Thread: I need help!

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I am an American from New Jersey. I have a friend I met in California, but she doesn't speak English (except with me). She has taken some English grammer classes, but no conversational English. We talk for hours using Spanish-English dictionaries, but she uses some expressions that I don't understand and she has a hard time explaining. Can someone please tell what "Te pasas" means in English? How about "Tampoco te pases?"

Thanks,
Struggling in New Jersey

Hi, puckeji1! Welcome to the forum!

This is an expression we use (at least in Argentina) when we are not happy with a comment: this may be because you are talking too much or dealing with personal issues which are not of your interest. It would be like: that's not your business! in a way... It's a rather informal (though polite) way to say it.

Hope you find it useful!

hey jersey boy ,
being that your lady friend is from cali, there is a big chance that she is using the mexican slang.
"te pasas" is an expression they use all the time: joking, serious, etc.
it's meaning varies with the conversation, but an overall meaning is like the one that sandra said, meaning going too far. where as "tampoco te pases" sometimes is used when you have already gone too far and kind of means 'now that's too much'.
"te pasas" can also be translated into the 'you're a trip' translation.

hope that helps a bit more!
dragona

Originally Posted by SandraT

Here in Cuba, the expression means something like "It's too much"..."You're going too far".
Where is she originally from?

Well, yes... This is what I was trying to explain... Sometimes, it's a bit difficult: you put it short and sweet.

What would it mean in Chile? A friend wrote to me: te pasas porque no me llamaste - I thought it means "go away because you didn't call me". Is that right?

Originally Posted by SandraT

I know it's a little late but here it goes anyway...
I am not sure about the expression in Chile but I don't think it means go away at all. Maybe something like you went too far or it's too much...maybe you already did something and to top it off, you didn't call either...does it make sense?
Better late than never.

I agree with you Sandra...

I also heard Chileans say: "Uyyy, qué lindo!! te pasate..." meaning it was very nice of you. So I guess it depends on the context sometimes.

Kind regards,

That makes sense. It may still mean, you´ve gone too far or that´s too much. Maybe you spent more money or did more than she expected than necessary or you were very generous.

yeah, welcome puckeji1

and can you tell us, if that´s not too private, in which kind of context?
I think most of the options are correct, depending the Spanish flavor and conversation context
cheers!