require a preposition: "she impersonated her twin sister."
Also, "mocked" doesn't require a preposition: "to mock her boyfriend."
She simulated being / she pretended to be...
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 4, 2013
- #11
Thank you Chris!
aztlaniano
Senior Member
Lavapiestán, Madrid
English (Aztlán, US sector)
- May 4, 2013
- #12
Chris K said:
My friend Paula passed herself off as her twin sister...
My friend Paula pretended to be her twin sister...
My friend Paula posed as her twin sister... (correcto así, pero no me gusta en este contexto)
Agree.
Gamen said:
Regarding the construction "My friend Paula passed herself off as her twin sister..."
wouldn't be missing the act of simulation created to deceive?
No. The sentence makes clear that she intentionally made others believe she was her sister.
Gamen said:
"she made herself pass for her twin". Is not possible this construction to inidcate that it was a prepared and reflective action?
Supongo que es posible, pero no suena natural.
Sí se dice: She made herself out to be X.
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G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 4, 2013
- #13
Thank you aztlaniano! Would you use "impersonate" in this context?
As for "to fegn", is it more frequently used with nouns, isn't it?
So, for you this construction would sound strange: "She feigned beign her twin". Is that so?
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donbeto
Senior Member
Vancouver (Canada)
Eng (Canada)
- May 4, 2013
- #14
Gamen said:
Thank you aztlaniano! Would you use "impersonate" in this context?
As for "to feign", is it more frequently used with nouns, isn't it?
So, for you this construction would sound strange: "She feigned beign her twin". Is that so?
Actually, "She feigned being her twin" sounds OK to me. For example, you can say either:
She feigned sleep.
She feigned being asleep.
I might just prefer the second.
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 4, 2013
- #15
Thank you very much Aztlaniano and Donbeto!
Thank you for being always there giving me a hand!
Sorry, donbeto:
As for "she feigned sleep", you don't use the "to" of infinitive or the form "sleeping"? It souns strange to me just "sleep".
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C
Chris K
Senior Member
Tacoma WA, US
English / US
- May 4, 2013
- #16
Gamen said:
[...]
Sorry, donbeto:
As for "she feigned sleep", you don't use the "to" of infinitive or the form "sleeping"? It souns strange to me jyst "sleep".
It's okay; think of it as "she feigned [the act of] sleep." "Sleep" is a noun in this case.
G
Gamen
Banned
Near Buenos Aires
Spanish Argentina
- May 4, 2013
- #17
Perfect Chis! Now I got it. Thank you!
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