carta de no antecedentes
/kaɾta de no anteθedentes/from spelling rules
The English phrase "clearance letter" is translated into Spanish as carta de no antecedentes.
A carta de no antecedentes refers to an official document stating that a person has no criminal record.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of carta (letter), de (of), no (no/not) and antecedentes (antecedents/records).
Which one should you use?
While carta de no antecedentes is a direct way to express the concept, certificado de antecedentes penales is a more common and formal way to refer to a clearance letter in many Spanish-speaking countries. For even more formal contexts, you may use Carta de certificación de antecedentes.
How do you pronounce it?
/kaɾta de no anteθedentes/
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, a carta de no antecedentes is colloquially referred to as papeles limpios, which literally means 'clean papers'.
- The word carta shares a common ancestor with the English words 'card' and 'chart'. All three derive from the Latin charta, which originally referred to papyrus.
- Depending on the country, you may be asked for a constancia instead of a carta or certificado, though all three refer to the same proof of a clean record.
Examples in context
- Él ya tramitó su carta de no antecedentes.He already processed his clearance letter.
- ¿Dónde puedo solicitar la carta de no antecedentes?Where can I request the clearance letter?
Example conversation
Sofía and Mateo are discussing job requirements.
- SofíaMateo, ¿ya tienes tu carta de no antecedentes?Mateo, do you have your clearance letter yet?
- MateoNo, Sofía, todavía no la he pedido.No, Sofía, I haven't requested it yet.
- SofíaDebes tramitarla pronto para el nuevo empleo.You should process it soon for the new job.
- MateoTienes razón, lo haré mañana mismo.You're right, I'll do it tomorrow.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries carta, de, no, CC BY-SA 4.0.
