Conjugation for Lanzar

Question

I am attempting to write some humorous advice in Spanish for a friend, but I'm unsure of how to conjugate the verb "Lanzar" (To throw/launch) in the following sentence:

Never toss a small child without first looking where you are tossing the aforementioned child.

At the beginning of the sentence, I've used the words "Nunca ____ a un... and then the rest of the sentence. I'm a little bit confused on what conjugation I should use for Lanzar, since I'm not specifically telling my friend that HE shouldn't toss a small child.

Any help is appreciated. I'm sure that the answer is quite simple.

Gracias

Answer 1

I'm not specifically telling my friend that HE shouldn't toss a small child.

In these cases we use passive voice:

Nunca se debe lanzar ........

Nunca hay que lanzar .........

Muchas gracias Julian y Bosquederoble! - 00ffada9, Oct 8, 2014

Answer 2

Now that Julian has answered, I will ask if it would be possible to do it this way:

Never toss a small child without first looking where you are tossing the aforementioned child.

Nunca lances a un niño pequeño sin mirar el lugar al que vas a lanzar a ese niño.

It does seem to me with the qualification (sin mirar) that a negative command would be possible- he shouldn't do it without looking, but I am not good enough to be sure, so I post only for further input, not to provide an answer that I know.

Of course it is possible to use negative imperative, but this is not depersonalized, which is what HCA wants to do - "sin mirar" doesn´t change the tense of the subject. However, if you are talking to someone using "Ud." "Uds", you can insert a sentence - 005faa61, Oct 7, 2014

into that conversation using for informal "Tú" and it will be understood that this particular sentence refers to "you in general" thus depersonalizing that phrase even though it is not passive voice. It is possible to do the same when the conversation is - 005faa61, Oct 7, 2014

in informal "Tú" as you have mentioned, but the listener can´t be sure if this is directed at him or at "you in general" so in this case passive voice is the best way - 005faa61, Oct 7, 2014

Okay, thanks- so if I didn't want to depersonalize it and just wanted to give advice to a friend (as odd as this advice is) my sentence would work? - bosquederoble, Oct 7, 2014

Yes, except add personal A in last clause (ese niño), or just "al que vas a lanzarlo" - 005faa61, Oct 7, 2014

Thanks Julian, I still forget the personal a too often. Even if it is in the first half of the sentence to remind me. :) - bosquederoble, Oct 7, 2014