Análisis y datos
How to describe what a number did and why. The verbs of rising and falling come in pairs — one for the thing that moves, one for the person who moves it — and using the wrong half is the most common mistake in a Spanish report.
Subir y bajar
subirverb
to go up
Something goes up on its own: las ventas subieron.
aumentarverb
to increase
Works both ways: los precios aumentaron, and aumentamos el precio.
crecerverb
to grow
El mercado creció un cinco por ciento. · The market grew five per cent.
bajarverb
to go down, to lower
Both: el precio bajó, and bajamos el precio.
caerverb
to fall
La participación cayó del 41 al 35 por ciento. · Share fell from 41 to 35 per cent.
Only for the thing itself. You cannot caer a price; you bajas it.
reducirverb
to cut, to reduce
Takes a doer: redujimos el inventario.
mantenerseverb
to hold steady
El margen se mantuvo estable. · The margin held steady.
recuperarseverb
to recover
Medir
el porcentajemnoun
the percentage
el punto porcentualmnoun
the percentage point
Falling from 41% to 35% is six points, not six per cent. The distinction gets tested.
la mediafnoun
the average
El promedio in Latin America. And la media, feminine, is the average; medio, masculine, means half.
la metafnoun
the target
El objetivo is the neutral word; many offices simply say el target.
el avancemnoun
the progress
¿Cómo viene el avance contra la meta? · How is progress against target?
la tendenciafnoun
the trend
estableadjective
steady, as a description
por debajo de / por encima de
below / above
Estamos por debajo de lo previsto. · We are below forecast.
Causa y consecuencia
deberse averb
to be due to
¿A qué se debe la caída? · What is the fall due to?
Impersonal and formal: la caída se debe al precio. The subject is the effect, not the cause.
provocarverb
to cause
El retraso provocó un quiebre de stock. · The delay caused a stockout.
influir enverb
to affect
Takes en, always.
por lo tanto
therefore
debido a
owing to
Followed by a noun: debido al retraso. Before a verb you need debido a que.
de ahí que
hence
One of the few connectors that demands the subjunctive: de ahí que sea urgente.
a medida que
as, in step with
A medida que bajamos el precio, sube el volumen. · As we lower the price, volume rises.
Valorar
preocupanteadjective
worrying
prometedoradjective
promising
sostenibleadjective
sustainable
Also used for anything you can keep up: una ejecución sostenible.
puntualadjective
one-off
A false friend twice over: it means on time for a person, and one-off for an event. Un caso puntual is an isolated case.
de fondo
underlying
Hay un problema de fondo. · There is an underlying problem.
a la fecha
to date
Latin American. Spain says a día de hoy.