Newbie S3 #1 Spanish Verb Estar: Are You Looking for ...

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SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #1 1

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #1Spanish Verb Estar: Are You Looking forSomething for Yourself?

CONTENTS

Dialogue - Formal SpanishDialogue - Informal SpanishVocabularySample sentencesGrammarCultural insight

1#


DIALOGUE - FORMAL SPANISH

MAIN

1. JORGE : Hola, ¿le puedo ayudar en algo?

2. MARTA : No, solamente estoy viendo...

3. JORGE : Tenemos promoción en la sección de faldas.

4. MARTA : Muchas gracias.

5. JORGE : Si ocupa alguna cosa, alguna talla, lo que sea, me avisa.

6. MARTA : eh... Muy amable, gracias.

ENGLISH

1. JORGE : Hello, there. May I help you with something?

2. MARTA : No, I'm just looking...

3. JORGE : We have a sale in the skirts section.

4. MARTA : Thank you very much.

5. JORGE : If you need something, a size, whatever, let me know.

6. MARTA : That's very kind of you, thank you.

DIALOGUE - INFORMAL SPANISH

MAIN

1. JORGE : Hola, ¿te puedo ayudar en algo?

2. MARTA : No, solamente estoy viendo...

3. JORGE : Tenemos promoción en la sección de faldas.

4. MARTA : Muchas gracias.

5. JORGE : Si ocupas alguna cosa, alguna talla, lo que sea, me avisas.

6. MARTA : eh... Muy amable, gracias.


ENGLISH

1. JORGE : Hello, there. May I help you with something?

2. MARTA : No, I'm just looking...

3. JORGE : We have a sale in the skirts section.

4. MARTA : Thank you very much.

5. JORGE : If you need something, a size, whatever, let me know.

6. MARTA : That's very kind of you, thank you.

VOCABULARY

Spanish English Class

algo something indefinite pronoun

solamente only, just, solely adverb

ocupar to occupy, to take up verb

avisar to inform, to let know, to warn verb

amable kind, nice, friendly adjective

lo que sea whatever set phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Por favor come algo.

"Please eat something."

Quiero tomar algo.

"I want to drink something."

Solamente una vez amé en la vida.

"Only once I loved in life."

Solamente quiero ir a mi cama.

"I only want to go to my bed."

El ejército ocupó el pobre pueblo durante tresaños.

"The army occupied the poor town for threeyears."

Avísame antes si vas a llegar tarde.

"Inform me in advance if you will arrive late."

Había avisado a mi amigo que no podíaacompañarle.

"I had let my friend know that I wouldn't be ableto join him."

Ella es una persona amable.

"She is a kind person."

Lo que sea, no me importa, haz lo que quieras.

"Whatever, I don't care, do whatever you want."


GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Spanish Verb Estar No, solamente estoy viendo...

"No, I'm just looking..."

In Spanish, there are three main conjugations for verbs. The verb estar is a first conjugation verb whoseinfinitive ending is -ar, as are all first conjugation verbs. Estar is one of the two Spanish verbs that mean,"to be." The other is ser, which we will look at in upcoming lessons.

We use the verb estar:

1. Express temporary conditions, such as the way one feels;

2. Characteristics, such as colors

3. Personality traits, such as punctuality

Of course, these categories do not encompass all of the uses of the verb, but they will be helpful as welearn how and in which contexts we use it.

In order to form the present tense of the indicative mood for the verb estar in the singular, you need toremove the -ar ending from the infinitive form (est - ar), and then add the personal endings for thepresent tense. Observe the following:

Singular Present Tense Indicative Mood of Estar ("to be")

Person Spanish

First Person Singular est-oy

Second Person Singular est-ás

Third Person Singular est-á

Also, all conjugated verbs are related to a "personal pronoun." In English, the singular personalpronouns are "I, you, he, she," and "it." Observe the personal pronouns for the present singular:

Present Singular Personal Pronouns

Person Spanish Pronoun "English"

First Person Singular yo "I"

Second Person Singular tú "you" (informal)

Third Person Singular él / ella / usted "he"/"she"/"you" (formal)

Examples


Spanish "English"

Yo estoy contento. "I am pleased."

Tú estás bronceado. "You are tan." (informal)

Él está bien. "He is well."

Ella está contenta. "She is happy."

Usted está en Miami. "You are in Miami." (formal)

Notice how all you have to do to create a new sentence with the sample provided here is replacecontento, bronceado, bien, amable or en Miami with a new adjective or compliment that describes somekind of temporary being.

For example:

1. Tú estás callado hoy. "You are quiet today."

2. Ella está enojada. "She is upset."

Because the verb estar is so integral to the Spanish language, you will find it popping up all over theplace. For example, observe how bienestar refers to "wellbeing" and malestar refers to "discomfort."These are just two examples. Keep your eyes open for more. Also as we've said, estar is one of twoverbs in the Spanish language that mean "to be." The other is ser. It will be well worth your while tolearn how to differentiate between these two verbs right from the start. If you do, you will save yourselfa lot of time down the road.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Shopping in a Latin American Country

Shopping in a Latin American country can be a very entertaining experience. Many people walk along thestreet to their jobs and houses, and some sit in the park to eat or simply to chat. While you walk on thesidewalks, you are going to enjoy the friendly and loud environment around you. Music is usually a verysingular element in Latin American stores. Stores play Salsa, Merengue, or Regueton while you are doingyour shopping to build a happy and warm setting. In the streets, there are also open markets calledChinamos, which are usually very cheap and provide homemade or local items. Some street vendors likeclients to renegotiate prices of articles and you could get very good deals without a lot of effort.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #2Spanish Verb Estar: Are You FollowingMe?

CONTENTS


2#



MAIN

1. JORGE : Esta blusa se le vería muy bien.

2. MARTA : Disculpe, ¿me está siguiendo?

3. JORGE : No... era... mmm una opinión.

4. MARTA : ¡Nadie se la pidió!

5. JORGE : Creo que por el color de sus ojos este color se vería mejor.

6. MARTA : ¡Qué necio!

ENGLISH

1. JORGE : This blouse would look very good on you.

2. MARTA : Excuse me, are you following me?

3. JORGE : No...it was...mmm...an opinion.

4. MARTA : No one asked for it!

5. JORGE : I think that with the color of your eyes, this color would go better.

6. MARTA : What an idiot!


MAIN

1. JORGE : Esta blusa se te vería muy bien.

2. MARTA : Disculpa, ¿me estás siguiendo?

3. JORGE : No... era... mmm una opinión.

4. MARTA : ¡Nadie te la pidió!

5. JORGE : Creo que por el color de tus ojos este color se vería mejor.

6. MARTA : ¡Qué necio!


ENGLISH

1. JORGE : This blouse would look very good on you.

2. MARTA : Excuse me, are you following me?

3. JORGE : No...it was...mmm...an opinion.

4. MARTA : No one asked for it!

5. JORGE : I think that with the color of your eyes, this color would go better.

6. MARTA : What an idiot!

VOCABULARY

Spanish English Class Gender

color color masculine noun

disculpar to forgive, to excuse verb

opinión opinion, view noun feminine

mejor better, best adjective, adverb masculine and feminine

seguir to continue, to follow verb

blusa blouse feminine noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Mi color favorito es el gris.

"My favorite color is grey."

Su color favorito es verde.

His favorite color is green.

Me gustaría que me disculpes.

"I would like you to excuse me."

Este colegio no me merece muy buena opinión.

"I have a poor opinion of that school."

Él piensa que es mejor que yo, ¡pero estáequivocado!

"He thinks that he is better than me, but he iswrong!"

Es una ciudad pequeña, o mejor dicho, es ungran pueblo.

"It's a small city, or better yet, it's a large town."

El pronóstico del tiempo dijo que habría lluvia,seguida de una fuerte nevada durante laspróximas horas.

"The forecast said there will be rain, followed byheavy snow during the next few hours."

Seguí para allá, hasta el antiguo Banco Negro.

"Keep going over there until you get to theformer Black Bank."

GRAMMAR


The Focus of This Lesson is The Spanish Verb Estar Disculpe, ¿me está siguiendo?

"Excuse me, are you following me?"

The verb estar is a first conjugation verb, ending in -ar. Estar means, "to be." We use this verb todescribe changeable kinds of being, as opposed to ser ("to be"), which describes permanent states ofbeing, such as the being of origin (e.g., Yo soy de aquí. "I am from here.") Estar on the other hand, has todo with the kinds of being that come and go, such as being angry, being happy, being tired, beingexcited, etc. It is one of the single most important verbs of the Spanish language, as we use it in many,many different contexts.

In order to form the present tense, indicative mood of the verb estar in the plural, you need to removethe -ar ending and then add the personal plural endings.

estar ("to be")

Person Spanish "English"

First Person Plural nosotros est-amos "we are"

Second Person Plural vosotros est-áis "you all are" (informal)

Third Person Plural ellos est-án "they are" (masculine)

Third Person Plural ellas est-án "they are" (feminine)

Third Person Plural ustedes est-án "you all are" (formal)

Examples:

1. Nosotros estamos fastidiados. "We are annoyed."

2. Vosotros estáis felices. "You all are happy."

3. Ustedes están contentos. "You all are pleased."

For all the tenses in the Spanish language, the first person plural (i.e., the nosotros form) always ends in-mos, as in estamos. In all the tenses, the third person plural always ends in -n, as in están. This is animportant characteristic to remember as it will help you decipher the functions of verbs as you learnmore of the tenses.

A useful expression to learn with estar ("to be") is "be well!" If you want to say it to a close friend, youwould say ¡qué estés bien! If you want say it to an older person, and thus formally, you would say ¡quéesté bien! If you want to say it to more than one close friend, you would say ¡qué estén bien! (in LatinAmerica) or ¡qué estéis bien! (in Spain). Finally, if you want to say it to more than one older person, andthus in a formal way, you would say ¡qué estén bien!

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Store Clerks


Do not freak out if clerks invite you to come into the stores every single minute you are in town, or ifthey follow you into the store while you are shopping. Clerks are paid to do this and many of them getextra commission for the sales they have in the day. They take you to the store and show you everythingyou want to see. They give you advice about the sizes, brands, and even color that better match withyour eyes, hair color, or personality!! The clients can always tell them that they are just looking and theywill call them if they need help. However, this is not going to avoid them following you with their eyesand giving you their opinion to help you make your decision.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #3Spanish Gerunds: You Are Looking in theRight Place Now!

CONTENTS


3#



MAIN

1. MARTA : Listo, ya me la probé, ¿cómo se ve?

2. JORGE : ¡Se ve diez kilos más delgada!

3. MARTA : ¿Me está diciendo gorda?

4. JORGE : No, jamás, digo que esa blusa se le ve muy bien.

5. MARTA : ¿Sabe qué, muchacho? No está tan perdido... Me la llevo.

ENGLISH

1. MARTA : All right, I've tried it on. How does it look?

2. JORGE : You look ten kilos thinner!

3. MARTA : Are you calling me fat?

4. JORGE : No, I would never! I'm saying that that blouse looks very good on you.

5. MARTA : Do you know what, young man? You're not all that lost...I'll take it.


MAIN

1. MARTA : Listo, ya me la probé, ¿cómo se ve?

2. JORGE : ¡Te ves diez kilos más delgada!

3. MARTA : ¿Me estás diciendo gorda?

4. JORGE : No, jamás, digo que esa blusa se te ve muy bien.

5. MARTA : ¿Sabes qué, muchacho? No estás tan perdido... Me la llevo.


ENGLISH

1. MARTA : All right, I've tried it on. How does it look?

2. JORGE : Ya' look ten kilos thinner!

3. MARTA : Are ya' calling me fat?

4. JORGE : No, I would never! I'm saying that that blouse looks very good on you.

5. MARTA : Know what, bud? You're not all that lost...I'll take it.

VOCABULARY


jamás never adverb

listo(a) ready, intelligent adjective, noun, interjection feminine

delgado(a) thin, slim, slender adjective

gordo(a) fat, thick adjective

tan so, such, as adverb

decir to say, to tell verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Yo jamás pensé que ganaría la lotería.

"I never thought I would win the lottery."

La semana que viene comés yogur y listo...

"Next week, you eat some yogurt and you're allset..."

Después de tantos años, mi mamá se hizo másgorda.

"After many years, my mom became bigger."

¡Hoy está tan caliente!

"Today is so hot!"

El profesor dirá la respuesta.

"The professor will say the answer."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Expressing Present Actions with Gerunds ¿Me está diciendo gorda?

"Are you calling me fat?"


Formación verbal: Gerundio (con el presente) Verb Formation: Gerund (with the present)

We know that el gerundio ("the gerund") functions as an adverb and we use it to express simultaneousor continuous action. We've also seen how this construction takes the -ando ending after the stem ofregular -ar verbs, and the -iendo ending after the stem of regular -er and -ir verbs. We learned how tofind the stem of a verb by simply removing the infinitive ending (i.e., buscar, busc-, buscando). However,we must make sure that we do not confuse the usage of the present + gerund with the presentabsolute. We know that we use the present absolute to express permanence, origin, and mostimportantly here, generalization and habitual actions. Let's compare the two verbal constructions toget a clearer picture of this.

Singular

Absolute Present "English" Present Gerund "English"

yo busco "I look for" estoy buscando "I am looking for"

tú buscas "you look for" estás buscando "you are looking for"

él busca "he looks for" está buscando "he is looking for"

ella busca "she looks for" está buscando "she is looking for"

usted busca "you look for" está buscando "you are looking for"

Plural

Absolute Present "English" Present Gerund "English"

nosotros buscamos "we look for" estamos buscando "we are looking for"

vosotros buscáis "you all look for" estáis buscando "you all are looking for"

ellos buscan "they look for" están buscando "they are looking for"(masculine)

ellas buscan "they look for" están buscando "they are looking for"(feminine)

ustedes buscan "you all look for" están buscando "you all are looking for"

Sample Sentences


1. Absolute: La señora busca el periódico. "The lady looks for the newspaper."

Gerund: La señora está buscando el periódico. "The lady is looking for the newspaper."

2. Absolute: Busco un departamento. "I look for an apartment."

Gerund: Estoy buscando un departamento. "I'm looking for an apartment."

