Preparing for the 'oposiciones': because/as/since/for

As, since, for and because are the conjunctions most often used to introduce adverbial clauses of reason (subordinadas causales):

I'm late because I missed the bus (Llego tarde porque perdí el autobús)
As it was raining, I stayed at home the whole day (Como estaba lloviendo, me quedé en casa todo el día)
Since you insist, I'll tell you the truth (Puesto que insistes, te diré la verdad)
He decided to stop, for he was a bit tired (Decidió parar, pues estaba un poco cansado)

Because is the most frequent, and the only one used to answer why-questions directly:

"Why didn't you come yesterday?" "Because I wasn't feeling well" ("¿Por qué no viniste ayer?" "Porque no me encontraba bien")

and for, more formal in style, is the least used of the four. 

Clauses introduced by because, as or since can be placed before or after the main clause, though those introduced by because are usually placed after the main clause, and those with as or since, before:
I won't tell Charles, because I don't trust him (No se lo diré a Charles, porque no me fío de él)
As it is snowing, I prefer to stay at home (Como está nevando, prefiero quedarme en casa)
Since we live near the sea, we often go sailing (Como vivimos cerca del mar, hacemos vela a menudo.

However, those introduced by for always go after the main clause: 

I can't go out with you today, for I have to study for my English exam next week (No puedo salir hoy contigo, pues tengo que estudiar para mi examen de inglés de la semana que viene)

Finally, it should be borne in mind that because is the only one of these four conjunctions which can be preceded by and:

No, I won't go with you to the cinema, because I'm very tired and because I hate horror films (No, no iré al cine contigo, porque estoy muy cansada y porque odio las películas de terror).

PRACTICE

Join the following clauses by means of the conjunction given in brackets. Then translate into Spanish:

1.- I can't buy that dress. I have no money left (because)
2.- You can buy it now. The circumstances have changed (as)
3.- The money hasn't been paid into my account yet. I can't pay you (for)
4.- I didn't dare to contradict him. He's the boss (since)
5.- His mobile wasn't working. He couldn't call his wife  (because)
6.- Everybody wanted to dance with her. She was the prettiest girl in the party (as)
7.- We'd better change the subject. You're not going to convince me (since)
8.- He got caught in a traffic jam. He missed his flight (because)
9.- The information was top secret. The Minister could not divulge the Cabinet's deliberations (for)
10.- The computer programme crashed. She lost all her data (because).

KEY

1.- I can't buy that dress because I have no money left (No puedo comprar ese vestido porque no me queda dinero).
2.- As the circumstances have changed, you can buy it now (Como las circunstancias han cambiado, puedes comprarlo ahora).
3.- I can't pay you, for the money hasn't been paid into my account yet (No puedo pagarte, pues no me han ingresado el dinero todavía).
4.- Since he's the boss, I didn't dare to contradict him (Como es el jefe, no me atreví a contradecirle).
5.- He couldn't speak with his wife because her mobile was out of service (No pudo hablar con su mujer porque el móvil de ella no estaba operativo).
6.- As she was the prettiest girl in the party, everybody wanted to dance with her (Como era la chica más guapa de la fiesta, todos querían bailar con ella).
7.- Since you're not going to convince me, we'd better change the subject (Puesto que no me vas a convencer, mejor será que cambiemos de tema).
8.- He missed his flight because he got caught in a traffic jam (Perdió su vuelo, porque se vio cogido en un atasco).
9.- The Minister could not divulge the Cabinet's deliberations, for the information was top secret (El Ministro no pudo divulgar las deliberaciones del Consejo, pues la información era alto secreto).
10.- She lost all her data because the computer programme crashed (Perdió todos sus datos porque el programa del ordenador se bloqueó).

For other conjunctions used to introduce adverbial clauses of reason, see my Gramática Inglesa, 9ª ed., p. 526, and for that, used as an adverbial subordinator of reason, p. 604, note 3.

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Little Johnny Jones Joke

Little Johnny Jones is in England more or less what Jaimito in Spain. There are lots of jokes about him. Here's one:

At school

One day the mistress says: "Listen, children, from now on when you need to go to the bathroom, you're going to use numbers: number one, if you need to have a pee, and number two, if you need to do a poo".
Everything goes well for a while:
Charlie: "Mistress, number one."
Bob: "Mistress, number two."
Lizzie: "Mistress, number one."
etc.
But one day Little Johnny Jones puts his hand up and shouts: "Mistress, quick give me a number, I have to fart."

