Albedrío
 

This is a discussion thread for the Daily Spanish Word for December 21, 2009

albedrío (masculine noun (el)) — will, choice, decision (libre albedrío) free will. Look up albedrío in the dictionary

Dios le dio libre albedrío al hombre para que éste tomara sus propias decisiones.
God gave man free will so that he could make his own decisions.

Te puedo ayudar a encontrar al asaltante, pero dejo a tu albedrío si le damos una paliza o si lo llevamos a la policía.
I can help you find the assailant, but it's up to you whether you want to beat him up or take him to the police.

El abuelo tenía mucho dinero. Dejamos a su albedrío si quería repartirlo entre los pobres o entre su familia.
Our grandfather had a lot of money and we let him decide whether he wanted to distribute it to the poor or give it to his family.

¿Y se usa? Siempre he oído "voluntad".

No mucho. Se usa la forma "libre albedrío" en contextos religiosos, especialmente. Pero en muchas ocasiones se utiliza "libertad" (en este caso) o voluntad (en los restantes). Puede que haya bastante gente que desconozca esta palabra.

Yo me apunto como una de muchas personas que nunca había escuchado esa palabra.

Gracias por mejorar o aumentar mi vocabulario, pero esta palabra no se usa mucha, ¿verdad?

:confused:

I wonder if its usage is similar to the English word "will" in that it is widely used in religious-speak but definitely not in day to day conversation about anything else. Is it like that?

Also, I went to a pronunciation website to hear this word. There were two examples, and both speakers are Columbian. They both sort of "dropped" the "d" sound. Is that common in many Latin American countries? Or is that just a Columbian thing? The site is: http://www.forvo.com/search/albedrío/

No, ya he dicho antes que no se usa mucho, en el sentido de que no es una palabra del lenguaje corriente. Pero es bueno conocerla porque se suele utilizar en diversos tipos de debates, pensamientos, estudios o cuestiones filosóficas, literarias, sociales, psicológicas, etc. Normalmente se usa junto a "libre" (libre albedrío). De ahí el tema del "libre albedrío" o la "predestinación". :)

Lou Ann, I can hear that "d" so clearly that I can't understand that you don't hear it :thinking: ;)

Really!? I just went back and listened again (a couple of times). I can't hear a distinct "d" and "r". It sounds like I'm only hearing the Spanish "r" sound and not the "d". LOL!! Different ears, huh?

"Dejar al albedrío de alguien" is a more or less commonly heard expression in Mexico, but people normally prefer to replace "albedrío" by "elección" (choice) or "voluntad" (will).

"Dejar al albedrío de alguien" ... hmmm.... Malila, will you give an example of the use of that? THANKS!! :)

Well, sometimes I ask myself how you can understand each other, because I don´t understand a word... :thinking: (or even a syllable :D )