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Showing posts from May, 2022

How do you say DECLARAR CULPABLE in English?

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"Hey, where's my crab?" (only Ecuadorians will understand)   First of all, a judge cannot "Declare you guilty" since that is not what they do exactly (though there are cases in which judges must take upon themselves such prerogatives). A judge's role is, among several others, to give a proper sentence to those who have been FOUND GUILTY of some crime. The correct term is that precisely: TO FIND someone GUILTY  because it is the jury, not the judge who makes that decision.  The members of the jury (called jurors) decide on the facts presented and based on the evidence they FIND the defendant GUILTY or NOT GUILTY.

What is EMBARRASSED in Spanish?

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"I'm pregnant, not EMBARRASSED."      This is one of those situations when you must be careful if you are translating. The word EMBARRASSED is quite similar to another one in Spanish: Embarazada.  If one word in a language is spelled similarly to another one in Spanish and the meaning of both is the same, we call that a Cognate.  If the meaning is different, we call that a False Cognate. Embarazada is a False Cognate because it translates as Pregnant, not EMBARRASSED. The correct translation of EMBARRASSED in Spanish is AVERGONZADA or AVERGONZADO.

How do you say CUÑADO (A) in English?

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  "Your CUÑADO? Not anymore! Byeeee!" You can't say CUÑADO (A)  in English, not at least in one word. A CUÑADO is your wife's brother (if you are a man) or your husband's brother (if you are a woman). A CUÑADA is your wife's sister (if you are a man) or your husband's sister (if you are a woman). There are, of course, other ways to call these members of the family in English: CUÑADO is BROTHER-IN-LAW and CUÑADA is SISTER-IN-LAW. There is also a cultural difference since in Spanish we tend to use the terms CUÑADO or CUÑADA quite frequently and also informally. It is possible that in parts of Latin America people welcome you by calling you "CUÑADO (A)" instead of your name if you have created that kind of tie already. The same would be unlikely in an English-speaking country.