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"As Long As" or "Permitting" in Spanish

 

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  #1  
Old June 13, 2010, 07:21 PM
wafflestomp wafflestomp is offline
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"As Long As" or "Permitting" in Spanish

How would you translate that? Examples:

You can go to the movies as long as you clean your room.

As long as you realize that you can get hurt skydiving, you should do it.

Permitting you finish your vegetables, you can eat brownies.

I know literally it would be "tan largo como" but that doesn't seem to make any sense in an idiomatic expression like "as long as"
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  #2  
Old June 13, 2010, 07:59 PM
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con tal (de) que

And it always requires the subjunctive.
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Old June 13, 2010, 08:10 PM
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So... con tal de que yo vaya al médico tendré buen salud? Like that?
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Old June 13, 2010, 08:26 PM
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Yes, like that. The following sentence is just another example. The sentence happens to contain two adverbial phrases that require the subjunctive, so I underlined them for you. The subjunctive mood verbs are in italics.

Puedes manejar el carro, con tal de que vuelvas antes de que anochezca.
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Old June 13, 2010, 09:10 PM
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Alright, cool... the sentence reads "You can drive the car as long as you return before dark.. right? can you explain why "de" was in parenthesis in your explanation two posts up? Is there a time when it's not used and it's just con tal que?

Last edited by wafflestomp; June 13, 2010 at 09:17 PM.
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Old June 13, 2010, 11:09 PM
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Rusty. It's clear that I can use the word as long as, as con tal de into of the Spanish, the I would like to know if I can use I will chance to go to the party as long as you do the homework tomorrow.

I will appreciate your help.
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Old June 13, 2010, 11:13 PM
wafflestomp wafflestomp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo View Post
Rusty. It's clear that I can use the word as long as, as con tal de into of the Spanish, the I would like to know if I can use I will let you go to the party as long as you do your homework tomorrow.

I will appreciate your help.
I corrected your post a little bit.. I think you meant to say "puedes ir a la fiesta con tal de que hagas tu tarea mañana"
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Old June 14, 2010, 01:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wafflestomp View Post
So... con tal de que yo vaya al médico tendré buena salud? Like that?
Just, in addition to what Rusty told you, see the "a" above. [Buen pulso = steady hand] [Buen clima = good weather] [buena suerte = good luck]

Quote:
Originally Posted by wafflestomp View Post
Alright, cool... the sentence reads "You can drive the car as long as you return before dark.. right? can you explain why "de" was in parenthesis in your explanation two posts up? Is there a time when it's not used and it's just con tal que?
Right, that's correct.
I take Rusty would answer you in the same line. But "con tal de" and "con tal que" are idiomatic clichés, and the "de" can go in between. (It's optional)

This below is from Moliner Dictionary, (let me know if you can track with it, otherwise I can clarify for you.)
Con tal de. Equivale a «con tal que» delante de infinitivos: ‘No importa el frío con tal de ir bien abrigado’.
Con tal que. Expresión conjuntiva condicional: ‘Te lo dejaré con tal que me lo devuelvas pronto’.
Por influencia de las conjunciones formadas sobre preposiciones, es muy frecuente intercalar «de» delante de «que»: ‘con tal de que’;
A veces, el significado de «con tal que» es restrictivo: ‘Con tal que tengamos salud, lo demás ya se arreglará’. Con este significado se emplea en exclamaciones de deseo: ‘¡Con tal que lleguemos a tiempo...!’.
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Old June 14, 2010, 05:29 AM
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They tend to throw in the 'de' in Mexico, according to the internet. I believe I heard it used both ways in Central America.
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Old June 14, 2010, 08:40 AM
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You can also use "siempre y cuando"
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