Vocabulary

Las personas

 Inglés Español
 adolescent  adolescente
 adult  adulto
 baby  beb
 boy  chico
 chap  to
 child  niño/a
 fellow  colega
 gentleman  señor, caballero
 girl  chica
 grown-up  adulto
 individual  individuo
 lady  señora
 man  hombre
 middle-aged  de mediana edad
 old  viejo
 people  gente
 person  persona
 teenager  adolescente
 toddler  niño que empieza a andar
 woman  mujer
 young  joven
 youth  adolescente

La familia

 Inglés  Español
 adopted  adoptado
 aunt  ta
 brother  hermano
 cousin  primo/a
 dad  pap
 daughter  hija
 daughter-in-law  nuera
 elder  el/la mayor
 family  familia
 father  padre
 father-in-law  suegro
 foster parents  familia de acogida
 godfather  padrino
 godmother   madrina
 grandchild  nieto/a
 grandchildren  nietos
 granddad  abuelito
 granddaughter  nieta
 grandfather  abuelo
 grandma  abuelita
 grandmother  abuela
 grandpa  abuelito
 grandparents  abuelos
 grandson  nieto
 great-grandfather  bisabuelo
 great-grandmother  bisabuela
 husband   marido
 mother  madre
 mother-in-law  suegra
 mum  mam
 nephew  sobrino
 niece  sobrina
 older  mayor
 only child  hijo/a único/a
 orphan  huérfano
 parents  padres
 single parent  padre/madre soltero
 sister  hermana
 son  hijo
 son-in-law  yerno
 stepdaughter  hijastra
 stepfather  padrastro
 stepmother   madrastra
 stepson  hijastro
 twins  gemelos
 uncle  tío
  wife  esposa

Saludos, despedidas y presentaciones

Buenos días
Good morning

Buenas tardes
Good afternoon

Buenas noches
Good evening

Buenas noches
Good night

¡Adios!
Bye, Good bye

¡Hasta luego!
See you later!

¡Hasta pronto!
See you (soon)!

¡Hasta mañana!
See you tomorrow!

¡Hola!
Hi! Hello!
(también en inglés americano: howdy! hiya!)

¿Cómo estás?
How are you?

¿Qué tal?
How are things?

¿Qué tal?
How are you getting on?

Bien, gracias
Fine, thanks

¿A qué te dedicas?
What do you do?

¿Cómo te llamas?
What's your name?

¿Puedo presentarme?
May I introduce myself?

Quisiera que conociese a...

I'd like you to meet...

Le presento a ...
Let me introduce you to ...

Encantado, Mucho gusto.

Nice / pleased to meet you.

¡Mucho gusto! / ¿Cómo les va?

How do you do?

¿Cómo está tu familia?

How's your family?

¿Tu familia está bien?

Is your family well?

Salúdalos en mi nombre.
Give them my kindest regards.

¡Buena suerte!
All the best!

Estoy a tu disposición.
I am at your disposal.

Recuerdos a todos.
Kind regards to everybody.

Recuerdos! / Mis mejores deseos!

Best wishes!

CRIME NOUNS AND EXPRESSIONS

attorney (US) – abogado
accused - acusado
acquittal - absolución
affidavit - declaración jurada
alibi - coartada
alimony - pensión alimenticia
allegation - alegato, alegación
appeal - apelación
arrest warrant - orden de captura
barrister (GB) - abogado (en tribunales superiores)
bailiff - alguacil
the Bench - el Tribunal
brief - escrito, informe
case - caso
charge - acusación, cargo
confession - confesión
convict - presidiario
conviction - condena
court - corte
courthouse - palacio de justicia
courtroom - sala de justicia
crime – delito
custody – custodia
death sentence - pena de muerte
death warrant - sentencia de muerte
defence - defensa
defendant – acusado
evidence - evidencia, testimonio
felony (US) - delito grave
fine - multa
fugitive - fugitivo
guilty - culpable
hearing - audiencia
handcuffs - esposas
hooligan – gamberro
innocent - inocente
judge – juez
jury – jurado
lawyer - abogado
mugger - asaltante
murderer – asesino
notary – notario
on bail - bajo fianza
on parole - en libertad condicional
on probation - en libertad condicional
pistol – pistola
proof – prueba
prosecution acusación, juicio
prosecutor - fiscal, acusador
punishment - castigo
prison, jail - cárcel
robber - ladrón
smuggler – contrabandista
solicitor (UK) - abogado (en tribunales inferiores)
statement – declaración
suspect - sospechoso
testimony - testimonio, declaración
trial - juicio, proceso
terrorist - terrorista
thief – ladrón
under oath - bajo juramento
verdict - veredicto, fallo
witness - testigo
witness box (UK) estrado
witness stand (US) estrado
writ - orden judicial
vandal – vándalo   CRIMES
arson -incendio premeditado
assault – asalto, agresión
blackmail - chantaje
burglary - robo con allanamiento de morada
fraud - fraude
kidnap - secuestro
mugging - asalto
shoplift - hurtar en tiendas

