Así que, está bien claro que no pudo éste ocasionar el percance.
This sentence is wierd to me because of one thing: Así que, está bien claro que no pudo éste ocasionar el percance.
"no pudo éste ocasionar el percance". I guess it should be, So, it's very clear that she couln't have caused this mishap. Now why would it would "éste ocasionar el percance" and not "no pudo ocasionar este percance"? Gracias.
6 Answers
éste (this one) refers to el gato blanco that is blameless. He must be a male (tom). Why it it [d]el gatito negro, then la vieja gata.? The black cat is either un gato or una gata.
la estvo aguantando-the la refers to una operación...
I was wondering why it was de aseo bien rigurosa, rather than riguroso until I saw that it was una operación de aseso bien rigurosa.
The original is using a pronoun, éste, (the antecedent must be know from previous context since esto wasn't used) to say this [thing] could not have caused the mishap.
Your sentence has changed the this to an adjective saying "she could not have caused this mishap"
Without previous context it's not clear where the "she" came from. If éste was meant to be "she" then it should have been "ésta" or ella. I think the "éste" meant "this [masculine] thing".
Así que, está bien claro que no pudo éste ocasionar el percance.
So, it's very clear that the latter couldn't have caused this mishap.
OR
So, it's very clear that this one couldn't have caused this mishap.
Así que, está bien claro que no pudo ocasionar el percance. So, it's very clear that he couldn't have caused this mishap.
To clarify, there is a little white male cat (gatito blanco, minino blanco) and an old female cat (la vieja gata) who was washing him. As gfreed said "la" refers to "una operacíon"
Check éste to see that it can be used to mean "the latter" as in the last one mentioned. I'm not sure which would be the better translation here, "the latter" or "this one". Either way, you are correct, it is not necessary in the sentence for the sentence to make sense.
Ok my PDF of Atraves del espejo y lo que Alicia..... has the copy functionality disabled so I can't copy the paragraph, but I am looking for a txt copy now... so hold on.
Wow, it's maddening..this book is not under copyright any longer and yet the Spanish version is on lockdown, no way to get an unlicensed copy of a txt file that is copyable.
Alright here I will type it in:
Desde luego hay una cosa de la que estamos bien seguros y es que el gatito blanco no tuvo absolutamente nada que ver con todo este enredo......fue enteramente culpa del gatito negro. En efecto, durante el último cuarto de hora, la vieja gata había sometido al minino blanco a una operación de aseo bien rigurosa, (y hay que reconocer que la estuvo aguantando bastante bien) Así que, está bien claro que no pudo éste ocasionar el percance.
My take:
Of course there is one thing of which we are quite sure and that is that the little white cat had absolutely nothing to do with this sordid affair....it was entirely the fault of the little black cat. In effect (in truth etc...), during the last quarter of the hour, the old cat had submitted the white pussycat to an operation of rigorous cleaning. (and one should admit that she was bearing it rather well). So, it's very clear that she couldn't have caused this mishap.
Note the "la" in "hay que reconocer que LA estuvo aguantando bastante bien...the cat must be female and yes, this is written word for word with no errors.
Gracias amigos.
Should be Alice's white female from Alice in Wonderland. I believe she is female, but I guess I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure cats are female and dogs are male. Anyway. I still don't get it although I see what you are saying. I guess I don't see why "éste" is in there at all. Doesn't "no pudo ocasionar el percance" mean "he couldn't have caused the mishap?" Why is éste in there? Can you double it up like that? It reads like "So it's very clear that he (he) couldn't have caused the mishap" Isn't he implied with pudo? Gracias.
