Ingles en inglés

1. ABLE / CAN

PODER and SABER can BOTH TRANSLATE TO BE ABLE TO, CAN and COULD.

SKILLS (HABILIDADES, TÉCNICAS)

Use saber when TO BE ABLE TO, CAN and COULD mean “know how to” (saber hacer algo)

Can you type?
¿Sabes escribir a máquina?
His wife couldn’t drive
Su mujer no sabía conducir

Use poder with permission

He can stay here
Puede quedarseaquí
We have not been able to persuade them
No hemos podido convencerles (no hemos sido capaces)

When CAN and COULD are followed by find or a verb of perception (see, hear, feel, taste or smell) they are usually not translated

I can’t find it
No lo encuentro
What can you see?
¿Qué ves?

Alternatives to “PODER”. When TO BE ABLE TO means “TO BE CAPABLE OF”, you can often use“SER CAPAZ DE” as an alternative to PODER

I don’t think he’ll be able to resist it
No creo que sea capaz de…o pueda resistirlo

2. AFTER

PREPOSITION

You can usually translate AFTER referring to a point in time using DESPUÉS DE

Please, ring after 6
Por favor, llama después de las seis
I’ll phone you after the macht
Te llamaré después del partido

To translate AFTER +PERIOD OF TIME, you can also use AL CABO DE in more formal Spanish

After a year in the army, he had had enough
Después de (estar) un año en el ejército o al cabo de un año en el ejército, no lo soportaba más

Use MÁS TARDE QUE or DESPUÉS QUE with names of people and personal pronouns when they stand in for a verb

He got there half an hour after us or after we did
Llegó allímedia hora más tarde que nosotros o después que nosotros
Translate AFTER + ING using DESPUÉS DE + INFINITIVE

Don’t go swimming immediately after eating
No te bañes justo después de comer

CONJUNCTION

When the action in the after clause has already happened, and the subjects of the two clauses are different, you can generally translate AFTER using DESPUÉS QUE. This can be followedeither by the indicative or, especially in formal or literary Spanish, by the subjunctive

I met her after she had left /leave/ the company
La conocí después o dejara la compañía

When the action in the after clause has not happened yet or had not happened at the time of speaking, CUANDO is more common than DESPUÉS QUE, though both translations are possible. In both cases, use thesubjunctive

We’ll test the brakes after you’ve done another thousand miles
Comprobaremos los frenos cuando o después de que haya recorrido mil millas más

If the subject of both clauses is the same, DESPUÉS DE + INFINITIVE is usually used rather than DESPUÉS DE QUE

He wrote to me again after he retired
Me volvió a escribir después de jubilarse

This construction is also sometimesused in colloquial Spanish even when the subjects are different

After you left, the party ended
Después de irte tú se terminó la fiesta

3. AND

In order to avoid two “i” sounds coming together, AND is translated by E not Y before words beginning with I and hi and before the letter Y used on its own

Spain and Italy
España e Italia
Grapes and figs
Uvas e higos
Words endingin S and Y
Palabras terminadas en S e Y

Words beginning with HIE are precedes by Y, since HIE is not pronounced “I”

Coal and iron mines
Minas de carbón y hierro

4. AS

TIME CLAUSES

You can usually use CUANDO when an event happened. Alternatively, use AL + INFINITIVE

As the car drew level with us, I realized Isabel was driving
Cuando el coche llegó a nuestra alturao al llegar el coche a nuestra altura, me di cuenta de que lo conducía Isabel
He tripped as he was coming out of the bank
Tropezó cuando salía o al salir del banco.

Translate AS using MIENTRAS for longer actions which are happening at the same time

As we walked, we talked about the future
Mientras caminábamos, hablábamos del futuro

In the context of two closely linked...