Leading up to

Question

What is the best translation for "...leading up to the incident..."

As in, "what you witnessed leading up to the incident and what happened afterwards."

Answer 1

los acontecimientos que resultaron en el incidente

Leading up to can have either a causal relationship or not. In the events leading up to a traffic accident, for example, it can mean the events that caused the accident to happen.

At other times, we just wish to know the series of events that took place before the incident without the implication that they created an environment that created the incident. More or less, what transpired before the event took place. That seems to match more with the "and what happened afterwards".

For example, if the police were asking witnesses what lead up to a shooting, they might only be asking what events the people witnessed and not be inquiring about the motives behind the events witnessed which may or may not be know.