1 (suitably, adequately) adecuadamente; apropiadamente the staff are not properly trained el personal no está adecuadamente apropiadamente capacitado;or not properly dressed (for occasion) no vestido de la manera adecuada; (for activity) no vestido de la manera apropiada; I had not eaten properly for the past few days hacía unos días que no comía como es debido
you're not eating properly you can help prevent cancer by eating properly
2 (correctly) [+function, work] bien my mind wasn't functioning properly the controls weren't working properly
sit up properly! (to child) ¡siéntate como es debido!; if you don't sit up properly you can damage your back si no te sientas correctamente, puedes fastidiarte la espalda; if you can't behave properly I'll have to take you home si no te portas bien, tendremos que irnos a casa
eat your food properly!
to do sth properlydo hacer algo bien como es debido;or we haven't got the money to do the job properly no tenemos dinero para hacer bien el trabajo para hacer el trabajo como es debido;or
if you'd done the job properly this would never have happened She wants the floors mopped every day, but only with the sponge mop; Sue, the cleaning woman,comes once a week to do them properly, on her hands and knees if the operation were not done properly, infection would set in To do their job properly, teachers need to command respect
properly speakingspeaking hablando con propiedad; propiamente dicho My father sometimes called himself Lutheran, but he was really anti-God, and properly speaking he was Freudian it is here that we enter, properly speaking, into our principal area of research "A la recherche du temps perdu" is not, properly speaking, a fiction but a creative autobiography
the process is not properly understoodunderstood no se sabe exactamente en qué consiste el proceso he said that Japan's efforts have not been properly understood and appreciated in this country developments in Britain must be considered in their international context to be properly understood
3 (in seemly fashion) correctamenteto behave properlybehave portarse correctamente
she very properly refusedvery se negó a ello e hizo bien
4 (informal) (really, thoroughly) verdaderamente we were properly ashamed/puzzled estábamos verdaderamente avergonzados/confundidos
