El inglés tiene un orden de palabras rígido y, precisamente por eso, un repertorio de recursos para desplazar la información sin romperlo. La pasiva, el «there» existencial y el «it» anticipador no son formas «más elegantes»: son máquinas de mover el peso. Quien las usa por adorno escribe pesado; quien las usa para colocar lo nuevo al final escribe inglés.
| Principio | Ejemplo natural | Versión que chirría |
|---|---|---|
| lo conocido antes que lo nuevo | The report is on your desk. It was written by a consultant. | A consultant wrote the report which is on your desk. |
| peso final: lo largo, al final | She showed us the letter that her grandmother had kept for sixty years. | She showed the letter that her grandmother had kept for sixty years to us. |
| «it» anticipa el sujeto largo | It is astonishing that nobody noticed the error for three years. | That nobody noticed the error for three years is astonishing. |
| «there» presenta lo que aún no existe en el discurso | There is one objection that we have not answered yet. | One objection that we have not answered yet exists. |
| la pasiva conserva el sujeto conocido | The proposal was rejected by a committee nobody had consulted. | A committee nobody had consulted rejected the proposal. |
| el adverbio no se mete entre verbo y objeto | She answered the question calmly and without notes. | She answered calmly the question and without notes. |
La regla del adverbio es la que más víctimas hace entre hispanohablantes, italianos y franceses. En inglés nada se interpone entre el verbo y su objeto directo: ni un adverbio, ni un complemento. «She speaks perfectly English» es la frase que delata a un romance en dos segundos, y el remedio es mecánico: el adverbio va detrás del objeto o delante del verbo, nunca en medio.
Escuche
Listen to each pair and decide which version an editor would leave alone. The first is natural and the second is merely correct. There is one detail that still worries me about the schedule. One detail about the schedule that still worries me exists. It became clear very quickly that the deadline was never realistic. That the deadline was never realistic became clear very quickly.
| Recurso | Para qué sirve de verdad | Cuándo suena a relleno |
|---|---|---|
| the passive | mantener como sujeto lo que ya se estaba hablando | cuando el agente importa y se esconde por timidez |
| existential there | introducir algo nuevo en escena | cuando el sujeto ya era conocido y no hacía falta presentarlo |
| anticipatory it | sacar del principio un sujeto de tres líneas | cuando el sujeto era breve y quedaba mejor delante |
| fronting an adverbial | fijar el marco de tiempo o lugar antes de empezar | cuando se hace en todas las frases y el texto pierde el pulso |
| the dative alternation | elegir entre «give the man a book» y «give a book to the man» según cuál es nuevo | cuando se elige al azar y lo pesado queda a mitad de frase |
| extraposition of a relative | mandar al final una relativa larga que separaba sujeto y verbo | cuando la relativa es corta y el desplazamiento confunde |
El otro par que decide el ritmo es «give the man a book» frente a «give a book to the man». Las dos son correctas y no significan lo mismo desde el punto de vista de la información: en la primera el libro es la novedad, en la segunda lo es el hombre. Elegir bien es lo que hace que la frase siguiente enlace sola.
Escuche
Now listen for the heavy phrase and notice that it always arrives last. He gave the committee a summary of everything that had gone wrong that year. She sent her lawyer the only copy of the contract she had kept. They offered the newcomers a version of the story that suited nobody.
Reordene la oración para que lo nuevo y lo largo queden al final. Escriba la versión que dejaría un corrector.
- That the figures had been rounded up by the finance team was obvious.
- She explained to the auditors the reason for the discrepancy.
- A serious flaw in the design of the survey exists.
- He reads perfectly the contracts before he signs them.
- The board sent a letter which nobody had been allowed to read to the staff.
- To be told the news by a stranger surprised her.
Ver soluciones
- It was obvious that the figures had been rounded up by the finance team.
- She explained the reason for the discrepancy to the auditors.
- There is a serious flaw in the design of the survey.
- He reads the contracts carefully before he signs them.
- The board sent the staff a letter which nobody had been allowed to read.
- It surprised her to be told the news by a stranger.
Elija la continuación que enlaza con la frase anterior. Solo una respeta el orden de la información.
- The audit found three irregularities. ___ (A junior analyst had reported all of them months earlier. · All of them had been reported months earlier by a junior analyst.)
- I finally met the architect on Friday. ___ (She turned out to be the sister of an old colleague of mine. · The sister of an old colleague of mine is what she turned out to be.)
- The proposal was circulated on Monday. ___ (By Wednesday it had been withdrawn without any explanation. · Without any explanation, a withdrawal of it had happened by Wednesday.)
- Everyone expected the vote to be close. ___ (A foregone conclusion, in the end, was what it turned out to be. · In the end it turned out to be a foregone conclusion.)
- They asked me to review the manuscript. ___ (I sent them a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable. · I sent a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable to them.)
- The reasons for the delay were never made public. ___ (That the contractor had gone bankrupt in March emerged only later. · It emerged only later that the contractor had gone bankrupt in March.)
Ver soluciones
- All of them had been reported months earlier by a junior analyst.
- She turned out to be the sister of an old colleague of mine.
- By Wednesday it had been withdrawn without any explanation.
- In the end it turned out to be a foregone conclusion.
- I sent them a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable.
- It emerged only later that the contractor had gone bankrupt in March.
