Interpretation problems in court usually arise in translating witness testimony. The three major problem areas of interpretation are dialectal variations, polysemantic contextual shifts, and witness instructions. With regard to dialectal variations, the identical words in Spanish may convey totally unrelated thoughts depending upon the type of Spanish spoken. For example, 'esperaba la guagua' translates to 'I was pregnant' if the speaker is from Chile, Ecuador, or Peru; the phrase translates to 'I was waiting for the bus' if the speaker is from Cuba. Thus, the interpreter must speak to witnesses before they testify to determine what type of Spanish they speak. Context of the translation is also vitally important. The word 'trueno' means the sound of a gunshot, and it also means a thunderclap. The interpreter who conducts the preliminary interview and begins the courtroom translation should therefore continue throughout the trial to avoid misinterpretation of words with regard to their context. Through the interpreter, counsel should instruct the witnesses in much the same manner as they would English-speaking witnesses, although additional instructions may be helpful. An interpreter is bound by law to translate exactly what is said and at the same level of discourse the speaker uses. Ambiguous questions should therefore be avoided by counsel. To eliminate problems with syntax, counsel should keep questions short, avoid use of the disguised passive voice whenever possible, and be aware of double negatives. Common lexical problems focus on gender, pronouns, words with multiple meanings, curse words, and false cognates between Spanish and English. Use of an interpreter in the courtroom requires care on the part of all participants to eliminate misunderstanding.