Answers
Jan 25, 2015 - 08:18 PM
It means "to turn" in Venezuela and some parts of Columbia. Sonia is from Venezuela, so that's probably why she uses it. In most Spanish speaking countries you will hear girar, doblar, dar vuelta, but not cruzar. I would personally forget about cruzar meaning to turn, unless you're planning to go to Venezuela.
Jan 25, 2015 - 08:43 PM
On a side note, in Brazilian Portuguese, 'the intersection' is 'o cruzamento'. Sorry, but I find the similarities in languages interesting.
Jan 26, 2015 - 09:26 AM
I was confused too when I first saw that. I live in Spain and cruzar is definitely to cross and girar, to turn.
Jan 26, 2015 - 10:41 AM
They all come from the latin crux (cross): esp: cruzar, fr: croiser, port: cruzar, eng: cross. In french an interesction is a "croisement", or a crossing.
Jan 26, 2015 - 04:09 PM
@Fabrice - I doubt you used Fluenz French (I may be wrong), but don't they also use l'intersection (the intersection) in French?
Jan 26, 2015 - 05:14 PM
HI Eric, sorry I was not making any reference to Fluenz French. We say both "intersection" and "croisement", but I personally use croisement much more.
Jan 26, 2015 - 06:22 PM
No problems, Fabrice. I was simply trying to remember my Fluenz French. I was pretty sure I remembered "intersection". but I'm happy to learn "croisement", and plan to use it when I make my way to Paris (house will be paid off in 3 years...then shall I travel).
Jan 27, 2015 - 04:15 AM
Hi everyone, as Fabrice pointed out there are some regional variances when it comes to pronunciation and even vocab. At Fluenz we chose to teach "cruzar" as "to turn" but if you travel across Latin and South America and Spain you will come across many other translations. In Argentina, for instance, you would "girar" as well as "doblar" whilst at the other end in Mexico you might also hear "dar vuelta". You are absolutely fine to use any of these as people will usually understand you.