“On” words. English Tips for Spanish Lawyers (xxix)

By Nick Potter

In this series we look at real-life examples of the most common mistakes in English by native Spanish lawyers.

These and lots more invaluable tips are compiled in two e-books/paperbacks, here: 50 English Tips for Spanish Professionals and More English Tips for Spanish Professionals.

“on” words

Are taxes imposed to professionals over documents they have commented to, based in the date in which they worked over them? we looked at a whole lot of verbs that go with prepositions in Spanish but without prepositions in English – “no preposition verbs”.

In an earlier tip, we looked at a whole lot of verbs that go with prepositions in Spanish but without prepositions in English – “no preposition verbs”.

There’s another set of words that have something in common too.

Question: Which ONE of A – I below is correct?

A	As requested, please find below our comments to the document provided
B	There are no limitations or restrictions to the transfer of the Brand in favour of the Purchaser
C	Specific obligations imposed to distribution companies
D	These deductions are conditioned to the tenant’s compliance with all its obligations
E	The lack of such licenses shall not have any impact in the lease agreement
F	The claimant argued that jurisdiction was based in an unfair term in the contract
G	The agreement was originally signed in September 2011
H	The letter states the date in which payment is due
I	The Bonds will be listed in the Irish Stock Exchange

? Before you read the answer, remember:

As we saw with the “no preposition verbs”, one of the reasons prepositions are so tricky in a foreign language is that they do not directly map across – en does not always mean in. It can mean at (trabaja en el Ministerio; she works at the Ministry) and often on (en esta ocasión; on this occasion. NOT in!).

Other Spanish prepositions can also translate as on, like sobre:

impuesto sobre beneficios – tax on profits

Taxes are levied on things; however, in other contexts sobre would translate as over e.g. a creditor taking security:

una garantía real sobre el inmueble – a charge over the property

The bad news then is that you can’t always directly translate any particular preposition the same way.

However, the good news is that there is a group of frequently used words in business English that are all used with the word “on”.

Remember as many of these “on” words as you can!

? So:

A-D all contained words which in Spanish are used with the preposition a and in English, on:

A	As requested, please find below our comments to on the document provided [comentarios a – note that when changes are made directly to a draft contract by either side in negotiations, this is called a mark-up]
B	There are no limitations or restrictions to on the transfer of the Brand in favour of to the Purchaser [limitaciones a algo]
C	Specific obligations imposed to on distribution companies [imponer / impuesto a]
D	These deductions are conditional* to on the tenant’s compliance with all its obligations [condicionado a]

*Note that condicionado translates as conditional, not conditioned.

E and F contain words used with the preposition en in Spanish and in English, on:

E	The lack of such licenses shall not have any impact to on the lease agreement (impactar / impacto en)
F	The claimant argued that jurisdiction was based to on an unfair term in the contract (basado en)

The correct answer is G. The rule with time is that things happen on a day or date (on Tuesday; on 14 October; on the date on which…) and in a month or year (in October; in 2016).