Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 9
7 de Julio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Día 7: Homework feedback, adivinando palabras (guessing words), pairs work (write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with), Hay y No Hay (there is/there are)
Día 8: Homework feedback, Exam # 1, Juego de Palabras,
Día 9: Homework and Exam # 1 feedback, preterito e imperfect (past tense and imperfect), canción.
The Preterite
The Preterite is the first past tense you will learn. Up until now you could say that "I eat my dinner", "I am eating my dinner", and "I am going to eat my dinner." But now we will learn how to say "Last night, I ate my dinner."
The Preterite is the past action tense. In other words, you can say what Happened or occurred. It is not used to describe people (He was tall...) nor to describe or set scenes (It was a dark and stormy night and I was watching television...)
Rather, the Preterite answers the question ¿Qué pasó? What happened?
¡Pasó la señal de alto sin parar!
He passed a stop sign without stopping!
¡El ladrón entró por la ventana!
The robber entered through the window!
¡Me robaron el carro y todo mi dinero!
They stole (robbed me of) my car and all my money!
The Preterite past tense represents an action that is located in a specific point of a time line and is considered a completed action. It is always used when listing a series of consecutive actions:
Él llamó a su novia, salió de la casa y manejó al cine.
He called his girlfriend, left the house and drove to the movies.
It also is used for when you begin, finish or become something:
Empezó a llorar.
He began to cry.
Terminó el examen.
He finished the test.
Me puse enojada [or] Me enojé.
I became angry.
NOTE: the Preterite isn't used to decribe an existing emotional state, like "He was angry". Then we use a different past tense which is called the Imperfect past tense.
Estaba enojada cuando entró Ana en la sala
I was angry when Ana entered the room.
This sentence is a description of how someone was feeling.
But, back to the Preterite! Let's take a look at the basic endings we use when we conjugate verbs into the Preterite.
AR VERBS
ER/IR VERBS
Yo
é
í
Tú
aste
iste
Él, ella, usted
ó
Ió
Nosotros/ nosotras
amos
imos
Vosotros/ vosotras
aisteis
isteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes
aron
ieron
Examples:
Yo
Tú
Él
Nosotros
Ellos
Hablar
hablé
hablaste
habló
hablamos
hablaron
Comer
comí
comiste
comió
comimos
comieron
Vivir
Viví
viviste
vivió
vivimos
vivieron
· The Nosotros form in the Preterite is the same as the Nosotros in the Present Tense for "-ar" and "-ir" verbs. "-Er" verbs follow the "-ir" pattern.
· The Preterite 3rd person plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) ends in "-ron".
Preterite vs Imperfect
Trying to decide when to use the Preterite and when to use the Imperfect is one of the challenges of learning these two tenses. Review the uses of the Imperfect and the Preterite, and make a chart for yourself listing the differences.
We generalize and say that the Imperfect is used to describe a scene and the Preterite is used to list series of completed actions. It can be a little more complex, especially with verbs that change meaning depending on the tense.
You will use the Imperfect
When you "set a scene" describing what your house or dog used to look like and what your family was like. Think of looking at a photograph and describing the people in it and what they were doing. Since the photograph is static, the people in it can't start doing something different. So you can only describe the scene you see.
When you are describing what people were doing (in the process of doing) or used to do
or when you describe what it was like when you arrived at the party last night.
The stories that occur within these settings happen in the Preterite!
For example, let's set a scene:
Eran las nueve de la noche. Era viernes. Hacía mal tiempo. Llovía. Todos estábamos en casa. Mamá y Papá miraban la televisión; yo leía una novela de StarTrek; mi hermana hablaba por teléfono con su novio en su cuarto. Esnupi (nuestro perro) dormía detrás del sillón en la sala.
It was 9:00 at night. It was Friday. It was bad weather. It was raining. We were all at home. Mom and Dad were watching television; I was reading a StarTrek novel; my sister was talking on the phone with her boyfriend in her room. Esnupi (our dog) was sleeping behind the armchair in the living room.
This has all been written in the Imperfect.
But now let's talk about the action:
De repente, ¡Entró un ladrón! Pasó por la escalera y caminó hasta la recámara de mis padres. Miró en el cuarto cuando oyó la voz de mi hermana. Se volvió y bajó las escaleras. Trató de huir de la casa, pero Esnupi se despertó y mordió la pierna del ladrón.
Suddenly, a robber entered! He went upstairs and walked down to my parent's bedroom. He looked in the room but then he heard my sister's voice. He turned and went down the stairs. He tried to flee the house, but Esnupi woke up and bit the robber's leg.
This is a series of actions in the Preterite which happened within the setting established by the Imperfect.
The focus of the Preterite is on completed action(s). The Imperfect focuses on a state of being.
Let's look at some examples:
Comí la cena...
I ate my dinner (and I finished it)
Comía la cena...
I was eating my dinner...[when something happened] -or- I used to eat my dinner...
Tuvo que devolver la camisa
She had to -and did- return the shirt.
Tenía que devolver la camisa
She had to return the shirt (She was supposed to return it - but we don't know if she did or not.)
Some verbs have different meanings in the Imperfect and Preterite forms:
Imperfect
Preterite
Conocer
to have known someone
to have met someone
Saber
to have known something
to have found out something
Querer
wanted
tried
No Querer
didn't want
refused
Poder
was able to (capable of)
managed to (suceeded)
No Poder
wasn't able to (not capable)
failed to
Examples:
Quise hacerlo pero no pude.
I tried to do it but I failed (to do it)
Quería ir a la playa cada fin de semana. Y por no trabajar los fines de semana, podía ir frecuentemente.
I wanted to go to the beach every weekend. And because I didn't work weekends, I was able to go frequently.
La conocí el año pasado.
I met her last year.
Nos conocíamos por tres meses antes de casarnos.
We knew each other for three months before marrying.
Exercise to practice preterite and imperfectTop of Form
1. It was snowing a lot when I was in Minnesota. nevó nevaba
2. David was playing Monopoly with Patricia. jugó jugaba
3. When I was in Paris I saw the Mona Lisa. vi veía
4. I was in the principal's office frequently. estuve estaba
5. You wrote to Mom every week, I heard. escribiste escribías
6. Where did you go after class today? fuiste ibas
7. I used to like watching television. gustó gustaba
8. When I saw her I kissed her. besé besaba
9. When she was younger I didn't kiss her. no besé no besaba
10. He never paid his bills on time. pagó pagaba
11. My teacher yelled at me during class today. gritó gritaba
12. My teacher yelled at me whenever I didn't study. gritó gritaba
13. It was 5 p.m. when he arrived. fueron eran
14. It was 5 p.m. when he arrived. llegó llegaba
15. I didn't walk to school whenever it rained. no anduve no andaba
16. I didn't walk to school whenever it rained. llovió llovía
17. I didn't walk to school yesterday because it rained that morning. no anduve no andaba
18. I didn't walk to school yesterday because it rained that morning. llovió illovía
19. We cooked dinner yesterday. cocinamos cocinábamos
20. We cooked whenever our roommate got home late. cocinamos cocinábamos Bottom of Form
miércoles, 8 de julio de 2009
Clase 8
Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 8
30 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Día 7: Homework feedback, adivinando palabras (guessing words), pairs work (write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with), Hay y No Hay (there is/there are)
Día 8: Homework feedback, Exam # 1, Juego de Palabras, Writing a small paragraph using the following words:
1. la casa
2. el baño
3. la cocina
4. la sala
5. el comedor
6. el jardín
7. las plantas
8. los niños
9. el esposo/ la esposa
10. los hijos/ las hijas
11. el carro / coche
12. tener
13. gustar
14. ser
15. estar
16. Días de la semana (lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo)
17. Complete a list with some more words that you are familiar with and make a small paragraph. Share the paragraph with some of your classmates, make corrections and then share with the whole class.
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 8
30 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Día 7: Homework feedback, adivinando palabras (guessing words), pairs work (write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with), Hay y No Hay (there is/there are)
Día 8: Homework feedback, Exam # 1, Juego de Palabras, Writing a small paragraph using the following words:
1. la casa
2. el baño
3. la cocina
4. la sala
5. el comedor
6. el jardín
7. las plantas
8. los niños
9. el esposo/ la esposa
10. los hijos/ las hijas
11. el carro / coche
12. tener
13. gustar
14. ser
15. estar
16. Días de la semana (lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo)
17. Complete a list with some more words that you are familiar with and make a small paragraph. Share the paragraph with some of your classmates, make corrections and then share with the whole class.
viernes, 26 de junio de 2009
Announcements
Hola a todos
1. We won't have class on July the 2nd due to the Anniversary mass of the Parish, instead we will have the mass at 5:00 p.m. and the potluck afterwards. My suggestion is that during the potluck we take the opportunity to talk and practice our Spanish with some members of the latino community.
2. We will have an exam on June the 30th (this coming Tuesday), I have posted the topics on this handout that we will cover in the exam. Good Luck, and don't worry, just study and be prepared for the exam, you all are very smart and are doing an excellent job.
