help! "apostar"

Hi!..How would you translate the following sentence:

Pedro F., analista de distribución, destaca en los resultados de "XX" (name of a company) su apuesta por el mercado exterior, aunque explica que las ventas se sitúan en un 2 por ciento.

Here's what I thought:

Pedro F, distribution analyst, emphasized his commitment to the abroad market regarding the XX's results, although he explained that sales are around 2%.

but I have three specific doubts:

1.- What would be the best way to translate the meaning of "apostar" in this case?...commitment? faith?

2.- Who is the subject of "apuesta" Pedro F. or XX (the company) (I think "Pedro F apuesta por el mercado exterior"! am i right?

3.- How would you say "las ventas se situan"?

Hope you can help me!
thanks!
danii

1. su apuesta = his bet (apuesta is a noun)
2. no subject because apuesta is a noun
3. sales are around 2 percent

Pedro F, Distribution Analyst, emphasized his bet on the exterior market in the results for Company XX, although he explains that sales are around 2 percent.

(I'm not clear on what this means exactly---maybe context will clarify. It might be that Pedro devised some strategy based on his beliefs about what the exterior market would do and he feels that this bet (acting on what he believed) positively influenced the results for Company XX. Then he points out that despite all that, sales are still only 2%. Something like that?)

Hi Mariaklec!...

I think in this case, the word "apuesta" is not exactly referring to a bet...according to the dictionary the right definition of APOSTAR, in this case, would be:

Apostar: 3.- Depositar la confianza en algo, esp. en una persona o en una idea que implica cierto riesgo: Dice que ha apostado por mí para el puesto de dirección. La compañia apuesta por diseños atrevidos y modernos

So, I think the paragraph means that Pedro confirmed in the company results his "faith/confidence"?? in the sales of the exterior market because despite the fact that they were around 2%, they were a good source of income.

By the way, Is "abroad market" wrong?

thanks!

danii

We usually say "foreign market" or "global markets". You can say the "market abroad". Now why in that one case the adjective comes after the noun is a question for someone smarter than I am.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gernt

We usually say "foreign market" or "global markets". You can say the "market abroad". Now why in that one case the adjective comes after the noun is a question for someone smarter than I am.

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thanks Gernt!

Danii,
His bet and his confidence are similar in usage here, but your explanation and translation is better than mine. Always a pleasure to learn a little more!

Gernt,
Abroad is an adverb here, I think.

Maria

Creo que no, pero nunca me siento seguro. Y este adjetivo es diferente. “Market” si puede ser un verbo, pero aquí, es un nombre. “Abroad” si puede ser un adverbio, pero es un poquito extraña. La forma usual para adverbios – abroadly – no existe. “Abroad” y “away” siguen nombres.

Pero en español, el primer parte del la Santa Biblia tiene que ser el “Antiguo Testamento”. A mí me parece debe ser el Testamento Antiguo.

Conditions abroad but foreign conditions.

The local climate (or the climate locally) but the climate away.

Esta semana aprendí las flores no pueden ser “salvajes”, al menos en México. Tienen que ser “silvestres”. Puedo entenderlo. No me gustaría un lirio que podría morderme. Siempre existen estas diferencias irritantes.

Hi Gernt,
I have to think about this some more---and I will. But in the depths of slumber phrases like "the people upstairs" or "the house across the street" or "the village upriver" were swimming through my head, and when I woke up I knew you would have commented. It seems to me that these modifiers that come after these nouns are adverbial in the sense that they tell where something is, effectively modifying an implied verb "to be." But as I said, I need to think this through after work.

Isn't it fun to be part of a community of people who actually find this interesting?

My wife rolled her eyes like watching paint dry would be more interesting. But I see your point. Like "the people (who live) upstairs)".

Native speakers don't have a clue about that stuff. Once I was with a group of French speakers. I mentioned I was learning which states and countries were masculine or feminine because they were using en or au - like au Tennessee for in Tennessee. They didn't think gender had anything to do with it, but not one could come up with a counterexample.

While it makes sense to me that words like abroad, which tell where something is, modify an implied "to be" and are therefore adverbs, I also found others who refer to "adverbs modifying nouns" at usingenglish.com and a few other sites.

This is another good example:
The concert tomorrow is at 8:00. (I would say that tomorrow modifies an implied "to be," the concert (that is) tomorrow.

Perhaps it doesn't make much difference if you call it an adverb modifying an implied verb, and adverb modifying a noun, or an adjective. But, if it's an adverb, then we know why it doesn't go before the noun.

I also found this at http://books.google.com/books?id=Oc5...morrow&f=false

Circumstantial adverbs (adverbs of manner, time, or place) can in fact also take on what might be thought of as the "adjectival role" of modifying nouns within the nominal phrase.

the match tomorrow
our holiday abroad

¡Hijoles! Que libro más complicado. Casi prefiero “no suena muy bien”.

"Why can't you say abroad business". "Because it doesn't sound right".