Inklingo

How to Say "public vote" in Spanish

The Spanish word forpublic voteis referéndumB2 level.

English → SpanishB2
nounB2formal
general context of voting on an issue
A diverse group of people dropping paper slips into a wooden ballot box.

Examples

¿Cuál fue el resultado del referéndum?

What was the result of the referendum?

El gobierno decidió convocar un referéndum para cambiar la constitución.

The government decided to call a referendum to change the constitution.

La participación en el referéndum fue mucho más alta de lo esperado.

The turnout in the referendum was much higher than expected.

Always needs an accent

In Spanish, this word always has an accent on the second 'e'. This is because the emphasis is on the second-to-last syllable, and since the word ends in a consonant other than 'n' or 's', the rules say you must write the accent mark.

How to make it plural

To talk about more than one, simply add an 's' at the end: 'los referéndums'. You might occasionally see 'referenda' in very old books, but modern Spanish uses 'referéndums'.

Forgetting the accent

Mistake:referendum

Correction: referéndum (Spanish requires the accent mark on the second 'e' to show where the voice should stress the word).

Using the wrong plural

Mistake:los referéndumes

Correction: los referéndums (Unlike many Spanish words ending in a consonant, this one only adds an 's' for the plural).

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