3. Congratulations for your progress.
God bless you all
Feliz día
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
1. We won't have class on July the 2nd due to the Anniversary mass of the Parish, instead we will have the mass at 5:00 p.m. and the potluck afterwards. My suggestion is that during the potluck we take the opportunity to talk and practice our Spanish with some members of the latino community.
2. We will have an exam on June the 30th (this coming Tuesday), I have posted the topics on this handout that we will cover in the exam. Good Luck, and don't worry, just study and be prepared for the exam, you all are very smart and are doing an excellent job.
3. Congratulations for your progress.
God bless you all
Feliz día
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
Clase 7 25 de Junio del 2009
Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 7
25 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Día 7: Homework feedback, adivinando palabras (guessing words), pairs work (write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with), Hay y No Hay (there is/there are)
1. Work with a partner and write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with, then read the paragraph to the class.
2. Hay y No hay
It is often said that the English "there is" or "there are" is expressed in Spanish using the verb hay (which is a form of the verb haber), and indeed that is usually the case. However, there are some instances where forms of the verb estar — typically está (singular) or están (plural) — should be used.
The difference is one in meaning. Hay is used to refer to mere existence, while está or están is used to describe location.
As an example, look at the following simple sentence: "There is a book." The English is ambiguous. The sentence could be phrased as "a book is there," meaning that a book is in a certain location. Or could be interpreted as "a book exists." In Spanish a different verb would be used in each instance.
To say that the book is in a location, use a form of estar:
El libro está allí. (The book is there.)
But to say it merely exists, use a form of haber, in this case hay:
· Hay un libro. (A book exists.)
The same principle applies in many other cases where the English might be ambiguous:
· No hay dinero. (There isn't any money, because it doesn't exist.) El dinero no está. (The money exists, but it's not here.)
· No hay profesor. (There's no teacher, meaning, for instance, that one hasn't been hired.) El profesor no está. (There's a teacher, but the teacher isn't here.)
· Hay dos escuelas. (There are two schools, that is, two schools exist.) Dos escuelas están allí. (There are two schools, meaning, two schools are in the direction that is being pointed to.)
· Hay vacas en Argentina. (There are cows in Argentina.) Las vacas están en Argentina. (The specific cows are there, in Argentina.)
Abstract nouns, or nouns that don't refer to an object that can exist in a specific location, normally would not be used with estar, but with a form of haber.
· Hay muchos problemas. (There are many problems.)
· No hay felicidad sin amor. (There is no happiness without love.)
ž When used in questions, "hay" has two different meanings:
ž Is there?
ž Are there?
Ejemplos:
ž ¿Hay un hotel en el centro?Is there a hotel downtown?
ž ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí?Are there any books around here?
ž The verb form "hay" can also be used to answer questions.
ž ¿Hay un hotel en el centro?Is there a hotel downtown?
ž Sí. Sí hay.Yes. Yes there is.
ž ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí?Are there any books around here?
ž No. No hay.No. No there aren't.
ž ¿Cuántos estudiantes HAY en la clase de Español?
ž HAY 18 estudiantes
ž ¿Cuántas ventanas HAY en el salón de clase?
ž HAY 6 Ventanas
Choose the best translation.
ž 1. Hay tres libros encima de la mesa.There are three books on the table.There is one book on the table.There are three books in the house.There is one book in the house.
ž 2. Hay un hotel en el centro.The hospital is downtown.There is a hospital downtown.There is a hotel downtown.The hotel is downtown.
ž 3. Hay cinco chicas en mi clase.Three girls are in my class.There are three girls in my class.There are five girls in my class.Five girls are in my class.
ž 4. Hay una pluma encima de la mesa.There is a pencil on the chair.There is a pen on the chair.There is a pen on the table.There is a pencil on the table.
ž 5. Hay tres hombres y cinco mujeres aquí.There are five men and three women here.There are three women and five men here.There are three men and five women here.There are three boys and five girls here.
Actividad
ž With a partner make 5 different questions to ask to your classmates.
Tarea:
Write a short paragraph (5 lines) describing your house or your family, your friends, your Spanish class (choose just one topic).
Make 5 questions with HAY y NO HAY.
Review for an exam next class: SER and ESTAR, pronombres personales, present tense with regular verbs, greetings, interrogative pronouns, verbo GUSTAR, HAY y No HAY.
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 7
25 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Día 7: Homework feedback, adivinando palabras (guessing words), pairs work (write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with), Hay y No Hay (there is/there are)
1. Work with a partner and write a paragraph using the vocabulary that you are familiar with, then read the paragraph to the class.
2. Hay y No hay
It is often said that the English "there is" or "there are" is expressed in Spanish using the verb hay (which is a form of the verb haber), and indeed that is usually the case. However, there are some instances where forms of the verb estar — typically está (singular) or están (plural) — should be used.
The difference is one in meaning. Hay is used to refer to mere existence, while está or están is used to describe location.
As an example, look at the following simple sentence: "There is a book." The English is ambiguous. The sentence could be phrased as "a book is there," meaning that a book is in a certain location. Or could be interpreted as "a book exists." In Spanish a different verb would be used in each instance.
To say that the book is in a location, use a form of estar:
El libro está allí. (The book is there.)
But to say it merely exists, use a form of haber, in this case hay:
· Hay un libro. (A book exists.)
The same principle applies in many other cases where the English might be ambiguous:
· No hay dinero. (There isn't any money, because it doesn't exist.) El dinero no está. (The money exists, but it's not here.)
· No hay profesor. (There's no teacher, meaning, for instance, that one hasn't been hired.) El profesor no está. (There's a teacher, but the teacher isn't here.)
· Hay dos escuelas. (There are two schools, that is, two schools exist.) Dos escuelas están allí. (There are two schools, meaning, two schools are in the direction that is being pointed to.)
· Hay vacas en Argentina. (There are cows in Argentina.) Las vacas están en Argentina. (The specific cows are there, in Argentina.)
Abstract nouns, or nouns that don't refer to an object that can exist in a specific location, normally would not be used with estar, but with a form of haber.
· Hay muchos problemas. (There are many problems.)
· No hay felicidad sin amor. (There is no happiness without love.)
ž When used in questions, "hay" has two different meanings:
ž Is there?
ž Are there?
Ejemplos:
ž ¿Hay un hotel en el centro?Is there a hotel downtown?
ž ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí?Are there any books around here?
ž The verb form "hay" can also be used to answer questions.
ž ¿Hay un hotel en el centro?Is there a hotel downtown?
ž Sí. Sí hay.Yes. Yes there is.
ž ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí?Are there any books around here?
ž No. No hay.No. No there aren't.
ž ¿Cuántos estudiantes HAY en la clase de Español?
ž HAY 18 estudiantes
ž ¿Cuántas ventanas HAY en el salón de clase?
ž HAY 6 Ventanas
Choose the best translation.
ž 1. Hay tres libros encima de la mesa.There are three books on the table.There is one book on the table.There are three books in the house.There is one book in the house.
ž 2. Hay un hotel en el centro.The hospital is downtown.There is a hospital downtown.There is a hotel downtown.The hotel is downtown.
ž 3. Hay cinco chicas en mi clase.Three girls are in my class.There are three girls in my class.There are five girls in my class.Five girls are in my class.
ž 4. Hay una pluma encima de la mesa.There is a pencil on the chair.There is a pen on the chair.There is a pen on the table.There is a pencil on the table.
ž 5. Hay tres hombres y cinco mujeres aquí.There are five men and three women here.There are three women and five men here.There are three men and five women here.There are three boys and five girls here.
Actividad
ž With a partner make 5 different questions to ask to your classmates.
Tarea:
Write a short paragraph (5 lines) describing your house or your family, your friends, your Spanish class (choose just one topic).
Make 5 questions with HAY y NO HAY.
Review for an exam next class: SER and ESTAR, pronombres personales, present tense with regular verbs, greetings, interrogative pronouns, verbo GUSTAR, HAY y No HAY.
martes, 23 de junio de 2009
Handout 6 Homework 6/Tarea 6
Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 6
23 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Trabalenguas - Ejercicios para la pronunciación.
RRR con R cigarro,R con R barril,rápido corren los carroscargados de azúcar por el ferrocarril.
TREn tres tristes trastos de trigo,tres tristes tigres comían trigo;comían trigo, tres tristes tigres,en tres tristes trastos de trigo.
CA, QUE, QUI, CO, CU.El que poco coco come, poco coco compra;el que poca capa se tapa, poca capa se compra.Como yo poco coco como, poco coco compro,y como poca capa me tapo, poca capa me compro.
CLA, PLI.Pablito clavó un clavito,un clavito clavó Pablito.¿Qué clase de clavito clavó Pablito?
Gavilán le dijo a la garza ¿cómo está garza? y al gavilán ¿cómo estás le dijo la garza?
Pedro Pérez pide permiso para partir para París,para ponerse peluca postiza porque parece puerco pelado
El cielo de Constantinoplase quiere desconstantinopolizarel destantinopolizador que lo descontantinopolicebuen descontantinopolizador será.
El cielo de Parangaricutirimicuaro
El cielo de Tenochtitlán se quiere destenochtitlanizarel tenochtitlanizador que lo destenochtitlanice buen destenochtitlanizador será.
