Spanish Composition Part 8

(_d_) _Have just_ and _had just_ with a past participle are translated by the present and imperfect of the verb =acabar= followed by =de= and the infinitive of the verb that in English is in the participle.

_He has just arrived._

=Acaba de llegar.=

_He had just gone._

=Acababa de marcha.r.s.e.=

=25.= =EXERCISES=

(_a_) 1. Hacemos este viaje solo por placer. 2. El sol acababa de ponerse. 3. No podia soportar que su unica hija se criase como un muchacho. 4. Hablabamos de la posibilidad de su llegada, nada mas. 5.

Ya se ve! Criose sin madre casi sin nodriza. 6. Esto ocurrio hace un ano. No, hace tres meses justos. 7. Un momento nada mas y sales diciendoles que tienes que hacer en la casa. 8. El tabaco no se cultiva en este estado. 9. Estos ninos crecen como la mala hierba. 10. Son las ocho en punto y dicen que acaban de llegar las distinguidas visitas.

(_b_) 1. I am just going. Do you want to go with me? 2. We grow just flowers in our garden. 3. What are you doing? I'm just reading. 4. They have just come in and they say it is just beginning to rain. 5. When we got there he had just begun to speak. 6. That is just what I was going to say. 7. It was growing darker and we could only just see. 8. This is just for the little girls. 9. How you have grown! The other day you were just a little boy. 10. He is growing weaker every day.

LESSON X

_En Dios confia quien adora la verdad._[10]

--PeREZ GALDoS.

=26.= English _after_ as a preposition of time is rendered =despues de=; as a preposition of place or direction it is =tras= or =en pos de=; as a conjunction it is =despues que=.

_And so the boats kept on appearing one after the other._

=Y asi fueron apareciendo unas tras otras las lanchas.=

--PALACIO VALDeS.

_The boats were disappearing one after the other behind the cape._

=Las lanchas se fueron ocultando una en pos de otra detras del cabo.=--PALACIO VALDeS.

_We will help you after dinner._

=Le ayudaremos despues de la comida.=

_After we have finished, we will go._

=Despues que hayamos acabado, nos iremos.=

(_a_) _Afterwards_ is =despues=. _The day after to-morrow_ is =pasado manana=.

_Afterwards I found out that he was earning his living as a public letter writer._

=Despues supe que ganaba la vida trabajando de memorialista.=

--PeREZ GALDoS.

_I have to see them the day after to-morrow._

=Tengo que verlos pasado manana.=

=27.= The verb _to help_ meaning _to a.s.sist_, _aid_, is rendered =ayudar= or =asistir=.

_I have so much to do and n.o.body wants to help me._

=Tengo tanto que hacer y nadie quiere ayudarme.=

(_a_) _To help_ in the sense of _to prevent_, _avoid_, is rendered =evitar=.

_I couldn't help his doing it, but he couldn't help it either._

=Yo no podia evitar que el lo hiciese, pero el no podia evitarlo tampoco.=

(_b_) _Can't help_ and _couldn't help_, followed by an unmodified present participle, are rendered by the present and the imperfect of the verb =poder= and the phrase =menos de= with the infinitive.

Otherwise, _I can't help_, _couldn't help_, etc., may be rendered =Yo no tengo= (=tenia=) =la culpa de que=.

_I can't help confessing that I am sorry._

=No puedo menos de confesar que lo siento.=--PALACIO VALDeS.

_I couldn't help knowing that you were talking of us._

=No podia menos de saber que Vd. hablaba de nosotros.=

_Note._--When the verbal in _-ing_ is modified by a possessive, translate as in (_a_).

(_c_) _It can't be helped_ is translated =no hay remedio=.

_I thought it could be avoided, but now it can't be helped._

=Crei que podria evita.r.s.e, pero ya no hay remedio.=

--RAMOS CARRIoN.

=28.= =EXERCISES=

(_a_) 1. Vaya a buscarla despues de comer. 2. No querria hacerlo, pero no habia otro remedio. 3. Quisiera dejarlo para despues que oscurezca.

4. Despues de acabar Vd. con ese libro demelo a mi. 5. La ayudaba, si, pero no podia menos de creer que lo hacia sin querer. 6. No me gusta dejarlo hacer por manos ajenas, pero no hay remedio. 7. Despues que habiamos caminado dos horas, los alcanzamos. 8. No puedo menos de querer que vengan. 9. Estaba todavia muy debil y teniamos que asistirle cuando querria andar. 10. Los ninos llegan pasado manana y los padres unos dias despues.