GLOSSARY

the mistress - la seño
to have a pee - hacer pis
to do a poo - hacer caca
to fart - tirarse un pedo

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Preparing for the 'oposiciones': Pronunciación de las grafías ou/our

Como es típico de la lengua inglesa, no hay reglas fijas, y las grafías ou y our pueden pronunciarse de varias maneras. Veamos los distintos casos de manera más detallada:

Pronunciación de ou:

/aU/

blouse – blusa

cloud – nube

to count – contar

doubt – duda

found – pdo y participio de to find – encontrar

house – casa

loud – alto

mouse – ratón

out - fuera

wound - pdo de to wind – dar cuerda

/V/

country – país; campo

couple – pareja

cousin – primo,-a

double – doble

southern – sur

to touch – tocar

trouble – problema; apuro

young – joven

/u:/

you – usted; tú

group – grupo

route - ruta

soup – sopa

wound – herida

youth - juventud

/U/

could – pdo de can

should – deber

would – pdo. de will

/@U/

poultry – aves de corral

shoulder – hombro

soul - alma

/@/

conscious – consciente

famous - famoso

generous – generoso

marvellous - maravilloso

moustache - bigote

previous – previo

Ver también pronunciación de ough/oughtpronunciación-de-la-grafía-ough

Pronunciación de our

/O:/

course – curso

court – corte; audiencia; pista (de tenis, baloncesto, etc.)

four – cuatro

mourning – luto

to pour – verter

resource – recurso

source – fuente

your  - su (de usted) (también /U@/)

/aU@/

to devour – devorar

flour – harina

hour – hora

to scour – fregar

sour - agrio

/V/

courage – valor

to flourish – florecer

to nourish - nutrir

/U@/

bourgeois – burgués

tour  - tour

tourist - turista

/3:/

courtesy – cortesía

journal – periódico; revista

journalist – periodista

journey – viaje

/@/

colour – color

flavour - sabor

honour – honor

humour – humor

neighbour - vecino

odour - olor

rumour – rumor

vigour – vigor

PRÁCTICA

Clasifica las siguientes palabras según se pronuncien las grafías ou/our:

to mourn – llorar la muerte de alguien

cloudy – nublado

touchstone – piedra de toque

neighbourhood – vecindario

bigamous – bígamo

mountain – montaña

tourism – turismo

souvenir -  recuerdo

nourishment – nutrición

journalism – periodismo

boulder - canto rodado

bouquet – aroma de vino

contour – contorno

mould – molde

hourly – cada hora

to bounce – rebotar

wounded – herido

county – condado

countryman – campesino

counter – mostrador

scourge – azote; plaga

rouge – colorete

camouflage – camuflaje

our - nuestro

parlour – salón

gourd – calabaza

foursome – grupo de cuatro personas

sourly – agriamente

pouring – torrencial (lluvia)

touchy – quisquilloso,-a

soulless – desangelado

boundary – límite

glorious – glorioso

courgette - calabacín

jealous - celoso, -a

CLAVE

/aU/      cloudy, mountain, to bounce, county, counter, boundary

/V/        touchstone, nourishment, countryman, touchy

/u:/       souvenir, wounded, rouge

/U/        bouquet, camouflage

/@U/      boulder, mould, soulless

/@/        neighbourhood, bigamous, parlour, glorious, jealous

/O:/       to mourn, foursome, pouring

/aU@/    hourly, sourly, our

/U@/      tourism, contour, gourd

/3:/       journalism, scourge, courgette

Para un estudio completo de la pronunciación de las distintas grafías, ver mi libro Manual de Pronunciación Inglesa Comparada con la Española, 5ª ed., Comares, Granada, pp. 213-241.

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Preparing for the 'oposiciones': el sufijo -aholic.

Todos conoceréis la palabra 'alcoholic', que significa alcohólico, adicto al alcohol. Sin embargo, puede que algunos no sepáis que la terminación de esta palabra ha dado lugar a la creación de un nuevo sufijo: - aholic, que puede usarse en otras combinaciones para referirse a personas con adicción a otras cosas. Sirvan como ejemplo los siguientes neologismos, es decir palabras de reciente creación:

workaholic - adicto al trabajo, o sea, persona que trabaja en exceso y disfruta haciéndolo
shopaholic - persona adicta a ir de compras, adquiriendo la mayoría de las veces, cosas que en realidad no necesita
chocaholic/chocoholic - persona adicta al chocolate

Es más que probable que haya otros palabras con esta terminación o que vayan surgiendo en el futuro, por lo que podemos decir que 
 -aholic  se ha convertido en un sufijo relativamente productivo.

