Translating a simple paragraph (Exercise 12-4)

[laepelba]

I am continuing to work through a book of basic Spanish grammar exercises, in an attempt to fill in some of the "holes" in the learning that I've done so far. It has been (I believe) very fruitful so far.

One of the exercises in the chapter covering the "passive voice and passive constructions" asks me to translate a simple paragraph from English to Spanish.

I want to ask a couple of questions, though. So I'm going to include here (1) the original English paragraph, (2) my original translation, and (3) the "corrected" translation. I will indicate my questions at the bottom of this post.

Original English Paragraph	My First Attempt at Translation	The "Corrected" Translation
Last-minute news. A car with a peculiar passenger was discovered on the Avenida Simón Bolívar. A lion was seen in the backseat. The authorities were called immediately. The driver was detained by the police. The car was driven by a mysterious woman whose identity still is not known. The woman and the lion were finally identified as members of the Circo Moderno. When she was interviewed, the extravagant woman introduced her lion, Bebé. The mystery woman offered a lot of information to the press. It was revealed that Bebé wears a leash with diamonds. The incident has been considered a publicity stunt.	Las noticias de última hora. Un auto con un pasajero raro fue descubierto en la Avenida Simón Bolívar. Un león fue visto en el asiento trasero. Las autoridades fueron avisadas inmediatamente. La conductora fue detenida por la policía. El auto fue conducido por una mujer misteriosa cuya identidad todavía no es sabida. Por fin la mujer y el león fueron identificados como miembros del Circo Moderno. Cuando ella fue entrevistada, la mujer extravagante presentó a su león, Bebé. La mujer de misterio ofreció mucha información a la prensa. Fue revelado que Bebé lleva una correa con diamantes. El incidente ha considerado un truco publicitario.	Las noticias Una noticia de última hora. Un auto coche con un pasajero raro viajero peculiar fue descubierto en la Avenida Simón Bolívar. Un león fue visto en el asiento trasero del auto. Las autoridades fueron avisadas inmediatamente. (1) La El conductora fue detenidao por la policía. El auto (3) fue era conducido por una (2) mujer dama misteriosa cuya identidad todavía no es sabida aun es desconocida. (4) Por fin La mujer dama y el león fueron finalmente identificados como miembros del Circo Moderno. Cuando ella fue entrevistada interrogada, la mujer extravagante extravagante dama presentó a su león, Bebé. La mujer de misterio misteriosa dama ofreció mucha información a la prensa. Fue revelado que Bebé lleva una correa con diamantes. El incidente ha sido considerado un truco publicitario.

My Questions:
(1) I went back and forth about this one while I was translating. If, at the time of writing, the gender of the driver (or whatever) is known, do you use the feminine version of the noun (and modifiers, etc.)? Or do you leave it neutral/male until after introducing the person as a female?
(2) Are dama and mujer interchangeable?
(3) I ought to understand this one by now, but I'm still tripped up from time to time. Why imperfect and not preterit?
(4) This is the one that really bothers me. Maybe it's because when I was reading about the compound tenses, I read that you cannot separate the verb elements. But is it really okay to place a modifier between the two verb elements here? If it is "okay", is it actually better than placing it elsewhere in the sentence?

That's all this time. Many thanks in advance for your help with my questions!!

[ookami]

Well, I don't know much, but let's try...

1) It's very common to use the neutral version of "driver"... but here you can use the feminine version and it will still be ok. I would have used it here, it sounds better for me, less extravagant than saying "conductor" and then talking about a woman, your brain has to work more :P

2) In this kind of text, yes. But formaly, a "dama" is a "woman" with distinction (refined woman) I mean, a lady.

3) With "fue", you are saying that the car was drove by a woman in the past. With "era" you are saying it was drove at that particular situation. This is all I can say about this, better to wait for other members with more knowledge.

4) For me is right, I think that you've reason, it sounds a little bit more proper and tidy to use it like you do, but either way seems ok to me, and both are used.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by ookami

2) In this kind of text, yes. But formally, a "dama" is a "woman" with distinction (refined woman) I mean, a lady.

Thanks, Guido! That all makes sense to me and is helpful. Funny that "dama" is more of a woman of distinction. And that they use it to refer to a woman in a circus who puts a lion in the back of her car.

One tiny spelling correction for you...

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by ookami

2) In this kind of text, yes. But formaly, a "dama" is a "woman" with distinction (refined woman) I mean, a lady..

So surely totally inappropriate for somebody working with a circus ....

[laepelba]

Well, Perikles, it makes me think that maybe it's kind of tongue-in-cheek - it's supposed to be the news, right? And so maybe they're exaggerating, "the lady with the lion in her car...."

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Well, Perikles, it makes me think that maybe it's kind of tongue-in-cheek - it's supposed to be the news, right? And so maybe they're exaggerating, "the lady with the lion in her car...."

Yes, it's tongue-in-cheek, but this means you are just as entitled to use mujer if you choose to translate literally.

[laepelba]

Gracias!

[chileno]

Dama, as lady is formal way to address a woman, btw.

[ookami]

Originally Posted by Perikles

So surely totally inappropriate for somebody working with a circus ....

Why? you can be a lady an work with a circus...

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by ookami

Why? you can be a lady an work with a circus...

Theoretically yes, but very unlikely. I've met quite a few circus people, and they tend to be their own interesting and distinct social class, separate from the normal structure of high, middle and working class, but definitely more working class than anything else. I just can't imagine that any 'lady' would fit in.