C2 · Fine points and style
Register: newspaper forms and the nominal style
Forms you read in newspapers, reports and official texts — and do not need in conversation.
At a glance
- Remember
- Be able to read it: habría dimitido means «is said to have resigned», ganaba ayer means «won yesterday». When you write: plain, and in the indicative.
- Form
- Habría cinco heridos.unconfirmed news
- Signal words
- según
- habría
- proceder a
- ayer
- fue
- Trap
- Wrong:¿Sabes? Ayer me compraba un coche.Right:¿Sabes? Ayer me compré un coche.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| unconfirmed news | Habría cinco heridos. |
| more careful | Según la policía, hay cinco heridos. |
| nominal style | Se procedió a la apertura del local. |
| simpler | Se abrió el local. |
| newspaper imperfect | El presidente inauguraba ayer el puente. |
| in conversation | El presidente inauguró ayer el puente. |
| passive with ser in a report | El edificio fue construido hace un siglo. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The conditional can pass on unconfirmed news.
Según testigos, el conductor habría huido.According to witnesses, the driver fled.
The nominal style turns actions into nouns.
Se ruega la devolución del material.The return of the material is requested.
The newspaper imperfect narrates a completed event.
El Gobierno aprobaba ayer la nueva ley.The government passed the new law yesterday.
In conversation the simple form is used instead.
Ayer aprobaron la nueva ley.Yesterday they passed the new law.
Example sentences
El incendio habría comenzado en la cocina.The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen.
Se procedió a la detención del sospechoso.The suspect was arrested.
La selección vencía anoche a su eterno rival.The national team beat its eternal rival last night.
El puente fue inaugurado hace veinte años.The bridge was opened twenty years ago.
6 more example sentences
El sospechoso habría confesado el robo.The suspect has reportedly confessed to the robbery.
Se procederá a la revisión de las cuentas.The accounts will be audited.
El escritor moría ayer en su casa de Madrid.The writer died yesterday at his home in Madrid.
La ley fue aprobada por mayoría.The law was passed by a majority.
Queda prohibido fumar en todo el recinto.Smoking is prohibited throughout the premises.
Según fuentes oficiales, habría más de cien afectados.According to official sources, more than a hundred people are reportedly affected.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Anyone who reads a lot of newspapers carries the narrative imperfect into conversation: Ayer me compraba un coche. There it is heard as «I was buying a car» — and the listener waits for whatever interrupted it. A completed event from yesterday takes the indefinido in conversation: Ayer me compré un coche.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Written language, especially that of the press and of officialdom, uses forms that are rare in speech. Anyone reading at a high level should know them; anyone writing should know when they fit.
The condicional de rumor passes on unconfirmed news: El ministro habría dimitido — «the minister has reportedly resigned», «is said to have resigned». The form is widespread in the news but is criticised as an imitation of foreign press language; it is more careful to name the source: Según fuentes del Gobierno, el ministro ha dimitido.
The nominal style turns verbs into nouns: proceder a la apertura instead of abrir, la realización de las obras instead of hacer las obras — the same habit as English «carry out the opening of». Add to that the passive with ser in reports, and the newspaper imperfect for a completed event: El equipo ganaba ayer la liga — a narrative form that would be an indefinido in conversation.
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