Hello, Herbert!
"Haber de hacer algo" is a fairly common idiom in Spanish. It may mean "to
be supposed to do something," "to be expected to do something," or, in
inflected forms, can be translated with "must," "should," or "were to." In
this case, I would venture as a translation something like "if love were to
kill me" or "should love kill me." Of course, the verb "han" is in the
indicative mood, not the subjunctive, and, depending on what the following
independent clause is, probably represents a real condition ("if love is to
kill me--and it probably will") rather than an unreal condtion ("if love
were to kill me--but it probably won't"). Also, I am translating the plural
"amores" with the singular "love," but, depending on context, the plural
could also mean "words of love" or "love affairs."
Hope this helps,
Stephen Arndt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Herbert Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2004 7:11 AM
Subject: Translation of old Spanish.
>
> I'm working on
> Si amores me han de matar.
> by M de Fuenllana, from 16th century Spain.
>
> Can anyone translate this title? I've never seen "haber de hacer algo"
> before.
>
>
>
