Four patterns that shape technical texts
Package leaflets, statistics, technical manuals and official notices look dense, but they follow a handful of patterns. This lesson is about understanding: the goal is to read such texts quickly, not to write them.
Relational adjectives: consumo energético instead of consumo de energía.
Head first: the first noun tells you what it's about.
Impersonal instructions: infinitive or a verb with se.
Siglas: acronyms with a gender and their own pronunciation.
Adjectives that stand for a noun
An adjetivo relacional doesn't describe a quality; it replaces de + noun: consumo energético is consumo de energía. It comes after the noun and can't be graded. English usually puts a noun in front instead: energy consumption.
Common in technical texts
| Spanish | Unpacked | English |
|---|---|---|
| el gasto sanitario | el gasto en sanidad | healthcare spending |
| la red viaria | la red de vías | road network |
| la normativa laboral | la normativa sobre el trabajo | employment regulations |
| el estrés hídrico | el estrés por falta de agua | water stress |
| el personal docente | el personal de enseñanza | teaching staff |
In a technical text
El consumo energético de los hogares ha bajado un 8 %.
Household energy consumption has fallen by 8%.
El gasto sanitario por habitante sigue creciendo.
Healthcare spending per head keeps rising.
The head comes first
In an English noun stack the key word comes last: youth unemployment rate. Spanish reverses the order. The núcleo comes first, and everything else attaches to the right. So read from the left: the first noun is the topic, the rest narrows it down.
How a technical term is built
Read from the left
La tasa de desempleo juvenil supera el 25 %.
The youth unemployment rate is above 25%.
tasa (rate) first, then of what, then whose.
El sistema de frenado antibloqueo se activa sobre superficies mojadas.
The anti-lock braking system kicks in on wet roads.
sistema comes first; in English, system comes last.
Instructions without a person
Labels, leaflets and manuals don't address anyone directly. They use the infinitive, or a command form with se attached that is aimed at anyone. English uses the bare imperative for both: Shake before use.
From the label
Agitar antes de usar.
Shake before use.
Consérvese en lugar fresco y seco.
Store in a cool, dry place.
Manténgase fuera del alcance de los niños.
Keep out of the reach of children.
Se recomienda no superar la dosis indicada.
Do not exceed the recommended dose.
Siglas
Acronyms take the gender of their head noun: la OMS (Organización), el PIB (Producto). Many are pronounced as a word, such as la ONU or el IVA. According to the RAE they don't change in the plural: las ONG, even though las ONGs is common. Spanish acronyms also follow Spanish word order, so WHO becomes OMS and GDP becomes PIB.
Siglas in a sentence
El PIB creció un 0,6 % en el tercer trimestre.
GDP grew by 0.6% in the third quarter.
La OMS recomienda reducir el consumo de sal.
The WHO recommends eating less salt.
