Spanish to English antes de pe y be con eme escribiré

[jann]

It seems odd to me to "translate" this Spanish spelling rule (about mb & mp) by providing a totally different English spelling rule (about ie vs. ei).

A gloss might be more appropriate?

 

[fenixpollo]

I agree that the current entry doesn't make sense.

Just to confirm, you're suggesting that we translate the rule literally, and then put a Note to explain?

For example:

antes de pe y be con eme escribiré, antes de pe y be con eme escribiré y nunca lo olvidaré, antes de p y b con m escribiré expr

literal

before p and b I will write an m expr

Note: English does not have this same spelling rule; a similar rule and saying is "i before e except after c".

 

[jann]

Just to confirm, you're suggesting that we translate the rule literally, and then put a Note to explain?

Thanks for checking! No, I didn't mean an awkward literal translation -- that's why I suggested a gloss. I think I've seen glosses or explanations in lieu of translations in other WordReference entries on occasion. That said, I am not a lexicographer! I just wanted to flag this entry for the WR team's expertise.

Perhaps the English side could say something like: "Spanish spelling mnemonic: m comes before p and b"?

And it may also help to add a note or notes, depending on what the system can display:

• If the note is associated with the Spanish expression, I would expect it to be in Spanish (and nothing at all about English), explaining that this rhyme is a spelling rule, etc.
• If a note can be associated with the English translation, it might make sense to say something like "Note: For English, the saying "i before e except after c" is a comparable rhymed spelling mnemonic."

Side note: for the English saying about I/E, I wouldn't like to call it a "rule" in a dictionary entry, lest learners think it's absolute/universally true. But not only is there a second half to the rhyme, probably too long to print ("... and when sounded as A as in neighbor and sleigh"), there are also many common exceptions. If "mnemonic" is too technical, I guess I'd call this sort of saying a "rule of thumb."