What we notice by comparing and contrasting the absolute present with the present + gerund verbconstructions is that the latter is impersonal and expresses the duration of the verbal action. Thepresent in general describes the action of the verb as simultaneous to the moment of speech. What thepresent + gerund construction does is stretch out the action of the verb so that this same action lastsfor the duration of whatever is said about it.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Commissions

Commission is a very important part of retail sales and other services in Latin America. Most of theworld does not share the American habit of tipping. Actually, in places such as Costa Rica, servers will beoffended if you do not tip since they are so used to Americans giving generous tips. However, clerks arevery helpful in stores because they know it is part of their paycheck to do so. Please do not get offendedby this helpfulness. I have made that mistake and it creates a very unpleasant shopping experience. Also,a tip for the females out there... Clothes are expected to be tight fitting. So if the clerks recommendclothes that are a little smaller than you are used to, don't worry, that is just the style.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3

CONTENTS

2 Dialogue - Formal Spanish2 Dialogue - Spanish3 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences5 Grammar7 Cultural Insight

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SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #4 - “THERE IS” MORE THAN ONE WAY TO PAY IN LATIN AMERICAN SHOPS! 2


MAIN

1. MARTA: Quiero comprar esta blusa.

2. CAJERA: ¿Solamente?

3. MARTA: Sólo esta, por ahora...

4. CAJERA: Serían veinte mil colones, por favor.

5. MARTA: A ver... creo que no tengo efectivo.

6. CAJERA: No hay problema, aceptamos tarjeta.

7. MARTA: ¡Que suerte! Gracias.

ENGLISH

1. MARTA: I want to purchase this blouse.

2. CAJERA: Anything else?

3. MARTA: Just that for now.

4. CAJERA: That would be twenty thousand Colones, please.

5. MARTA: Let's see...I think I don't have any cash.

6. CAJERA: That's not a problem; we accept credit cards.

7. MARTA: Lucky for me! Thanks.

DIALOGUE - SPANISH


ENGLISH

1. MARTA: I want to purchase this blouse.

2. CAJERA: Anything else?

3. MARTA: Just that for now.

4. CAJERA: That would be twenty thousand Colones, please.

5. MARTA: Let's see...I think I don't have any cash.

6. CAJERA: That's not a problem; we accept credit cards.

7. MARTA: Luck for me! Thanks.

VOCABULARY


querer to want verb

solamente only, just, solely adverb

por ahorafor now, for the time

being expression

serto be (permanent characteristics) verb

efectivo cash noun masculine

creer to believe, to think verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES


Quiero dormir temprano hoy.

"I want to go to sleep early today."

No quiero que mis niños gasten todo su dinero en dulces.

"I don't want my children to spend all their money on sweets."

No quiero eso.

"I don't want that."

Solamente una vez amé en la vida.

"Only once I loved in life."

Solamente quiero ir a mi cama.

"I only want to go to my bed."

Te voy a creer por ahora, hasta poder probar que estás equivocado.

"I'll believe you for now, until I can prove you wrong."

Por ahora tendremos suficiente información que analizar.

"For now we will have enough data to assess."

Por ahora, está bien. Pero mañana tendremos que hacer los cambios.

"For now, it's all right. But tomorrow we'll have to make the changes."

¿Eres de los Estados Unidos?

"Are you from the United States?"

llevar dinero en efectivo

carry cash

dinero en efectivo americano

American cash

pagar con dinero en efectivo

pay cash

No me gusta llevar dinero en efectivo cuando salgo.

I do not like to carry cash with me when I go out.

Voy a pagar mi cena con dinero en efectivo.

I am going to pay for my dinner with cash.


montón en efectivo

stacks of cash

Hay unos cientos de dólares en efectivo.

There is a few hundred dollars in cash.

Me gusta como huele el efectivo.

"I like the smell of cash."

¿Tienes efectivo? Me olvidé la billetera.

"Do you have cash? I forgot my wallet."

Creo que te puedo ayudar.

"I think that I can help you."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Impersonal Usage of the Verb haber No hay problema, aceptamos tarjeta. "That's not a problem; we accept credit cards."

The verb haber has two main functions. Its first function is as the auxiliary verb we use for all the compound verb forms (e.g., "I have eaten," "We had spoken," etc.). We also use it to express the existence of things, people, actions, and events (e.g., "There is a man"). In this lesson, we focus on the second function. When we use the verb haber as a verb of existence, it is always conjugated to the impersonal third person. For the present tense of the indicative mood, this is hay. Regardless of the number of the noun to which this verb refers (whether it is singular or plural), the verb must always be in the third person singular.

In the present tense of the indicative mood, the verb haber has only one form:

1. hay ("there is" / "there are")


This is a verb of existence. If we take the sentence, Hay nubes en el cielo ("There are clouds in the sky"), we can substitute hay for existen ("exist") and we get "Clouds exist in the sky." Saying hay in this sense is a way of stating the existence of something, someone, some place, etc.

Examples

Spanish "English"

Hay una botella de vino en la mesa. "There is a bottle of wine on the table."

Hay mariscos en el saltado. "There are shellfish in the stir-fry."

Hay carne en la sopa. "There is meat in the soup."

Hay bebidas para tomar. "There are beverages to drink."

Hay diez personas en el bus. "There are ten people on the bus."

Hay una sola persona en el taxi. "There's only one person in the taxi."

The form hay never changes when we use haber as a verb of existence. However, its meaning depends on whether the noun that exists is singular or plural. If it is singular, then it means, "there is."

For example:

1. Hay una botella vino. "There is a bottle of wine."

If it is plural, then it means, "there are."

For example:

1. Hay bebidas. "There are beverages."


We also use the word hay to express obligation on the impersonal level. We do this by using hay, then the conjunction que, and finally the infinitive of the main verb. So we can say, hay que disfrutar el sol, which we might translate as "one must enjoy the sun" or "the sun must be enjoyed." There's not a solid English translation for these kinds of expressions since in English we often use the second person singular ("you"), even though we're not addressing someone directly (e.g., "you've got to enjoy the sun").

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Credit Card Security in Latin America

Credit card security is taken very seriously in Latin America. Due to the high rate of fraud, any type of payment including cash is checked and double-checked. This may come as a surprise to many foreigners who aren't used to such safeguards. I have noticed a big difference. In the United States, it is easy to use a credit card without any identification. For smaller purchases, clerks rarely ask for ID. Only on large purchases has anyone ever asked me for identification. The security may be annoying but it is definitely for your economic safety. With those safeguards, one can feel very secure that if someone does steal their credit card that it will almost be impossible to use for any thief.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #5Spanish Possessive Adjectives: Today’sMy Last Day at the Company!

CONTENTS

Dialogue - Informal SpanishDialogue - Formal SpanishVocabularySample sentencesGrammarCultural insight

5#



MAIN

1. LUIS : ¡Ay, Julián, qué deprimente!

2. JULIAN : ¿Qué pasó?

3. LUIS : Hoy es mi último día, me acabo de pelear con el jefe.

4. JULIAN : ¿Te echaron?

5. LUIS : Sí, ahora no sé qué hacer...

6. JULIAN : Tenés que comprar el periódico y empezar a buscar.

ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Oh, Julian, how depressing!

2. JULIAN : What happened?

3. LUIS : Today's my last day and I just got into an argument with the boss.

4. JULIAN : Did they throw you out?

5. LUIS : Yeah, now I don't know what to do...

6. JULIAN : You've got to buy a newspaper and start looking.


MAIN

1. LUIS : ¡Ay, Julián, qué deprimente!

2. JULIAN : ¿Qué pasó?

3. LUIS : Hoy es mi último día, me acabo de pelear con el jefe.

4. JULIAN : ¿La echaron?

5. LUIS : Sí, ahora no sé qué hacer...

6. JULIAN : Tiene que comprar el periódico y empezar a buscar.


ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Oh, Julian, how depressing!

2. JULIAN : What happened?

3. LUIS : Today's my last day and I just got into an argument with the boss.

4. JULIAN : Did they throw you out?

5. LUIS : Yeah, now I don't know what to do...

6. JULIAN : You've got to buy a newspaper and start looking.

VOCABULARY


deprimente depressing adjective

pelear to fight verb

acabar de to have just... verbal phrase

jefe(a) chief, boss masculine & feminine noun feminine

echar to fire verb

periódico newspaper, periodical noun masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

El funeral fue muy triste y deprimente.

"The funeral was very sad and depressing."

Los perros en la calle pelean mucho.

"The dogs in the street fight a lot."

Ella acaba de comprar nuevos anteojos.

"She has just bought new glasses."

Es necesario que te comuniques con tu jefa.

"It's necessary that you talk with your boss."

La compañia echo a 200 empleados porque notenia dinero para pagarles.

"The company fired 200 employees because it didnot have money to pay them."

Leo el periódico cada mañana.

"I read the newspaper every morning. "

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Possessive Adjectives (Adjetivos - posesivos) Hoy es mi último día, me acabo de pelear con el jefe.

"Today's my last day and I just got into an argument with the boss."


Possessive Adjectives show ownership and agree with the nouns they modify in number and gender.Not all possessive adjectives have both singular and plural masculine and feminine forms, as the listbelow displays. When it is unclear to whom the ownership refers, we use extra words to clarify.


Construction SpanishPossessiveAdjectives

"EnglishPossessiveAdjectives"

SpanishExamples

"EnglishExamples"

First Person

Singular Adjective +Singular Noun

mi "my" Él es mi hermano. "He is mybrother."

Singular Adjective +Plural Noun

mis "my" Ellos son mishermanos.

"They are mybrothers."

Plural Adjective +Singular MasculineNoun

nuestro "our" Él es nuestrohermano.

"He is ourbrother."

Plural Adjective +Plural Masculine Noun

nuestros "our" Ellos son mishermanos.

"They are mybrothers."

Plural Adjective +Singular FeminineNoun

nuestra "our" Ella es nuestrahermana.

"She is our sister."

Plural Adjective +Plural Feminine Noun

nuestras "our" Ellas son nuestrashermanas.

"They are oursisters."

Second Person


tu "your" Él es tu hermano. "He is yourbrother."


tus "your" Ellos son tushermanos.

"They are yourbrothers."

Plural Adjective +Singular MasculineNoun

vuestro "your" Él es vuestrohermano.

"He is all yourbrother."

Plural Adjective +Plural Masculine Noun

vuestros "your" Ellos son vuestroshermanos.

"They are all yourbrothers."

Plural Adjective +Singular FeminineNoun

vuestra "your" Ella es vuestrahermana.

"She is all yoursister."

Plural Adjective +Plural Feminine Noun

vuestras "your" Ellas son vuestrashermanas.

"They are all yoursisters."

Third Person


su "his, her, your, its" Él es su hermano. "He is his (her,your, its) brother."


sus "their, all your" Ellos son sushermanos.

"They are their (allyour) brothers."

Plural Adjective +Singular Noun

su "their, all your" Él es su hermano. "He is their (allyour) brother."

Plural Adjective +Plural Noun

sus "their, all your" Ellos son sushermanos.

"They are their (allyour) brothers."


Sample Sentences

1. Nuestra reunión será muy divertida. "Our get-together will be a lot of fun."

2. Ese chico tiene problemas. Sus notas son bajas. "That boy has problems. His grades are low."

3. Es tu idea. "It's your idea."

4. Su consejo es inteligente. Gracias, señora. "Your advice is intelligent. Thank you, ma'am."

Don't confuse the second person singular adjective tu ("your") with the personal pronoun tú ("you").Notice that the accent here not only tells us where to emphasize the pronunciation of the word, but italso tells us that the word is a possessive adjective and not a personal pronoun. That is, it tells us itsfunction.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The Costa Rican Job Market

Because of the job market in Costa Rica, people are rarely fired. Why? The economic reality of thecountry is one that does not lend itself to many job opportunities. If you are fired from a job, yourcompany is required to give you a hefty severance package paying your salary for anywhere from sixmonths to a year. This is meant to act as unemployment while you look for another job. While this is agovernmental program in the US, in Costa Rica the responsibility lands with the company in question.With that said, it is very difficult to get fired. This is a double-edged sword. In my experience, companieswill work very hard to make sure that you quit and that can be harder to deal with than being fired.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #6Adjectives: Landing Your New Great Jobin Latin America!

CONTENTS


6#



MAIN

1. LUIS : Alo, buenas tardes, llamaba para pedir información sobre el trabajo.

2. Operador : ¿Cuál trabajo?

3. LUIS : Vi su aviso en el periódico que ocupaban empleados nuevos.

4. Operador : Ay, sí, perdón, estoy distraída, las entrevistas son el lunes.

5. LUIS : eh, ¿me puede dar la dirección?

6. Operador : Claro ya se la doy, sólo recuerde traer su currículo.

ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Hi, good afternoon, I was calling to request information about the job.

2. Operator : Which job?

3. LUIS : I saw your notice in the newspaper that you're looking for new employees.

4. Operator : Oh yeah, I'm sorry. I'm out of sorts. The interviews are Monday.

5. LUIS : Okay, can you give me the address?

6. Operator : Sure, I'll give it to you right now. Just remember to bring your resume.


MAIN

1. LUIS : Alo, buenas tardes, llamaba para pedir información sobre el trabajo.

2. OPERADOR : ¿Cuál trabajo?

3. LUIS : Vi tu aviso en el periódico que ocupabas empleados nuevos.

4. OPERADOR : Ay, sí, perdón, estoy distraída, las entrevistas son el lunes.

5. LUIS : eh, ¿me puedes dar la dirección?

6. OPERADOR : Claro ya te la doy, sólo recuerda traer tu currículo


ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Hi, good afternoon, I was calling to request information about the job.

2. Operator : Which job?

3. LUIS : I saw your notice in the newspaper that you're looking for new employees.

4. Operator : Oh yeah, I'm sorry. I'm out of sorts. The interviews are Monday.

5. LUIS : Okay, can you give me the address?

6. Operator : Sure, I'll give it to you right now. Just remember to bring your resume.

VOCABULARY


buenas tardes good afternoon expression

sobre about, upon, on top of, over, above, envelope preposition, noun masculine

ocupar to occupy, to take up verb

entrevista interview feminine noun feminine

recordar to remember verb

pedir to ask for, to request verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Buenas tardes Señora.

"Good afternoon, Miss."

La conferencia fue sobre economía.

"The conference was about economy."

La plata está sobre la mesa.

"The money is on the table."

El ejército ocupó el pobre pueblo durante tresaños.

"The army occupied the poor town for threeyears."

¡Buena suerte con tu entrevista de trabajo!

"Good luck with your job interview tomorrow!"

El artista tiene muchas entrevistas antes delconcierto.

"The artist has a lot of interviews before theconcert."

Por favor, trate de recordar que pasó ayer en laescena del crimen.

"Please try to remember what happenedyesterday at the crime scene."

Tú pensaste que no recordaría tu cumpleaños.

"You thought I wouldn't remember yourbirthday."


Él no recuerda nada de lo que pasó antes delaccidente.

"He doesn't remember anything that happenedbefore the accident."

Yo nunca recuerdo los nombres de las personas.

"I never remember people's names."

Pediste un plato de arroz con pollo.

