con apenas con

Question

Hello i have simple, yet difficult problem for me to solve. Can you help me with it please? I have a sentence:

El 16 de octubre de 2004 saltó al césped de Montjuic con apenas con 17 años, tres meses y 22 días.

According the title my problem lies in the phrase "con apenas con". My question is: what does it exactly means? Con apenas means, as far as i know, "with just","just", "with only" etc... But why the other "con"? Is it necessary to use the second "con"? Does meaning of the phrase change with the second con?

good job on noticing the mistake, Daniel! - 006595c6, Jun 28, 2017

Answer 1

I do not know where did you hear it, but it is not correct in Spanish. The correct sentence is:

El 16 de octubre de 2004 saltó al césped de Montjuic con apenas 17 años, tres meses y 22 días.

I heard it at elmundo.es Is it maybe just a mistake or maybe its latin spanish? - Daniel5841, Jun 28, 2017

"El Mundo" it is a Spanish newspaper, and it is an error, sure. - txustaboy, Jun 28, 2017

Typo - you do not need the final d on heard (where did you hear it) - Mardle, Jun 28, 2017

txusta: permíteme una correción: I don't know where you heard/read this..... - 006595c6, Jun 28, 2017

Thanks :) - txustaboy, Jun 29, 2017

Answer 2

Here is the article:

article

I would probably have skim read it and not noticed or realised the error. If you are a native speaker when reading you do not notice minor mistakes, at least that often happens with me with English. Some academics said our brain is wired so that if the first and last letter of a word is correct and the middle is scrambled we will understand it. I am not sure if that works for Spanish.

I note phrases I like and often think I may unwittingly be learning something which is badly written or wrong.

A newspaper is not a guarantee of good writing... - txustaboy, Jun 28, 2017

Yes, that also works in Spanish. - txustaboy, Jun 28, 2017

Yes I know. Many of the broadsheets in the UK have a corrections column. The Guardian used to be known as the Grauniad because of its reputation for errors! - Mardle, Jun 28, 2017

Answer 3

Wow thanks so much i didn't expected such a discussion. I don't know why but i feel super motivated to learn spanish faster and deeper after seeing your responses (all of them!!!).

Good luck - I liked the article. - Mardle, Jun 28, 2017

Answer 4

El 16 de octubre de 2004 saltó al césped de Montjuic con apenas con 17 años, tres meses y 22 días.

There is a mistake. There should be only one "con".

El 16 de octubre saltó el césped con apenas 17 años.........

"apenas" means something like "hardly".

"Yo tengo apenas para vivir " means I can hardly live with my income.
"Él tiene apenas 17 años" He is very young, hardly 17 years old.
Thiis is the meaning in the sentence you ask.

The word "apenas" could have another meaning similar to "as soon as" but it's not the case in the example you give.

"Apenas venga Juana, saldremos." As soon as Juana comes, we'll go out.

Answer 5

El 16 de octubre de 2004 saltó al césped de Montjuic con apenas con 17 años, tres meses y 22 días.

There is a mistake. There should be only one "con".

El 16 de octubre saltó el césped con apenas 17 años.........

"apenas" means something like "hardly".

"Yo tengo apenas para vivir " means I can hardly live with my income.
"Él tiene apenas 17 años" He is very young, hardly 17 years old.
Thiis is the meaning in the sentence you ask.

The word "apenas" could have another meaning similar to "as soon as" but it's not the case in the example you give.

"Apenas venga Juana, saldremos." As soon as Juana comes, we'll go out.