Love-Spanish.com: 2013

Monday, 30 December 2013

Tell Me, Who Has Lived Here?

Introduction

This post is about the practical use of verbs in general and more particularly the perfect tense, indicative mood of regular verbs ending in -ir.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. Suddenly, as you point at a particular house, you appear to indicate that someone had lived at that address some time in the past . The other person appears not to have heard you properly and says to you something like: "tell me, who has lived here?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime, ¿quién ha vivido aquí?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:

Dígame, ¿quién ha vivido aquí?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say who has lived in the house you are looking at. When stating who has lived in a given place, you may need to consider different levels of formality in your reply. That will be specifically the case when your answer includes a reference to the person you are talking to. The examples below include cases in which a more or less formal type of answer is required.

Here are some examples of how you could reply:

Yo he vivido* aquí (I have lived here);
Tú has vivido* aquí, ¿no? (you -familiar have lived here, haven't you?);
Usted ha vivido* aquí, ¿no? (you -formal have lived here, haven't you?);
Pedro ha vivido aquí, ¿no? (Pedro has live here, hasn't he?);
María ha vivido aquí, ¿no? (María has lived here, hasn't she?);
Nosotros hemos vivido* aquí, ¿no? (we have lived here, haven't we?);
Vosotros habéis vivido* aquí, ¿no? (you -familiar/ plural have lived here, haven't you?);
Ustedes han vivido* aquí, ¿no? (you -formal/ plural have lived here, haven't you?);
Pedro y María han vivido* aquí, ¿no? (Pedro and Maria have lived here, haven't they?);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿quién ha vivido aquí?

*Please see grammar topic below, Verbs

Verbs

A verb is a 'doing' word which conveys:

What action takes place in a sentence
Who does that action
When that action occurs.

In addition, the verb may also convey the mood or feelings of the speaker toward the action which takes place. The verb may, for example, indicate whether the speaker is stating a fact, expressing a wish or indeed giving an order.

Verb Conjugation

Please see notes on conjugation* at the end of this post.

Indicative Mood-perfect Tense

1. Regular Verbs Ending in -ar

Subject		TRABAJAR (TO WORK)
I	Yo	HE TRABAJADO
You	Tú	HAS TRABAJADO
You	Usted^*	HA TRABAJADO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HEMOS TRABAJADO
You	Vosotros**	HABÉIS TRABAJADO
You	Ustedes***	HAN TRABAJADO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

2. Regular Verbs Ending in -er

Subject		COMER (TO EAT)
I	Yo	HE COMIDO
You	Tú	HAS COMIDO
You	Usted^*	HA COMIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HEMOS COMIDO
You	Vosotros**	HABÉIS COMIDO
You	Ustedes***	HAN COMIDO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

3. Regular Verbs Ending in -ir

Subject		VIVIR (TO LIVE)
I	Yo	HE VIVIDO
You	Tú	HAS VIVIDO
You	Usted^*	HA VIVIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HEMOS VIVIDO
You	Vosotros**	HABÉIS VIVIDO
You	Ustedes***	HAN VIVIDO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

* Verb Conjugation Notes

It is worth remembering once more that in its basic form (infinitive), a Spanish verb is just a general 'doing' word. In that form, a verb simply indicates an action and nothing else. If we want a verb to be more specific about the action in a sentence, we need to conjugate it. It is only when conjugated that the verb indicates:

Who does the action
When the action takes place
The mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action

The conjugation tables above refer to using conjugation establish who does the action. What follows below are some notes on establishing when the action takes place and the mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Subjunctive Mood

The use of subjunctive mood is disappearing English. Nowadays is often viewed as an old and unfashionable form of the language.

In contrast, the use of subjunctive mood is very much alive and in everyday use in Spanish. This widespread use of subjunctive mood tends to be the bane of many a learner of Spanish from the English speaking world.