"You asked for a dish of rice with chicken."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Agreement and Placement of Adjectives Alo, buenas tardes, llamaba para pedir información sobre el trabajo.

"Hi, good afternoon, I was calling to request information about the job."

Adjetivos - accidents ("Adjectives - inflection")

Adjectives are modifiers. They shape the meanings of a noun by describing its characteristics. Asistenciamédica ("medical assistance") is an example of this. In Spanish, we have a fairly well established set ofrules by which we use adjectives. Today, we're going to consider two aspects of adjectives:

1. Agreement

2. Placement

Adjectives are either singular or plural. We call this way of breaking adjectives down into two groups elnúmero ("the number") of the adjective. Number is shown in the ending of the word. We call this"inflection." Also shown in the ending is the "gender" of the word. Do not confuse this with the "sex" ofa person. Adjectives are either masculine or feminine.

We normally place adjectives after the noun they modify. In the example, la asistencia médica aquí essiempre muy buena, notice that the adjective médica comes after the noun which it modifies, asistencia.This is the normal placement. Exceptions to this rule occur when we want to place more emphasis onthe characteristic we are attributing to the meaning of the noun than to the meaning of the noun itself.


The following are the "normal" endings for adjectives that have number and gender.

Singular: Masculino: médic + o = médico

Femenino: médic + a = médica

Plural: Masculino: médic + os = médicos

Femenino: médic + as = médicas

Sample Sentences

Spanish "English"

¿Has visto mi camisa roja? "Have you seen my red shirt?"

La asistencia médica aquí es siempre muybuena.

"The medical attention here is always very good."

Ha sido una noche larga. "It has been a long night."

Nunca recibo tus correos electrónicos. No séqué pasa.

"I never receive your emails. I don't know what thedeal is."

Once you learn to recognize the gender and number of nouns, using adjectives is easy since all we needto do is make sure that they "agree" with each other. This is really just another way of saying that weneed to conserve the concordancia ("agreement, concordance"). Unfortunately, the system is notperfect in this regard, and there are plenty of exceptions. For example, adjectives such as verde("green") and sonriente ("smiley") end in -e in the singular and -es in the plural. So, we use one of thesetwo forms despite the gender of the noun it's modifying. Therefore, we would say los niños sonrientes("the smiley boys"), as well as las niñas sorientes ("the smiley girls").

Also, we should mention the issue of "mixed genders." Mixed genders are plural nouns that containmasculine and feminine characteristics such as el plato y la taza sucios se quedaron en la mesa. Here,since platos is masculine (and plural) and since tazas is feminine (and plural), we use the adjective sucios(masculine and plural). This is because the masculine characteristic "dominates" over the femininecharacteristic in a group of mixed-gender nouns. Therefore, we use the masculine -o ending when anadjective describes a group of both masculine and feminine nouns.


In terms of their usage, adjectives are also known in Spanish to be used as a form of address.Sometimes, we call this the "vocative."

For example:

1. Martín, escúchame. "Martin, listen to me."

The name Martín is the form of address or the noun in the vocative. Sometimes, we replace this nounwith an adjective that assumes the quality of a noun. Linguists sometimes call it la substantivación deladjetivo.

For instance, to flatter a woman one might say:

1. Hola, linda. "Hello, beautiful."

Or to complain, one might say:

1. ¡Apúrate flojo! "Hurry up, lazy!"

Finally, to show affection (often in the diminutive) one might say:

1. Ven acá, mi gordito. "Come here, my chunky-monkey."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Finding a Job in Latin America

Many companies or schools hire people online. You look for the kind of job you need online and then fillout an application. However, you may not receive an immediate reply because Latin American peopleusually take their time to do things, including replying to emails (Not the official opinion ofSpanishPod101.com!). If the person you sent the email to did not reply in a week, do not hesitate insending another email asking for the information. Many people work better under pressure. You alsohave the option of visiting the country first, and then start knocking on doors to hand out your resume.If you want to teach English for example, you probably won´t have any problem just showing up andasking or a position. Latin American countries always need English teachers and they like native Englishspeakers.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #7How Can You Work Here When You Can’tEven Count in Spanish?!

CONTENTS


7#



MAIN

1. LUIS : ¡Buenos días! Vengo a la entrevista de trabajo.

2. JEFE : Siéntese, muchacho, ¿cuál es su nombre?

3. LUIS : Luis Solís.

4. JEFE : ¿Usted trajo su currículo?

5. LUIS : eh! sí señor, y tres cartas de presentación.

6. JEFE : ¡Vaya!, muchacho, tiene mucha experiencia... estoy interesada en oír más de usted.

ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Good morning. I've come here for the job interview.

2. JEFE : Have a seat, young man, what is your name?

3. LUIS : Luis Solis.

4. JEFE : Did you bring your resume?

5. LUIS : Yes, sir, and three letters of recommendation.

6. JEFE : Wow! Young man, you have a lot of experience...I am interested in hearing more about you.


MAIN

1. LUIS : ¡Buenos días! Vengo a la entrevista de trabajo.

2. JEFE : Siéntate, muchacho, ¿cuál es tu nombre?

3. LUIS : Luis Solís.

4. JEFE : ¿Trajiste tu currículo?

5. LUIS : eh! sí señor, y tres cartas de presentación.

6. JEFE : ¡Vaya!, muchacho, tienes mucha experiencia... estoy interesada en oír más de ti.


ENGLISH

1. LUIS : Good morning. I've come here for the job interview.

2. JEFE : Have a seat, young man, what is your name?

3. LUIS : Luis Solis.

4. JEFE : Did you bring your resume?

5. LUIS : Yes, sir, and three letters of recommendation.

6. JEFE : Wow! Young man, you have a lot of experience...I am interested in hearing more about you.

VOCABULARY


buenos días good morning compound phrase

sentar to sit verb

traer to bring verb

interesado interested adjective

currículo resume masculine noun

recomendación recommendation, advice feminine noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

¡Buenos días, señora! ¿Cómo está, usted?

"Good morning, ma'am! How are you?"

Me voy a sentar en el sillón.

"I'm going to sit in the armchair."

Si no me traes los documentos lo más prontoposible, estás despedido.

"If you don't bring me the documents as soon aspossible, you're fired."

Nos pidieron que trajéramos nuestras propiasbebidas a la fiesta.

"We were asked to bring our own drinks to theparty."

Traeme la cuenta, por favor.

"Bring me the check, please."

Ayer yo traje un diccionario a la clase.

"Yesterday, I brought a dictionary to class."

Estoy interesada en la beca.

"I am interested in the scholarship."

Tienes que traer tu currículo para la entrevista.

"You have to bring your resumé for theinterview."

No sé qué hacer, ¿tienes alguna recomendación?

"I don't know what to do. Have you any recommendations?"


GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Spanish Numbers 1-100 Sí señor, y tres cartas de recomendación.

"Yes, sir, and three letters of recommendation."

numeros - "numbers"

It is important to be able to count in any language! You must know how to use numbers in Spanish inorder to communicate prices, times, and dates. Here, we have a list of numbers for you to practice. Itgoes up to 100 so that you can see how the patterns work.

Numbers 1-10:

Spanish ("English") Spanish ("English")

uno ("one") dos ("two")

tres ("three") cuatro ("four")

cinco ("five") seis ("six")

siete ("seven") ocho ("eight")

nueve ("nine") diez ("ten")

Numbers 11-20:


once ("eleven") doce ("twelve")

trece ("thirteen") catorce ("fourteen")

quince ("fifteen") dieciséis ("sixteen")

diecisiete ("seventeen") dieciocho ("eighteen")

diecinueve ("nineteen") veinte ("twenty")

Numbers 21-30:


veintiuno ("twenty-one") veintidós ("twenty-two")

veintitrés ("twenty-three") veinticuatro ("twenty-four")

veinticinco ("twenty-five") veintiséis ("twenty-six")

veintisiete ("twenty-seven") veintiocho ("twenty-eight")

veintinueve ("twenty-nine") treinta ("thirty")


Numbers 31-40:


treinta y uno ("thirty-one") treinta y dos ("thirty-two")

treinta y tres ("thirty-three") treinta y cuatro ("thirty-four")

treinta y cinco ("thirty-five") treinta y seis ("thirty-six")

treinta y siete ("thirty-seven") treinta y ocho ("thirty-eight")

treinta y nueve ("thirty-nine") cuarenta ("forty")

Numbers 41-50:


cuarenta y uno ("forty-one") cuarenta y dos ("forty-two")

cuarenta y tres ("forty-three") cuarenta y cuatro ("forty-four")

cuarenta y cinco ("forty-five") cuarenta y seis ("forty-six")

cuarenta y siete ("forty-seven") cuarenta y ocho ("forty-eight")

cuarenta y nueve ("forty-nine") cincuenta ("fifty")

Numbers 51-60:


cincuenta y uno ("fifty-one") cincuenta y dos ("fifty-two")

cincuenta y tres ("fifty-three") cincuenta y cuatro ("fifty-four")

cincuenta y cinco ("fifty-five") cincuenta y seis ("fifty-six")

cincuenta y siete ("fifty-seven") cincuenta y ocho ("fifty-eight")

cincuenta y nueve ("fifty-nine") sesenta ("sixty")

Numbers 61-70:


sesenta y uno ("sixty-one") sesenta y dos ("sixty-two")

sesenta y tres ("sixty-three") sesenta y cuatro ("sixty-four")

sesenta y cinco ("sixty-five") sesenta y seis ("sixty-six")

sesenta y siete ("sixty-seven") sesenta y ocho ("sixty-eight")

sesenta y nueve ("sixty-nine") setenta ("seventy")

Numbers 71-80:



setenta y uno ("seventy-one") setenta y dos ("seventy-two")

setenta y tres ("seventy-three") setenta y cuatro ("seventy-four")

setenta y cinco ("seventy-five") setenta y seis ("seventy-six")

setenta y siete ("seventy-seven") setenta y ocho ("seventy-eight")

setenta y nueve ("seventy-nine") ochenta ("eighty")

Numbers 81-90:


ochenta y uno ("eighty-one") ochenta y dos ("eighty-two")

ochenta y tres ("eighty-three") ochenta y cuatro ("eighty-four")

ochenta y cinco ("eighty-five") ochenta y seis ("eighty-six")

ochenta y siete ("eighty-seven") ochenta y ocho ("eighty-eight")

ochenta y nueve ("eighty-nine") noventa ("ninety")

Numbers 91-100:


noventa y uno ("ninety-one") noventa y dos ("ninety-two")

noventa y tres ("ninety-three") noventa y cuatro ("ninety-four")

noventa y cinco ("ninety-five") noventa y seis ("ninety-six")

noventa y siete ("ninety-seven") noventa y ocho ("ninety-eight")

noventa y nueve ("ninety-nine") cien ("one hundred")

Sample Sentences

1. Cuando tenga noventa y nueve años, me gustaría hacer parapente. "When I am ninety-nine years old, I'd like to go parasailing."

2. Apuesto ochenta dólares que no sepas contar en castellano. "I bet you eighty dollars that you don't know how to count."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

How to Impress Potential Employers


You will definitely impress an interviewer if you show interest and knowledge about their history andplaces. Do not look like you are lost or you are homesick. Try to use some Spanish to give a good firstimpression. Spanish speakers love when foreigners try to speak their language. It does not matter if youhave a strong accent or not. Something that is very important is that you need to project security andstability. This means that interviewers in general, do not like "tourist-like" people who show up wearingshorts, sandals, and a backpack. They do not want to hire people who may leave whenever they want orabandon a job because they want to escape to the beach. It is not necessary to wear a tie or a veryformal dress either, but just wear something casual.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #8Express Preferences in Spanish: I WouldLike to Work with You!

CONTENTS


8#



MAIN

1. JEFE : Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro.

2. LUIS : Muchas gracias.

3. JEFE : Creo que sería una buena adquisición para nosotros.

4. LUIS : ¿¡En serio!?... digo... Sí, señora.

5. JEFE : Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta.

6. LUIS : Claro, es justo lo que necesito.

7. JEFE : Pues, le doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa.

ENGLISH

1. JEFE : Well Luis, you seem like a very responsible and mature kid.

2. LUIS : Thank you very much.

3. JEFE : I think that you would be a good acquisition for us.

4. LUIS : Seriously!? ...I mean...yes, sir.

5. JEFE : And I would like to know if you accept my offer.

6. LUIS : Of course, it's just what I need.

7. JEFE : Well then, let me welcome you to our company.


MAIN

1. JEFE : Bueno Luis, tú pareces un chico muy responsable y maduro.

2. LUIS : Muchas gracias.

3. JEFE : Creo que serías una buena adquisición para nosotros.

4. LUIS : ¿¡En serio!?... digo... Sí, señora.

5. JEFE : Y me gustaría saber si estás de acuerdo con mi oferta.

6. LUIS : Claro, es justo lo que necesito.

7. JEFE : Pues, te doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa.


ENGLISH

1. JEFE : Well Luis, you seem like a very responsible and mature kid.

2. LUIS : Thank you very much.

3. JEFE : I think that you would be a good acquisition for us.

4. LUIS : Seriously!? ...I mean...yes, sir.

5. JEFE : And I would like to know if you accept my offer.

6. LUIS : Of course, it's just what I need.

7. JEFE : Well then, let me welcome you to our company.

VOCABULARY


parecer to seem verb

claro sure, of course interjection

justo just adverb

oferta offer feminine noun

pues so, so then conjunction, pause-word

maduro mature adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES

El cielo parece infinito.

"The sky seems infinite."

¡Claro que puedo ayudarte!

"Of course, I can help you!"

Justo anteayer te vi en la plaza.

"Just the day before yesterday I saw you in theplaza."

La oferta en las tiendas es muy buena.

"The offer in the stores is very good."

Pues yo no veo el problema.

"So I do not see the problem."

Esa niña es muy madura.

"That little girl is very mature."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Spanish Set Phrase Meaning, "I Would Like to..." Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta.

"And I would like to know if you accept my offer."


Frases hechas: me gustaría Set Phrases: "I would like to"

Very often in Spanish when we want to express a personal preference, we use the verb gustar in theconditional tense so that it pretty much means the same thing as quisiera or preferiría. For example, ifyou're an ESL teacher you might hear a Hispanic student say me gustaría hablar inglés.

Whereas the present tense of the indicative mood expresses "that" I like to speak English (me gustahablar inglés), the conditional indicates a preference such as, me gustaría hablar inglés ("I would like tospeak English").

To use the verb gustar in Spanish in the conditional tense, you'll need to use indirect object pronouns aswell.

