pegarle-- to hit or spank?

I don't mean to quibble, but assuming the context does indicate "hitting":

The phrase translates as The father hits/strkes the child a lot, (present tense) not past tense as indicated by El Gallo.

As you do not want to quibble, I am using this to merely convey a verbal point into this argument by referring to slash with which is used in Arab countries and sometimes in Mexico that is performed with a leather belt. Sometimes some people use the context as pretext in some cases, for instance: “El papá le pega siémpre al niño. Always, the father slashes the child.” Perhaps the word “mucho” would transcribe in Spanish as “siempre, ” just mucho show that the father does this a lot with which it has a daily connotation on the father slashes the child many times daily but using siempre has it as less pronounced that the father it less into do it a lot. Since # 4 used that, "El papá le pega con la mano y con un cinturón"? inquiry I tried to answer his question with "Slash."

{quote:title=riverkfrog wrote:}{quote}
#Riverkfrog wrote, What if it was: "El papá le pega con la mano y con un cinturón"?.' "

Yes, it would depend on the context. For example, since there are a few other ways to express a spanking with a belt, you might want to employ a different verb:

el papa le dio un azote al nino con su cinturon, the father spanked the child with his belt+ (from spanish verb +azotar)
--is yet another way to express the spanking:

el papa le dio un golpetazo al nino con un cinturon, l
the father gave blows to the child with a belt

The spanish language is very idiomatic and nuanced, so the translator has many choices depending on the context. Suggestion: don't be pigeon holed into using only pegar, try something else if it doesn't feel right.

Edited by: El_Gallo 12/19/07

Gallo,
You should really read the posts properly. All OP wanted to know was whether to translate it as "The boy is hit by his father a lot"or "The boy is spanked by his father a lot".

Cubissimo, where do you find that the spanish pegar translates as "to slash" in english? I looked in several dictionaries including Larousse and I did not find this.

The verbs azotar and azotarse can mean to whip or slash. I don't really follow your comments--are you saying the reader infers the use of a belt when the verb pegar+ is used in a sentence like this? Or only if +cinturon is added in the same sentence?

My Larousse gives many contexts of pegar, but none indicate that it is ever used to indicate a "slashing" or "whipping" with a belt.

Edited by: El_Gallo

#13 is correct.

#12 wrote
>...we could assume that this is habitual (as opposed to just one time) since you used "mucho", though a better choice would be to use the phrase varios veces. A translator has many choices and spanish is as nuanced and idiomatic as any language

Yes, obviously Spanish is "as nuanced and idiomatic as any language." However, I don't know that the phrase "varias veces" is a better choice than "mucho." In any case, I didn't "use" either one; the original Spanish was a quote from a native Spanish speaker. As I said previously, I'm the translator. Or rather...

The full context, which I didn't originally feel like sharing: I'm a teacher. A mother told me "el papá le pega mucho al niño." The family is Mexican. I was trying to decide whether or not the father was spanking or hitting the child.

spanking IS hitting.

but I guess I know what you mean - you already know that the father hits his child, but you're not sure with what degree of violence he hits him. ie: does he often slap his son on the butt, or does he often punch him in the face.

So...Riverkfrog you had to come to a forum like this to translate pegar and its idiomatic usage?
And you need forum members to translate this phrase for you? You want us to fit a square peg into a round hole so you can translate this as to spank+, sorry, you can't infer that just on the sentence you used. El papa le pega el nino con la mano y con el cinturon, that would be +the father hits the child with the hand and with a belt.

As I've indicated to you: if she meant to spank actually smack+, she would've said +El papa le dio un azote con el cinturon+. That means, +the father gave him a spank with the belt.

I presume there's a reason you can not or will not ask this mother for clarification? Why you're relying solely on interpretations of pegar from forum members? I suggest you invest in a good english/spanish dictionary, like Harrap's or Larrouse which will show you the different contexts in which these verbs are used.