Que sera, sera?

Discussion in 'Spanish-English Grammar / Gramática Español-Inglés' started by chill46, Feb 19, 2008.

  1. chill46 Banned

    USA, English
    Mi amiga me dijo que esta frase esta escrita correctamente pero le dije que no creia que tuviese ella razon. Segun las reglas, he aprendido que la frase deberia ser "Sea lo que sea" "venga lo que venga--o sea, se debe utilizar el subjunct. Me pueden decir quien tiene razon? La oracion in english "Come whatever may come"

    (Siento que no haya puesto los accentos, toma desasiado tiempo en hacer)
  2. xqby

    xqby Senior Member

    Santa Maria, CA
    English (U.S.)
    "Lo que será, será" is how you'd write it in Spanish, but it doesn't translate to "Come whatever may come"... It's usually written "What(ever) will be, will be."

    Your translation is correct for "Sea lo que sea" but the true phrasing is a statement of fact, which invalidates the use of the subjunctive.

    And it really doesn't take very long to learn the alt+# codes; certainly a small price to pay for being correct.
  3. Benito81 Member

    Spain - Spanish

    I would translate "comewhatever may come" for "venga lo que venga", "pase lo que pase" or "sea como sea".

    The expression "¿Qué será, será?" is correct and means "What can it be?" or even "What will happen?", it is very famous beacuse of asong. As another example, if you receive a present, and wonder what can it be before opening it...
  4. TennisGirl Member

    Chicago, IL
    United States (English)
    En actualidad, traduce a la frase común, "What will be, will be," y eso es correcto.
  5. pedrotercero New Member

    Spanish Latin American

    This phrase means nothing in Spanish. According to the lyrics of the song, it is supposed to mean "whatever will be, will be". In that case, it should say "lo que será, será." I don´t think that the meaning of the song allows for the phrase to be used as a question (¿Qué será?) It speaks of the inevitability of future events: "whatever will be, will be."
  6. Agró

    Agró Senior Member

    High Navarre
  7. TravelinTom

    TravelinTom Senior Member

    Phoenix, Arizona, USA
    English - Texan
    What about "qué será sería"? Wrong or just weird?
  8. irland5 Senior Member

    spain spanish
    ``Qué será sería´´ No la he escuchado nunca.
  9. Forero Senior Member

    Houston, Texas, USA
    USA English
    Está mal igualmente en italiano (Debe de ser "Quello che sarà, sarà.")

    The earliest version of the phrase, "Che sera sera", seems to be 16th century English aristocracy, who claimed it was Italian (but it could not have been because Italian grammar has never allowed such a thing).
  10. echinocereus Senior Member

    English United States
    A note on adding accents, Xqby, The easiest way to type with correct accents in Spanish is to use Spanish keyboard, an option available to anyone with a modern computer. I use Spanish keyboard all the time - to type in Spanish or English - and no special codes are needed. One need only learn some changes in the layout of the usual "qwerty" keyboard. Un saludo. :)
  11. mvfgrant New Member

    Spanish - Peru
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 18, 2016
  12. Cenzontle

    Cenzontle Senior Member

    English, U.S.
    Regarding the English (yes, not Spanish or Italian) motto "Que sera sera", you will find more than you wanted to know
    by consulting the Wikipedia article linked by mvfgrant (#11),
    and additionally by reading the article linked in it.
    The expressions "Come what may" and "Come whatever may come" and "Pase lo que pase" mean approximately "regardless of what may happen",
    and their function is adverbial, to modify some other clause (e.g. "Come what may, I will persevere").
    In contrast, the intended meaning of the English [sic] saying "Que sera sera" is—as xqby (#2) points out—
    "a [complete] statement of fact", an assertion that whatever is destined for the future will indeed happen.
    Spanish-speakers have been exposed to this English saying through the song, first sung by Doris Day in 1956;
    and since it is ungrammatical as an assertion in Spanish, they have often reinterpreted it—as Benito81 (#3) does—
    to be a question ("What will happen?", "What do you suppose it is?"),
    with the second "será" having no more grammatical function than an echo, in the poetic license that songs can have.
    Pedrotercero (#5) sums up the intended meaning in the song perfectly.
    And pedro senses the ungrammaticality of the expression as an assertion in Spanish, but hasn't made the leap to recast it as a question.
    The rightly respected Merriam-Webster dictionary, linked by Agró (#6), is, in this case, mistaken, if you believe the article cited above: The source is English, not Italian.
    The phrase was invented by English-speaking people and variously given Spanish, Italian, and sometimes French-like spelling.
    Forero (#9): :thumbsup::thumbsup:

    Accent marks are offered just above the composing box, last item in the toolbar, hidden (unfortunately) behind the omega (Ω) sign.

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