Hasta el número 3
- Thread starter Veroncia
- Start date
User With No Name
Senior Member
US English
Yes, but note that "up to #3" may be understood to mean "do exercises #1 and #2, but stop before #3."
If you want the students to do #1, #2 and #3, you should probably say "up through #3."
If you want the students to do #1, #2 and #3, you should probably say "up through #3."
sound shift
Senior Member
English - England
That works in AmE, but not in BrE.
I think most BrE speakers would take the original sentence to mean "... do exercises 1, 2 and 3", and you could say exactly that in order to prevent any possibility of ambiguity.
User With No Name
Senior Member
US English
Interesting. Thanks.
Bevj
Allegra Moderata (Sp/Eng, Cat)
English (U.K.)
Lnewqban
Senior Member
Spanish - Cuba
Mi sugerencia:
From the provided package, copy and solve exercises 1, 2 and 3.
From the provided package, copy and solve exercises 1, 2 and 3.
gengo
Senior Member
American English
I think the same applies to AmEn speakers. At least I would understand it that way. Strictly speaking, of course, User is right about the ambiguity of "up to," and I believe that is also true of BrEn. However, in actual practice, I think many of us use "up to x" in an inclusive sense (including x).
User With No Name
Senior Member
US English
I'm honestly not sure about this.
I do know, however, that if you're assigning work to students and you want them to do #1, #2 and #3, you had better not leave any wiggle room.
gengo
Senior Member
American English
I would bet that you actually agree with me. For example, it is very common for an automobile manufacturer to say that a vehicle "will seat up to five people," and I doubt that you would interpret that to mean that only four people can fit.
I do know, however, that if you're assigning work to students and you want them to do #1, #2 and #3, you had better not leave any wiggle room.
Ha! You are probably right there.
User With No Name
Senior Member
US English
Certainly that example is clear. (And of course I trust your judgment about these things.)
Still, when it's a case of progress through a sequence, as in the OP's question or, to take another, similar example, "For Thursday, read up to Chapter 12," I see real ambiguity. I think a good number of students (and not just the lazy ones) would read until they saw a big number 12 at the top of the next page and stop there. I really do.
S.V.
Senior Member
Español, México
Also a relevant note in Henderson 2022. I agree it's often understood from context. The ᴇɴ/ᴇs versions sound about the same to me.
Aquí es necesario recordar las delimitaciones semánticas de la preposición hasta, dado que esta tiene diferentes aplicaciones. Si decimos “trabajo hasta las tres”, entendemos que, recién cuando vemos marcada la hora tres en el reloj, nos sentimos habilitados para marcharnos a casa. Sin embargo, si nos piden caminar hasta la puerta de una casa, normalmente no cruzamos el umbral. La opacidad de la preposición también se manifiesta cuando nos sentimos obligados a complementar la preposición al pedirles a los estudiantes que lean “hasta el capítulo cuarto inclusive”. Ya en Henderson (2008: 62; 2017: 85) se llamaba la atención sobre este aspecto y se elige allí usar la notación HASTA, así en versal, para recordar que contigüidad, por más asidua que sea,4 no es necesariamente sinónimo de inclusión. Por lo tanto, cuando decimos “HASTA el momento de enunciación”, dicho momento no está incluido explícitamente.