Here are the forms of the verb gustar:

1. gustaría

2. gustarías

3. gustaría (this is the form we're focusing on here)

4. gustaríamos

5. gustaríais

6. gustarían

Sample Sentences

Spanish "English"

Me gustaría hablar castallano para conseguir untrabajo en españa.

"I would like to speak Spanish in order to get a job inSpain."

¿Te gustaría acompañarme a tomar un café yconversar?

"Would you like to come with me to have a coffeeand talk?"

Nos gustaría que respondas lo antes posible. "We would like you to respond as soon as possible."

Me gustaría que te calles la boca. "I would like you to shut your mouth."

Me gustaría que me la calles tú. "I would like you to shut it for me."


Notice that to form all of these expressions, we're only using the form gustaría. This makes it apparentthat you need to know the indirect object pronouns by heart. But they're not that hard...me, te, le, nos,os, and les.

We can use the verb gustar another way, too, although it's not that common anymore. You can saygusto de leer instead of me gusta leer, both meaning, "I like to read." While this usage sounds a littleantiquated in our modern day Spanish, it's actually the norm in modern day Portuguese.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The Interview Process in Latin America

The interview process depends on the company and type of job you need. People usually ask you for acopy of your passport or visa, a copy of your legal status in the country, titles and certificates, letters ofrecommendation, two passport photos, criminal records, and in some cases, a cover letter. When youhave already presented all this and they call you for an interview, they just want to know yourappearance and attitude towards the job. For private sectors, the interview process happens very fast,but for some public institutions, it can take several hours, days, or even weeks.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #9Learning Spanish Prepositions:

CONTENTS

2 Informal Spanish2 English2 Formal Spanish3 English3 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences4 Grammar6 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #9 - LEARNING SPANISH PREPOSITIONS: IT’S FOR OUR OWN GOOD! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. GABRIEL: ¡Ay, mi amor! Qué triste pasarse de casa...

2. SOFIA: Es para nuestro bien, Gabriel, no seas vago.

3. GABRIEL: No es vagancia, sino que me he pasado cuarenta veces.

4. SOFIA: Vas a ver, no vamos a durar nada, y esta vez será la última!

5. GABRIEL: ah...¡Cómo odio pasarme de casa!

ENGLISH

1. GABRIEL: Oh baby, moving is so sad...

2. SOFIA: It's for our own good, Gabriel. Don't be lazy.

3. GABRIEL: It's not laziness; it's just that it's happened to me forty times.

4. SOFIA: You'll see, we're not going to take long at all, and this time will be the last!

5. GABRIEL: Oh how I hate moving!

FORMAL SPANISH

1. GABRIEL: ¡Ay, mi amor! Qué triste pasarse de casa...

2. SOFIA: Es para nuestro bien, Gabriel, no sea vago.

CONT'D OVER


3. GABRIEL: No es vagancia, sino que me he pasado cuarenta veces.

4. SOFIA: Va a ver, no vamos a durar nada, ¡y esta vez será la última!

5. GABRIEL: ah...¡Cómo odio pasarme de casa!

ENGLISH

1. GABRIEL: Oh baby, moving is so sad...

2. SOFIA: It's for our own good, Gabriel. Don't be lazy.

3. GABRIEL: It's not laziness; it's just that it's happened to me forty times.

4. SOFIA: You'll see, we're not going to take long at all, and this time will be the last!

5. GABRIEL: Oh how I hate moving!

VOCABULARY


amor love noun, verb masculine

triste sad, gloomy adjective masculine / feminine

nuestro(a) our possessive adjective

vagancia idleness, laziness feminine noun

pasarse to get carried away pronominal verb

durar to last, to go on for verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES


¡Encontré el amor de mi vida!

"I found the love of my life!"

Me pone muy triste ver a esos dos pelear.

"It makes me very sad watching those two argue."

Mi abuelo está triste.

"My grandfather is sad."

Es muy triste ver a los niños de la calle.

"It is very sad to see the homeless kids."

Nuestra hija es muy linda.

"Our daughter is so beautiful."

Cuando hay vagancia no hay desarrollo.

"When the laziness is present, there is no development."

El perro se pasa al patio de los vecinos.

"The dog crosses to the neighbor's back yard."

¿Cuánto dura la película?

"How long is the movie?"

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Spanish Preposition Para Es para nuestro bien, Gabriel. "It's for our own good, Gabriel."

Prepositions are invariable words that introduce nouns, noun phrases, or subordinate clauses, making them depend on a verb that we state beforehand. In Spanish, there are many prepositions and even more prepositional phrases. However, the most common prepositions are por, para, de, a, and en.


In this grammar point, we'll focus on the preposition para and look at the eight principle ways that we can use the preposition para.

Again, because prepositions are "invariable" (i.e., they don't change forms), we'll be looking at the different "usages" of the preposition para.

Eight Usages of the Preposition Para

Usage English (Spanish)Spanish Example ("English Translation")

Utility (utilidad) ¿Para qué tanto esfuerzo? ("What's all this effort for?")

Motive (motive) Lo dijo para molestarme. ("She said it to annoy me.")

Destination (destinatario) Es para mamá. ("It's for mom.")

Opinion (opinion) Para Jorge, todas las mujeres son guapas. ("All women are pretty to Jorge.")

Comparisons (comparaciones)

Para ser tan joven, tiene ideas muy sensatas. ("He has very sensible ideas for his age.")

Time (tiempo)Estará listo para las cinco. ("It'll be ready by five.")

Immanence (inminencia) Está para salir. ("He's about to leave.")

Direction (dirección)El tren para Sevilla acaba de salir. ("The train has just left for Seville.")

Because of the inherent indeterminacy associated with para, we cannot use it with verbs that imply the end of a movement or final destination. For example, we say llegaremos a Caracas ("we will arrive in Caracas") using a rather than para. We also employ this preposition in relation to time. Para denotes approximate time rather than exact time.


For example:

1. La fiesta ha sido aplazada para el jueves. "The party has been set for Thursday."

2. Para Navidad nos reuniremos. "We will get together for Christmas."

*Note that the times we express in these examples are general days rather than precise moments. Additionally, we can use para to express the final purpose of a thing:

For example:

1. Trajeron una carta para Vanesa. "They brought a card for Vanessa."

2. El regalo es para ti. "The present is for you."

3. La vida es para vivir. "Life is for living."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Dating in Latin American Countries

Many Latin American countries are very religious and still very conservative. In the past, girls were expected to be virgins until their wedding day and boyfriends had to visit their girlfriend´s house to ask permission of the father to visit his daughter twice a week (Saturday and Sunday). Even though this custom has changed a bit, couples still live with their parents until they decide to get married. It is not commonly accepted to find a girl living with her boyfriend. Most couples live very close to each other and can see each other whenever they decide to. Besides, apartments are expensive and people are used to living in houses with their families. In many cases, couples prefer to wait until they have money to build a small house and then make their wedding arrangements.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #10Spanish Prepositions: Whose Possessionsare we Packing?

CONTENTS


10#



MAIN

1. SOFIA : ¡Qué hermosas son los bordados de la abuela!

2. GABRIELa : Tienen como trescientos años... ¿tenemos que llevarlos?

3. SOFIA : ¡¡Obvio!! Tú llevas esos posters de Thundercats que son viejísimos igual.

4. GABRIEL : Me recuerdan de una época feliz de mi vida, así que cállate tú y bota esos bordados.

5. SOFIA : ¡Ni muerta!

6. GABRIEL : Hagamos un trato. Tú llevas los bordados y yo llevo los posters.

7. SOFIA : Dicho y hecho.

ENGLISH

1. SOFIA : Grandma's embroidery is so beautiful!

2. GABRIEL : They're like three hundred years old...do we have to take them?

3. SOFIA : Obviously!! You're taking those Thundercats posters that are just as ancient!

4. GABRIEL : They remind me of a happy period of my life, so you shut up and throw out thatembroidery.

5. SOFIA : Over my dead body!

6. GABRIEL : Let's make a deal. You take the embroidery, and I'll take the posters.

7. SOFIA : Said and done.


MAIN

1. SOFIA : ¡Qué hermosos son los bordados de la abuela!

2. GABRIELA : Tienen como trescientos años... ¿tenemos que llevarlos?

3. SOFIA : ¡¡Obvio!! Usted lleva esos posters de Thundercats que son viejísimos igual.

4. GABRIEL : Me recuerdan de una época feliz de mi vida, así que cállese usted y bote esosbordados.

5. SOFIA : ¡Ni muerta!

6. GABRIEL : Hagamos un trato. Usted lleva los bordados y yo llevo los posters.


7. SOFIA : Dicho y hecho.

ENGLISH

1. SOFIA : Grandma's embroidery is so beautiful!

2. GABRIEL : They're like three hundred years old...do we have to take them?

3. SOFIA : Obviously!! You're taking those Thundercats posters that are just as ancient!

4. GABRIEL : They remind me of a happy period of my life, so you shut up and throw out thatembroidery.

5. SOFIA : Over my dead body!

6. GABRIEL : Let's make a deal. You take the embroidery, and I'll take the posters.

7. SOFIA : Said and done.

VOCABULARY


hermoso(a) beautiful, lovely adjective

llevar to take verb

época epoch, time, age, period noun feminine

bordado embroidered noun masculine

trato agreement noun masculine

abuelo(a) grandfather, grandmother noun masculine & feminine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

¡Este hotel es hermoso!

"This hotel is beautiful."

¿Comida para llevar?

"Food to go?"

En la época de Cristóbal Colón no había tarjetasde crédito.

"In the age of Christopher Columbus, thereweren't any credit cards."

Esos bordados son muy caros.

"Those embroideries are really expensive."

Los tratos se deben respetar.

"The deal must be respected."

Mi abuela tiene ochenta años.

"My grandmother is eighty years old."

GRAMMAR


The Focus of This Lesson is the Spanish Preposition de Me recuerdan de una época feliz de mi vida, así que cállese usted y bote esos bordados.

"They remind me of a happy period of my life, so you shut up and throw out that embroidery."

We use the preposition de to express:

1. possession

2. membership

We express possession by means of the preposition de preceding the name of the possessor.

For Example:

1. el libro de Martín "Martín's book"

With membership, we do not refer to the relation between the possessor and the thing possessed.Instead, we refer to the attributes or objects contained in a person or thing. That is to say, we convey thequalities, nature, condition, or character of something or someone.

For Example:

1. Es un día de sol. "It's a sunny day."

Along these same lines, we use the preposition de to express the material out of which we makesomething. This usage has also extended to signify the matter or issue of something.

For Example:

1. Material: la falda de algodón

"the cotton skirt"

2. Issue: El discurso trata de la economía.

"The lecture is about economics."

Since prepositions are invariable, de will never undergo any form changes as we see in verbs, nouns, oradjectives for example. However, you can expect to see this preposition used as a "prefix" at thebeginning of words sometimes. We'll go deeper into that at another time.

Sample Sentences


Spanish "English"

¿Dónde dejaste el libro de Martín? "Where did you leave the book of Martin(Martin's book)?"

No podrás resistir la sinceridad de Miguel. "You won't be able to resist the sincerity ofMiguel (Miguel's sincerity)."

Al entrar a la sala, noté de inmediato el brillo del piso. "Upon entering the living room, I immediatelynotice the shine of the floor (the floor's shine)."

Eres un estudiante de talento, te recomiendo quesigas con los estudios.

"You're a student of talent (talented student). Irecommend you continue with your studies."

El puente de madera se está por romper. "The bridge of wood (the wooden bridge) isabout to break."

¿Han visto mi cuaderno de cuero? "Have you seen my notebook of leather(leather notebook)?"

Te presto mi libro de geografía. "I'll lend you my book of geography (geographybook)."

Hablábamos de la política. "We were talking of politics." / "We were talkingabout politics."

Note how we can utilize one simple little preposition to convey such a wide variety of meanings. For thisreason, it may take some time to learn all of the different ways that we can use a word such as de.

As with other prepositions, we often use de in adverbial phrases such as to do something de improviso("unawares") or for something to happen de un momento al otro ("from one moment to the next").

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Learning American Culture through Cartoons

Children of the current and last generation love The Simpsons, Garfield, and Mafalda. People who grewup during the 80s feel they can identify with the American humor of those years. The main characters ofthese and many other American cartoons made fun of themselves, and in a way reflected society ingeneral. The social and economic lifestyle of these characters was very different from the lifestyle ofmany Latin American viewers but it was through these cartoons that the audience could learn aboutAmerican culture and laugh at their jokes as well.


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #11Spanish Prepositions: I'm Not Going toPay You for Carelessness!

CONTENTS


11#



MAIN

1. SOFIA : Disculpe, ¿podría tratar eso con más cuidado?

2. TRABAJADOR : Señora, a mí me pagan por horas.

3. SOFIA : Pues no le voy a pagar todo si no es más cuidadoso.

4. TRABAJADOR : Sí, sí...

5. SOFIA : Gabriel, ¿de dónde los sacaste? Si se quiebra algo, ¡la culpa será suya!

6. GABRIEL : ¿Mía? todo yo... todo yo...

ENGLISH

1. SOFIA : Excuse me, could you treat that more carefully?

2. TRABAJADOR : Ma'am, I get paid by the hour.

3. SOFIA : Well, I'm not going to pay you everything if you're not more careful.

4. TRABAJADOR : Yeah, yeah...

5. SOFIA : Gabriel, where did you get them? If something breaks, it will be your fault!

6. GABRIEL : Mine? Everything's my fault...everything's my fault...


MAIN

1. SOFIA : Disculpa, ¿podrías tratar eso con más cuidado?

2. TRABAJADOR : Señora, a mí me pagan por horas.

3. SOFIA : Pues no te voy a pagar todo si no eres más cuidadoso.

4. TRABAJADOR : Sí, sí...

5. SOFIA : Gabriel, ¿de dónde los sacaste? Si se quiebra algo, ¡la culpa será tuya!

6. GABRIEL : ¿Mía? todo yo... todo yo...


ENGLISH

1. SOFIA : Excuse me, could you treat that more carefully?

2. TRABAJADOR : Ma'am, I get paid by the hour.

3. SOFIA : Well, I'm not going to pay you everything if you're not more careful.

4. TRABAJADOR : Yeah, yeah...

5. SOFIA : Gabriel, where did you get them? If something breaks, it will be your fault!

6. GABRIEL : Mine? Everything's my fault...everything's my fault...

VOCABULARY


Disculpe. Excuse me. expression

tratar to try, to treat verb

cuidado care, carefulness, watch out!, look out! masculine noun, interjection masculine

pagar to pay verb

quiebra break, crack, failure, loss, gorge noun feminine

culpa guilt, blame, fault noun feminine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Disculpe, ¿en dónde está la estación del tren?

"Excuse me, where is the train station?"

