Who's who
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el diputado, la diputada | member of parliament |
| la oposición | the opposition |
| las oposiciones | civil-service exams |
| la inmigración | immigration |
| regional | regional |
| occidental | western |
The members of Spain's lower house, el Congreso, are diputados:
| There are three hundred and fifty MPs in Congress. | En el Congreso hay trescientos cincuenta diputados. |
Like other classifying adjectives, regional and occidental usually follow the noun:
| We took the regional train because it was cheaper. | Cogimos el tren regional porque era más barato. |
One word, two worlds
In the singular, la oposición usually means the parties against the government:
| The opposition has voted against the law. | La oposición ha votado contra la ley. |
In the plural, las oposiciones are usually the competitive exams for a public job: teacher, judge, civil servant. People study for them for years, and a pass usually means a job for life:
| My sister is studying for civil-service exams to become a teacher. | Mi hermana está preparando oposiciones para ser profesora. |
Setting people against each other
You know enfrentarse a: to face something yourself. Enfrentar without se can mean that too (enfrentar una crisis), though in Spain enfrentarse a or afrontar is more usual for it. Its other use is the one drilled here: it sets people against each other, and takes them as its direct object, with personal a:
| Grandfather's money set the two sisters against each other. | El dinero del abuelo enfrentó a las dos hermanas. |
| Immigration pits the government against the opposition. | La inmigración enfrenta al Gobierno y a la oposición. |
El odio is the noun of odiar:
| There's too much hatred on social media. | Hay demasiado odio en las redes sociales. |
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