"Just by doing...": Con + infinitive
When organizing community action, you sometimes have to give people a reality check. To express that merely doing a single action is insufficient to achieve a goal, use the preposition con followed by an infinitive.
In English, this translates to "just by [doing something]" or "merely [doing something]." It is used to concede that an action was taken, while emphasizing its limited effectiveness.
| The activist is telling you: you don't change the world just by painting a banner. | El activista te lo dice: con pintar una pancarta no cambias el mundo. |
Because this structure highlights what falls short, the main clause is typically a negative statement. You will frequently hear it paired with the phrase no basta (it is not enough).
| The activist tells us this: just handing in the petition is not enough. | Nos lo dice el activista: con entregar la petición no basta. |
| Don't abandon the initiative; just raising a friend's awareness is not enough. | No abandones la iniciativa; con concienciar a un amigo no basta. |
Focusing on the final outcome
You can also pair con + infinitive with strong negative outcomes like no logramos nada (we achieve nothing) or no evitamos (we don't prevent) to remind your team to stay mobilized.
| The activist has explained it to you: we achieve nothing just by spreading the news. | La activista te lo ha explicado: con difundir la noticia no logramos nada. |
| We don't prevent passivity just by talking; we need to mobilize the neighborhood. | Con hablar no evitamos la pasividad; necesitamos movilizar al barrio. |
