It is the letter of the Law, but I bet it was not originally written in Spanish...!!!!

I know, I complain too much about how the Spanish is written in certain ads and public signs, however I just remember that is the purpose of this blog... So here I go again:

My years as a Lawyer are long passed, as a friend used to say "that was a lifetime ago", but I still remember some principles -I have to stop here and make a clarification, I come from a country based on Civil Law, however I assume that certain principles of law are somewhat applicable when it comes to western civilization -, for instance "the ignorance of the law does not excuse anyone of no compliance" (that is why even when coming from a country where the legal age is 18, I couldn't have gone out to drink in a bar and claim ignorance). 

Laws are not particularly clear but usually they are grammatically correct, and it should be when directed to a foreign language speaker.  If I come today to this city and look at the RTA sign, I would be puzzled and I would wonder what is it that is trying to say, so let's start with Spanish 101:

TARIFA PAGADA ZONA

This sentence is a literal translation from English, it should read ZONA DE TARIFA PAGADA, in Spanish the usual order of this form of sentence is "Noun (Subject)+ Adjective + Adverb" 

Subject: This component answers the question: Who or what am I talking about? which is ZONA. However this one is a little tricky because the subject (ZONA) has been modified by an adjective which is marked by the preposition (de), so here "Tarifa" acts as an adjective or a qualifier.

Adverb: PAGADA, which is an adverb of mode that modifies the subject.

To continue with the first Paragraph, I got really lost between the poor grammar and the French style accent (The French style accent usually heads to the opposite direction, for instance, à instead of á), and the wrong use of the Gerund of the verb Retener which should be "reteniéndo". 

Second Paragraph reads much better, however some commas were omitted and I will forgive the typo in the word ENJUICAMIENTO that should read "ENJUICIAMIENTO" . In addition, instead of TARIFA DE VIOLACION, the word MULTA provides a better read which implies a punishment.

So for the Spanish speakers who need to know what exactly this ordnance from the city of Cleveland is trying to say, here is the text of the sign: (I also want to say that I really appreciate the effort for trying to communicate to the Spanish Speaking residents in the area)

ATENCIÓN

ZONA DE TARIFA PAGADA

Para hacer uso de esta zona, 

el pasaje ha debido ser debidamente pagado, activado y 

retenido por posible inspección.

El hecho de no presentar prueba válida de pago 

en el momento de su solicitud, 

dará lugar a multa por violación de esta ordenanza 

o posible juicio penal.

Original Text

ATENCIÓN

TARIFA PAGADA ZONA

En este àmbito, tarifa debe ser comprado ya, y pases y farecards activados y

retiéndo para inspección.

El hecho de no presentar prueba válida de pago en el momento de solicitud

dará lugar a una tarifa de violacion o posible enjuicamiento penal.