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Old July 03, 2009, 06:11 AM
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Elaina Elaina is offline
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A menos que -vs- al menos que

Good Morning!

Happy 4th to those of you enjoying the holiday a day early. (¡Que envidia!)

Pero asi es la vida.

Tengo una pregunta para ustedes.....

Al traducir la palabra "unless", ¿cual es la traducción correcta y porque?

a menos que
al menos que

Y como siempre, muchas gracias a todos.

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  #2  
Old July 03, 2009, 06:24 AM
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Unless - a menos que
No lo encontrarás en la oficina a menos que vayas temprano.

Al menos = at least
Al menos no tuviste que ponerte esa ropa ridícula. Yo tuve que ir con pajarita y todo.
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...sé amable contigo mismo. Eres una criatura de este universo al igual que los árboles y las estrellas; tienes derecho a estar aquí.
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Old July 03, 2009, 06:27 AM
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AHHHHHH, ya veo!

¡Gracias!

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Old July 03, 2009, 06:34 AM
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Wait........

So what about..

-por lo menos-

Doesn't this translate to "at least"?

I am very confused.......I've only had a sip of coffee this morning so please forgive my hard headedness this morning!
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Old July 03, 2009, 07:47 AM
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I'd say that "al menos" and "por lo menos" are synonyms. Choosing which you want to say is a matter of style.
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Old July 03, 2009, 08:30 AM
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Happy Day to you too

Hi, Elaina,

Nice to see you again here! These kinds of expressions are difficult.

How about "menos mal" which can also be be translated as "at least."

At least you don't have to work. Menos mal que no tengas que trabajar.

And how about a no ser que which can also be unless...

Sometimes, I go a little nuts with these too.

Marsopa
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Old July 03, 2009, 08:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marsopa View Post
Hi, Elaina,

Nice to see you again here! These kinds of expressions are difficult.

How about "menos mal" which can also be be translated as "at least."

At least you don't have to work. Menos mal que no tengas tienes que trabajar.

And how about a no ser que which can also be unless...

Sometimes, I go a little nuts with these too.

Marsopa
Corrección.
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Old March 06, 2013, 05:55 PM
Matthew0312 Matthew0312 is offline
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Hm

¿Quién dice 'tengas'? Es un verbo irregular, ¿recuerda?
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Old March 06, 2013, 06:00 PM
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Es cierto que "tener" es un verbo irregular, pero para la oración que se corrigió se prefiere la conjugación en presente "tienes", no el subjuntivo "tengas".
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Old March 06, 2013, 06:44 PM
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Quote:
At least you don't have to work. = Al menos no tienes que trabajar

At least/Thanks God you don't have to work = Menos mal que/Gracias a dios no tienes que trabajar.

And how about "a no ser que" which can also be unless...
It too about three years for those to re-surface.
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