Precision Spanish for Global Professionals.
Masculine noun. Grace exceptionally granted by the Head of State, by which they totally or partially forgive a penalty or commute it for a more benign one. E.g.: La amnistía, el indulto o la conmutación de la pena capital podrán ser concedidos en todos los casos: Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases. The verb is indultar. dc
Masculine and feminine noun. Person united to another in marriage. E.g.: Ahora bien, el permiso expedido debe tener la misma duración que el del cónyuge: Now, the permit issued should have the same duration as that of the spouse.
The adjective is conyugal. E.g.: Cuando usted solicite este beneficio conyugal, sabrá si él es elegible o no: When you apply for your spousal benefit, you will find out whether he is eligible. dc
Verb. In legal Spanish, ceder means to give, transfer to someone a thing, action or right. E.g.: Ninguna de las partes puede ceder sus derechos a terceros: Neither party is allowed to relinquish its rights to third parties.
The contract is la cesión and the parties el/la cedente and el/la cesionario/a. E.g.: Una cesión entraña la venta y la transferencia de la propiedad de la patente por el cedente al cesionario: An assignment involves the sale and transfer of ownership of the patent by the assignor to the assignee. dc
From the Latin testario mentis: testimony of the will. Legal document that expresses a person’s (testador) wishes as to how their property (patrimonio) is to be distributed after their death. E.g.: Sin testamento, las leyes del estado pueden determinar cómo su patrimonio puede ser distribuido: Without a will, the laws of the state will determine where your property is distributed.
The verb is testar. Curiosly, testar is also the legal expression used in Spanish to say ‘to cross out’. For example, if in a legal document there is a mistake, the only way to correct it is to cross the mistake out (testarlo) in a way you can read what it is written under it, then to add at the bottom of the document a note like this: ‘lo testado no corresponde’, and then to sign next to the note.
By the way, testar means also ‘to test’, but, I prefer, in this case testear. dc
Verb. In legal Spanish, enmendar has two meanings: 1. To correct, eliminate errors, eliminate defects. 2. To compensate or repair damages and losses. E.g.1.: Se ha avanzado mucho efectuando modificaciones en la práctica sin necesidad de enmendar el documento: Much has been achieved by changes in practice without the need for amendment. E.g.2: Llega un momento en el que ya no puede servirse a la justicia, cuando es muy tarde para enmendar daños cometidos o sufridos: here comes a time when justice can no longer be served When it is too late to right wrongs, committed or received.
The noun is el enmendamiento and the adjective enmendado/a or enmendable. Another noun is la enmienda, and we use it when referring to the amendment of the law.
By the way, remendar, with the same origin, means ‘to patch up’, usually used for clothes. The adjective is remendado/a/s. There is another adjective: remendón/a; it refers to the person, usually a tailor or cobbler who has the job of mending. It is a beautiful word, I learned it as a child when I was reading Tolstoj, El Zapatero Remendón: transalted into English as ‘Where love is, God is’. dc
