nydag

Hi there!

I am translating a sentence, but I am a bit lost.

"We will go to places where we can find rare species of wolves and get proper serious".

Does it mean "we are going to be experts in those species" or "we are going to get rare species of wolves". I don't understand. It is the first time I have seen this expression and I am not even sure if it is in a formal or an informal register.

Can anybody help?

Thanks in advance!
Cheers!

Angelo

Hi!!! I found just a limit number of such expression mostly in informal contexts so I wouldn´t choose "and become experts...".Probably it is: "and get proper,serious" .What about: " ... estudiarlas/analisarlas (as they are rare species) in order not to risk much...
BESTS & GOOD LUCK !!!

michelleba

It would seem that the source text is poorly written. Both proper and serious are adjectives, but they are not modifying a noun or pronoun. Perhaps the sentence following this one will help you define what is missing here.

nydag

Thanks you two!

The thing is that the sentence following doesn't have anything to do with this one.

Can be "proper serious" used as to modify the subject? Is it used as to define "formal people", in the sense of a "proper serious one"?

Thanks in advance!

michelleba

Unfortunately, in this instance you will have to be creative and make an educated guess. I still think the sentence is incomplete or poorly written.

Having those adjectives modify the subject does not make much sense. In English, each modifier (adjective) is placed in front of the noun it modifies. In this case, there is none.

Without more context, it's hard to tell which would be the best option here. My best guess, with the limited amount of information given, would be:

"We will go to places where we can find rare species of wolves and get proper serious scientific data"

or something along those lines.

nydag

Thanks again!

I'll do something along these lines!

Cheers!