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In Spanish, punctuation is soooo important, especially to new language learners.

I encounter so many song lyrics that inconsistently include punctuation. Therefore, I'm always unsure if the absence of an accent mark is intentional or not.

See the bolded text in the following verse from the song Eres para mí by Juleta Venegas:

Temes sentir más de la cuenta

El corazón es un músculo si no late revienta

Extraño, mirarte de lejos

De hacernos los tontos parecemos tan viejos

Tiempo, que dices tiempo

Mírame en la piel

No ves acaso lo que siento

Tú eres para mí yo soy para ti

El viento me lo dijo con un soplo suavecillo

I'm not confident that the Internet has provided the proper lyrics. That is, should it be "Tiempo, que dices tiempo," or should it be "Tiempo, qué dices tiempo."

One little accent mark can change the entire meaning:

Tiempo, que dices tiempo = Time, you say time

Tiempo, qué dices tiempo = Time, what about time

Is there anyone that is familiar enough with this song to know what is the proper translation of this one line within the context of the song?

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  • Que is sometimes used to refer a pronoun. So I think it should be the first one. But whatever it is, this song is kind of difficult, I mean that it is more like a poem so if you are a beginner I wouldn'r recoment you this, since I'm spanish and even though I have some dificulties to undertand the whole meaning of that.
    – Weijie Chen
    Jul 25, 2016 at 17:35
  • After adding a comma (Tiempo, qué dices, tiempo), the second option actually translates to Time, what do you say, time. An alternative and somewhat informal interpretation without the comma could be time, what do you mean time, as in A: necesitamos darnos un tiempo. B: ¿Qué dices tiempo? Lo que necesitamos es no vernos más.
    – Yay
    Jul 25, 2016 at 20:37

1 Answer 1

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The transcription you found is incorrect. The actual lyrics are:

¿Tiempo? ¿Quieres más tiempo?

Mírame la piel, ¿no ves acaso lo que siento?

Tú eres para mí, yo soy para ti

You can listen to that part here (1:59). It can be translated as:

Time? You are asking for more time?

Look at my skin, can't you see how I feel?

You are for me, I am for you

She is trying to say to her love interest that he shouldn't ask for more time to admit their feelings, they are obviously made for each other.

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  • Arrrgh! I need to find an official source for lyrics!!!!! At least I have you fine folks at StackExchange to help. If not for you, I wouldn't know that "no ves acaso lo que siento" was presented as a question!!!
    – Rock Anthony Johnson
    Jul 25, 2016 at 18:01
  • Also, what is the significance of placing 'acaso' in "¿no ves acaso lo que siento?"? Thanks.
    – Rock Anthony Johnson
    Jul 25, 2016 at 18:11
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    @RockAnthonyJohnson in this case is a way to add emphasis, like: Really, can't you see it? It's obvious
    – rsanchez
    Jul 25, 2016 at 18:26
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    @RockAnthonyJohnson It's emphatic as said. Normally it uses a simple form to make the question: don't you see what I feel?
    – Schwale
    Jul 25, 2016 at 18:30
  • One more thing: "Mírame en la piel" or "Mírame la piel", are these idioms that have special meaning beyond the literal translation, "Look at my skin"?
    – Rock Anthony Johnson
    Jul 25, 2016 at 19:36

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