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Preparing for the 'oposiciones': indirect/reported speech

Indirect/reported speech

Si al contar lo que alguien dijo usamos las mismas palabras dichas por la persona en cuestión estamos empleando el estilo directo:

Derek told me: «You're very pretty» Derek me dijo: «Estás muy guapa»

Pero si  contamos lo que la otra persona dijo con nuestras propias palabras entonces estamos empleando el estilo indirecto:

Derek told me that I was very pretty Derek me dijo que estaba muy guapa

Para practicar, os propongo pasar a estilo indirecto las frases en los siguientes ejercicios: 

EXERCISE 1: Declarative sentences (aseveraciones)

1.- Mother to her son: "I think that sport is not safe."

2.- John to Elizabeth: "We're going to be late again."

3.- Elizabeth to John: "I´m nearly ready."

4.- Helen to Jane: "I bought this dress yesterday."

5.- Wife to mother: "John is being buried next week."

6.- In-laws comment to Charles: "We think that our daughter has made a mistake marrying you."

EXERCISE 2: Questions (preguntas)

7.- "What are you reading?", he asked her.

8.- "Was your train late?", she asked him.

9.- "Is your boyfriend English or American?", he wanted to know.

10.- "Can you lend me twenty pounds'", I asked Alfred

11.- "Where shall we meet tomorrow?", he asked her.

12.- "May I use your telephone?", she asked him.

EXERCISE 3: Commands and requests (órdenes y peticiones)

13.- Wife to husband: "Don´t forget to ring my mother's doctor".

14.- "Stand to attention when I'm talking to you", the sergeant ordered the soldier.

15.- "Turn right at the next set of traffic lights and stop at the end of the street", the passenger told the taxi driver.

16.- "Don't smoke in my car", Sue begged Tony.

17.- "Wait for me here", Doris told her daughter.

18.- "Buy me a magazine on your way back", she told her husband.

EXERCISE 4: Exclamations and special difficulties (exclamaciones y dificultades especiales)

19.- "Help!", the drowning man said.

20.- "The school is on fire!", our teacher said.

21.- "Let's invite our friends to a barbecue tonight", he said

22.- "How expensive Spain has become!, the tourist said.

23.- "I'm innocent", the defendant said.

24.- "Damn! The light has gone out!, he said.

KEY

EXERCISE 1

1.- The mother told her son (that) she thought that sport was not/wasn't safe.
2.- John told Elizabeth (that) they were going to be late again.
3.- Elizabeth told John (that) she was nearly ready.
4.- Helen told Jane (that) she had bought the/that dress the day before.
5.- The wife told her mother that John was being buried the following week/the next week.
6.- Charles´s in-laws commented to him that they thought their daughter had made a mistake marrying him.

EXERCISE 2

7.- He asked her what she was reading.

8.- She asked him if his train had been late.
9.- He wanted to know whether/if her boyfriend was English or American.
10.- I asked Alfred if he could lend me twenty pounds.
11.- He asked her where they should meet the following day/the next day.
12.- She asked him if she might use his telephone.

EXERCISE 3

13.- The wife told her husband not to forget to ring her mother's doctor.
14.-- The sergeant ordered the soldier to stand to attention when he was talking to him.
15.- The passenger told the taxi driver to turn right at the next set of traffic lights and to stop at the end of the street.
16.- Sue begged Tony not to smoke in her car.
17.- Doris told her daughter to wait for her there.
18.- She told her husband to buy her a magazine on his way back.

EXERCISE 4

19.- The drowning man yelled for help.
20.- Our teacher shouted/cried (out) that the school was on fire.
21.- He suggested inviting their friends to a barbecue that night/evening.
22.- The tourist exclaimed that Spain had become very expensive.
23.- The defendant shouted/cried that he was innocent.
24.- He cursed aloud when the light went out.

TIP

Si alguno de los ejercicios, especialmente el nº 4, os dado algún problema, os recomiendo consultar mi Gramática Inglesa, 9ª ed., pp. 608-617.

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Origen del modismo 'a feather in one's cap'

The idiom a feather in one's cap is used to mean a personal achievement or honour to be proud of ('apuntarse un tanto' in Spanish). 
This idiom, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, comes from the custom, general in Asia and among the Native Americans, of adding a feather to the headgear for every enemy killed. The ancient Lycians and many others had a similar custom, just as the sportsman who kills the first woodcock puts a feather in his cap. At one time in Hungary the only person who could wear a feather was the one who had killed a Turk.

Glossary

- achievement - logro
- headgear - cualquier tocado para la cabeza (sombrero, gorra, gorro, etc.)
- ancient - antiguo,-a
- Lycians - habitantes de Lycia, antigua región en la costa sudoeste de Asia Menor.
- woodcock becada
- Hungary - Hungría
- Turk - turco

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Preparing for the 'oposiciones': Modismos con prendas de vestir

Comparto hoy con vosotros una serie de modismos con prendas de vestir y unos cuantos ejercicios para practicar.

