How to use the word "Otro" in spanish?

Question

I am watching a You tube video of La Factoria .

The title of the video song is :

Hey Otro en mi vida

I know that the meaning of the title in English is :

There is another person in my life.

One thing that is confusing me is the word "Otro" in the song title.

Does "Otro" mean "Another person/thing" or only "Another"?

Do the following sentences make sense in Spanish?

Hey otro chica en mi vida.

Hey otro persona en mi vida.

Answer 1

The correct sentence is:

• "Hay otro en mi vida"

Not "Hey otro en mi vida."

In Spanish there is a rule that helps us determine the gender of words. Is that words ending in "a" are feminine, and words ending in "o" are masculine.

When you speak of "otro" you're talking about a man (in this case), but it is always masculine form. when you speak of "otra", you're talking about a woman and in this case, is also determined to be only women, thanks to the terminanción of the word "a".

Using the same examples that you mentioned:

• "Hay otro chica en mi vida"

The correct sentence is:

• "Hay otra chica en mi vida"

In the following sentence:

• "Hay otro persona en mi vida"

The correct sentence is:

"Hay otra persona en mi vida"

In the two sentences talking about someone in a feminine way.

In the title song is talking about an "otro" is about a man. The complete sentence would be:

• "Hay otro hombre/chico en mi vida."

But as in the word "otro" is already determined the gender of the subject of who is speaking, it is not necessary to mention the "hombre/chico" because it is understood, it would be an unnecessary repetition in Spanish.

Answer 2

When we talk about romantic relationships, sometimes we decide to use general and ambiguous words. For example:

Hay otro en su vida. [There is another in her life]

In this case "another" means "a man with whom she has a second relationship, probably a lover or a substitute."

Creo que con María tenemos algo. [I think we have something with Mary]

In this case, "something" means "a romantic relationship".

Entre nosotros no hay nada. [Between us there is nothing]

Here, "nothing" means "no type of love relationship".

Por fin Andrea está con alguien. [Andrea is finally with someone]

And here "is with someone" means "having an affair with a man."

I do not know if these examples show some kind of universal phenomenon, or is only in Spanish. But I think that being ambiguous in our language we are trying to give the message an "atmosphere" of privacy, confidentiality and discretion.

So answering your question, "hay otro en mi vida" can mean "I have a lover" or "I'll change you by another guy/girl."