Disculpe, creo que es mi asiento en el que ustedestá sentado.

"Excuse me, I think this is my seat you are sittingon."

¿Disculpe, dónde está el banco?

"Excuse me, where is the bank?"

Él trató de besarme pero me escapé

"He tried to kiss me, but I ran away."

Intentaré recordar.

"I will try to remember. "

Trataré de que no vuelva a suceder.

"I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."

¡Cuidado!

"Watch out!"

Él finalmente pudo pagar todas sus deudas.

"He finally managed to pay all his bills."

Ya he pagado lo que debía.

"I've already paid you what I owed."

Esto es culpa mía.

"It's my fault."


GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Spanish Preposition a Señora, a mí me pagan por horas.

"Ma'am, I get paid by the hour."

We can use the preposition a to express movement and finalization. Fundamentally, we use thispreposition to express the idea of material or figurative movement and final destination or purpose. Wealso use it with infinitives that compliment a conjugated verb of movement. It is the same when theinfinitive of a verb compliments a conjugated verb with a sense of finalization. On the other hand,certain compound sentences with verbs of volition do not signify a sense of finalization, and thereforedo not carry the preposition a. This is because we are not finalizing the action, nor are we implying theend of the action. Rather, we are expressing a desire to complete an action in the future.

One last issue concerning the preposition a is the aspect of distance or time periods. The sense of timecombines with the idea of movement from one moment to another. With distance, we are addressingmovement from one point of space to another. These finalized transitions from point to point are thereason why we use the preposition here.

Observe the following examples with the preposition a:

Physical Movement/Final Destination:

1. Voy a Granada. "I am going to Granada."

2. Es una carta dirigida a ella. "It is a card addressed to her."

Final Purpose:

1. Vengo a preguntar algo. "I come to ask something."

2. Van a buscar ayuda. "They are going to search for help."

Finalized Action/Ultimate Intent:

1. Aprendo a nadar. "I learn to swim."

2. Ella enseña a leer a sus alumnos. "She teaches her students to read."

Movement/Distance:

1. Él va de un lado al otro. "He goes from one side to the other."


*In this example, note the contraction of a and el into al. We do this when the movement we areexpressing with a is being directed towards a masculine noun such as el otro ("the other").

Points Of Time:

1. Estudia de diez a doce. "He studies from ten to twelve."

2. Trabajo de nueve a cinco. "I work from nine to five."

We also use the preposition a with direct and indirect object compliments.

For Example:

1. En la calle vimos a tu hermana.

Here, we use the preposition a with the direct object compliment. We cannot say, vimos tu hermana, butrather we must say vimos a tu hermana. This always occurs when the direct object compliment is aperson or a thing that has been personified. This means that the direct object compliment is determinedrather than undetermined in the mind of the speaker.

For Example:

1. vimos a tu hijo en el jardín vs.

vimos un niño en el jardín

The first sentence refers to a determined person ("your son"), while the second refers to anundetermined person (we don't know the child's identity). In the case of indirect object compliments, weuse a to express the person or thing that receives harm or benefit from the action of a verb.

For Example:

1. yo envié un regalo a Pedro

Here, the direct compliment is un regalo and the indirect complement is Pedro.

This preposition also has modal significance in terms of average, instrument, and price.

For Example:

1. a mano "by hand"

2. al cinco por ciento "at five percent"

3. a tres pesetas el litro "at three pesetas per liter"

It also has causal significance as in a petición del público ("at the request of the public").


CULTURAL INSIGHT

Moving in Latin America

Moving in Latin America (or anywhere else for that matter) is not an easy task. Add the heat and theever-present possibility of a down pore, and you really have a chore on your hands! Many countries aredevoid of moving companies, but that doesn't mean there isn't anyone around to help. It is not hard tofind people to hire and many times someone with a truck will rent it to you for the day. This makes lifeeasier, but be wary of your things! A casual deal like that comes with its own risks. Your helpers willdefinitely not take the same care with your things as a professional moving company would. But don'tlet this scare you away from asking for help! With minimal cost, you can have all your stuff moved withina day or two. Just don't be surprised if your helpers take the more than occasional break. Want to makethem very happy? Offer them a beer. The only risk you run after that is that they may be even lesscareful with your stuff!

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #12Spanish Demonstrative

Adjectives: I Love This House!

CONTENTS



SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #12 - SPANISH DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES: I LOVE THIS HOUSE! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. GABRIEL: No sabes, estoy muerto... para ser dos personas, tenemos demasiadas cosas.

2. SOFIA: Sí, lo sé, pero bueno, ya terminamos. ¿Quieres un té?

3. GABRIEL: Claro. ¿Sabes?, esta casa sí me gusta.

4. SOFIA: Ya con todas las cosas dentro se ve muy distinta... como yo te decía.

5. GABRIEL: Sí, ya se siente más como un hogar.

ENGLISH

1. GABRIEL: You don't even know, I am dead tired...for two people, we have so many things.

2. SOFIA: Yeah, I know. But, well now we're done. Do you want some tea?

3. GABRIEL: Sure, ya' know, I do like this house.

4. SOFIA: Now, with everything inside, it looks very distinct...like I told you.

5. GABRIEL: Yeah, now it feels more like a home.

FORMAL SPANISH

1. GABRIEL: No sabe, estoy muerto... para ser dos personas, tenemos demasiadas cosas.

CONT'D OVER


2. SOFIA: Sí, lo sé, pero bueno, ya terminamos. ¿Quiere un té?

3. GABRIEL: Claro. ¿Sabe?, esta casa sí me gusta.

4. SOFIA: Ya con todas las cosas dentro se ve muy distinta... como yo le decía.

5. GABRIEL: Sí, ya se siente más como un hogar.

ENGLISH

1. GABRIEL: You don't even know, I am dead tired...for two people, we have so many things.

2. SOFIA: Yeah, I know. But, well now we're done. Do you want some tea?

3. GABRIEL: Sure, ya' know, I do like this house.

4. SOFIA: Now, with everything inside, it looks very distinct...like I told you.

5. GABRIEL: Yeah, now it feels more like a home.

VOCABULARY


demasiado(a)too much, too many,

too adjective, adverb

dentro inside adverb

distinto(a) different adjective

hogar family, home noun masculine


ya now, already adverb of time

muerto dead, worn out adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Hay demasiada pobreza.

"There is too much poverty."

El esta dentro de la casa.

"He is inside the house."

Ronaldinho y Cristiano Ronaldo juegan con equipos distintos.

"Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo play with different teams."

Hogar dulce hogar

"Home sweet home."

Ya le voy a llamar.

"I'm going to call him now."

Este pueblo está muerto.

"This town is dead."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Demonstrative Adjectives ¿Sabe?, esta casa sí me gusta. "Ya' know, I do like this house."

Adjetivos: demostrativos - este, ese, aquel Demonstrative Adjectives: -"this, that, that over there"

An adjective modifies the meaning of a noun, for example "the glass table." Here, "glass" gives characteristics of the "table" in a descriptive way.


What makes a demonstrative adjective different from a regular adjective is that it indicates precisely which person, place, or thing we are referring to. For example, instead of describing the table's glassiness, we can refer to it with reference to the person to whom we are speaking. We can say, "this table," which is near us both, "that table," which is only near you and not me, or "that table over there," which is far from both of us.

Referring to Something Near the Speaker

Sample Sentences

Spanish "English"

Hace dos años que vivo en este departamento. "I've lived in this apartment for two years."

Ese tipo nunca va a cambiar la idea."That guy is never going to change his mind."

En aquella época, las cosas eran diferentes. "Back then, things were different."

Me encontraré contigo en aquel café donde te vi la semana pasada.

"I'll meet you in that cafe where I saw you last week."

En este momento, no me siento bien. "At this moment, I don't feel well."

Notice how demonstrative adjectives "demonstrate" the location of the thing you are referring to in relation to the speaker and the person being spoken to. Let's not forget that that the verb mostrar, which means, "to show" is at the heart of the word demostrativo ("demonstrative").

Make sure you don't confuse demonstrative "adjectives" with demonstrative "pronouns." For example, in the sentence no puedo aceptar ESO ("I can't accept THAT"), the word eso is actually taking the place of what I can't accept. So, if it were un regalo ("a gift"), no puedo aceptar eso would be the pronominal form of no puedo aceptar el regalo. To further your understanding of demonstratives, continue onto demonstrative pronouns.

CULTURAL INSIGHT


Latin American Homes

Homes in Latin America are as varied as anywhere else in the world. When visiting, one may be surprised to see the amount of color present in homes. Bold bright colors are normal. This has more to do with climate than taste. Lighter colors reflect heat instead of absorbing it. Countries in the tropical zone have climates that are not very furniture friendly. Even with air conditioning present, molds form quite quickly. This is one reason, although it does exist, you will generally not find leather. Especially in the rainy season, you can tell just by looking at your leather shoes that that a mold will form on them very quickly if you are not careful. Keeping your shoes cleaned and conditioned is recommended at least once a week. When inviting someone to your house, you don't generally want them to sit on the green fuzz that forms. There is simply too much moisture in the air! So even after making your house a home, you might have to change your furniture more that you would like!


LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #13Spanish Diminutive Word Structure: I’mNot Chubby!!!

CONTENTS


13#



MAIN

1. MANUEL : Michelle, ¡vamos a McDonalds!

2. MICHELLE : No, no puedo.

3. MANUEL : Y eso, ¿por qué?

4. MICHELLE : Tú sí puedes comer comida rápida cuando quieras, pero yo me tengo que cuidar.

5. MANUEL : ¡Ay, amiga!, estás gordita, pero no para tanto.

6. MICHELLE : ¡Gordita! ¡Ya me harté! Me voy al gimnasio.

ENGLISH

1. MANUEL : Michelle, let's go to McDonalds!

2. MICHELLE : No, I can't.

3. MANUEL : And why's that?

4. MICHELLE : You, yeah you can eat fast food whenever you want, but I need to watch myself.

5. MANUEL : Oh, come on, dude! You're chubby but it's not that bad.

6. MICHELLE : Chubby! Now I'm fed up! I'm off to the gym.


MAIN

1. MANUEL : Michelle, ¡vamos a McDonalds!

2. MICHELLE : No, no puedo.

3. MANUEL : Y eso, ¿por qué?

4. MICHELLE : Usted sí puede comer comida rápida cuando quiera, pero yo me tengo que cuidar.

5. MANUEL : ¡Ay, amiga!, está gordita, pero no para tanto.

6. MICHELLE : ¡Gordita! ¡Ya me harté! Me voy al gimnasio.


ENGLISH

1. MANUEL : Michelle, let's go to McDonalds!

2. MICHELLE : No, I can't.

3. MANUEL : And why's that?

4. MICHELLE : You, yeah you can eat fast food whenever you want, but I need to watch myself.

5. MANUEL : Oh, come on, dude! You're chubby but it's not that bad.

6. MICHELLE : Chubby! Now I'm fed up! I'm off to the gym.

VOCABULARY


¿por qué? why? adverb

comida rápida fast food noun feminine

tanto (-a) so much, so many adjective

gimnasio gymnasium, gym noun masculine

cuidar to look after, to care for, to take care of verb

hartar to satiate, fill up verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

¿Por qué has venido aquí?

"Why have you come here?"

¿Te gusta comer comida rapida?

"Do you like to eat fast food?"

En mi casa hay tantas sillas como en tu casa.

"In my house there are as many chairs as in yourhouse."

¿Cuál es la causa de tanta comoción?

"What's the cause for so much commotion?"

Necesito ir al gymnasio.

"I need to go to the gym."

Yo quiero que mis hermanas cuiden a mi perro.

"I want my sisters to take care of my dog."

Quiero llegar a la casa hartar.

"I want to get home to fill up."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is an Overview of Diminutive Word Structure Está gordita, pero no para tanto.

"You're chubby but it's not that bad."


Estructura de las palaras - Diminutivos - perspectiva general Word Structure: Diminutive Overview

Are you wondering what the diminutive is? Note the change from café or "coffee" to cafecito. This iswhat we call the diminutive form of a noun.

We use this formation to convey a slight degree of the root meaning such as intimacy,endearment, or a smallness of the object or quality we name. It is the opposite of anaugmentative.

We often use diminutives to show affection. We can refer to our beloved morning cup of coffee ascafecito rather than just plain old café. In some cases, we can also translate the meaning of diminutionas "tiny" or "wee." We use diminutives frequently when speaking to small children. Adults sometimesuse diminutives when they express extreme tenderness and intimacy by behaving and talking aschildren. For example, a mother might refer to her baby girl as bebita or "little baby" instead of bebe or"baby."

When used with adjectives, we add extra emphasis to the quality we are describing.

For Example:

1. Ya está llenilla la playa. "Now the beach is really full."

In this case, llenilla ("really full") is the diminutive form of the adjective llena ("full"), which is conjugatedfrom the verb llenar ("to fill, to cover"). This same diminutive formation applies to other adjectives,although the structure varies depending on the adjective or noun.

In the Spanish diminutive form, -o and -a become -ito and -ita, respectively.

For Example:

1. perro ("dog") and perrito ("puppy")

In other instances, we use the suffix -illo or illa. A well-known example of this is the word tortilla. Wordsending in -e or a consonant take -cito/a or -ecito/a.

For Example:

1. "big" - grande → grandecito/a

2. "cross" - cruz → crucecita

There are irregular forms and sometimes two forms exist with different uses.

For Example:

1. Irregular: "foot" - pie → piecito

2. Two Forms: "hand" - mano → manita ("little hand")

"hand" - mano → manecilla ("little clock hand")


There are also duplicated diminutives.

For Example:

1. "small" - chico → chiquito → chiquitito ("teeny-tiny")

Sample Sentences

1. Es un bebito chiquitito. "It is a teeny-tiny baby."

2. Ya está llenilla la playa. "Now the beach is really full."

3. Su perrito está creciendo grandecito. "His puppy is growing big."

While many languages apply the grammatical diminutive to nouns, in Spanish we also use it foradjectives and other parts of speech.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Latin American Fast Food and Plastic Surgery

American fast food is changing the waist sizes of many countries around the world. In Latin America, adiet that based on high carbohydrates also features many proteins. Of course, with a region asgeographically diverse and large there is a lot of variety. With the American invasion of fast food, a newhealth craze has erupted. One's appearance is very important. Plastic surgery is a lot more commonthan it is in the United States or Europe. Without the weight of medical insurance, procedures can bedone at a fraction of the cost. In countries like Columbia, Brazil, and Costa Rica, teenage girls will getplastic surgery as a sweet sixteen gift. This is not looked down upon much as Latin America is still a verymachista society and a woman is expected to care about her appearance. Medical tourism is alsogaining in popularity as foreigners learn that they can get procedures done in state of the art hospitalsand pay less than half of what they would in the United States or Europe. Recuperation time at a resort,which is usually included in the cost of the procedure, also doesn't hurt.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #14Spanish Morphemes: Break it

Down for Me, Buddy!

CONTENTS

2 Dialogue - Informal Spanish3 Dialogue - Formal Spanish4 Vocabulary4 Sample Sentences5 Grammar8 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #14 - SPANISH MORPHEMES: BREAK IT DOWN FOR ME, BUDDY! 2


MAIN

1. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Hola, amiga, bienvenida al Gimnasio Muscle Masters!

2. MICHELLE: Ehhh… Hola… venía por información.

3. INSTRUCTOR: Pesas, cardio, yoga, pilates, natación... ¡lo que quieras!

4. MICHELLE: Yo quería saber el horario y precio.

5. INSTRUCTOR : Todos los días, de las cinco de la mañana a las nueve de la noche por la mínima suma de cuatrocientos dólares al mes.

6. MICHELLE: ¿¡Qué!? ¿Estás bromeando?

7. INSTRUCTOR: Amiga, la salud no tiene precio.

ENGLISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: Hey buddy, welcome to the Muscle Masters Gym!

2. MICHELLE: Eh…hi...I was coming in for some information.

3. INSTRUCTOR: Weights, cardio, yoga, Pilates, swimming...you name it!

4. MICHELE: I wanted to know the hours and prices.

5. INSTRUCTOR: Everyday from five o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night for the minimum amount of four hundred dollars per month.

6. MICHELLE: Whaaaat? Are you joking?

CONT'D OVER


7. INSTRUCTOR: Buddy, health is priceless.


MAIN

1. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Hola, amiga, bienvenida al Gimnasio Muscle Masters!

2. MICHELLE: Ehhh… Hola… venía por información.

3. INSTRUCTOR: Pesas, cardio, yoga, pilates, natación... ¡lo que quiera!

4. MICHELLE: Yo quería saber el horario y precio.

5. INSTRUCTOR : Todos los días, de las cinco de la mañana a las nueve de la noche por la mínima suma de cuatrocientos dólares al mes.

6. MICHELLE: ¿¡Qué!? ¿Está bromeando?

7. INSTRUCTOR: Amiga, la salud no tiene precio.

ENGLISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: Hey buddy, welcome to the Muscle Masters Gym!

2. MICHELLE: Eh…hi...I was coming in for some information.

3. INSTRUCTOR: Weights, cardio, yoga, Pilates, swimming...you name it!

4. MICHELE: I wanted to know the hours and prices.

CONT'D OVER


5. INSTRUCTOR: Everyday from five o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night for the minimum amount of four hundred dollars per month.

6. MICHELLE: Whaaaat? Are you joking?

7. INSTRUCTOR: Buddy, health is priceless.

VOCABULARY


pesa weight noun feminine

natación swimming noun feminine

lo que quieras whatever you want phrase

horario schedule masculine noun masculine

bromear to kidd, to joke verb

salud health, cheers noun, interjection feminine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Mi primo levanta pesas todos los días.

"My cousin lifts weights every day."

carrera de natación

swimming race

La natación es un deporte muy bueno para las mujeres embarazadas.

Swimming is a very good exercise for pregnant women.

La natación es el mejor ejercicio.

Swimming is the best exercise.


Mis hijos tienen clase de natación todos los jueves por la tarde.

My children have swim class every Thursday afternoon.

La natación requiere aguantar la respiración.

"Swimming requires holding your breath. "

La natación es un deporte muy bueno para las mujeres embarazadas.

"Swimming is a very good exercise for pregnant women."

Te regalo una flor, la que quieras, sólo tómala.

"I'll give you a flower, whatever you want, just pick it."

Cuando esté listo el horario, no es posible cambiarlo.

"When the schedule is set, it's not possible to change it."

El horario de mi oficina es de 7:00 am a 3:00 pm.

"The hours of my office are from 7 AM to 3 PM."

Yo no bromeo, tu hermano tuvo un accidente.

"I'm not joking, your brother's been in an accident."

Este nuevo seguro de salud me está robando.

"This new health insurance is ripping me off."

El instituto de salud está muy cerca de aquí.

"The institute of health is really close from here."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Classification of Morphemes ¡Hola, amiga, bienvenida a el Gimnasio Muscle Masters! "Hey buddy, welcome to the Muscle Masters Gym!"


Estructura de las Palabras: Morfemas - Clasificación Word Structure: Morphemes - Classification

A morpheme is the minimal unit of grammatical analysis. It's the smallest unit you can reach, if for example, you start with a sentence, focus in on a word, and then start singling out parts of the word, such as its base and any words added to the beginning or to the end of it. There are many kinds of morphemes, and not everyone can agree on how to break up this group. Let's try it like this. There are "lexical morphemes" and there are "grammatical morphemes." Lexical Morpheme: This is what holds the fundamental semantic content of the word, its principal meaning. Grammatical Morpheme: These are either inflected or derivative.

Lexical Morphemes

Here we are referring to the part of the word that contains its semantic meaning. For example, in the words amante ("lover") and amado ("belove"), the lexical morpheme am- conveys the meaning of "love."

Grammatical Morphemes

Inflected In nouns, adjectives, determiners, and some pronouns, the inflected morpheme may be of gender and number.

1. In the word niño, the lexical morpheme is niñ-, and the inflected morpheme is -o (gender- masculine; number- singular)

2. In the word niño, the lexical morpheme is niñ-, and the inflected morpheme is -a (gender- feminine; number- singular)

3. In the word niño, the lexical morpheme is niñ-, and the inflected morpheme is -os (gender- masculine; number- plural)


4. In the word niño, the lexical morpheme is niñ-, and the inflected morpheme is -as (gender- feminine; number- plural)

In verbs, the inflected morpheme may be of person, number, tense, mood, and aspect. In hablábamos, the lexical morpheme is habl-, and the inflected morphemes are -á-, which indicates that it belongs to the first conjugation, -ba-, which tells us the aspect (past tense) and the mood (indicative), an then -os, which shows us that its conjugated to the first person plural. Derivatives These are the "affixes." We add them to the base or root of a word in order to form new words. Here, we're talking about prefixes, suffixes, and infixes.

1. refundación: re-funda-ción: re- is a prefix, and -ción is a suffix.

2. mujercita: mujer-c-ita: -c- is an infix, and -ita is a suffix.

Notice how in each of the following words there is a common lexical morpheme of -cant- and a number of different grammatical morphemes:

1. cantar ("to sing")

2. encantar ("to enchant")

3. cantante ("singer")

4. encantador ("enchanting")

We notice the same with the following words where the common lexical morpheme is -pod- and a number of different grammatical morphemes:

1. poder ("to be able")

2. empoderar ("to empower")


3. poderoso ("powerful")

Finally, in the following words, the common lexical morpheme is -am- and there are a number of different grammatical morphemes:

1. amigo(a) ("friend")

2. amistad ("friendship")

3. amar ("to love")

4. amor ("love")

5. amante ("lover")

6. amado ("beloved")

7. amable ("kind")

By studying the Spanish language on this micro-level, you learn how to break words down to their smallest possible units; and, by learning how words get broken down, you will also learn how to construct them. This means that by learning to recognize the different morphemes in any Spanish word, you will be able to identify key information that gets transmitted through the word and therefore, will understand its meaning just by using the tools you have acquired.

The next step in this study of word structure is to look at "affixes." These include prefixes, infixes, and suffixes, all of which we consider grammatical morphemes as we've seen today. Believe it or not, we have been looking at these in almost all of our lessons. Every time that we study verb endings, or discuss how to show gender and number for nouns, we are really studying word structure, though without going into as much detail as we have today.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Latin American Gyms


Gyms in Latin America are just as varied as they are in the United States. If one has the money, state of the art facilities are available and surprisingly many of these gyms have the same monthly rate as their counterparts in the United States. Physical fitness is very important, more for aesthetic regions. Beaches are plentiful and the demands for beach bodies are natural. Fitness themed magazines popular in the United States are all translated into Spanish and are best sellers. One advantage that many countries in Latin America have is the access to organic and whole foods. Prior to this diet fad in the United States, Latin Americans have always traditionally had a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, most importantly legumes. Beans are an excellent source of protein, the fuel for muscle growth. With this availability of cheap and healthy fare, achieving that dream of a beach body is far from impossible.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #15Spanish Grammatical Inflections

CONTENTS



SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #15 - SPANISH GRAMMATICAL INFLECTIONS – LET’S GO GUYS! YOU CAN DO IT! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Vamos, amiga, tú puedes cinco más!

2. MICHELLE: ¡Michelle, Michelle, me llamo Michelle y no puedo!

3. INSTRUCTOR: Amiga, ¡qué sí puedes! Dále un giro a tu vida.

4. MICHELLE: Que me diga, Michelle, no puedo respirar.

5. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Amiga! ¿Es tu cuerpo sintiéndose vivo?

6. MICHELLE: No, creo que al revés.

ENGLISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: Let's go, guys! You can do five more reps!

2. MICHELLE: Michelle, Michelle, my name is Michelle and I can't!

3. INSTRUCTOR: Come on, buddy, of course you can! Turn your life around.

4. MICHELLE: Let him say to me, Michelle, I can't breathe.

5. INSTRUCTOR: Buddy, does your body feel alive?

6. MICHELLE: No, I think the other way around.

FORMAL SPANISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Vamos, amiga, usted puede cinco más!

CONT'D OVER


2. MICHELLE: ¡Michelle, Michelle, me llamo Michelle y no puedo!

3. INSTRUCTOR: Amiga, ¡qué sí puede! Déle un giro a su vida.

4. MICHELLE: Que me diga, Michelle, no puedo respirar.

5. INSTRUCTOR: ¡Amiga! ¿Es su cuerpo sintiéndose vivo?

6. MICHELLE: No, creo que al revés.

ENGLISH

1. INSTRUCTOR: Let's go, guys! You can do five more reps!

2. MICHELLE: Michelle, Michelle, my name is Michelle and I can't!

3. INSTRUCTOR: Come on, buddy, of course you can! Turn your life around.

4. MICHELLE: Let him say to me, Michael, I can't breathe.

5. INSTRUCTOR: Buddy, does your body feel alive?

6. MICHELLE: No, I think the other way around.

VOCABULARY


dar to give verb

giro turn noun masculine

respirar to breathe verb


cuerpo body noun masculine

al revésin the opposite

direction or order adverbial locution

vivo live, alive adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Te han dado el crédito que estoy segura que tú no mereces.

"You have been given the credit that I'm sure you don't deserve. "

Dame un vaso de agua

"Give me a glass of water."

El carro dio un giro inesperado.

"The car made an unexpected turn."

Mi hijo no puede respirar, necesitamos una ambulancia.

"My son cannot breathe; we need an ambulance!"

Me duele todo mi bello cuerpo.

"My beautiful body hurts all over."

Esta pintura está al revés.

"This painting is backward."

Este hombre está vivo, llévenlo al hospital.

"This man is alive, take him to the hospital."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Grammatical Inflections ¡Vamos, amigos! “Let's go, guys!”


Estructura de las Palabras: Accidentes gramaticales Word Structure: Grammatical Inflections

There are three main types of inflection in Spanish:

Nominal Inflection

This group is inflected with regard to GENDER and NUMBER.

The endings are:

1. -o and -a for the masculine and feminine singular

2. -os and -as for the masculine and feminine plural

For Example:

Somos hermanas. Let's break down hermanos: herman - a - s

1. herman - This conveys the quality of being siblings.

2. a - This indicates that the noun is feminine, that we are talking about being a sister.

3. s - This tells us that there is more than one sister.

Verbal Inflection

This group is inflected with regard to PERSON and NUMBER.

The endings are:

1. -o for the first person singular of the present indicative

2. -s for the second person singular


3. -a or -e for the third person singular

4. -mos for the first person plural

5. -ís for the second person plural

6. -n for the third person plural

This group is also inflected with regard to TENSE and MOOD.

The endings are:

1. -aba (preterit imperfect indicative, first conjugation)

2. -ía (preterit imperfect indicative, second conjugation)

3. -ra and -se (preterit pluperfect subjunctive)

4. -ría (conditional)

5. -re (future subjunctive)

6. -e (present subjunctive, first conjugation)

7. -a (present subjunctive, second and third conjugation)

For Example:

¿Qué me decías? Let's break down decías: dec - ía - s

1. dec - This conveys the meaning of "speaking" or "telling."

2. -ía - This indicates that the verbal action took place in the preterit imperfect of the indicative.

3. -s - This tells us that the second person singular tú ("you") is the subject of this verb.

Verbal-Nominal Inflections


This group is made up of the infinitive ending -r, the gerund -ndo, and the past participle -do.

For Example:

Tengo ganas de comer. Let's break down comer: come - r

1. come - This conveys the meaning of "eating."

2. r - This indicates the infinitive form of the verb, which essentially operates as a noun.

Sample Sentences

1. Nominal Inflection: Los niños siempre toman una siesta. "The kids always take a nap."

2. Verbal Inflection: Se levantaron temprano. "They got up early."

3. Verbal-Nominal Inflection: Prefiero levantarme tarde. "I prefer to get up late."

Learning the fundamentals of inflection in Spanish will give you a clear idea of the big picture. For example, if you're at the intermediate level, you've undoubtedly found yourself in situations where you follow the general meaning of what someone is saying in Spanish, but some words here and there are new to you. If you learn how to recognize the way that Spanish words change their endings, which is just another way of saying if you learn the inflection of Spanish, then you'll be able to understand the function of the word. Many times by learning this information, you will be able to sense the meaning of the root.

If what we've covered today is not clear, it's recommendable to study the basics of morphemes and other grammar topics related to Word Structure, such as prefixes,


radicals, and suffixes. Also, you can apply what you learn here to any lesson that focuses on verbs in any tense.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Latin American Work Ethic

If there is one stereotype about Latin Americans, it is their laziness. This is somewhat funny considering immigrant workers from this region in the United States are some of the hardest workers in the labor pool. While it may sound rude, there does exist a very laidback outlook toward work of any kind, and this includes exercise. Strenuous activity is not seen as attractive. Michelle's situation is a normal one. Many are not used to being worked as hard as she is being worked at this gym. Some will rise to the challenge, but many do not. Latin Americans tend to shut down when faced with the same expectations that are held in the United States. Latin Americans don't view jobs as something they should keep if the work is too hard. They also hold this view in the Universities. It is not uncommon for a teacher to be fired if their students complain that they are being worked too hard. It is a shame when one is punished for having high expectations.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #16Spanish Exclamations: You

Traded Your Rolls for Muscles,

How Exquisite!