The concept of subjunctive mood is perhaps best illustrated by contrasting its use against the use of indicative mood with examples in English. The following are a couple of examples which should serve that purpose:

Indicative mood (“Peter eats an apple”).- Indicative mood is commonly used to make statements of facts or positive beliefs such as this one. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes above), the speaker makes a clear and unambiguous statement of a fact (Peter eats an apple).
Subjunctive mood (“Peter would eat an apple if he were hungry”).- In contrast with indicative mood, subjunctive mood is commonly used to make statements indicating hypothetical or non-fact actions. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes), in this case the speaker sees the action of eating an apple as something hypothetical, something which may or may not happen (Peter would eat an apple... if he were hungry).

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses relate to setting the time period (when) during which the action of the verb takes place. Basic times (periods) for Spanish verb actions are:

The past (before now)
The present (now)
The future (after now)

Each Spanish verb tense corresponds to one of those basic time periods. In other words choosing a verb tense places the action of the verb in one of those basic periods and determines when the action takes place.

Now you should practise the use of the perfect-indicative mood of regular verbs with some examples of your own.

This is another Free online Spanish lesson from Love-Spanish.com. We conduct Spanish lessons online on a wide range of topics using the latest video conferencing facilities. Online lessons are the ideal way to improve listening and speaking skills. For more details on our lessons online and how to book them, please visit:

Love-Spanish.com/ Lessons-Online

For more Free Spanish:

Visit: Love-Spanish.com

Google+:Google+ Love-Spanish

Twitter: @LoveSpanish_com

Facebook: Facebook.com/ Love.Spanish

Sunday, 29 December 2013

Año

Today's WOTD is: "año" = year

1. In Spanish, “año”* is a masculine noun of Latin origin which means year.

Hay doce meses en un año (there are twelve months in a year);

*Spelling

You need to be careful with the spelling and pronunciation of the noun “año” (year). Please remember that a very similar word is “ano”, which means anus (as you can see, despite very similar spellings, their meanings are quite different!).

2. The noun, “año” is a term used to express the age of people or things.

¿Cuantos años tienes (how old are you?);
Tengo veinticinco años (I am twenty five years old);
Pedro se casó a los veinticinco años (Pedro got married at the age of twenty five/ when he was twenty five);

3. A related word is the composite/ compound noun “cumpleaños” which means birthday.

Hoy es tu cumpleaños, ¿no? (your birthday is today, isn't it?);

4. Another related word is the describing word/ adjective “anual” which means annual/ yearly.

Tenemos derecho a vacaciones anuales retribuidas, ¿verdad? (we have the right to yearly paid up leave, haven't we?);

5. Also related is the describing word/ adjective “añejo”* which means matured.

El queso es un manchego añejo (the cheese is a matured Manchego);

*NB The term “añejo” is used to refer to things (for example, wine) which have been matured (typically more than one year). The term “añejo” should not be used to refer to people.