Tener, usually translated as "to have," is a particularly useful verb. Not only is it used to indicate possession, it also used in a variety of idiomatic expressions to indicate emotions or states of being. Note that when tener means "to have," it does so in the sense of meaning "to possess" or "to own." The equivalent of the English auxiliary verb "to have," as in "you have seen," is haber (as in has visto, you have seen).
Like many other commonly used verbs, tener is irregular. Following are the conjugations for the most common indicative tenses. Irregular conjugations are indicated by boldface. Note that the these verb forms can be translated in other ways if the context calls for it.
· Present tense: yo tengo (I have), tú tienes (you have), él/ella/usted tiene (he/she has, you have), nosotros tenemos (we have), vosotros tenéis (you have), ellos/ustedes tienen (they/you have).
· Preterite tense: yo tuve (I had), tú tuviste (you had), él/ella/usted tuvo (he/she/you had), nosotros tuvimos (we had), vosotros tuvisteis (you have), ellos/ustedes tuvieron (they/you have).
· Imperfect tense: yo tenía (I used to have), tú tenías (you used to have), él/ella/usted tenía (he/she/you used to have), nosotros teníamos (we used to have), vosotros teníais (you used to have), ellos/ustedes tenían (they/you used to have).
· Future tense: yo tendré (I will have), tú tendrás (you will have), él/ella/usted tendrá (he/she/you will have), nosotros tendremos (we will have), vosotros tendréis (you will have), ellos/ustedes tendrán (they/you will have).
Most of the time, tener is used much the same way as "to have" is in English:
· Tengo tres hijos. I have three children.
· Tiene un coche casi nuevo con una garantía fuerte. He has an almost new car with a strong guarantee.
· Tuvimos cuatro campeones en el mismo momento. We had four champions at the same time.
· En 2006 Paulina no tenía carné de conducir. In 2006 Paulina didn't have a driver's license.
· No tenemos suficientes bosques en el planeta. We don't have enough forests on our planet.
· ¿Crees que tendremos una mujer presidente? Do you believe we will have a female president?
However, expressions using tener are also quite common. Many of them would not be understood by English speakers to indicate possession. For example, tener hambre, would be translated literally as "to have hunger," although it would normally understood as "to be hungry." The following listing, which is far from complete, shows some of the common expressions or idioms using tener:
· tener ____ años (to be ____ years old): Tiene 4 años. She is 4 years old.
· tener calor (to be or to feel hot): ¿Tienes calor? Are you hot?
· tener cuidado (to be careful): ¡Ten cuidado! Be careful!
· tener la culpa (to be at fault): Mi madre dice que tengo la culpa. My mother says it's my fault.
· tener éxito (to be successful): Mi hermano tiene mucho éxito. My brother is very successful.
· tener frío (to be or feel cold): Los exploradores tendrán frío. The explorers will be cold.
· tener hambre (to be hungry): Los niños siempre tienen hambre. The children are always hungry.
· tener miedo (to be afraid): El paracaidista no tenía miedo. The parachute jumper wasn't afraid.
· tener prisa (to be in a hurry): Mi hija nunca tiene prisa. My daughter is never in a hurry.
· tener que + infinitive (to have to): Tengo que salir. I have to leave.
· tener razón, no tener razón (to be right, to be wrong): Tengo razón. No tienes razón. I'm right. You're wrong.
· tener sed (to be thirsty): Los camellos no tienen sed. The camels aren't thirsty.
· tener suerte (to be lucky): Los ganadores tenían suerte. The winners were lucky.
Ejercicios con TENER, SER y ESTAR
1.- Completa con el verbo tener:
La mesa ................ cuatro patas (legs).
Nosotros no .................... dinero (money), pero somos felices.
No he dormido bien, ................ mucho sueño.
¿Cuántos hermanos ...............?.
Mis amigos ............... suerte.
Vosotros ................ dos perros.
2.- Sigue el modelo del ejemplo:
Ej.: 1 años ¿Cuántos años tienes?
hijos /usted ....................................
coches Jean y Pat .....................................
días de vacaciones / tu padre .....................................
habitaciones / el piso .....................................
gatos /ella .....................................
3.- Completa con los verbos tener o ser:
Aquella chica ................ el pelo corto (short hair)
Mi profesor ................. muy simpático.
¿ ............. tu padre barba (beard)?
¿Cuántos años ...........?
Mi madre ............... cariñosa.
¿ El portero .............. joven ?.
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 6
23 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives.
Día 6: Prayer, Presentaciones, tongue twisters in Spanish (trabalenguas), Using verb TENER, canción, write a little prayer in Spanish (practice everything that you have learned so far)
Trabalenguas - Ejercicios para la pronunciación.
RRR con R cigarro,R con R barril,rápido corren los carroscargados de azúcar por el ferrocarril.
TREn tres tristes trastos de trigo,tres tristes tigres comían trigo;comían trigo, tres tristes tigres,en tres tristes trastos de trigo.
CA, QUE, QUI, CO, CU.El que poco coco come, poco coco compra;el que poca capa se tapa, poca capa se compra.Como yo poco coco como, poco coco compro,y como poca capa me tapo, poca capa me compro.
CLA, PLI.Pablito clavó un clavito,un clavito clavó Pablito.¿Qué clase de clavito clavó Pablito?
Gavilán le dijo a la garza ¿cómo está garza? y al gavilán ¿cómo estás le dijo la garza?
Pedro Pérez pide permiso para partir para París,para ponerse peluca postiza porque parece puerco pelado
El cielo de Constantinoplase quiere desconstantinopolizarel destantinopolizador que lo descontantinopolicebuen descontantinopolizador será.
El cielo de Parangaricutirimicuaro
El cielo de Tenochtitlán se quiere destenochtitlanizarel tenochtitlanizador que lo destenochtitlanice buen destenochtitlanizador será.
Tener, usually translated as "to have," is a particularly useful verb. Not only is it used to indicate possession, it also used in a variety of idiomatic expressions to indicate emotions or states of being. Note that when tener means "to have," it does so in the sense of meaning "to possess" or "to own." The equivalent of the English auxiliary verb "to have," as in "you have seen," is haber (as in has visto, you have seen).
Like many other commonly used verbs, tener is irregular. Following are the conjugations for the most common indicative tenses. Irregular conjugations are indicated by boldface. Note that the these verb forms can be translated in other ways if the context calls for it.
· Present tense: yo tengo (I have), tú tienes (you have), él/ella/usted tiene (he/she has, you have), nosotros tenemos (we have), vosotros tenéis (you have), ellos/ustedes tienen (they/you have).
· Preterite tense: yo tuve (I had), tú tuviste (you had), él/ella/usted tuvo (he/she/you had), nosotros tuvimos (we had), vosotros tuvisteis (you have), ellos/ustedes tuvieron (they/you have).
· Imperfect tense: yo tenía (I used to have), tú tenías (you used to have), él/ella/usted tenía (he/she/you used to have), nosotros teníamos (we used to have), vosotros teníais (you used to have), ellos/ustedes tenían (they/you used to have).
· Future tense: yo tendré (I will have), tú tendrás (you will have), él/ella/usted tendrá (he/she/you will have), nosotros tendremos (we will have), vosotros tendréis (you will have), ellos/ustedes tendrán (they/you will have).
Most of the time, tener is used much the same way as "to have" is in English:
· Tengo tres hijos. I have three children.
· Tiene un coche casi nuevo con una garantía fuerte. He has an almost new car with a strong guarantee.
· Tuvimos cuatro campeones en el mismo momento. We had four champions at the same time.
· En 2006 Paulina no tenía carné de conducir. In 2006 Paulina didn't have a driver's license.
· No tenemos suficientes bosques en el planeta. We don't have enough forests on our planet.
· ¿Crees que tendremos una mujer presidente? Do you believe we will have a female president?
However, expressions using tener are also quite common. Many of them would not be understood by English speakers to indicate possession. For example, tener hambre, would be translated literally as "to have hunger," although it would normally understood as "to be hungry." The following listing, which is far from complete, shows some of the common expressions or idioms using tener:
· tener ____ años (to be ____ years old): Tiene 4 años. She is 4 years old.
· tener calor (to be or to feel hot): ¿Tienes calor? Are you hot?
· tener cuidado (to be careful): ¡Ten cuidado! Be careful!
· tener la culpa (to be at fault): Mi madre dice que tengo la culpa. My mother says it's my fault.
· tener éxito (to be successful): Mi hermano tiene mucho éxito. My brother is very successful.
· tener frío (to be or feel cold): Los exploradores tendrán frío. The explorers will be cold.
· tener hambre (to be hungry): Los niños siempre tienen hambre. The children are always hungry.
· tener miedo (to be afraid): El paracaidista no tenía miedo. The parachute jumper wasn't afraid.
· tener prisa (to be in a hurry): Mi hija nunca tiene prisa. My daughter is never in a hurry.
· tener que + infinitive (to have to): Tengo que salir. I have to leave.
· tener razón, no tener razón (to be right, to be wrong): Tengo razón. No tienes razón. I'm right. You're wrong.
