How to make reference to extent in a declarative statement?

Question

In English, we can make reference to extent with "how." Translating “How (much)” in non-numeric situations deals with a similar, but not identical question. Note that it focuses on questions and I would like to focus on statements. Also note that most of the answers there revolve around qué tan, which is not used in Spain, and I am looking for forms familiar in Spain.

An example of a sentence that I would have difficulty translating to Spanish is

Last night showed how agreeable his personality is.

In Spanish questions, we can use forms like:

¿Qué/Cuánta valor tienen estas películas?

and

¿Hasta qué punto son valiosas estas películas?

I fail to see how this question is different from the one you link, or how those answers don't provide an answer to this. I would answer this question pointing to "cuán", "cómo" (¿Cómo de valiosas son estas películas?) Could you please clarify the difference with the linked question? — Diego, Apr 13 '18 at 02:53
Anvyne and @Gorpik, could you please check my edit to the question to make sure it fits with both of your understanding of what's being asked? (Gorpik, I think when a question is in danger of being closed, and you intuit, better than the close-voters, how the question is different from the duplicate, you're supposed to edit the question to make things clearer....) — aparente001, Apr 13 '18 at 10:47
Im tempted to vote Close, but i'll hold my review vote for the Original asker to make the changes suggested by @aparente001. Also, i would kindly ask other reviewers with "close votes" to allow some time for the Asker to edit the question into a valid non-duplicate form, if -of course- you feel it appropriate. Skipping for now. — hlecuanda, Apr 16 '18 at 07:48

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:53

4

There is a usual construction that can only be used in declarative sentences like this, but not in interrogative ones. In Spanish we can use the neuter article lo to turn an adjective into a noun, with a quantitative meaning in this case. So you can use this construction:

La pasada noche demostró lo agradable que es su personalidad.

Or even:

La pasada noche se vio lo agradable de su personalidad.

You can also use the same constructions as for questions, of course:

La pasada noche se vio cuán agradable es su personalidad.

La pasada noche se vio cómo de agradable es su personalidad.

Or, in American countries:

La pasada noche se vio qué tan agradable es su personalidad.

edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:53

Community

1

answered Apr 13 '18 at 07:52

Gorpik

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Perhaps also: La pasada noche demostró hasta donde llega su amabilidad? – aparente001 Apr 13 '18 at 10:55
@aparente001 That changes the original too much, in my opinion. – Gorpik Apr 16 '18 at 06:42
also i think the "to an extent" can be simplified to be translated to "que tan/tanto" instead of "hasta que punto" – Mike Apr 16 '18 at 20:29
@Gorpik - okay, it's your answer. – aparente001 Apr 17 '18 at 02:57
@Mike - For some questions, sure, but I don't think it works for this one: "¿Qué tanto son valiosas estas películas? – aparente001 Apr 17 '18 at 02:58
@aparente001 you are right "tan" and "tanto" are more complicated to use – Mike Apr 17 '18 at 16:24

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:53

Supplementary answer to Gorpik's (which I support).

Also:

Anoche se demostró hasta donde llega su amabilidad.

Anoche se pudo ver hasta qué grado llega su amabilidad.

Anoche se pudo ver el extento de su amabilidad.

Anoche se pudo ver lo amable que es [fulano].

(Fulano is a stand-in for the name of the person you're referring to.)

Although you didn't ask for alternative phrasings of questions, I'll offer this to help you see how it can be helpful to forget about translating and concentrate instead on getting the idea across:

¿Cuál es el valor de estas películas?

How to make reference to *extent* in a declarative statement?

2 Answers2

How to make reference to extent in a declarative statement?