CONTENTS



SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #16 - SPANISH EXCLAMATIONS: YOU TRADED YOUR ROLLS FOR MUSCLES, HOW EXQUISITE! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. MANUEL: ¡Épa!! ¡Qué cambio!

2. MICHELLE: ¿Qué cambio?

3. MANUEL: ¡Cambiaste los rollos por músculos! Como que te sirvió el gimnasio.

4. MICHELLE: Sí, perdí mucho peso, tengo un instructor un poco loco, pero sabe lo que hace.

5. MANUEL: Ya hasta me dan ganas de ir al Muscle Masters!

6. MICHELLE: Deberías, amigo...

ENGLISH

1. MANUEL: Epa!! What a trade!

2. MICHELLE: What trade?

3. MANUEL: You traded in your rolls for muscles. The gym did you so well.

4. MICHELLE: Yeah, I lost a lot of weight, I have a semi-crazy instructor, but he knows what he's doing.

5. MANUEL: Now it even makes me want to go to Muscle Masters!

6. MICHELLE: You should, dude.

FORMAL SPANISH

CONT'D OVER


1. MANUEL: ¡Épa!! ¡Qué cambio!

2. MICHELLE: ¿Qué cambio?

3. MANUEL: ¡Cambió los rollos por músculos! Como que le sirvió el gimnasio.

4. MICHELLE: Sí, perdí mucho peso, tengo un instructor un poco loco, pero sabe lo que hace.

5. MANUEL: Ya hasta me dan ganas de ir al Muscle Masters!

6. MICHELLE: Debería, amigo...

ENGLISH

1. MANUEL: Epa!! What a trade!

2. MICHELLE: What trade?

3. MANUEL: You traded in your rolls for muscles. The gym did you so well.

4. MICHELLE: Yeah, I lost a lot of weight, I have a semi-crazy instructor, but he knows what he's doing.

5. MANUEL: Now it even makes me want to go to Muscle Masters!

6. MICHELLE: You should, dude.

VOCABULARY



cambio change masculine noun

rollo roll, roll of fat noun masculine

servirto be useful, to

serve, to be good for verb

músculo muscle noun masculine

peso weight noun maculine

dar ganas to give the urge verbal phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Los cambios, a veces, son buenos.

"Changes, at times, are good."

A mí me gusta comer rollos de carne.

"I like to eat rolls of meat."

¿Te sirvo una taza de café o vos preferís una infusión?

"Can I serve you a cup of coffee or do you prefer herbal tea?"

A Hernán no le sirve el horario de la universidad de la mañana, él trabaja.

"Hernan can't manage the morning university schedule he works."

Andrés tiene muchos músculos, él es muy fuerte.

"Andres has a lot of muscles; he is very strong."

El peso de mi maleta es mucho, creo que llevo muchas cosas.

"My bag weighs a lot, I think I brought a lot of things."

A mi mamá le dan ganas de comer pizza.

"My mother has the urge to eat pizza."

GRAMMAR


The Focus of this Lesson is Spanish Exclamations ¡Qué cambio! "What a trade!"

Exclamaciones: ¡Qué exquisito! Exclamations: How exquisite!

An "exclamation" is a word or phrase that we utter with great emotion or intensity, which expresses the emotional state of the speaker. The word itself "exclamation" comes from the Latin clamare, which literally means, "to shout out." In Spanish, there a numerous kinds of exclamations. Today, we're going to focus on those that begin with qué. It's important to remember to begin an exclamation with an inverted exclamation mark (i.e., ¡) and to finish it with a regular exclamation mark (i.e., !). When pronouncing these, one must make sure that the emotion of the utterance is transmitted through the speech; if the emotion is not transmitted, the meaning can and most likely will change.

In Spanish, there are two basic ways to construct exclamations: with a verb and without a verb. Let's look at the word order for each of these patterns:

Pattern #1: With a Verb

[Exclamatory Adjective] + [Adjective] + [Verb] + [Noun] ¡[Qué] + [exquisito] + [está] + [el vino]!

For Example:

1. ¡Qué exquisito está el vino! "How exquisite the wine is!"

Pattern #2: Without the Verb


[Exclamatory Adjective] + [Adjective] + [Noun] ¡[Qué] + [exquisito] + [el vino]!

For Example:

1. ¡Qué exquisito el vino! "What exquisite wine!"

Again, we always open and close exclamations in Spanish with exclamation marks. It is incorrect to use only the closing mark, as is done in English.

Sample Sentences

Spanish "English"

¡Qué gustosa la comida! "What tasty food!"

¡Qué carnosos están los mariscos! "How meaty the shellfish are!"

¡Qué rica la fruta! "What delicious fruit!"

¡Qué sabrosa está la carne! "How flavorful the meat is!"

Notes

Notice in Pattern #1, the verb comes before the noun in the Spanish, and after the noun in the English. There is no flexibility here. It has to be in this order.

Notice in Pattern #2, an article comes before the noun. While this is not always the case, it happens very often. The less common (but possible) way of constructing this is ¡qué niño bien educado! ("What a well-behaved boy!"), as opposed to the more common ¡qué bien educado el niño! ("What a well-behaved boy!").

Of course, there many other kinds of exclamations and interjections too, and it's important


to note that they all do not begin with qué. We usually translate those that do as "what..." or "how...." An example of one that does not is ¡Cuántas personas hay!, which we can literally translate as, "How many people there are!" or figuratively, "there are so many people!" While using the inverted exclamation mark to introduce an exclamation or interjection may seem like a bother in the beginning, you may well find it to be useful, as it lets us know that what is about to be said expresses emotion, and it lets us know how it should be pronounced. If you think about it, this must be difficult for native Spanish speakers when they start reading English, where an exclamation can only be identified at the end!

CULTURAL INSIGHT

One thing to remember about the Latin American culture is the importance of looking your best. Many young women look for new products and ideas to accentuate what they have and even fake it if they don't! For this reason, the infomercials are heavily geared to products that shape the female figure making the woman more visually appealing. Most often you will see different products to slim, stuff, slenderize and show off your 'could be' assets. Often the products are geared towards slimming a woman's waist with belts and girdles that 'instantly' give a shapely figure; another product to lift a woman's breasts and give that 'all appealing cleavage' and padded shorts to lift and plump a derriere. The products sold also gear towards all types of women with a variety of shapes. Many of the infomercials feature plus size models as well as slender and petite models. This inclusion of real life models makes products more appeal to those women that have found it hard to keep up the figure they once had in their 20's.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #17Spanish Imperfect Indicative: I

Was Calling to Request

Assistance!

CONTENTS

2 Formal Spanish2 English2 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences3 Grammar6 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #17 - SPANISH IMPERFECT INDICATIVE: I WAS CALLING TO REQUEST ASSISTANCE! 2

FORMAL SPANISH

1. MARIA: Alo, llamaba para solicitar una niñera.

2. OPERADORA: ¡Claro! Tenemos las mejores del país.

3. MARIA: Necesito una que cuide mis gemelas de seis años.

4. OPERADORA: ¡Tengo a la persona perfecta!

5. MARIA: Ojalá tenga mucha paciencia porque son tremendas.

6. OPERADORA: ¡No se preocupe, somos profesionales!

ENGLISH

1. MARIA: Hello, I was calling to request a nanny.

2. OPERADORA: Sure. We have the best in the country.

3. MARIA: I need one to take care of my six-year-old twins.

4. OPERADORA: I have the perfect person!

5. MARIA: I hope that she has a lot of patience, because they are a handful.

6. OPERADORA: Don't worry; we're professionals!

VOCABULARY



solicitarto request, to solicit,

to apply for verb

niñera nanny noun feminine

cuidarto look after, to care for, to take care of verb

gemelos twins noun masculine

ojalá I hope so interjection

tremendoterrible, dreadful,

frightful adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Solicita una entrevista con tu agencia de empleo.

"Ask for an interview with your employment agency."

Mi prima trabaja como niñera en la casa de Sofía.

"My cousin works as a nanny in Sofía's house."

Yo quiero que mis hermanas cuiden a mi perro.

"I want my sisters to take care of my dog."

Mis primos son gemelos idénticos.

"My cousins are identical twins."

Ojalá que todo salga bien.

"I hope everything turns out okay."

Cuando Joaquín era niño era tremendo.

"When Joaquín was a boy, he was terrible."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Imperfect Indicative Verb Formation (regulars)


Llamaba para solicitar una niñera. "I was calling to request a nanny."

The imperfect tense expresses an incomplete action. It's important to remember that we have no direct equivalent in the English language, so the translations that we use will vary based on the context of a given verb. There are three main uses for the imperfect tense. We use it to indicate a past action or state viewed as being in progress (this means that we don't know when it started or stopped, but we know that it happened before the moment of speech). We also use it to indicate a customary or habitual action or state in the past. When employed this way, we often translate it as "I used to walk." Finally, we use it to give descriptions in the past in relation to another past event (very often in the preterit tense). For regular -ar verbs, the imperfect endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, and -aban. For regular -er and -ir verbs, the endings are -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, and -ían. Observe the following conjugations.

Formation

Trabajar

Singular Spanish "English" Plural Spanish "English"

yo trabajaba "I was working" nosostros trabajábamos "we were working"

tú trabajabas "you were working" vosotros trabajabais

"you all were working" - informal

él trabajaba "he was working" ellos trabajaban

"they were working" - masculine

ella trabajaba "she was working" ellas trabajaban "they were working" - feminine

usted trabajaba "you were working" - formal ustedes trabajaban

"you all were working" - formal


trabajaba "it was working" - neuter trabajaban

"they were working" - neuter

Hacer


yo hacía "I was doing" nosostros hacíamos "we were doing"

tú hacías "you were doing" vosotros hacíais"you all were doing" - informal

él hacía "he was doing" ellos hacían"they were doing" - masculine

ella hacía "she was doing" ellas hacían"they were doing" - feminine

usted hacía"you were doing" - formal ustedes hacían

"you all were doing" - formal

hacía"it was doing" - neuter hacían

"they were doing" - neuter

Dormir


yo dormía "I was sleeping"nosostros dormíamos "we were sleeping"

tú dormías "you were sleeping" vosotros dormíais"you all were sleeping" - informal

él dormía "he was sleeping" ellos dormían

"they were sleeping" - masculine

ella dormía "she was sleeping" ellas dormían"they were sleeping" - feminine


usted dormía"you were sleeping" - formal ustedes dormían

"you all were sleeping" - formal

dormía"it was sleeping" - neuter dormían

"they were sleeping" - neuter

Sample Sentences

1. Cuando vivía en Madrid, trabajaba en una librería. "When I was living in Madrid, I worked at a bookstore."

2. Ellas hacían postres cada domingo. "They used to make desserts every Sunday."

3. Dormíamos tarde cuando nos llamaste. "We were sleeping late when you called us."

Notes

For regular -ar verbs, only the first person plural receives an accent (e.g., -ábamos). All regular -er and -ir forms receive accents. Basically, we can translate the imperfect tense to English in three manners. Take for example yo vivía. We can say "I used to live," if we're talking about a habitual period; we can say "I was living," if we're talking about a past period of time that's interrupted by another past action; and we can say "I lived," if we're simply talking about a past time without knowing when it started to stopped.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Working parents are a staple in Latin American societies. Nowadays many households have both parents working outside of the home which often requires a nanny to come and care for the children during the day as opposed to using a day care center or after school programs for older children.School aged children in public schools often have a varying class schedule forcing some to attend in the mornings while others attend in the


afternoons. This variation does not give parents the leisure of adjusting their schedule to accommodate a 6 A.M. to 3 P.M. work day and be home in time to catch the children getting off the school bus.The role of the nanny in the home is usually to care both for the child as well as the home. Many work long hours and are required to clean, do laundry and cook meals for the children. This is an added benefit for parents since they are able to come home without the hassle of cleaning and cooking. Unfortunately, finding a suitable caretaker is the biggest feat of all. Many, due to their long hours, require what can be a hefty paycheck. Others, due to the influx of foreign families are asking for their pay in US dollars which adds to the struggle. For those fortunate enough to have extended families to act as nannies, this problem does not affect the family.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #18Spanish Indirect Object

Pronouns: Mom, She Scares Me!!

CONTENTS

2 Informal Spanish2 English2 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences3 Grammar5 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #18 - SPANISH INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS: MOM, SHE SCARES ME!! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. MARIA: Carla, bienvenida a mi casa.

2. CARLA: Gracias.

3. MARIA: ¡Angelitos...! Carla, éstas son mis gemelas, Amanda y Cristal.

4. AMANDA: Muchacha, ¿por qué su nariz es tan grande?

5. CRISTAL: ¿La nariz?, no es nada, ¡mira esos dientes de tiburón que tiene! Mamá, me da miedo.

6. CARLA: Ah... son adorables...

ENGLISH

1. MARIA: Carla, welcome to my house.

2. CARLA: Thank you.

3. MARIA: Angellllllls! Carla, these are my twins, Amanda and Cristal.

4. AMANDA: Miss, why is your nose so big?

5. CRISTAL: Her nose? That's nothing. Look at those shark teeth she has! Mom, she scares me.

6. CARLA: Uhhhh...they're adorable...

VOCABULARY



bienvenido (a) welcome adjective

ángel angel masculine noun masculine

nariz nose noun feminine

dar miedo to give fear verbal phrase

adorable adorable adjective

dientes de tiburón shark's teeth nouns masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Bienvenidos a mi casa, pasen adelante.

"Welcome to my home; come right in."

El ángel bajó del cielo.

"The angel came down from heaven."

No me gustan los ángeles de la iglesia.

"I don't like the angels in churches."

Tengo tu nariz

"I have got your nose."

Tiene la nariz muy grande.

"He has a very big nose."

A mí me da miedo ver películas de terror.

"Watching horror movies scares me."

Los perros pequeños son adorables.

"Little dogs are adorable."

Ese niño tiene los dientes muy feos, son como dientes de tiburón.

"That kid has really ugly teeth; they are like a shark's teeth."


GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Indirect Object Pronouns (non-prepositional) Mama, me da miedo. "Mom, she scares me."

An indirect object is to whom or for whom the action of the verb is carried out. When we replace the noun that's acting as an indirect object with a pronoun, then it's called an indirect object pronoun. In English, indirect object pronouns are "me, you, him, her, us" and "them." Let's have a look at how that this translates to the Spanish: Indirect Object Pronouns receive the verbal action "indirectly." So, they don't tell us "what" happened, but rather "for whom" or "to what" it happened. What can be tricky about learning these in Spanish is that they usually don't require prepositions. Sound confusing? Don't worry; it will clear up quickly. Depending on the placement of one of these words, the indirect object pronouns, and the context in general, we will understand the prepositional meaning implicit in the pronominal phrase.