· tener sed (to be thirsty): Los camellos no tienen sed. The camels aren't thirsty.
· tener suerte (to be lucky): Los ganadores tenían suerte. The winners were lucky.
Ejercicios con TENER, SER y ESTAR
1.- Completa con el verbo tener:
La mesa ................ cuatro patas (legs).
Nosotros no .................... dinero (money), pero somos felices.
No he dormido bien, ................ mucho sueño.
¿Cuántos hermanos ...............?.
Mis amigos ............... suerte.
Vosotros ................ dos perros.
2.- Sigue el modelo del ejemplo:
Ej.: 1 años ¿Cuántos años tienes?
hijos /usted ....................................
coches Jean y Pat .....................................
días de vacaciones / tu padre .....................................
habitaciones / el piso .....................................
gatos /ella .....................................
3.- Completa con los verbos tener o ser:
Aquella chica ................ el pelo corto (short hair)
Mi profesor ................. muy simpático.
¿ ............. tu padre barba (beard)?
¿Cuántos años ...........?
Mi madre ............... cariñosa.
¿ El portero .............. joven ?.
lunes, 22 de junio de 2009
APOLOGIES FOR MY ABSENCE ON THE SPANISH MASS
Hola a todos
I really apologize that I couldn't come to the Spanish Mass on Sunday afternoon. I am taking care of Grace Tevis and I went to her house at 12:30 p.m., her nurse came at 1:00 and then I could not make it. It took longer that I thought it was going to be.
I am really sorry about it.
I hope we can go to mass together one more time before class is ended.
God bless you all
Sincerely,
Profesor Ricardo
I really apologize that I couldn't come to the Spanish Mass on Sunday afternoon. I am taking care of Grace Tevis and I went to her house at 12:30 p.m., her nurse came at 1:00 and then I could not make it. It took longer that I thought it was going to be.
I am really sorry about it.
I hope we can go to mass together one more time before class is ended.
God bless you all
Sincerely,
Profesor Ricardo
Handout 5 Homework 5/Tarea 5
Tarea:
1. Make 5 sentences using 5 different adjectives.
2. Make 5 questions where you have to answer with an adjective (usually to make questions where you have to answer with an adjective you have to use “¿cómo?”
Modelo:
¿Cómo es Ricardo?
Ricardo es conversador, amable y buen amigo
Or
You can make the question using the adjective itself:
¿Es Jackie amable y honesta?
Si, Jackie es muy amable y muy honesta.
Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 5
18 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives
Adjectives – Adjetivos
An adjective (adjetivo) in Spanish or in English is a word used to describe a noun (like size, color, shape, etc…).
An adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Similar to nouns, an adjective usually end in (~o) for masculine (plural ~os), and (~a) for feminine (plural ~as):
Spanish Adjectives
singular
plural
singular
plural
masculine
blanco
blancos
alto
altos
feminine
blanca
blancas
alta
altas
-Un hombre alto (a tall man) -Unos hombres altos ( tall men) -Muchos libros (many books)
-Una casa pequeña (a small house) - Unas chicas peligrosas (some dangerous girls) - Muchas cosas (many things)
There are also some adjectives whose masculine singular ends in a consonant and form the feminine by adding -a:
Un amigo frances (a French friend - male-)
Una amiga francesa (a French friend -female-)
Some other adjectives ending in a consonant take the same form for both masculine and feminine: un chico joven (a young boy)una chica joven (a young girl)unos cantantes populares (some popular singers)unas canciones populares (some popular songs)
Usually descriptive adjectives follow the nouns they modify:una ciudad limpia (a clean city).
But the tricky part is that Spanish adjectives are different from English adjectives, in English adjectives are found before the noun they modify, while in Spanish usually they're found after the noun they modify. And also because in Spanish the adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
When they precede the noun, such adjectives change meaning, acquiring a less literal sense: El mendigo es un hombre pobre. (A beggar is a poor man.)But: El pobre hombre tiene muchos problemas (The poor guy has many problems)
See how the position can define the meaning intended in the sentence. The first “pobre” means someone who doesn’t have money, but the second “pobre” means someone who deserve pity, and has nothing to do with money.
In most cases adjectives precede the nouns they modify whenever they:- Express an essential quality:la dulce miel (the sweet honey)las verdes hojas (the green leaves)- Point out, limit or quantify:este perro (this dog)su hija (his/ her daughter)menos caliente (less hot)tres manzanas (three apples)
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Adjectives can be used as nouns, in that case they take a definite article:Los pobres tienen muchos problemas. (Poor people have many problems.)
Adjectives are occasionally used adverbially: José vive feliz en su granja. (Jose lives happily in his farm.)
So in short these are some rules to follow about the Spanish Adjectives:
Most Spanish adjectives end in (-o), and in order to make them feminine, change the o to an (-a), to make them plural, add -os (plural masculine); or -as (plural feminine).
When the adjective ends in (-a) or (-e), no difference will be made between the masculine and feminine form, and the plural is created by adding (–s).
- pobre ( for both masc & fem singular) - pobres ( for both masc & fem plural)
- egoísta ( for both masc & fem singular) - egoístas ( both genders in plural)
When an adjective ends in any consonant except r, or z, there will be no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural can be created by adding -es.
- débil (for both genders in singular) - débiles (for both genders in plural).
When an adjective ends with z, no difference will be made to both genders in singular, but in the plural we have to switch z to c and then add the usual -es.
- feliz ( for both genders) - felices ( for both genders in plural)
When an adjective ends in r, the feminine is formed by adding an (-a), the masculine plural by adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.
- encantador ( masc singular) - encantadora (fem singular) - encantadores (masc plural) - encantadoras (fem plural)
At the end of this page you will find a list of the most used 101 adjectives.
Summery of Spanish Adjectives:
This is basically what you need to remember about adjectives, and the four forms they take:
Most Spanish adjectives end in o. To make them feminine, change the o to an a. To make them plural, add -os (plural masculine) or -as (plural feminine).
Spanish Adjectives
singular
plural
singular
plural
masculine
blanco
blancos
alto
altos
feminine
blanca
blancas
alta
altas
1. Make 5 sentences using 5 different adjectives.
2. Make 5 questions where you have to answer with an adjective (usually to make questions where you have to answer with an adjective you have to use “¿cómo?”
Modelo:
¿Cómo es Ricardo?
Ricardo es conversador, amable y buen amigo
Or
You can make the question using the adjective itself:
¿Es Jackie amable y honesta?
Si, Jackie es muy amable y muy honesta.
Clase de Español
Profesor Ricardo Mendoza
St Elizabeth Ann Seton
Clase 5
18 de Junio del 2009
Dia 1: Pronombres personales, alfabeto, and definite and indefinite articles.
Día 2: Verbos Ser y Estar and greetings
Día 3: Spanish speaking countries, nota cultural: Los saludos, interrogative pronouns, and numbers (bingo).
Día 4: VERBO GUSTAR (indicating likes and dislikes), some regular VERBS (present tense)
Día 5: Presentaciones, Regular Verbs, Adjectives
Adjectives – Adjetivos
An adjective (adjetivo) in Spanish or in English is a word used to describe a noun (like size, color, shape, etc…).
An adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Similar to nouns, an adjective usually end in (~o) for masculine (plural ~os), and (~a) for feminine (plural ~as):
Spanish Adjectives
singular
plural
singular
plural
masculine
blanco
blancos
alto
altos
feminine
blanca
blancas
alta
altas
-Un hombre alto (a tall man) -Unos hombres altos ( tall men) -Muchos libros (many books)
-Una casa pequeña (a small house) - Unas chicas peligrosas (some dangerous girls) - Muchas cosas (many things)
There are also some adjectives whose masculine singular ends in a consonant and form the feminine by adding -a:
Un amigo frances (a French friend - male-)
Una amiga francesa (a French friend -female-)
Some other adjectives ending in a consonant take the same form for both masculine and feminine: un chico joven (a young boy)una chica joven (a young girl)unos cantantes populares (some popular singers)unas canciones populares (some popular songs)
Usually descriptive adjectives follow the nouns they modify:una ciudad limpia (a clean city).
But the tricky part is that Spanish adjectives are different from English adjectives, in English adjectives are found before the noun they modify, while in Spanish usually they're found after the noun they modify. And also because in Spanish the adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
When they precede the noun, such adjectives change meaning, acquiring a less literal sense: El mendigo es un hombre pobre. (A beggar is a poor man.)But: El pobre hombre tiene muchos problemas (The poor guy has many problems)
See how the position can define the meaning intended in the sentence. The first “pobre” means someone who doesn’t have money, but the second “pobre” means someone who deserve pity, and has nothing to do with money.
In most cases adjectives precede the nouns they modify whenever they:- Express an essential quality:la dulce miel (the sweet honey)las verdes hojas (the green leaves)- Point out, limit or quantify:este perro (this dog)su hija (his/ her daughter)menos caliente (less hot)tres manzanas (three apples)
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Adjectives can be used as nouns, in that case they take a definite article:Los pobres tienen muchos problemas. (Poor people have many problems.)
Adjectives are occasionally used adverbially: José vive feliz en su granja. (Jose lives happily in his farm.)
So in short these are some rules to follow about the Spanish Adjectives:
Most Spanish adjectives end in (-o), and in order to make them feminine, change the o to an (-a), to make them plural, add -os (plural masculine); or -as (plural feminine).
When the adjective ends in (-a) or (-e), no difference will be made between the masculine and feminine form, and the plural is created by adding (–s).
- pobre ( for both masc & fem singular) - pobres ( for both masc & fem plural)
- egoísta ( for both masc & fem singular) - egoístas ( both genders in plural)
When an adjective ends in any consonant except r, or z, there will be no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural can be created by adding -es.
- débil (for both genders in singular) - débiles (for both genders in plural).
When an adjective ends with z, no difference will be made to both genders in singular, but in the plural we have to switch z to c and then add the usual -es.
- feliz ( for both genders) - felices ( for both genders in plural)
When an adjective ends in r, the feminine is formed by adding an (-a), the masculine plural by adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.
- encantador ( masc singular) - encantadora (fem singular) - encantadores (masc plural) - encantadoras (fem plural)
At the end of this page you will find a list of the most used 101 adjectives.
Summery of Spanish Adjectives:
This is basically what you need to remember about adjectives, and the four forms they take:
Most Spanish adjectives end in o. To make them feminine, change the o to an a. To make them plural, add -os (plural masculine) or -as (plural feminine).
Spanish Adjectives
singular
plural
singular
plural
masculine
blanco
blancos
alto
altos
feminine
blanca
blancas
alta
altas
martes, 16 de junio de 2009
Handout 4 HOMEWORK 4/TAREA 4
Homework 4
1. Review all the material that we have covered so far in the last 4 sessions
2. bring 10 new regular verbs and conjugate them in the first person of the singular or you can decide what person would you like to conjugate them.
3. find a partner and prepare a presentation in Spanish where you have to introduce a person to somebody else, you have to present the presentation to the class. Use the greetings, numbers, personal pronouns, verb GUSTAR, interrogative pronouns, and all the vocabulary that you are familiar with.
EL VERBO GUSTAR
THE VERB GUSTAR
1. The verb "gustar" (to like) belongs to a special category of verbs in Spanish. These verbs function differently from other verbs in two ways:
1.- They do not use subject or personal pronouns such as YO o TÚ, instead they use the indirect object pronouns (ME, TE, LE, NOS, OS, LES).
2.- They do not have 6 different endings according to the person doing the action. They only have two endings: one for singular, one for plural.
2. The way we would conjugate a verb like GUSTAR would be as follows:
SINGULAR FORM
PLURAL FORM
ME GUSTA
ME GUSTAN
TE GUSTA
TE GUSTAN
LE GUSTA
LE GUSTAN
NOS GUSTA
NOS GUSTAN
OS GUSTA
OS GUSTAN
LES GUSTA
LES GUSTAN
3. The singular forms are used when only one thing is liked whereas the plural forms are used when more than one thing is liked.
Example:
Me gusta el café (I like coffee)
Me gustan los coches rojos (I like red cars)
4. There is not a total equivalence between the Spanish sentence and the English translation. The reason for that is that in English the verb "to like" works with a direct object. In a sentence like " I like the room", "I" would be the subject; "like" would be the verb and "the room" would be the direct object. In Spanish we use a different construction. Basically, if we were to translate the sentence "I like the room" into Spanish we would say "The room is pleasing to me". The meaning is the same, they are different expressions of the same idea. In Spanish the subject of the sentence is not the person but the object, in this case, "the room"; the verb would be "is pleasing" and the indirect object would be "to me".
5. Sometimes there might be cases where the sentence could be ambiguous such as in "Le gusta la casa" which could be understood as
1.- He likes the house
2.- She likes the house
3.- You (usted) like the house
To avoid this kind of ambiguity it is quite common to add a prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence, which would clarify the issue.
1.- A él le gusta la casa.
2.- A ella le gusta la casa.
3.- A usted le gusta la casa.
The structure of GUSTAR in sentences would be as follows:
GUSTA + singular noun
Me gusta la casa
GUSTA + infinitive
Me gusta cantar
GUSTAN + plural nouns
Me gustan las películas románticas
6. OTHER VERBS LIKE GUSTAR
INTERESAR
TO INTEREST
ENCANTAR
TO REALLY LIKE, TO LOVE
IMPORTAR
TO BE IMPORTANT TO
Regular Verbs
In Spanish, there are three categories of verbs. The category is determined by the last two letters of the infinitive:
-ar verbs (like hablar)-er verbs (like comer)-ir verbs (like vivir)
The infinitive is the base form of the verb, such as to speak, to eat, to live, etc. In Spanish, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.
-ar verb hablar (to speak)-er verb comer (to eat)-ir verb vivir (to live)
To conjugate a verb means to manipulate the infinitive so that it agrees with the different possible subjects. Here is the present tense conjugation of the infinitive "to speak":
to speakI speakyou speakhe speaksshe speakswe speakyou-all speakthey speak
The present tense in Spanish can mean three things. The Spanish phrase "yo hablo" can mean:
yo habloI speak
yo habloI am speakingyo habloI do speak
Many Spanish verbs are completely regular, meaning that they follow a specific pattern of conjugation. In this lesson you will learn to conjugate regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs (in the present tense). Before you can do that, you must memorize the following subject pronouns.
yo (I)tú (you - informal)él (he)ella (she)usted (you - formal)nosotros/nosotras (we)vosotros/vosotras (you-all - informal)ellos/ellas (they)ustedes (you-all formal)
Spanish infinitives are divided into two parts: the ending and the stem. The ending is the last two letters. Remember, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir. The stem is everything that's left after you remove the ending.
habl + ar = hablarcom + er = comerviv + ir = vivir
In this lesson, we will use three model verbs: hablar, comer, and vivir. In Spanish, you conjugate verbs by changing the ending. If the subject is I (yo), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -o.
yo hablo (hablar - ar + o = hablo)I speak, I am speaking, I do speakyo como (comer - er + o = como)I eat, I am eating, I do eatyo vivo (vivir - ir + o = vivo)I live, I am living, I do live
If the subject is you - informal (tú), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -as (for -ar verbs) or -es (for -er and -ir verbs).
tú hablas (hablar - ar + as = hablas)you speak, you are speaking, you do speaktú comes (comer - er + es = comes)you eat, you are eating, you do eattú vives (vivir - ir + es = vives)you live, you are living, you do live
If the subject is he (él), she (ella) or you - formal (usted), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -a (-ar verbs) or -e (-er and -ir verbs).
él/ella/usted habla (hablar - ar + a = habla)he speaks, she is speaking, you (formal) do speakél/ella/usted come (comer - er + e = come)he eats, she is eating, you (formal) do eatél/ella/usted vive (vivir - ir + e = vive)he lives, she is living, you (formal) do live
If the subject is we (nosotros/nosotras), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -amos, -emos, or -imos, depending on whether the verb is -ar, -er or -ir.
nosotros hablamos (hablar - ar + amos = hablamos)we speak, we are speaking, we do speak
nosotros comemos (comer - er + emos = comemos)we eat, we are eating, we do eatnosotros vivimos (vivir - ir + imos = vivimos)we live, we are living, we do live
If the subject is you-all - informal (vosotros/vosotras), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -áis, -éis, or ís.
vosotros habláis (hablar - ar + áis = habláis)you-all speak, you-all are speaking, you-all do speakvosotros coméis (comer - er + éis = coméis)you-all eat, you-all are eating, you-all do eatvosotros vivís (vivir - ir + ís = vivís)you-all live, you-all are living, you-all do live
If the subject is they (ellos/ellas) or you-all - formal (ustedes), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -an (-ar verbs) or -en (-er and -ir verbs).
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablan (hablar - ar + an = hablan)they speak, they are speaking, you-all (formal) do speakellos/ellas/ustedes comen (comer - er + en = comen)they eat, they are eating, you-all (formal) do eatellos/ellas/ustedes viven (vivir - ir + en = viven)they live, they are living, you-all (formal) do live
As you can see, to conjugate regular -ar verbs, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:
o as a amos áis an
To conjugate regular -er verbs, simply drop the ending (-er) and add one of the following:
o es e emos éis en
To conjugate regular -ir verbs, simply drop the ending (-ir) and add one of the following:
o es e imos ís en
1. Review all the material that we have covered so far in the last 4 sessions
2. bring 10 new regular verbs and conjugate them in the first person of the singular or you can decide what person would you like to conjugate them.
3. find a partner and prepare a presentation in Spanish where you have to introduce a person to somebody else, you have to present the presentation to the class. Use the greetings, numbers, personal pronouns, verb GUSTAR, interrogative pronouns, and all the vocabulary that you are familiar with.
EL VERBO GUSTAR
THE VERB GUSTAR
1. The verb "gustar" (to like) belongs to a special category of verbs in Spanish. These verbs function differently from other verbs in two ways:
1.- They do not use subject or personal pronouns such as YO o TÚ, instead they use the indirect object pronouns (ME, TE, LE, NOS, OS, LES).
