A menos que -vs- al menos que

[Elaina]

Good Morning!

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

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.

:)

[Ambarina]

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.

[Elaina]

AHHHHHH, ya veo!:duh::banghead:

¡Gracias!:kiss:

:idea::D

[Elaina]

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!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I'd say that "al menos" and "por lo menos" are synonyms. Choosing which you want to say is a matter of style. :)

[Marsopa]

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

[chileno]

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.

[Matthew0312]

¿Quién dice 'tengas'? Es un verbo irregular, ¿recuerda?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

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".

[chileno]

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...:good:
It too about three years for those to re-surface. :rolleyes: