Talking About the Elections

41.1 Basic Sentences — Talking About the Elections

José Molina, from one of the Embassy balconies, calls Colonel Harris out to see the demonstration developing in the street below as a result of student and political agitation.

Dialogue

English	Spanish
Colonel! Quick! Come to the balcony so I can see!	¡Coronel, corra! Venga al balcón para que vea.
What’s up? Has a revolution broken out?	¿Qué hay? ¿Estalló una revolución?
No. It’s the student strike that I was afraid of.	No. Es la huelga de estudiantes que me temía.
What’s the cause of it?	¿Sí, ¿debido a qué?
It’s due to the new regulations for the examinations.	A los nuevos reglamentos para los exámenes.
What does it say on that sign? I didn’t quite get it read.	¿Qué dice en ese cartelón, que no alcanzo a leer?
‘Down with the Rector!’	¡Abajo el Rector!
What? Don’t they like him?	¿Qué? ¿No les gusta?
No. They want the Dean of the Faculty of Law.	No. Quieren al Decano de la Facultad de Derecho.
Look at that caricature! I wonder who it’s of.	Fíjese en esa caricatura. ¿De quién será?
It’s of one of the candidates in the next elections.	De uno de los candidatos para las próximas elecciones.
Just look how they shout! What a racket!	¡Hay que ver cómo gritan! ¡Qué bulla!
I hope they get to the university before the police stop them.	Espero que lleguen a la Universidad antes de que intervenga la policía.
I hope there aren’t any casualties!	¡Con tal que no haya heridos!
No. That demonstration will break up in nothing flat.	No. Esa manifestación se disuelve en un dos por tres.

Vocabulary

English	Spanish
the balcony	el balcón
so that	para que
to explode	estallar
the revolution	la revolución
the strike	la huelga
to fear	temerse
to be due to	deberse a
the rule, regulation	el reglamento
the examination	el examen
the placard, sign	el cartelón
to reach, overtake	alcanzar
to succeed in	alcanzar a
the rector	el rector
the dean	el decano
the faculty	la facultad
the law	el derecho
the caricature	la caricatura
the candidate	el candidato
the election	la elección
just look, you ought to see	hay que ver
to shout	gritar
the noise, uproar, racket	la bulla
the university	la universidad
before	antes de que
to intervene	intervenir
the police	la policía
provided that, if only	con tal que
wounded, casualty	herido
the demonstration	la manifestación
to dissolve, disperse	disolver
nothing flat, no time at all	dos por tres

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41.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) The verb temerse is also non-reflexive in the same meaning. The reflexive element adds at most a slight intensification.

(2) Since ¿debido a qué? literally means ‘due to what?’, the next sentence begins with a ‘to…’ and proceeds to state what it’s due to.

(3) The que no alcanzo a leer is a parenthetical comment implying that the placard has already passed.

(4) Facultad de Derecho suggests something more specific than the English equivalent—a professional grouping like ‘School of Law’ or ‘College of Letters and Science.’

(5) The future será here is the ‘future of probability’—‘Of whom will it be’ means ‘I wonder of whom it is.’

(6) The phrase con tal que is a compound relator meaning ‘provided that’ or ‘if only.’ In Spanish it can stand alone as a complete utterance expressing a hope.

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41.2 Drills and Grammar

41.21.1 Present Subjunctive in Verb-Modifying Clauses — Obligatory Occurrence

Whenever certain compound relators introduce a dependent clause modifying a verb, the verb in the dependent clause will occur in a subjunctive form. By ‘obligatory’ is meant that the subjunctive must be used after these relators when any verb form other than the infinitive occurs.

Illustrations

English	Spanish
I hope they get to the university before the police stop them.	Espero que lleguen a la Universidad antes de que intervenga la policía.
Come to the balcony so I can see.	Venga al balcón para que vea.
Hurry up so we can get there on time.	Date prisa para que lleguemos a tiempo.
Take the gentleman to the cashier’s desk so he can cash his checks.	Lleve al señor a la caja a fin de que pueda cambiar sus cheques.
Provided there aren’t any casualties.	Con tal que no haya heridos.
Provided you pay attention to your mother, I’ll take you to the movies tomorrow.	Con tal que le hagas caso a tu mamá, te llevo al cine mañana.
Call me in the event they don’t give you the visa.	Llámeme en caso de que no le den la visa.
She can’t get in without my seeing her.	Ella no puede entrar sin que yo la vea.
I won’t buy the car unless you guarantee it for me.	No compro el auto a menos que me lo garantice.

Compound clause relators requiring subjunctive: antes (de) que (before), para que (so that), a fin de que (so that), con tal (de) que (provided that), en caso (de) que (in the event that), sin que (without), a menos que (unless)

Translation Drill

English	Spanish
They’re coming to study.	Ellos vienen para estudiar.
They’re coming so we can study.	Ellos vienen para que nosotros estudiemos.
Call me before eating.	Llámeme antes de comer.
Call me before the children eat.	Llámeme antes de que los niños coman.
Tell me in case they go downtown.	Dígame en caso de que ellos vayan al centro.
I’m saving so my wife can buy a car.	Estoy ahorrando a fin de que mi esposa pueda comprar un coche.
I’ll go provided you take me.	Yo voy con tal que Ud. me lleve.
Carlos can’t fly unless the colonel gives him permission.	Carlos no puede volar a menos que el coronel le dé permiso.
We get up very early so that Charles can arrive at school at nine.	Nos levantamos muy temprano a fin de que Carlos pueda llegar a la escuela a las nueve.
María can’t go to the party unless her mother goes with her.	María no puede ir a la fiesta a menos que su mamá la acompañe.

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41.4 Readings

41.41 Life in Surlandia — Un Robo

A reading about a robbery at the Robinson household.

41.42 Features — Policía Propónese Terminar con Criminales

A reading about crime and police efforts in Surlandia.