2.- They do not have 6 different endings according to the person doing the action. They only have two endings: one for singular, one for plural.
2. The way we would conjugate a verb like GUSTAR would be as follows:
SINGULAR FORM
PLURAL FORM
ME GUSTA
ME GUSTAN
TE GUSTA
TE GUSTAN
LE GUSTA
LE GUSTAN
NOS GUSTA
NOS GUSTAN
OS GUSTA
OS GUSTAN
LES GUSTA
LES GUSTAN
3. The singular forms are used when only one thing is liked whereas the plural forms are used when more than one thing is liked.
Example:
Me gusta el café (I like coffee)
Me gustan los coches rojos (I like red cars)
4. There is not a total equivalence between the Spanish sentence and the English translation. The reason for that is that in English the verb "to like" works with a direct object. In a sentence like " I like the room", "I" would be the subject; "like" would be the verb and "the room" would be the direct object. In Spanish we use a different construction. Basically, if we were to translate the sentence "I like the room" into Spanish we would say "The room is pleasing to me". The meaning is the same, they are different expressions of the same idea. In Spanish the subject of the sentence is not the person but the object, in this case, "the room"; the verb would be "is pleasing" and the indirect object would be "to me".
5. Sometimes there might be cases where the sentence could be ambiguous such as in "Le gusta la casa" which could be understood as
1.- He likes the house
2.- She likes the house
3.- You (usted) like the house
To avoid this kind of ambiguity it is quite common to add a prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence, which would clarify the issue.
1.- A él le gusta la casa.
2.- A ella le gusta la casa.
3.- A usted le gusta la casa.
The structure of GUSTAR in sentences would be as follows:
GUSTA + singular noun
Me gusta la casa
GUSTA + infinitive
Me gusta cantar
GUSTAN + plural nouns
Me gustan las películas románticas
6. OTHER VERBS LIKE GUSTAR
INTERESAR
TO INTEREST
ENCANTAR
TO REALLY LIKE, TO LOVE
IMPORTAR
TO BE IMPORTANT TO
Regular Verbs
In Spanish, there are three categories of verbs. The category is determined by the last two letters of the infinitive:
-ar verbs (like hablar)-er verbs (like comer)-ir verbs (like vivir)
The infinitive is the base form of the verb, such as to speak, to eat, to live, etc. In Spanish, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.
-ar verb hablar (to speak)-er verb comer (to eat)-ir verb vivir (to live)
To conjugate a verb means to manipulate the infinitive so that it agrees with the different possible subjects. Here is the present tense conjugation of the infinitive "to speak":
to speakI speakyou speakhe speaksshe speakswe speakyou-all speakthey speak
The present tense in Spanish can mean three things. The Spanish phrase "yo hablo" can mean:
yo habloI speak
yo habloI am speakingyo habloI do speak
Many Spanish verbs are completely regular, meaning that they follow a specific pattern of conjugation. In this lesson you will learn to conjugate regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs (in the present tense). Before you can do that, you must memorize the following subject pronouns.
yo (I)tú (you - informal)él (he)ella (she)usted (you - formal)nosotros/nosotras (we)vosotros/vosotras (you-all - informal)ellos/ellas (they)ustedes (you-all formal)
Spanish infinitives are divided into two parts: the ending and the stem. The ending is the last two letters. Remember, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir. The stem is everything that's left after you remove the ending.
habl + ar = hablarcom + er = comerviv + ir = vivir
In this lesson, we will use three model verbs: hablar, comer, and vivir. In Spanish, you conjugate verbs by changing the ending. If the subject is I (yo), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -o.
yo hablo (hablar - ar + o = hablo)I speak, I am speaking, I do speakyo como (comer - er + o = como)I eat, I am eating, I do eatyo vivo (vivir - ir + o = vivo)I live, I am living, I do live
If the subject is you - informal (tú), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -as (for -ar verbs) or -es (for -er and -ir verbs).
tú hablas (hablar - ar + as = hablas)you speak, you are speaking, you do speaktú comes (comer - er + es = comes)you eat, you are eating, you do eattú vives (vivir - ir + es = vives)you live, you are living, you do live
If the subject is he (él), she (ella) or you - formal (usted), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -a (-ar verbs) or -e (-er and -ir verbs).
él/ella/usted habla (hablar - ar + a = habla)he speaks, she is speaking, you (formal) do speakél/ella/usted come (comer - er + e = come)he eats, she is eating, you (formal) do eatél/ella/usted vive (vivir - ir + e = vive)he lives, she is living, you (formal) do live
If the subject is we (nosotros/nosotras), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -amos, -emos, or -imos, depending on whether the verb is -ar, -er or -ir.
nosotros hablamos (hablar - ar + amos = hablamos)we speak, we are speaking, we do speak
nosotros comemos (comer - er + emos = comemos)we eat, we are eating, we do eatnosotros vivimos (vivir - ir + imos = vivimos)we live, we are living, we do live
If the subject is you-all - informal (vosotros/vosotras), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -áis, -éis, or ís.
vosotros habláis (hablar - ar + áis = habláis)you-all speak, you-all are speaking, you-all do speakvosotros coméis (comer - er + éis = coméis)you-all eat, you-all are eating, you-all do eatvosotros vivís (vivir - ir + ís = vivís)you-all live, you-all are living, you-all do live
If the subject is they (ellos/ellas) or you-all - formal (ustedes), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -an (-ar verbs) or -en (-er and -ir verbs).
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablan (hablar - ar + an = hablan)they speak, they are speaking, you-all (formal) do speakellos/ellas/ustedes comen (comer - er + en = comen)they eat, they are eating, you-all (formal) do eatellos/ellas/ustedes viven (vivir - ir + en = viven)they live, they are living, you-all (formal) do live
As you can see, to conjugate regular -ar verbs, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:
o as a amos áis an
To conjugate regular -er verbs, simply drop the ending (-er) and add one of the following:
o es e emos éis en
To conjugate regular -ir verbs, simply drop the ending (-ir) and add one of the following:
o es e imos ís en
Handout 3 HOMEWORK 3/ TAREA 3
Tarea:
1. make one question with each interrogative pronoun
2. review SER y ESTAR
3. Memorize the numbers
4. bring 10 new words (could be nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc)
Spanish Speaking Countries
Spanish (español) sometimes called Castilian (castellano) is a Romance language that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade. It was taken most notably to the Americas, and also to Africa and Asia Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.
In contemporary Spain, Castilian is just one of several regional languages spoken including Aranese, Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician. Today, about 350 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it the world's second most spoken language in terms of native speakers but fourth in terms of total speakers. Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers.
Spanish is growing increasingly popular as a second or third language in a number of countries due to logistical, economic, and touristic interest towards the many nations which chiefly use Spanish as the primary language. This phenomenon is most notable in Brazil, the United States, Italy, France, Portugal, and much of the Anglosphere in general.n(Ref. Wikipedia)
People all around the world speak Spanish as their first language. You can find Spanish on five different continents and in many different cultures. The following list of the Spanish speaking countries and their capitals shows us just how many places officially use the Spanish language.
Europe España - Madrid Central America Guatemala - Guatemala City Honduras - Tegucigalpa El Salvador - San Salvador Nicaragua - Managua Costa Rica - San José Panama - Panama City Carribean Cuba – La Habana República Dominicana - Santo Domingo Puerto Rico - San JuanNorth America Mexico - Mexico City
South America Venezuela - Caracas Colombia - Bogotá Ecuador - Quito Perú - Lima Bolivia - 2 Capitals La Paz (Administrative) Sucre (Constitutional) Paraguay - Asunción Chile - Santiago Argentina - Buenos Aires Uruguay - Montevideo Africa Guinea Ecuatorial- Malabo
Interrogative Pronouns
Quién, qué, cuál, cuánto, and dónde are Spanish interrogative pronouns. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun, and interrogative means questioning, so interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask the questions who, what, which, how much/many, and where. Note that all of these words have accents.
Quién means who or whom; it is used when asking about people. It has the plural form quiénes.
¿Quién está aquí?
Who is here?
¿Quién viene conmigo?
Who's coming with me?
Quién can also follow a preposition.
¿A quién habláis?
To whom are you speaking?
¿De quién es este libro?
Whose book is this?
Qué means what and is used to refer to ideas or things.
¿Qué quiere?
What does he want?
¿Qué piensas del libro?
What do you think of the book?
¿Qué es eso?
What is this?
Cuál means what or which - it is used when distinguishing between two or more things. It has the plural form cuáles.
¿Cuál quieres - la pluma o el lápiz?
Which do you want - the pen or the pencil?
Hay muchas ideas. ¿Cuáles prefieres?
There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you prefer?
Cuánto means how much and its plural cuántos means how many.
¿Tienes dinero? ¿Cuánto?
Do you have any money? How much?
¿Cuántos están en el coche?
How many are in the car?
Dónde means where.
