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How would you translate this sentence to Spanish? Please explain the choice of words. 'There is only black or white, there are no in-betweens.'

Answers · 5

2
This sentence can be translated in a fairly literal way, except for the expression "in-between", which has no accurate equivalent in spanish. Instead, you can say "No hay término medio" ("There is no happy medium"), or "No hay matices" ("There are no shades"), or more poetically "No hay grises" ("There are no greys", or even "There are no shades of grey", in reference to the "black and white"). But let's go back to the first part, "There is only black or white". Literally, you can say "Hay [There is] solamente [only] negro [black] o [or] blanco [white]", or "Hay sólo negro o blanco", being "sólo" a shrinkage of the word "solamente". Eventhough this is correct, I'd rather a make a slight change in the order of the words and say: "Sólo/Solamente hay negro o blanco". A mere matter of how it sounds like. Putting it all toghether, the result should be: "Hay solamente negro o blanco, no hay término medio". Although it's understandable, it sounds quite akward, because of the redundancy of the verb "hay". So, it is convenient to supress the second "hay". Result: "Hay solamente negro o blanco, no término medio". Which still sounds akward! There is something missing, something that could bring a hint about the "hay" that it's no longer there. A connector would be useful. "Pero" ("but") can do that work: "Hay solamente negro o blanco, pero no término medio". Also, an alternative is to change the order again, putting the "no" at the very end, using a comma as "hint" or replacement of the missing verb "hay", and making a little adjust in the punctuation. Here it is: "Hay solamente negro o blanco: término medio, no". Or: "Hay solamente negro o blanco. Término medio, no". Or combining all the cases: "Hay solamente negro o blanco. Pero término medio, no". Hope it helps! PD: Feel free to add me as a friend and/or send me a private message in case of any doubt.
2
We use exactly the same idiom in Spanish^^ "[Aquí] es todo o blanco, o negro, no hay término medio".
1
hola Nicolas " o es blanco o es negro", no hay intermedios
1
We've a colloquial expression likes yours: "Ó es blanco, ó es negro. Sin medias tintas" ( you can say the same in different order: "sin medias tintas, ó es blanco ó es negro") "No hay término medio: ó es blanco ó es negro"
0
*Es blanco o negro, no hay matices. *Es blanco o negro, no hay grises.

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