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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Just for Spanish teachers
Just for Spanish teachers
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curk
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Just for Spanish teachers
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I�ve got a question about a grammar structure and I�m not sure. How would you translate this sentence into English? " Conduce con cuidado no sea que tengas un accidente" |
15 Apr 2019
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Antonio Oliver
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Hi, You could use the old word lest, Drive carefully lest you have an accident or go for a simple connector, Drive carefully or you may have an accident Hope that helped |
15 Apr 2019
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Aisha77
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Those are perfect, and you could also say: Drive carefully before you have an accident. Aisha :) |
16 Apr 2019
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spinney
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All the rest are fine, given that it�s that old chestnut, the subjunctive. As it sounds quite formal, I would go with "lest," too. But it really is very formal. In everyday spoken English, it�s probably better to say "Drive carefully in case you have an accident." |
16 Apr 2019
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jannabanna
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Or change it completely with: Drive carefully in order to avoid accidents. Just a thought. |
16 Apr 2019
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yanogator
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My Spanish is very rusty, but I think the closest to a literal translation would be "Drive carefully, so as not to have an accident". (It seems that the literal translation would be "Drive carefully, that it not be that you have an accident", which sounds pleasantly Elizabethan to me.  Bruce |
16 Apr 2019
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Engteachar
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Could it also be possible to say: Drive carefully, otherwise you�ll have an accident. |
16 Apr 2019
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Aisha77
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Bruce!!! I love your translation!!! If we would translate it literally I believe it would be like:  Conduce (tú) con cuidado, no sea (ello = suject) que tengas (tú = subject) un accidente... Drive carefully it weren�t that you had an accident (as there are two subjunctives in the sentence)... How does it sound to you, Bruce?? Crazy!!!  |
17 Apr 2019
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cunliffe
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Drive carefully, so you don�t have an accident. |
17 Apr 2019
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yanogator
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No, Aisha, that isn�t correct English. That�s why my "literal" translation couldn�t be completely word-by-word, and had to bypass the Spanish double subjunctive. I just realized that "that it not be that you would have an accident" would be closer to the Spanish, and still correct, using the English conditional for the Spanish subjunctive. Bruce |
17 Apr 2019
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