Por Nick Potter

English Tips for Spanish Lawyers. 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 available in a new e-book/paperback, here: 50 English Tips for Spanish Professionals.

the No Preposition Verbs

In a perfect world, all Spanish verbs followed by the preposition “a”, for example, would translate as English verbs followed by “to”. But of course…

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

AWe would ask to the client why multi-currency loans are Excluded Assets, because there  are no regulatory reasons for this
BOn delivery of the unit, Tenant will pay to Landlord the amount of €75,000 plus VAT
CThe defendants oppose to the claim on the basis of the following arguments
DAlthough the fine imposed on the bank was not for a significant amount, it may have reputational impact
ECan the Borrower incur in any additional financial indebtedness without the Lenders’ prior consent?
FThe Issuer shall inform to the Agent of the Bondholders of this situation
GThe Ruling does not apply retrospectively and will not affect to payments already made by consumers

Before you read the answer, remember:

Remembering the right preposition is difficult because these words don’t neatly map across from one language to another – the Spanish “a” is not always “to”.

Some prepositions you may use regularly enough to learn – conforme a la ley / los estatutos means in accordance with the law / articles of association. Not to (though you can say “according to”, which means según).

However, certain Spanish verb-preposition combos we can group together because they all have the same thing in common – the English verb is usually followed by an object and no preposition at all.

Here are just a few Spanish verbs followed by “a” which translate without a preposition:

oponer a = to oppose

preguntar a = to ask

llamar a = to call

contestar a = to answer

pagar a  = to pay

pedir a = to ask, order

afectar a = to affect

asistir a = to attend

informar a = to inform

Obviously this applies to the verbs when followed by an object (“They called me”; “I attended the class”).

In other forms, they can be followed by prepositions:  (He was informed by the authorities (passive): I forgot to call to tell them it was cancelled – to call followed by to + infinitive)

Tip: try to remember as many of these “No Preposition Verbs” as you can.

So:

A-C are all wrong because although the Spanish verb is followed by “a”, the English verb takes no preposition before the object:

AWe would ask to the client why multi-currency loans are Excluded Assets, because there are no regulatory reasons for this
BOn delivery of the unit, Tenant will pay to Landlord the amount of €75,000 plus VAT
CThe defendants oppose to the claim on the basis of the following arguments

D is the correct sentence. Imponer a translates as the verb to impose followed by a preposition – but the preposition is on, not to.

DAlthough the fine imposed on the bank was not for a significant amount, it may have reputational impact [CORRECT]

E is wrong. Incurrir en is yet another “No Preposition Verb” in English. Never write “incur in”!

ECan the Borrower incur in any additional financial indebtedness without the Lenders’ prior consent?

Finally, F and G are two further examples of Spanish verbs followed by “a” which in English are not followed by “to” – or any preposition.

FThe Issuer shall inform to the Agent of the Bondholders of this situation
GThe Ruling does not apply retrospectively and will not affect to payments already made by consumers