Feb
28
Dar vueltas
A common complaint among Spaniards learning English is the quantity of phrasal verbs that exist in English. These are multi-word verb phrases that consist of a base verb but change meaning depending on the preposition attached to it. For example, “to step up, “to step in,” “to step on” and “to step out”, all have different meanings despite the fact that the base verb (“to step”) is the same.
Well, it turns out that Spanish is filled with phrasal verbs as well. It’s just not as noticeable to native Spanish speakers because, hey, it’s their language!
One of the most useful base verbs in Spanish is the verb dar which literally means “to give.” But when paired with the Spanish noun “vuelta,” dar becomes a phrasal verb powerhouse.
- darse vuelta (to turn over) El bebé se da vuelta en la cuna. (If a car or a boat: to flip over or to capsize) El coche se dio vuelta en la carretera durante el accidente.
- darse la vuelta (to turn around) El perro se da la vuelta cuando escucha su nombre.
- dar media vuelta (to turn halfway around) La modelo da media vuelta en la pasarela.
- dar una vuelta (to take a walk, to take a ride (in a car) Vamos a dar una vuelta.
- dar vueltas (to toss and turn) Carmen daba vueltas en la cama.
- dar vuelta en redondo (to make a U-turn, to make a complete 360º turn) Taxista, tiene que dar vuelta en redondo al próximo semáforo.
- dar vueltas en redondo (to go around in circles) ¡Basta ya! ¡Esta discusión da vueltas en redondo!
- darle vuelta a (to turn something over) Miguel le da vuelta al crepe (“pancake” en inglés) para que no se queme.
No hay que darle vueltas. (There’s no use talking about it. There’s no use discussing it.)
February 28th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Gracias. Ahora mi cabeza da vueltas.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I have been trying to remember how to say “Can I give you a ride?” for the longest time, and in my efforts to ask native speakers, I tend to get only blank stares. Is there a way of conjugating this to ask that question? Puedo darte una vuelta? perhaps???
February 28th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
@James: Good question! Use the verb LLEVAR when asking someone for a ride or offering someone a ride.
Person A:No tengo coche. ¿Me llevas al aeropuerto? ¿Te importa llevarme? (I don’t have a car. Can you give me a ride to the airport? Do you mind giving me a ride?)
Person B: Sí, claro, te llevaré. (Yes, of course, I’ll take you.)
¿Quieres que te lleve? ¿Te llevo a algún sitio? (Do you want me to take you? Can I give you a lift/a ride somewhere?)
Llévame a casa, por favor. (Take me home, please. Give me a ride home, please.)
The “dar una vuelta” phrase is more like you’re making a statement, not making a request. For example, let’s say you have a baby and he normally falls alseep in the car. So one night when the baby won’t fall asleep you tell your wife, “Damos una vuelta para que el bebé se duerma.” (We’re going for a ride so that the baby will fall asleep.)
To me, if someone asked me “¿Quieres dar una vuelta?” [You want to take a walk/go for a ride?] I would think that maybe they wanted to spend time with me or to talk about something, not that they simply wanted to transport me somewhere. It’s like in English when someone says to you “Let’s take a walk” or “Let’s go for a ride” they’re suggesting an activity with some intention in mind, whether that be to talk, have fun or just generally spend some time with the other person. In other words, there’s some other purpose involved. It’s not just about getting from Point A to Point B but the time in between. Does that make sense?
@Graham: Your comment reminds me of another phrase: “dar mil vueltas” “Apple le da mil vueltas a Microsoft.”
March 1st, 2009 at 12:47 am
While it’s certainly true that there are phrasal verbs in Spanish, I don’t think there are as many as in English. I haven’t made a scientific survey and I could be wrong about that, but it seems that again and again, there are concepts expressed in Spanish by a single verb that can only be conveyed in English through a phrasal verb. Examples: apagar/turn off, encender or prender/turn on, buscar/look for, mirar/look at. I’m not sure that the opposite is true that often. It’s true that “dar vueltas” is a phrasal verb, but the English equivalents: “turn around,” “turn over” etc. are phrasal verbs too! It would be really interesting to do an analysis and see how many phrasal verbs both languages have.
March 1st, 2009 at 2:07 am
@Lee,
Yes, I agree with what you said. I’m pretty sure there are more phrasal verbs in English than Spanish because as you said Spanish tends to have specific verbs for actions that are covered by multi-verb phrases in English. But even when there is a specific one-word verb in English, in casual conversation the phrasal verb tends to be used, which adds to the frustration of the non-native English speaker.
An example that comes to mind right now is the verb “to surrender.” In every day conversation, someone might say “Don’t give up” but is unlikely to say “don’t surrender” because that sounds more formal and more serious.
Thank you for your comment.
March 1st, 2009 at 9:28 am
Apple le da mil vueltas a Microsoft.
¿Qué significa?
Apple runs circles around Microsoft, i.e. Apple is superior to Microsoft?
March 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am
@A+
¡Exactamente! Es así.
And just a general reminder to all, when using this “dar mil vueltas” construction you have to include an indirect object pronoun (me, te, les, nos, os, les)and the Spanish preposition “a” to be crystal clear on who is running circles around whom.
March 1st, 2009 at 11:29 am
@Lee: I haven’t seen any comparisons, but here is a blog collecting some examples of periphrastic verbs in Spanish: http://spanish-phrasal-verbs.blogspot.com/
March 1st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
My favorite is a phrase my father-in-law uses.
“¡Das más vueltas que un perro para hacer la cama!”
Since you like dogs, I thought you might like that one.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:02 pm
@Graham: Great find! Thanks for posting that link.
@Erik R: Your suegro sounds like a real character. Maybe he should give you some bedmaking pointers to help you save time!
May 25th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
this is great. hope you keep writing articles like these