Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Es Que No Entender Esta Canción Es Inevitable

One of the most infamous differences between English and Spanish is the double-negative-that-really-means-single-negative: unacceptable in English, necessary in Spanish.  For example, "I don't have anything" in Spanish is "No tengo nada," which literally translates to "I don't have nothing."  There is no counterpart to anything in Spanish that is separate from the "negative" nada (nothing), which makes words like nada and nunca used the way English speakers us anything and ever as well as nothing and never.

Keeping this in mind, I bring to your attention Exhibit A: the song "Inevitable" by Dulce María.  The full lyrics to the song make it apparent that the singer is, in fact, falling in love with the addressee.  Lyrics such as "te quiero amar" ("I want to love you") and "Tu boca dice ven, tus besos dicen ven, Tus ojos me derriten, baby" ("Your mouth says come, your kisses say come, your eyes melt me, baby").

This is why one line in the chorus is particularly and frustratingly confusing to me:
"Es que no enamorarme de ti es inevitable"

Which translates to:
"(The thing is that) me not falling in love with you is inevitable"

Personally, this lyric gets under my skin.  I am used to "No tengo nada" ("I don't have anything") and "No lo haré nunca," ("I won't ever do it"), but "Me falling in love with you is inevitable" should be "Enamorarme de ti es inevitable."  Now, if inevitable (same spelling and meaning though different pronunciation in English) is considered a "negative" word in Spanish like nada or nunca, this might seem to fit under the Spanish double-negative-that-really-means-single-negative safety, making the actual translation "Me falling in love with you is inevitable," which is what makes sense in the context of the song.  However, similar sentences with this same structure would mean exactly the opposite because they leave the double negative meaning intact: "Es imposible no hacerlo" means "It's impossible not to do it," whereas following the logic of the "inevitable" lyric it should mean "It's impossible to do it."

The kicker is, in another context, the same lyric can be understood to mean "Me falling in love with you is not inevitable," i.e. "I am never/not necessarily going to fall in love with you."  Although native Spanish-speakers (at least the ones I have consulted) know which meaning to infer, it is by the context, and the interpretation could go either way to the native ear depending on that context.  But in this song, the singer NOT falling in love inevitably just doesn't make sense.  

So my questions are: is inevitable a "negative" word like nada or nunca?  Is imposible?  Is context the sole determiner here, or is this actually just lazy grammar?  Could "No hacerlo es imposible" mean "Doing it is impossible," or "No hacerlo es inevitable" mean "Doing it is inevitable," as opposed to their negative counterparts?  Native speakers and non-native speakers -- what are your thoughts on this subject?

7 comments:

  1. Once I learned that double negation like "no hice nada" is incorrect in spanish also. It should be "nada hice", but it sounds weird or poetic. The fact is that everyone says "no hice nada" and everyone understands it.

    About the line "Es que no enamorarme de ti es inevitable", I think it's totally wrong. It should be "Es que enamorarme de ti es inevitable"

    What a interesting blog! Contragulations.

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    1. That's so interesting, because in the U.S. (at least in my Spanish classes) they taught us that the double negative was the correct and necessary usage. I guess it's kind of like ending sentences with prepositions and starting them with conjunctions in English -- it's all a matter of convention!

      So listening to the song and hearing that line, it sounds wrong to you? Does it not make any sense, or does it just sound weird but you still understand the meaning? Why do you think they added the "no"? (It doesn't even fit rhythmically! "Es que enamorarme..." has a better flow in the song.)

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    2. ajjajajaj y dale que la gallinas mean!!! jaajaj
      NOOOOOO SEEEEEEEE.... SUENA BIEN A MIS OIDOS!! CON O SIN NO SUENA BIEN PARA MI.

      amarte es inevitable ..... te amo/voi a amarta si o si, right?
      no amarte es inevitable .eeee..... es o mismo.. jajajaj no se como explicar... pero suena bien...
      Mira algo raro me pasa a mi cuando veo estas oracones. Si leo sola la que tiene el "no" encuentro que duena perfectamente bien y el significado es super claro, pero si despus leo la que no tiene el no y vuekv a leer la del no, me suena un poco raro... me cachai??? no tengo explicacion cientifica para esto! ajjaja

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    3. Hahahaha Tania I love you!

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  2. A mi me "suena" bien...pero no tiene sentido esa oracion: En otras palabras la tipa está diciendo que no puede evitar NO enamorarse del tipo...cuando lo que en realidad quiere decir es que enamorarse de él es inevitable...SI la oración fuese "No enamorarme de ti es imposible"...Ahi tendria más sentido para mi. Es la palabra "inevitable" la que me incomoda...
    Ese es mi humilde opinion jajaja
    Chingrid

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    1. I totally agree! Since "inevitable" and "imposible" have opposite meanings, "imposible" would make perfect sense. :)

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