6. Some expressions with the word “año” are:

A mitad de año (at mid year/ half way through the year);
- A mitad de año solemos ir de vacaciones (we usually go on a mid year holiday);
Al año (per year);
- Solemos ir de vacaciones una vez al año (we usually go on holiday once per year);
Al año (after a year/ at the end of one year)
- Al año de vivir en España, Peter dominaba el español (one year after living in Spain Peter was fluent in Spanish);
Antes de fin de año (before the end of the year);
Antes de un año (within a year);
Año académico (academic/ school year);
- Aquí el año académico suele comenzar en septiembre (here the academic year tends to begin in September);
Año anomalístico (anomalistic year);
Año astral (astronomical year);
Año bisiesto (leap year);
- Este no ha sido un año bisiesto (this one has not been a leap year);
Año civil (civil year/ calendar year);
Año común (common year/ calendar year);
Año de gracia (year of grace/ AD year/ Common Era year);
Año de nuestra salud (year of Our Lord/ AD year/ Common Era year);
Año de la nana* (the year dot/a long time ago);
Año de la nanita* (the year dot/ a long time ago);
Año de la pera* (the year dot/ a long time ago);
Año de la polca* (the year dot/ a long time ago);
- Esa bici es del año de la nana/ año de la nanita/ año de la pera/ año de la polca (that bike is very old);
Año de luz (light year);
Año eclesiástico (church year/ liturgical year);
Año económico (financial year);
Año escolar (academic/ school year);
Año de nieves, año de bienes (a year with snow is a year of prosperity -proverb);
Año fiscal (fiscal/ tax year);
Año lectivo (academic year);
Año litúrgico (liturgical year/ church year);
Año luz (light year);
Año sabático (sabbatical year);
Año sideral (sidereal year);
Año sidéreo (sidereal year);
Año sinódico (synodic year);
Año trópico (tropical/ solar year);
Año viejo (New Year's Eve celebrations);
- El Año Viejo se celebra el 31 de diciembre (the year end celebrations take place on December 31^st).
Año vulgar (common year/ calendar year);
Años ha (it is years/ it happened a long time ago);
- Años ha que no veo a tu hermana (it is years since I last saw your sister);
Año tras año (year after year);
- Año tras año se repite la misma historia (year after year the same things go on);
Dentro de cien años, todos calvos (in the end we all die);
Durante todo el año (all year long);
El año pasado (last year);
- El año pasado fui a España (last year I went to Spain);
El año que viene (next year);
- El año que viene quiero is a España (last year I want to go to Spain);
El presente año (this year/ the year in course);
- El 2 de mayo del presente año (May the 2^nd of this year);
En estos últimos años (in recent years);
- En estos últimos años hemos pasado por momentos difíciles (in recent years we have been through hard times);
Fiesta de fin de año (New Year's Eve party);
Fin de año (New Year's Eve);
Hace años (it is years/ it happened a long time ago);
- Hace años que no veo a tu hermana (it is years since I last saw your sister);
Hace un año/ dos años** (it is a year ago/ two years ago);
- Hace dos años que no veo a tu hermana (it is two years since I last saw your sister);
Rebajas de fin de año (year end sales);
Tener xx años (to be xx years old);
- Tienes 25 años, ¿verdad? (you are 25 years old, aren't you?);
- ¿Cuántos años tienes? (how old are you?);
Una vez/ dos veces*** al año (once/ twice year);

*NB Expression used to stress how old/ old fashioned something is. There are a whole host of expressions similar expressions with the same meaning, for example, el año del caldo/ el año de la canica.

**NB Replace “dos” with another number to indicate a different number of years. For example “hace tres años que no veo a tu hermana” (it is three years since I last saw your sister).

***NB Replace “dos” with another number to indicate a different frequency. For example “tres veces al año” (thrice a year).

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "año" in the YouTube clip: VinoAñejo - Ruben Blades

For more on the word "año", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Año*

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “año” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

This is another Free online Spanish lesson from Love-Spanish.com. We conduct Spanish lessons online on a wide range of topics using the latest video conferencing faciliyears. Online lessons are the ideal way to improve listening and speaking skills. For more details on our lessons online and how to book them, please visit:

Love-Spanish.com /Lessons-Online

For more Free Spanish:

Visit: Love-Spanish.com

Google+: Google+ Love-Spanish

Twitter: @LoveSpanish_com

Facebook: Facebook.com/ Love.Spanish

Saturday, 28 December 2013

It Is Ten Minutes To Seven

SCENARIO

Imagine a relative, a friend or a work colleague is asking you: "what time is it?"

In Spanish, the other person could say:

¿Qué hora es?

Now 'click' on the speaker icon below to listen to the other person's question.

The Time is:

The question above is an invitation for you to say what time it is.

Looking at the clock, you see the time is ten minutes to seven, so in Spanish you should say:

Son las siete menos diez

Now 'click' on the speaker icon below to listen to the time in Spanish.

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Qué hora es?

If your system/ device supports it, you may use the widget below to record and listen to your answers.

Spanish lessons online

Skype/ Google+ Hangout/ Facetime

Great lessons

Book now

Friday, 27 December 2013

Do You Like Reading?

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a work colleague. You are talking about the things each one of you like. At some point the other person says to you something like: "do you like reading?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Te gusta leer?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Le gusta leer?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say whether or not you like reading. A yes/no answer may be strictly sufficient. However, with little effort, your answer could be a lot more informative.

Here are some examples of how you could reply: