Beechmont Crest Publishing: Spanish Study Pages
Intermediate Spanish Through Translation (1)
El Apagón
I.
El Apagón Empieza
A power blackout that left millions of people in the U.S. and Canada without electricity for several days made world news in August of 2003:
La ciudad de Nueva York anocheció completamente a oscuras a consecuencia de un masivo apagón que afectó simultáneamente a decenas de localidades en el nordeste de Estados Unidos y Canadá el jueves por la tarde. . (CNN en Español)
(The city of New York became completely dark as the result of a massive blackout that simultaneously affected scores of cities in the northwestern United States and Canada Thursday afternoon.)
Notes
Apagar / Apagón
Apagón (power failure, blackout) is derived from apagar (to extinguish; to turn off).
ser apagado –da to be spiritless, lifeless
estar apagado –da to be subdued
con voz apagada with a muffled voice
apaga y vámanos let’s call it a day (Spain)
Anochecer
Most readers will already be familiar with the expression anochecer (nightfall). There is also a verb of the same spelling, anochecer, which means “to get dark”:
Ya habia anochecido cuando volví.
(It had already gotten dark when I returned.)
A oscuras
A oscuras is a set expression meaning “in darkness.” Related words include:
oscurecer to get dark
oscurecimiento darkening
la oscuridad the dark
oscuro –ra dark
Se quedaron a oscuras.
They were left in darkness.
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