CRIME VERBS
to accuse somebody of something - acusar a alguien de algo
to acquit somebody of something - absolver a alguien de algo
to arrest somebody on the charge of something - arrestar a alguien con cargos de algo
to adjourn - levantar la sesión
to be cleared of all charges - ser absuelto de todos los cargos
to be guilty of something - ser culpable de algo
to be on trial for something - ser juzgado por algo
to break in - entrar a la fuerza
to break out - fugarse
to charge somebody of something - acusar a alguien de algo
to convict somebody of something - condenar, declarar culpable a alguien por algo
to dismiss the case - sobreseer el caso
to escape - escaparse
to execute somebody for something - ejecutar a alguien por algo
to find somebody guilty - encontrar a alguien culpable
to find somebody not guilty - encontrar a alguien inocente
to give evidence - prestar declaración
to investigate – investigar
to kidnap - secuestrar
to kill - matar
to nullify - anular
to pardon somebody for somethin - indultar a alguien por algo
to plead guilty - confesarse culpable
to punish somebody for something - castigar a alguien por algo
to reach a verdict - llegar a un veredicto
to rob - robar
to stand trial - ser juzgado en la corte
to steal – robar
to suspect somebody of something - sospechar de alguien por algo
to testify against somebody - testificar en contra de alguien
to swear - jurar, prestar juramento

A question tag or tag question is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an

imperative is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment (the "tag"). The term
"question tag" is generally preferred by British grammarians, while their American counterparts
prefer "tag question".

Forms and uses

In most languages, tag questions are more common in colloquial spoken usage than in
formal written usage. They can be an indicator of politeness, emphasis, or irony. They may
suggest confidence or lack of confidence; they may be confrontational or tentative. In legal
settings, tag questions can be found in leading question. Some examples showing the wide
variety of structure possible in English are:

 Open the window, will you?

 She doesn't really want those apples, does she?
 You'd better stop now, hadn't you?
 So you thought it would be a good idea to reprogram the computer, did you?
 It's quite an achievement, isn't it, to win a Nobel prize!
 Oh I must, must I?
 I just adore Beethoven, don't you?
 I'm coming with you, all right?
 You've been there, right?
 Easier said than done, eh?
 You went there, no?

Some languages have a fixed phrase for the tag question, such as Russian не правда ли?
(not true?), French n'est-ce pas? ("is it not?") and German (known as "Refrainfrage") such
as "nicht wahr?", "ne?", "gell?", or "oder?" . Some languages (notably English and the
Celtic languages) construct their question tags to match the preceding clause for every
sentence, and are therefore quite variable: you've been here before, haven't you? You didn't
buy it, did you etc.
Tag questions in English

English tag questions, when they have the grammatical form of a question, are atypically
complex, because they vary according to four factors: the choice of auxiliary, the negation,
the intonation pattern and the emphasis. According to a specialist children's lawyer at the
NSPCC, children find it difficult to answer tag questions other than in accordance with the
expectation of questioner[1].

Auxiliary

The English tag question is made up of an auxiliary verb and a pronoun. The auxiliary has
to agree with the tense, aspect and modality of the verb in the preceding sentence. If the
verb is in the perfect tense, for example, the tag question uses has or have; if the verb is in a
present progressive form, the tag is formed with am, are, is; if the verb is in a tense which
does not normally use an auxiliary, like the present simple, the auxiliary is taken from the
emphatic do form; and if the sentence has a modal auxiliary, this is echoed in the tag:

 He's read this book, hasn't he?

 He read this book, didn't he?
 He's reading this book, isn't he?
 He reads a lot of books, doesn't he?
 He'll read this book, won't he?
 He should read this book, shouldn't he?
 He can read this book, can't he?

