I want to translate:
Not a press conference' to be proud of
Is this a good translation?
no es una rueda de prensa para estar orgulloso?
I'm at loss, any suggestions?
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Dylan: note you are asking very similar questions. This is just in the limit of the off-topic, so please give a look to How to Ask and try to put more effort in your questions, both on formatting and research.– fedorquiCommented May 23, 2016 at 15:00
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1I'm not sure why this has been put on hold but your sentence sounds okay to me. I would prefer No es una rueda de prensa de la que estar orgulloso though. Also, if there was more than one person involved, you have to make orgulloso plural, and use proper inflection for gender if that's the case. Other variations include changing the main verb (no fue/no ha sido) and the subordinate one (de la que estoy/esté/haya estado, or estamos/estemos/hayamos estado, or están/estén/hayan estado, etc). There are many ways to say it, the one with the infinitive being the simplest one.– YayCommented May 23, 2016 at 15:08
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@Yay I had put it on hold but now it is open again. I encourage you to convert your comment into an answer!– fedorquiCommented May 23, 2016 at 15:17
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@fedorqui Yeah, it verges off-topic-ness in that it looks like a "correct my text" question, but I think it's still good: the OP gave an option, and the question ultimately asks for a Spanish expression for "not a [NOUN] to [VERB]", which I think could be useful to future users. Should I change the title to How to translate "not a (noun) to (verb)"? or maybe How to translate "not a (noun) to be proud of"? to make it more general?– YayCommented May 23, 2016 at 15:28
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1@Paul Weird to me. Where is it used?– SchwaleCommented May 23, 2016 at 15:37
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1 Answer
Your sentence sounds okay and is perfectly understandable, but I'd prefer:
No es una rueda de prensa de la que estar orgulloso.
Other options are:
No es una rueda de prensa de la que sentirse orgulloso.
No es una rueda de prensa de la que enorgullecerse.
Both are fine and mean the same thing as the first one.
Now, the Spanish sentence necessarily contains more information than the English one because there's no direct way to say "not a (noun)" in Spanish:
A great idea = una idea genial
Not a great idea = ?No una idea genial, ?Una idea no genial
You have to add a verb to say "not a (noun)" and choose the right tense. If the press conference was in the past you can say:
No fue/ha sido una rueda de prensa de la que estar orgulloso.
Ha sido makes it sound closer in time and is more common in Spain. Of course, you can keep it present to give it a more general feeling.
Other variations regarding the subordinate verb would require providing even more information. Who's (not) feeling proud? The speaker, the listener, a third party? Was it one person or more? Were they men or women? Let's say it's a male speaker who's not feeling proud. Then you can say:
No es una rueda de prensa de la que me sienta orgulloso (focus on the present)
No es una rueda de prensa de la que me sintiera orgulloso (focus on the past)
No es una rueda de prensa de la que me haya sentido orgulloso (focus on the past, means pretty much the same as the previous option and is a tad more common)
There is a slight change in meaning when you conjugate the verb of the subordinate clause: in No es una rueda de prensa de la que estar orgulloso you're basically saying you shouldn't be proud of it. In No es una rueda de prensa de la que me sienta orgulloso, you're saying you aren't proud of it. Depending on what you want to convey, you can pick one option or the other.
Also, "orgulloso" must agree in gender and number with the one being proud, be it the speaker or the person alluded.
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1Very nice answer! Just to add a nitpick, I you really want to omit the verb you can invert the sentence and say una rueda de prensa para olvidar, or una rueda de prensa que mejor olvidar, though I don't know if the meaning could be a little too negative compared to the original one.– CharlieCommented May 23, 2016 at 17:05