Preferencias arancelarias 1. Acuerdos Comerciales

This error derives from the logical assumption that Eng. ‘funny’ is the adjective derived from the noun ‘fun’, just as ‘sleepy’ comes from ‘sleep’, ‘muddy’ comes from ‘mud’, and so on. Although this is certainly true in etymological terms, the meanings of the two words have now diverged. There are now two adjectives. a) fun (adj.) = Sp. ‘divertido’ (like the noun ‘fun’ = Sp. ‘diversión’)

• Eng. ‘a fun trip’ = Sp. ‘un viaje divertido’

• Eng. ‘a really fun weekend’ = Sp. ‘un fin de semana muy divertido’ b) funny (adj.) = Sp. ‘gracioso/a’, ‘cómico/a’, i.e. provoking laughter. • Eng. ‘a funny story’ = Sp. ‘una historia graciosa’

• Eng. ‘a really funny scene in the movie’ = Sp. ‘una escena muy graciosa de la película’

• Eng. ‘Very funny, you nitwit! Give me my bag back!’ = Sp. ‘¡Muy gracioso, imbécil! ¡Devuélveme la bolsa!’

Compare:

• Eng. ‘He’s a funny bloke’ = Sp. ‘Es un tío gracioso’ (= ‘me hace reír’)

• Eng. ‘He’s a fun bloke’ = Sp. ‘Es un tío divertido’ (= ‘me lo paso bien con él’) Note that in some situations, Eng. ‘funny’ = ‘raro/a’ or ‘extraño/a’.

• Eng. ‘The car is acting funny. Maybe one of the tires is going flat.’ = ‘El coche se está comportando de un modo extraño. Quizá una rueda esté perdiendo aire.’ • Eng. ‘That’s funny! I’m sure the keys were here a minute ago.’ = Sp. ‘¡Qué

extraño! Seguro que las llaves estaban aquí hace un momento.’ 48. By + gerund of method

An adverbial phrase describing how something was accomplished tends to be preceded by the preposition ‘by’ in English.

• Sp. ‘Resolví el problema reiniciando el ordenador’ = Eng. ‘I solved the problem

by rebooting the computer.’

• Sp. ‘La policía entró en el piso rompiendo la puerta’ = Eng. ‘The police entered the flat by breaking down the door.’

Exceptionally, the gerund ‘using’ does not require ‘by’ in this context, e.g. ‘We opened the door using an old key that we found.’

Note that the use of ‘by’ helps to distinguish a gerund adverbial showing how something was done from a gerund adverbial that is merely descriptive. Compare the following two examples.

• Eng. ‘He went to the fancy dress party wearing a policeman’s uniform’ = Sp. ‘Fue a la fiesta de disfraces vestido de policía.’ (descriptive)

• ‘He got into the president’s office by wearing a policeman’s uniform.’ = Sp. ‘Consiguió entrar en el despacho del presidente llevando puesto un uniforme de policía.’ (method)

49. To go + gerund + at/in

Eng. ‘to go’ + gerund is used for linear sports and prolonged activities, usually pastimes: go swimming, go skiing, go jogging, go hiking (and all linear sports), go shopping, go clubbing, etc. These are essentially fixed expressions, and the Spanish translation varies.

• Eng. ‘to go clubbing’ = Sp. ‘ir a la discoteca’ • Eng. ‘to go hiking’ = Sp. ‘hacer excursionismo’

In both cases, if we indicate WHERE this activity takes place, we use a locative preposition—usually ‘at’ or ‘in’ (see Note 14 on the difference).

• Eng. ‘I have to go jogging in the park’ = Sp. ‘Tengo que ir a correr al parque’ (=‘Tengo que ir al parque a correr.’)

• Eng. ‘Then we went shopping at the mall’ = Sp. ‘Luego fuimos a comprar al centro comercial’ = (‘Luego fuimos al centro comercial a comprar.’)

However, note that in Spanish if we make the place the complement of the verb ‘ir’, the prepositions do not change. This is not the case in English.

• Eng. ‘I have to go to the park to go jogging.’ • Eng. ‘Then we went to the mall to go shopping.’

The same phenomenon can apply to constructions with ‘to go’ + bare infinitive or ‘to go’ + to-infinitive.

• Eng. ‘I have to go pick up the kids at school’ = Sp. ‘Tengo que ir a recoger a los niños al cole’ (=‘Tengo que ir al cole para recoger a los niños.’)

• Eng. ‘The next morning we went to have a picnic at the castle’ = Sp. ‘La mañana siguiente fuimos a hacer un picnic al castillo’ (=‘La mañana siguiente fuimos al castillo a hacer un picnic.’)

Note that Eng. ‘to go walking’ is not Sp. ‘ir caminando’ but rather ‘dar un paseo’ or ‘pasear’.

• Eng. ‘Shall we go walking?’ (= ‘Shall we go for a walk?’) = Sp. ‘¿Vamos a pasear?’

• Eng. ‘Shall we walk?/ Shall we go on foot?’ = Sp. ‘¿Vamos caminando?’