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
Numbers In Spanish - Cardinals
1 : uno
2 : dos
3 : tres
4 :cuatro
5 : cinco
6 : seis
7 : siete
8 : ocho
9 : nueve
10: diez
11 : once
12 : doce
13 : trece
14:catorce
15 : quince
16 : dieciséis
17 : diecisiete
18 : dieciocho
19 :diecinueve
20 : veinte
21 : veintiuno
22 : veintidós
23 : veintitrés
24 : veinticuatro
25 : veinticinco
26 : veintiséis
27 : veintisiete
28 : veintiocho
29 : veintinueve
30 : treinta
40 : cuarenta
50 : cincuenta
60 : sesenta
70 : setenta
80 : ochenta
90 : noventa
100: cien
1. make one question with each interrogative pronoun
2. review SER y ESTAR
3. Memorize the numbers
4. bring 10 new words (could be nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc)
Spanish Speaking Countries
Spanish (español) sometimes called Castilian (castellano) is a Romance language that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade. It was taken most notably to the Americas, and also to Africa and Asia Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.
In contemporary Spain, Castilian is just one of several regional languages spoken including Aranese, Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician. Today, about 350 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it the world's second most spoken language in terms of native speakers but fourth in terms of total speakers. Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers.
Spanish is growing increasingly popular as a second or third language in a number of countries due to logistical, economic, and touristic interest towards the many nations which chiefly use Spanish as the primary language. This phenomenon is most notable in Brazil, the United States, Italy, France, Portugal, and much of the Anglosphere in general.n(Ref. Wikipedia)
People all around the world speak Spanish as their first language. You can find Spanish on five different continents and in many different cultures. The following list of the Spanish speaking countries and their capitals shows us just how many places officially use the Spanish language.
Europe España - Madrid Central America Guatemala - Guatemala City Honduras - Tegucigalpa El Salvador - San Salvador Nicaragua - Managua Costa Rica - San José Panama - Panama City Carribean Cuba – La Habana República Dominicana - Santo Domingo Puerto Rico - San JuanNorth America Mexico - Mexico City
South America Venezuela - Caracas Colombia - Bogotá Ecuador - Quito Perú - Lima Bolivia - 2 Capitals La Paz (Administrative) Sucre (Constitutional) Paraguay - Asunción Chile - Santiago Argentina - Buenos Aires Uruguay - Montevideo Africa Guinea Ecuatorial- Malabo
Interrogative Pronouns
Quién, qué, cuál, cuánto, and dónde are Spanish interrogative pronouns. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun, and interrogative means questioning, so interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask the questions who, what, which, how much/many, and where. Note that all of these words have accents.
Quién means who or whom; it is used when asking about people. It has the plural form quiénes.
¿Quién está aquí?
Who is here?
¿Quién viene conmigo?
Who's coming with me?
Quién can also follow a preposition.
¿A quién habláis?
To whom are you speaking?
¿De quién es este libro?
Whose book is this?
Qué means what and is used to refer to ideas or things.
¿Qué quiere?
What does he want?
¿Qué piensas del libro?
What do you think of the book?
¿Qué es eso?
What is this?
Cuál means what or which - it is used when distinguishing between two or more things. It has the plural form cuáles.
¿Cuál quieres - la pluma o el lápiz?
Which do you want - the pen or the pencil?
Hay muchas ideas. ¿Cuáles prefieres?
There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you prefer?
Cuánto means how much and its plural cuántos means how many.
¿Tienes dinero? ¿Cuánto?
Do you have any money? How much?
¿Cuántos están en el coche?
How many are in the car?
Dónde means where.
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
Numbers In Spanish - Cardinals
1 : uno
2 : dos
3 : tres
4 :cuatro
5 : cinco
6 : seis
7 : siete
8 : ocho
9 : nueve
10: diez
11 : once
12 : doce
13 : trece
14:catorce
15 : quince
16 : dieciséis
17 : diecisiete
18 : dieciocho
19 :diecinueve
20 : veinte
21 : veintiuno
22 : veintidós
23 : veintitrés
24 : veinticuatro
25 : veinticinco
26 : veintiséis
27 : veintisiete
28 : veintiocho
29 : veintinueve
30 : treinta
40 : cuarenta
50 : cincuenta
60 : sesenta
70 : setenta
80 : ochenta
90 : noventa
100: cien
miércoles, 10 de junio de 2009
Handout 2 HOMEWORK 2/TAREA 2
Homework 2/Tarea 2
1. Bring 10 new words (only nouns)
2. Memorize the colors
3. Review Verb SER and ESTAR
4. Practice the greetings
Second class (June 9th, 2009)
New Schedule
Tuesday / Thursday 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
2. Saludos Greetings
3. Verbo SER y ESTAR
4. Colores
5. Acting out a simple conversation in Spanish.
GREETINGS in SPANISH
· Hola — Hello, hi — This greeting is suitable in both formal and informal contexts.
· Hola, aló, bueno, diga — Hello (on the telephone) — The choice of telephone greeting varies from location to location. Hola would be understood anywhere but is not customary in many places.
· Adiós — Goodbye — An informal alternative in many areas is chao (sometimes spelled ciao, from Italian).
· ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está? — How are you? — The first form (which is informal) normally would be used with someone you know on a first-name basis or when speaking with a child. The second form generally would be used in other situations. Usage can depend quite a bit on where you are; in some areas, the informal form (estás) would be expected where under the same circumstances the formal form would be used in other areas. If you're a foreigner, chances are no one will criticize you for using the wrong form, although you may be politely corrected.
· Muy bien, gracias — Very well, thank you.
· Buenos días — Good day, good morning — In some areas, a shortened form, buen día, is used.
· Buenas tardes — Good afternoon, good evening — In most areas, buenas tardes should be used in the early evening in preference to buenas noches.
· Buenas noches — Good night — Unlike the English translation, buenas noches can be used as a greeting as well as a farewell.
· ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo le va?1 ¿Qué tal? ¿Qué hay? — How's it going? What's happening? — There is also a variety of colloquial alternatives uses, although many of them depend on the area.
· ¿Qué pasa? — What's happening?
· ¿Qué hubo? ¿Qué onda? — How is it going? What's happening? — These phrases are most common in Mexico.
· ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo se llama usted? — What's your name? — A literal translation would be "What do you call yourself?" or, somewhat less literally, "What are you called?" The first form normally would be used with a child, or possibly with someone of equal social status at an informal occasion. If you're uncertain which form to use, the second one is safer.
· Me llamo (nombre).— My name is (name). — A literal translation would be "I call myself (name)" or, somewhat less literally, "I am called (name)." You can also literally translate the English: Mi nombre es (nombre).
· Mucho gusto. Encantado. — It's a pleasure to meet you. — Either of these could be said upon meeting someone. If you're female, you should say encantada instead of encantado. These literally mean "much pleasure" and "delighted," respectively, so they would have different meanings in other contexts.
· Bienvenido, bienvenida, bienvenidos, bienvenidas — Welcome — Note the difference in number and gender. Bienvenido would be used with a man, bienvenida with a woman, bienvenidas with a group of all females, and bienvenidos with males or a mixed group.
SER y ESTAR (To be)
There are few things more confusing for beginning Spanish students, at least those who have English as their first language, than learning the differences between ser and estar. After all, they both mean "to be" in English.
And since both verbs are frequently used, they are as irregular as can be. Who would think that fue would be the third-person preterite of ser? (On the other hand, you've got to have sympathy with those learning English. Who would think "am," "is," "was," and "are" are all forms of "to be"?)
In this lesson, we'll concern ourselves only with the present tense. After all, by the time you're learning other tenses you'll have the two verbs mastered. They really aren't that difficult. What you need to do is remember when learning a foreign language is that we don't translate words from one language to another, we translate meanings. And many of our English verbs, "to be" among them, have a multitude of meanings.
When I think of the differences between ser and estar, I like to think of ser as the passive verb and estar as the active one. (I'm not using the terms in a grammatical sense here.) Ser tells you what something is, the nature of its being, while estar refers more to what something does. I might use soy (the first-person present of ser) to tell you what I am, but I'd use estoy (the first-person present of estar) to tell you what I am being.
Now that's probably as clear as a politician's equivocation, but let me give you a few examples. I might say, "Estoy enfermo." That would tell you that I am being sick, that I am sick at the moment. But it doesn't tell you what I am. Now if I were to say, "Soy enfermo," that would have a different meaning entirely. That would refer to who I am, to the nature of my being. We might translate that as "I am a sick person" or "I am sickly."
Note similar differences in these examples:
· Estoy cansado, I am tired. Soy cansado, I am a tired person.
· Estoy feliz, I'm happy now. Soy feliz, I am happy by nature.
· Está callada, she's being quiet. Es callada, she's introverted.
· No soy listo, I'm not a quick thinker. Estoy listo, I'm ready.
One way of thinking about it is to think of ser as being roughly equivalent to "equals." Another way of thinking about it is that estar often refers to a temporary condition, while ser frequently refers to a permanent condition. But there are some exceptions.
Among the major exceptions to the above way of thinking is that ser is used in expressions of time, such as "Son las dos de la tarde" for "It's 2 p.m." Also, we use estar to indicate someone has died — quite a permanent condition: Está muerto, he is dead.