Singular Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

"English"

Plural Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

"English"

me "to/for me" nos "to/for us"

te "to/for you" - informal os

"to/for you all" - informal

le "to/for him" les "to/for them" - masculine

le "to/for her" les"to/for them" - feminine

le "to/for you" - formal les"to/for you all" - formal

Sample Sentences


Spanish "English"

Ella me dijo que vendría esta noche."She said to me that she would come tonight."

Te daré todo lo que tengo. "I will give all that I have to you."

A Mariana la universidad le mandó su diploma. "The university sent Mariana her diploma."

Me es difícil creer que, usted, no pueda hacer nada.

"It's hard for me to believe that you can't do anything."

Me es interesante escuchar lo que me cuentas.

"It's interesting for me to listen to what you tell me."

Que las vacaciones te sean gratas. "May the holidays be enjoyable for you."

We have written out the above sample sentences to show the indirect object with a preposition in English, but many times, there is no preposition. For example, "she told me that she would come tonight," where "me" is the indirect object even though it may look like the direct object. You can always figure out the indirect object by asking the question, "to or for whom/what is something done?"

Like what you have learned here? Want to learn more about pronouns? Why not also study direct object pronouns and possessive pronouns to get a clearer view of the big picture. For example, in the sentence me es grato tenerte, eres mío, the indirect object pronoun is me as in me es grato. The direct object pronoun is te as in tenerte; and the possessive pronoun is mío as in eres mío.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Fifteen years ago, spoiling a child meant new clothes brought from the US, cable T.V., and in certain cases a Nintendo console with a few games. Most of the modern electronics were hard to find, or were generally bought in the US by a parent or close relative for the child. Few stores carried these items as many could not afford them. Back then, parents would coddle their children with treats, parties or a new toy purchased locally.


These days, spoiling your child means purchasing high end products now readily available for mass consumption in Latin America. With this availability comes an added economical strain on parents since many of these products have a near 40% markup from the regular retail prices in the US. Yet many children are seen with their own iPods and Nintendo DS/PSP. The average household contains at least 1 game console if not more. Children are no longer satisfied with a little treat when they know the new 'X' has come out and has finally arrived in stores locally.

Many toddlers are extremely coddled by their parents. They are used to having their parent's full attention and obtaining whatever they ask for. Yet it is not often you will see children have a tantrum in public as may be the norm in other areas. Children, though spoiled and coddled are still well-behaved.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #19Giving Commands in Spanish:

You Have to Eat Healthy Food!

CONTENTS

2 Dialogue - Informal Spanish3 Dialogue - Formal Spanish4 Vocabulary4 Sample Sentences5 Grammar6 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #19 - GIVING COMMANDS IN SPANISH: YOU HAVE TO EAT HEALTHY FOOD! 2


MAIN

1. CARLA: ¡¡¡Hora de cenar, chicas!!!

2. AMANDA: ¿Cenar? Estoy jugando, ¿no ves?

3. CRISTAL: Quiero comer papas fritas...

4. CARLA: No, no, hay que comer vitaminas, comida sana.

5. AMANDA: Vieja bruja, NO , NO , NO!

6. CRISTAL: Mis papas, mis papas, Pa-paaaaas... ¡quiero mis papasssssssss!

7. CARLA: ¡No lloren! Vamos a los videojuegos y comemos papas fritas entonces.

ENGLISH

1. CARLA: Girls, time for dinner!!!

2. AMANDA: Dinner? Can you see I'm playing?

3. ENRIQUE: I want to eat french fries...

4. CARLA: No, no, you have to eat vitamins, healthy food.

5. AMANDA: You old witch, NO , NO , NO!

6. ENRIQUE: My parents, my parents, par-ents...I want my parents!

CONT'D OVER


7. CARLA: Don't cry. Let's go to the videogames and we'll eat french fries then.


MAIN

1. CARLA: ¡¡¡Hora de cenar, chicas!!!

2. AMANDA: ¿Cenar? Estoy jugando, ¿no ve?

3. CRISTAL: Quiero comer papas fritas...

4. CARLA: No, no, hay que comer vitaminas, comida sana.

5. AMANDA: Vieja bruja, NO , NO , NO!

6. CRISTAL: Mis papas, mis papas, Pa-paaaaas... ¡quiero mis papasssssssss!

7. CARLA: ¡No lloren! Vamos a los videojuegos y comemos papas fritas entonces.

ENGLISH

1. CARLA: Girls, time for dinner!!!

2. AMANDA: Dinner? Can you see I'm playing?

3. CRISTAL: I want to eat french fries...

4. CARLA: No, no, you have to eat vitamins, healthy food.

CONT'D OVER


5. AMANDA: You old witch, NO , NO , NO!

6. CRISTAL: My parents, my parents, par-ents...I want my parents!

7. CARLA: Don't cry. Let's go to the videogames and we'll eat french fries then.

VOCABULARY


cenarto have supper or

dinner verb

jugar to play verb

vitamina vitamin noun feminine

comida sana health food noun feminine

viejo(a) old adjective

llorar to cry, to weep verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Generalmente ceno a las siete de la noche.

"Generally, I eat dinner at seven in the evening."

No deberías de jugar nunca con los sentimientos de las personas.

"You should never play with people's feelings."


El niño pequeño juega video juegos todas las tardes después de estudiar duro.

"The little boy plays video games every evening after studying hard."

Ayer mi primo jugó baloncesto conmigo.

"Yesterday, my cousin played basketball with me."

Mi mamá toma jugo de naranja por la vitamina "C".

"My mother drinks orange juice for vitamin C."

Es difícil encontrar restaurantes donde vendan comida sana.

"It's difficult to find restaurants that sell health food."

Mi vecina es una vieja loca.

"My neighbor is a crazy old lady."

Mira cómo llora la niña a lágrima viva.

"Look at how the little girl cries."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Imperative Mood ¡No lloren! "Don't cry!"

We use the subjunctive form for verbs when we give negative commands. For regular verbs, conjugating in the subjunctive to give negative commands simply requires that we conjugate the stem of the verb in the yo ("I") form. Then we drop the -o- and interchange the corresponding -ar and -er/-ir endings of the verb (-as or -es for the informal tú form). That is to say, we substitute -a for the endings of -er/-ir- verbs. Likewise, we substitute -e into the endings of -ar verbs to form the subjunctive. Irregular verbs follow a similar pattern. Generally, we must first conjugate the stem of the verb in the yo ("I") form. Then we substitute -a into the corresponding endings of -er/-ir verbs, or we do the opposite for -ar verbs. Observe the formations below to get a clear idea of how this is done.


Formation

Negative Commands for Regular Verbs:

1. -ar verb: cerrar ("to close") No cierres la puerta. "Don't close the door." (tú informal command)

2. -er verb: comer ("to eat") No comas la hamburguesa. "Don't eat the hamburger." (tú informal command)

3. -ir verb: escribir ("to write") No escribas la carta. "Don't write the letter." (tú informal command)

Negative Commands for Irregular Verbs:

1. Decir ("to say") No digas nada. "Don't say anything." (tú informal command)

2. Hacer ("to do"/ "to make") No hagas eso. "Don't do that." (tú informal command)

3. Tener ("to have") No tengas miedo. "Don't be scared."/"Don't have fear." (tú informal command)

Note how we substitute -a for the endings of -er/-ir verbs. Likewise, we substitute -e into the endings of -ar verbs to form the subjunctive. Don't be discouraged if this is confusing at first. Mastering the use of the subjunctive and the imperative mood is one of the most difficult aspects of Spanish.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Fast Food in Latin America


For many young people, fast food has become an integral part of their food pyramid. Years ago, chains like McDonald's and KFC were just starting to pop up in the major cities and capitals of Latin America. Now chains such as Burger King and Pizza Hut are accessible to those living in rural areas near beaches and mountains. This accommodates a growing local demand as well as a tourists demand to eat food they know.

As time passed, many restaurants realized the Latin American population was a great market with potential to grow. They started investing in more and more locations. Now, you can find McDonald's in every corner of the country, along with giants like KFC, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and many others.

Many universities now have fast food chains in their cafeterias on campus to accommodate the growing demand. Also, with the influx of many large transnational corporations setting up shop in Free Trade Zones, many citizens now work in areas saturated by fast food chains.

The culture has definitely changed from one of either eating a good home-cooked meal at home or a packed lunch in your office or school on your lunch break, to one of running out to the nearest fast food joint to pick up a burger and some fries to take back to the office and work through lunch.

LESSON NOTES

Newbie S3 #20You Simply Have to Check Out

What We're Hiding in This

Spanish Lesson!

CONTENTS

2 Informal Spanish2 English3 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences4 Grammar6 Cultural Insight


SPANISHPOD101.COM NEWBIE S3 #20 - YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO CHECK OUT WHAT WE'RE HIDING IN THIS SPANISH LESSON! 2

INFORMAL SPANISH

1. MARIA: ¡Ya volvimos!

2. CARLA: Hola... ¡qué dicha!

3. MARIA: ¿Qué dicha? ¿Está todo bien?

4. CARLA: Claro... ehhh... por supuesto...

5. MARIA: ¿Y por qué estás tan nerviosa? ¿Dónde están mis ángeles?

6. CARLA: Jugando escondidas.

7. MARIA: ¿Y quién busca a quién?

8. CARLA: Yo tenía que buscarlas... están en el clóset.

ENGLISH

1. MARIA: We're back!

2. CARLA: Hello there...what luck!

3. MARIA: What luck? Is everything okay?

4. CARLA: Sure...uhhh...of course it is...

5. MARIA: So then, why are you so nervous? Where are mi angles?

6. CARLA: Playing hide and seek.

CONT'D OVER


7. MARIA: Who's looking for whom?

8. CARLA: I had to look for them...they're in the closet.

VOCABULARY


volver to return, to come back verb

nervioso(-a) nervous, heavy adjective

escondidas secretly, in secret adjective

buscar to look for, to search for verb

por supuesto certainly, of course phrase

¡qué dicha! what luck! expression

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ayer volví a ver la película. ¡Me gusta mucho!

"I saw the movie again yesterday, I liked it a lot."

Ana está muy nerviosa por el examen de mañana.

"Ana is very nervous about the test tomorrow."

Las fotos están escondidas en el escritorio.

"The pictures are hidden in the desk."

Yo buscaré por la leche, tú busca por el pan y encuéntrame en la caja registradora.

"I will look for the milk; you look for the bread, and meet me at the cash register."


Ella te buscará en la reunión, no te preocupes.

"She will look for you at the meeting, no worries."

Ya las busqué ahí y no las encontré.

"I already looked there and I didn't find them."

Por supuesto que voy a tu cumpleaños.

"Of course I'm going to your birthday."

¿Quiere ir al cine? ¡Por supuesto!

"Do you want to go to the movies? Of course!"

¡Qué dicha que no llovió!

"How great it didn't rain!"

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Periphrasis to Talk About Obligations Yo tenía que buscarlas... están en el clóset. "I had to look for them...they're in the closet."

In Spanish, we can express obligation either personally or impersonally. One way to express obligation is to use the verb tener ("to have"). Think of this formation along the same lines that we express obligation in English: tengo que estudiar ("I HAVE to study"). We can also express impersonal obligation with the verb haber, using it as a verb of existence in a periphrastic construction. When we say something like hay que pagar ("one must pay"), we are expressing an impersonal obligation because the particular person who must pay is not specified.

Personal Obligation tener + que + infinitivo del verbo (To have + to + infinitive of verb)


Impersonal Obligation hay + que + infinitivo del verbo (One must + infinitive of verb)

Sample Sentences

Personal

Spanish "English"

Yo tengo que salir. "I have to go out."

Tú tienes que descansar. "You have to rest."

Él tiene que leer su libro. "He has to read his book."

Tenemos que comprar leche. "We have to buy milk."

Ellos tienen que practicar. "They have to practice."

Ustedes tienen que dormir. "You all have to sleep."

Impersonal

1. Hay que tener paciencia. "One must have patience."

2. Hay que estudiar para graduarse." "One must study in order to graduate."

*When talking about past obligation, we conjugate the verb tener ("to have") in the imperfect past tense. The structure is the same: Yo tengo que estudiar ("I have to study") becomes Yo tenía que estudiar ("I had to study"). Also, there is no direct way to translate impersonal expressions of obligation, since the verb haber usually means "there is" or "there are." Often, when we translate impersonal expressions of obligation from Spanish to English, they become personal.

There are many periphrastic constructions in Spanish, and you can check out more of them


here in the Grammar Bank and by listening to related lessons listed below.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The Games Children Play

For small children, playing fun games is an everyday activity. It keeps them active and healthy and allows them to bond with other children of the same age or their family members.

A favorite of many is hide and seek. Children have played this throughout the ages and have never ceased to be excited, especially when they find their older sister's hiding spot! Other fun games played by small children center around time with their parents. Often, they will practice skills learned in school such as counting and the alphabet.

For adolescents, it is normal to play a game of soccer or baseball in a neighborhood street or if available, in a local soccer field in the center of town. Many towns and municipalities have such fields in the center of big towns and cities where real matches are played with teams from neighboring towns. This is a favorite pastime of both children and adults and is great for any spectator in the mood for a friendly match.

©2020 Innovative Language Learning, LLC (P)2020 Innovative Language Learning, LLC presented by SpanishPod101.com

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Intro

Spanish Verb Estar: Are You Looking for

Something for Yourself?

Spanish Verb Estar: Are You Following Me?

Spanish Gerunds: You Are Looking in the

Right Place Now!

“There Is” More Than One Way to Pay in

Latin American Shops!

Spanish Possessive Adjectives: Today’s My

Last Day at the Company!

Adjectives: Landing Your New Great Job in

Latin America!

How Can You Work Here When You Can’t

Even Count in Spanish?!

Express Preferences in Spanish: I Would Like

to Work with You!

Learning Spanish Prepositions: It’s For Our

Own Good!

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Spanish Prepositions: Whose Possessions are we

Packing?

Spanish Prepositions: I'm Not Going to Pay You for

Carelessness!

Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives: I Love This House!

Spanish Diminutive Word Structure: I’m Not Chubby!!!

Spanish Morphemes: Break it Down for Me, Buddy!

Spanish Grammatical Inflections – Let’s Go Guys! You

Can Do it!

Spanish Exclamations: You Traded Your Rolls for

Muscles, How Exquisite!

Spanish Imperfect Indicative: I Was Calling to Request

Assistance!

Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns: Mom, She Scares Me!!

Giving Commands in Spanish: You Have to Eat Healthy

Food!

You Simply Have to Check Out What We're Hiding in

This Spanish Lesson!

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