50. To increase by

With verbs used in describing economic trends like ‘increase’, ‘fall’, ‘rise’, ‘expand’ and so on, a prepositional phrase that specifies the difference or proportion of the change typically begins with the preposition ‘by’.

However, like in Spanish, the preposition in this context is not strictly mandatory. • Sp. ‘Las ventas subieron un 5%’ = Eng. ‘Sales increased 5%.’

Note that if the complement is the starting or final value, the collocating prepositions are ‘from’ or ‘to’ respectively.

• Sp. ‘Las ventas subieron desde/de 2,2 millones de euros a 2,3 millones de euros’ = Eng. ‘Sales increased from €2.2m to €2.3m.’

And remember that in English percentages are not usually preceded by articles.

51. An increase in

When the complement refers to the value that is affected, the preposition that collocates with the noun ‘increase’ is ‘in’.

• Sp. ‘el incremento del/en el coste de la mano de obra’ = Eng. ‘the increase in labour costs.’

However, when the complement refers to the amount of the increment (or reduction), the preposition is ‘of’.

• Eng. ‘There was an increase of 2% in the cost of labour’ = Sp. ‘Hubo un

aumento del 2% en el coste de la mano de obra.’

A paraphrase of this sentence would be Eng. ‘There was a 2% increase in the cost of labour.’

Analogous constructions occur with synonymous nouns like ‘rise’ or ‘surge’, as well as ‘decrease’ and its synonyms like ‘fall’, ‘drop’ or ‘decline’.

• Eng. ‘The stock market reported a sharp drop of 5 points in the value of shares’ = Sp. ‘La bolsa anunció una brusca caída de 5 puntos en el valor de las acciones.’

52. To influence (no prep)

Sp. ‘influir en’ or ‘influenciar en/a’ = Eng. ‘to influence’

• Sp. ‘La edad influye en la satisfacción de los clientes’ = Eng. ‘Age influences customer satisfaction.’

However, note that the preposition which collocates with the noun ‘influence’ is ‘on’ or ‘over’. In other words, ‘to influence something’ vs. ‘to have an influence

See Notes 1, 5, 18, 25 and 59 for similar contrasts.

53. To insist on

Sp. ‘insistir en’ = Eng. ‘to insist on’

• Sp. ‘¿Por qué insistes en recordármelo?’ = Eng. ‘Why do you insist on reminding me about it?’

• Sp. ‘La alcaldesa insistió en la importancia del apoyo ciudadano’ = Eng. ‘The mayor insisted on the importance of the support of the citizens’

Sp. ‘insistir en que’ translates differently depending on whether the following verb describes a reality (non-subjunctive) or expresses a desire (subjunctive).

a) For non-subjunctive meanings, Sp. ‘insistir en que’ = Eng. ‘to insist that’. • Sp. ‘Insistes en que yo he cambiado’ = Eng. ‘You insist that I have changed.’ • Sp. ‘El entrenador insiste en que el equipo está ‘en excelente forma’’ = Eng. ‘The

coach insists that the team is ‘in top form’.’

b) For subjunctive meanings, two or more different strategies are often possible. • Sp. ‘Insistes en que yo cambie’ = Eng. ‘You insist that I have to change’ or ‘You

insist on my changing.’

• Sp. ‘Insistió en que sus hijas fueran a la escuela’ = Eng. ‘He insisted that his daughters should go to school’ or ‘He inisted on his daughters’ going to school.’

54. Institute

Sp. ‘instituto’ is widely used for what would be called public ‘secondary school’ or ‘high school’ in English.

• Sp. ‘Cuando yo estaba en el instituto, no tenía nunca ningunas ganas de estudiar’ = Eng. ‘When I was in secondary school, I never had the slightest interest in studying.’

Eng. ‘institute’ is most frequently found as a proper noun and is associated with institutions that specialise in research.

• Eng. ‘The Marine Biology Institute is a non-profit research institution’ = Sp. ‘El

Instituto de Biología Marina es una entidad no-lucrativa de investigación.’ 55. To intend vs. to try

Sp. ‘intentar’ = Eng. ‘to try’ or ‘to attempt’

• Sp. ‘¿Intentaste llamar?’ = Eng. ‘Did you try to call?

• Sp. ‘¡Tú ni siquiera intentaste ayudar!’ = Eng. ‘You didn’t even try to help!’ Eng. ‘to intend’ = Sp. ‘pensar’ (with the meaning ‘planear’), ‘tener la intención’ or

‘pretender’

• Eng. ‘Now that her contract has expired, what does she intend to do?’ = Sp. ‘Ahora que su contrato ha vencido, ¿qué piensa hacer?’

• Eng. ‘Despite the scandal, the minister says he does not intend to resign’ = Sp. ‘A pesar del escándalo, el ministro dice que no piensa dimitir.’

Because it describes a desire or intention, the verb ‘intend’ is not used in continuous tenses (like ‘want’ or ‘need’). It is also generally incompatible with ‘will’, since desires are intrinsically present.

Note that Eng. ‘intention’ is not a problem cognate but rather is a perfect translation for Sp. ‘intención’. By contrast, Sp. ‘un intento’ = Eng. ‘an attempt’.

See Note 84 about the meaning of Eng. ‘to pretend’.