Along that line, estar is used to indicate location. Estoy en casa, I am at home. But, soy de México, I am from Mexico.
There are also a few idiomatic expressions that simply need to be learned, although that comes naturally with time: La manzana es verde, the apple is green. La manzana está verde, the apple is unripe. Está muy buena la comida, the meal tastes very good.
As I mentioned earlier, both ser and estar are irregularly conjugated. Here's a chart of the present tense:
Pronombre Ser Estar
Yo soy estoy
Tú eres estás
Él, ella, usted es está
Nosotros/as somos estamos
Vosotros/as sois estáis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes son están
Colores
Blanco
Negro
Rojo
Azúl
Naranja
Amarillo
Verde
Morado
Café
Ejemplos
Mi casa es roja
Mi coche es blanco
Mi pantalón es azúl
Mi camiseta es negra
1. Bring 10 new words (only nouns)
2. Memorize the colors
3. Review Verb SER and ESTAR
4. Practice the greetings
Second class (June 9th, 2009)
New Schedule
Tuesday / Thursday 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
2. Saludos Greetings
3. Verbo SER y ESTAR
4. Colores
5. Acting out a simple conversation in Spanish.
GREETINGS in SPANISH
· Hola — Hello, hi — This greeting is suitable in both formal and informal contexts.
· Hola, aló, bueno, diga — Hello (on the telephone) — The choice of telephone greeting varies from location to location. Hola would be understood anywhere but is not customary in many places.
· Adiós — Goodbye — An informal alternative in many areas is chao (sometimes spelled ciao, from Italian).
· ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está? — How are you? — The first form (which is informal) normally would be used with someone you know on a first-name basis or when speaking with a child. The second form generally would be used in other situations. Usage can depend quite a bit on where you are; in some areas, the informal form (estás) would be expected where under the same circumstances the formal form would be used in other areas. If you're a foreigner, chances are no one will criticize you for using the wrong form, although you may be politely corrected.
· Muy bien, gracias — Very well, thank you.
· Buenos días — Good day, good morning — In some areas, a shortened form, buen día, is used.
· Buenas tardes — Good afternoon, good evening — In most areas, buenas tardes should be used in the early evening in preference to buenas noches.
· Buenas noches — Good night — Unlike the English translation, buenas noches can be used as a greeting as well as a farewell.
· ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo le va?1 ¿Qué tal? ¿Qué hay? — How's it going? What's happening? — There is also a variety of colloquial alternatives uses, although many of them depend on the area.
· ¿Qué pasa? — What's happening?
· ¿Qué hubo? ¿Qué onda? — How is it going? What's happening? — These phrases are most common in Mexico.
· ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo se llama usted? — What's your name? — A literal translation would be "What do you call yourself?" or, somewhat less literally, "What are you called?" The first form normally would be used with a child, or possibly with someone of equal social status at an informal occasion. If you're uncertain which form to use, the second one is safer.
· Me llamo (nombre).— My name is (name). — A literal translation would be "I call myself (name)" or, somewhat less literally, "I am called (name)." You can also literally translate the English: Mi nombre es (nombre).
· Mucho gusto. Encantado. — It's a pleasure to meet you. — Either of these could be said upon meeting someone. If you're female, you should say encantada instead of encantado. These literally mean "much pleasure" and "delighted," respectively, so they would have different meanings in other contexts.
· Bienvenido, bienvenida, bienvenidos, bienvenidas — Welcome — Note the difference in number and gender. Bienvenido would be used with a man, bienvenida with a woman, bienvenidas with a group of all females, and bienvenidos with males or a mixed group.
SER y ESTAR (To be)
There are few things more confusing for beginning Spanish students, at least those who have English as their first language, than learning the differences between ser and estar. After all, they both mean "to be" in English.
And since both verbs are frequently used, they are as irregular as can be. Who would think that fue would be the third-person preterite of ser? (On the other hand, you've got to have sympathy with those learning English. Who would think "am," "is," "was," and "are" are all forms of "to be"?)
In this lesson, we'll concern ourselves only with the present tense. After all, by the time you're learning other tenses you'll have the two verbs mastered. They really aren't that difficult. What you need to do is remember when learning a foreign language is that we don't translate words from one language to another, we translate meanings. And many of our English verbs, "to be" among them, have a multitude of meanings.
When I think of the differences between ser and estar, I like to think of ser as the passive verb and estar as the active one. (I'm not using the terms in a grammatical sense here.) Ser tells you what something is, the nature of its being, while estar refers more to what something does. I might use soy (the first-person present of ser) to tell you what I am, but I'd use estoy (the first-person present of estar) to tell you what I am being.
Now that's probably as clear as a politician's equivocation, but let me give you a few examples. I might say, "Estoy enfermo." That would tell you that I am being sick, that I am sick at the moment. But it doesn't tell you what I am. Now if I were to say, "Soy enfermo," that would have a different meaning entirely. That would refer to who I am, to the nature of my being. We might translate that as "I am a sick person" or "I am sickly."
Note similar differences in these examples:
· Estoy cansado, I am tired. Soy cansado, I am a tired person.
· Estoy feliz, I'm happy now. Soy feliz, I am happy by nature.
· Está callada, she's being quiet. Es callada, she's introverted.
· No soy listo, I'm not a quick thinker. Estoy listo, I'm ready.
One way of thinking about it is to think of ser as being roughly equivalent to "equals." Another way of thinking about it is that estar often refers to a temporary condition, while ser frequently refers to a permanent condition. But there are some exceptions.
Among the major exceptions to the above way of thinking is that ser is used in expressions of time, such as "Son las dos de la tarde" for "It's 2 p.m." Also, we use estar to indicate someone has died — quite a permanent condition: Está muerto, he is dead.
Along that line, estar is used to indicate location. Estoy en casa, I am at home. But, soy de México, I am from Mexico.
There are also a few idiomatic expressions that simply need to be learned, although that comes naturally with time: La manzana es verde, the apple is green. La manzana está verde, the apple is unripe. Está muy buena la comida, the meal tastes very good.
As I mentioned earlier, both ser and estar are irregularly conjugated. Here's a chart of the present tense:
Pronombre Ser Estar
Yo soy estoy
Tú eres estás
Él, ella, usted es está
Nosotros/as somos estamos
Vosotros/as sois estáis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes son están
Colores
Blanco
Negro
Rojo
Azúl
Naranja
Amarillo
Verde
Morado
Café
Ejemplos
Mi casa es roja
Mi coche es blanco
Mi pantalón es azúl
Mi camiseta es negra
martes, 2 de junio de 2009
Homework 1 / Tarea 1
Homework 1 for June 9th
1. Answer the first 10 questions from the questionnarie in your syllabus with your own information.
2. Understand the questions in both languages: English and Spanish and practice them at home.
3. Bring 10 new words to the next class.
4. Be in contact with the language as much as you can.
1. Answer the first 10 questions from the questionnarie in your syllabus with your own information.
2. Understand the questions in both languages: English and Spanish and practice them at home.
3. Bring 10 new words to the next class.
4. Be in contact with the language as much as you can.
Handout 1
Clase de Español
Profesor: Ricardo Mendoza
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
2 de Junio del 2009
1. Pronombres personales
Yo I
Tú You (informal)
Usted You (formal)
Él/ella He / She
Nosotros we
Vosotros You all (Informal) (old form, it is only used in Spain)
Ustedes You all (Formal) (It is used in Latin America)
Ellos/Ellas They
2. Artículos
a. Definidos (Definites)
Masculino Singular: El
Masculino Plural: Los
Femenino Singular: La
Femenino Plural: Las
b. Indefinidos (Indefinites)
Masculino singular: Un
Masculino Plural: Unos
Femenino Singular: Una
Femenino Plural: unas
3. El alfabeto en Español
A a
B be
C ce
Ch che
D de
E e
F fe
G ge
H ache
I i latina
J jota
K ka
L ele
Ll elle
M eme
N ene
Ñ eñe
O o
P pe
Q cu
R ere
RR erre
S ese
T te
U u
V ve
X equis
Y y griega
Z zeta
Profesor: Ricardo Mendoza
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
2 de Junio del 2009
1. Pronombres personales
Yo I
Tú You (informal)
Usted You (formal)
Él/ella He / She
Nosotros we
Vosotros You all (Informal) (old form, it is only used in Spain)
Ustedes You all (Formal) (It is used in Latin America)
Ellos/Ellas They
2. Artículos
a. Definidos (Definites)
Masculino Singular: El
Masculino Plural: Los
Femenino Singular: La
Femenino Plural: Las
b. Indefinidos (Indefinites)
Masculino singular: Un
Masculino Plural: Unos
Femenino Singular: Una
Femenino Plural: unas
3. El alfabeto en Español
A a
B be
C ce
Ch che
D de
E e
F fe
G ge
H ache
I i latina
J jota
K ka
L ele
Ll elle
M eme
N ene
Ñ eñe
O o
P pe
Q cu
R ere
RR erre
S ese
T te
U u
V ve
X equis
Y y griega
Z zeta
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