Modismos ingleses y sus equivalentes en español

- to hit below the belt - dar un golpe bajo
- to tighten one's belt - apretarse el cinturón
- to be a wet blanket - ser un aguafiestas
- the boot/shoe is on the other foot - se han cambiado las tornas/las cosas han cambiado
- cap in hand - humildemente, respetuosamente
- a feather in one's cap - apuntarse un tanto
- if the cap fits, wear it - quien se pica, ajos come
- to fit like a glove - sentar a alguien como un guante
- to handle someone with kid gloves - tratar a alguien con guantes de seda
- at the drop of a hat - enseguida, a las primeras de cambio
- to talk through one's hat - decir tonterías sobre algo que no se conoce, haber oído campanas y no saber dónde
- to keep something under one's hat - no decir ni pío de algo a alguien, mantener en secreto
- to wash one's dirty linen in public - lavar los trapos sucios en público
- to be in someone's shoes - estar en el pellejo de alguien.
- to put oneself in someone else's shoes - ponerse en el lugar de alguien
- on a shoestring - con escasos medios/presupuesto
- to have an ace up one's sleeve - guardar un as en la manga
- to wear one's heart on one's sleeve - no ocultar los sentimientos, ser transparente
- to pull one's socks up - esforzarse, esmerarse
- to be a stuffed shirt - ser una persona estirada/engreída
- to wear the trousers (IBr)/the pants (IAm) - llevar los pantalones
- to throw in the towel - tirar la toalla

Modismos españoles con sus equivalentes en inglés

- tener a alguien en el bolsillo - to have somebody in one's pocket
- morir con las botas puestas - to die with one's boots on
- cambiarse de camisa/de chaqueta/ser un chaquetero - to turn one's coat/to be a turncoat
- meterse en camisa de once varas - (a) (meterse en problemas) to get into deep water; (b) (meterse donde no lo llaman a uno) to meddle in other people's business
- andar de capa caída - (mal de salud) to be out of sorts; (mal de dinero) to be in a bad way/to have seen better days
- hacer de su capa un sayo - to do as one jolly well pleases
- echar a alguien un capote - to give/lend somebody a hand
- estar pegado a las faldas de la madre - to be tied to one's mother's apron strings
- liarse la manta a la cabeza - to go the whole hog/to throw caution to the wind(s)
- el mundo es un pañuelo - it's a small world
- nadar y guardar la ropa - to hedge one's bets
- pegársele a alguien las sábanas - to oversleep

EJERCICIO 1

En cada una de las frases hay un modismo incompleto. Intenta completarlo:

1.- Inspector Caulder has tracked the criminal down. That's a feather ..........
2.- In the end, he came to me cap........., asking me to help him.
3.- He's in a tight spot. I wouldn't like to be in .........
4.- The Prime Minister has said that we'll have to tighten ......... if we want to get out of the present economic crisis.
5.- She's so touchy. She needs to be handled with ..........
6.- Who wears the .......in your house, your father or your mother?
7.- Everybody's having fun - don't be a wet ........or they'll never invite you again.
8.- When I said somebody here is stingy, I wasn't referring to you, but if the ...... fits wear it.
9.- Don't worry about Jason - I'm sure he's still got an ace ..........
10.- Never wash your dirty ........in public.

EJERCICIO 2

Une los modismos españoles con sus equivalentes en inglés:

1.- Estar pegado a las faldas de la madre.
2.- Andar de capa caída.
3.- Ser un chaquetero.
4.- El mundo es un pañuelo.
5.- Pegársele a alguien las sábanas.
6.- Ser una persona estirada.
7.- Meterse en camisa de once varas.
8.- Liarse la manta a la cabeza. 
9.- Tirar la toalla.
10.- Nadar y guardar la ropa.

a.- To oversleep
b.- To be out of sorts
c.- To hedge one's bets
d.- To be tied to one's mother's strings
e.- To be a stuffed shirt.
f.- To throw caution to the wind(s)
g.- It's a small world
h.- To throw in the towel
i.- To meddle in other people's business
j.- To be a turncoat

CLAVE

Ejercicio 1: 1.- in his cap; 2.- in hand; 3.- his shoes; 4.- our belts; 5.- kid gloves; 6.- trousers(IBr)/pants(IAm); 7.- blanket; 8.- cap; 9.- up his sleeve; 10.- linen

Ejercicio 2: 1-d; 2-b; 3-j; 4-g; 5-a; 6-e; 7-i; 8-f; 9-h; 10-c.

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