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Old April 24, 2011, 11:09 AM
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Before long

Quote:
Before long the other animals began to arrive...
¿Puedo traducir "Before long" como "Después de un rato"?
Creo que la pregunta es pertinente, pues he encontrado como definición de Before long = dentro de poco rato. Y no me tinca para este contexto.

Cordiales saludos.
PS
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Old April 24, 2011, 11:38 AM
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'After a while' (después de un rato) can be used in some instances, when the phrase has that meaning.
But this phrase also has the meaning of 'shortly', 'soon', 'in a (short) while', 'in a bit', etc.

dentro de poco (tiempo)
antes de mucho tiempo
en poco tiempo
pronto
al rato

In the other sense of 'after awhile', you can use:
luego
después
después de un rato
más tarde

In your example, the latter meaning certainly fits.
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Old April 24, 2011, 11:59 AM
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En otras palabras " antes de que pasara mucho rato..."
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Old April 24, 2011, 11:59 AM
Luna Azul Luna Azul is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pinosilano View Post
¿Puedo traducir "Before long" como "Después de un rato"?
Creo que la pregunta es pertinente, pues he encontrado como definición de Before long = dentro de poco rato. Y no me tinca para este contexto.

Cordiales saludos.
PS
"Al poco rato"

"después de un rato" is also correct. "Después de un rato/al poco rato empezaron a llegar otros animales".

Rusty's examples are very good

One question out of curiosity: Isn't Spanish your native language? That's what I thought ..

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Old April 24, 2011, 12:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno View Post
En otras palabras " antes de que pasara mucho rato..."
En esta opción sí que me queda claro ese "long" que era mi preocupación. Porque no se trata de que yo sepa o no sepa el castellano, sino que quiero entender el modo de expresarse inglés.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty View Post
...this phrase also has the meaning of 'shortly', 'soon', 'in a (short) while', 'in a bit', etc.
Gracias Rusty, ciertamente el idioma inglés es bello por lo complicado: long significa largo pero con el 'before' parece que significa corto
Yo entiendo 'long before' como 'en seguida'

Muchas gracias a todos.
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Last edited by pinosilano; April 25, 2011 at 02:58 AM. Reason: tuve que poner más agua.
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