A special case occurs when the main verb is to be in a simple tense. Here the tag question
repeats the main verb, not an auxiliary:

 This is a book, isn't it?

(Not doesn't it?, as the normal rules for present simple would suggest.)

If the main verb is to have, either solution is possible:

 He has a book, hasn't he?

 He has a book, doesn't he?

Negation

English tag questions may contain a negation, but need not. When there is no special
emphasis, the rule of thumb often applies that a positive sentence has a negative tag and
vice versa:
  She is French, isn't she?
 She's not French, is she?

These are sometimes called "balanced tag questions". However, it has been estimated that
in normal conversation, as many as 40%-50%[2] of tags break this rule. "Unbalanced tag
questions" (positive to positive or negative to negative) may be used for ironic or
confrontational effects:

 Do listen, will you?

 Oh, I'm lazy, am I?
 Jack: I refuse to spend Sunday at your mother's house! Jill: Oh you do, do you?
We'll see about that!
 Jack: I just won't go back! Jill: Oh you won't, won't you?

Patterns of negation can show regional variations. In North East Scotland, for example,
positive to positive is used when no special effect is desired:

 This pizza's fine, is it? (standard English: This pizza's delicious, isn't it?)

Note the following variations in the negation when the auxiliary is the I form of the copula:

 England (and America, Australia, etc.): Clever, aren't I?

 Scotland/Northern Ireland: Clever, amn't I?
 nonstandard dialects: Clever, ain't I?

Intonation

English tag questions can have a rising or a falling intonation pattern. This is contrasted
with Polish, French or German, for example, where all tags rise. As a rule, the English
rising pattern is used when soliciting information or motivating an action, that is, when
some sort of response is required. Since normal English yes/no questions have rising
patterns (e.g. Are you coming?), these tags make a grammatical statement into a real
question:

 You're coming, aren't you?

 Do listen, will you?
 Let's have a beer, shall we?

The falling pattern is used to underline a statement. The statement itself ends with a falling
pattern, and the tag sounds like an echo, strengthening the pattern. Most English tag
questions have this falling pattern.

 He doesn't know what he's doing, does he?

 This is really boring, isn't it?
Sometimes the rising tag goes with the positive to positive pattern to create a
confrontational effect:

 He was the best in the class, was he? (rising: the speaker is challenging this thesis,
or perhaps expressing surprised interest)
 He was the best in the class, wasn't he? (falling: the speaker holds this opinion)
 Be careful, will you? (rising: expresses irritation)
 Take care, won't you? (falling: expresses concern)

Sometimes the same words may have different patterns depending on the situation or
implication.

 You don't remember my name, do you? (rising: expresses surprise)

 You don't remember my name, do you? (falling: expresses amusement or
resignation)
 Your name's Mary, isn't it? (rising: expresses uncertainty)
 Your name's Mary, isn't it? (falling: expresses confidence)

It is interesting that as an all-purpose tag the London set-phrase innit (for "isn't it") is only
used with falling patterns:

 He doesn't know what he's doing, innit?

 He was the best in the class, innit?

On the other hand, the adverbial tag questions (alright? OK? etc.) are almost always found
with rising patterns. An occasional exception is surely.

Emphasis

English tag questions are normally stressed on the verb, but the stress is on the pronoun if
there is a change of person.

 I don't like peas, do you?

 I like peas, don't you?

This is often a rising tag (especially when the tag contains no negation), or the intonation
pattern may be the typically English fall-rise.

In French, this would be expressed with et toi?, which is also a kind of tag question.

Variant forms

There are a number of variant forms that exist in particular dialects of English. These are
generally invariant, regardless of verb, person or negativity.
The tag right? is essentially equivalent to the Spanish ¿verdad?. It is common in a number
of dialects across the UK and US.

The tag eh? is of Scottish origin, and can be heard across much of Scotland, New Zealand,
Canada and the North-Eastern United States. In Central Scotland (in and around Stirling
and Falkirk), this exists in the form eh no? which is again invariant.

[edit] False tag in Welsh English

It is often erroneously assumed that Welsh speakers of English use a tag question to make
an emphatic statement, eg: Lovely day, isn't it?

However, this is instead a cleft sentence of the form: Lovely day, is in it.

This has its roots in the Welsh language, and this type of cleft features in all extant Celtic
languages. The lack of verb at the start of this construction coupled with the lack of rising
intonation mark this as distinct from tag questions, which are used in Welsh English in the
same manner as the majority of the UK.