Thread: 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

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.

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.

thanks Gernt!

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?

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.