AL + verb = upon verbing?
4
votes
La felicidad de una niña al conocer a su idola.
Would a correct translation be:
The happiness of a (female) child upon meeting her idol.
And more generally:
- Does "al conocer" translate to "upon meeting"? How would you translate it?
- Does this generalise to other verbs, ie does "al llegar" mean "upon arriving", etc?
4165 views
updated Nov 9, 2011
edited by eeeickythump
posted by eeeickythump
Sorry, corrected "so" to "su" in spanish sentence. - eeeickythump, Nov 7, 2011
3 Answers
3
votes
Yes, the structure "al + infinitive" is translated commonly to "upon + -ing".
You have translated the sentence correctly by saying "upon meeting", and you are also correct that "al llegar" translates to "upon arriving".
updated Nov 8, 2011
posted by mountaingirl123
3
votes
al hacer mis tareas.....upon doing my homework...
updated Nov 8, 2011
posted by Rey_Mysterio
3
votes
There seems to be something wrong in the first phrase, but since it's just a partial phrase with no context, I won't comment.
You are right however, about "al." It's like saying "At the moment of" + verb.
updated Nov 8, 2011
edited by 005faa61
posted by 005faa61
