Question 1

Why doesn't this sentence use the subjunctive like the other examples in this lesson?

Accepted Answer

Our current lesson focuses on phrases like es ético que (it is ethical that) which trigger the subjunctive. However, this sentence doesn't use que. It uses a si (if) clause for a real, possible situation. In Spanish, present-tense si clauses always use the normal indicative mood, which is why we see tiene instead of the subjunctive tenga.

Question 2

I haven't seen the word sesgo before. Is that the normal word for 'bias'?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Sesgo translates to 'bias', 'slant', or 'skew'. It is the exact word you need when talking about statistics, media, or a computer program having a built-in prejudice.

Question 3

Does no es ético mean 'the algorithm is not ethical' or just 'it is not ethical' in general?

Accepted Answer

It could mean either, and both make sense here! Because Spanish drops subject pronouns, no es ético could literally mean 'it (the algorithm) is not ethical.' It could also be an impersonal expression meaning 'the situation is not ethical.' If you wanted to use the exact structure from this lesson, you could rephrase it as: No es ético que el algoritmo tenga un sesgo (It is not ethical that the algorithm has a bias).

Question 4

Why is there no 'h' or 'th' in algoritmo like there is in the English word 'algorithm'?

Accepted Answer

Spanish spelling is very phonetic. Because the English 'th' sound doesn't exist in standard Latin American Spanish, the word was adapted with a simple t. You will see this often with scientific or technical cognates (words that share the same origin).

Si el algoritmo tiene un sesgo, no es ético.

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