Love-Spanish.com: 01/09/2013

Monday, 30 September 2013

Is Your House Near?

Introduction

This post deals with indicating how near/ far your house is in Spanish, and the distance from where you are to your house.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking a relative, a friend, a work colleague about your home. Not knowing where you live, the other person asks you: "is your home near?"

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

¿Queda cerca tu casa?

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

¿Queda cerca su casa?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say how far away your house is. 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:

Mi casa queda lejos (my house is far away)
Mi casa queda bastante lejos (my house is quite far away)
Mi casa queda muy lejos (my house is very far away)
Mi casa queda cerca (my house is near)
Mi casa queda bastante cerca (my house is quite near)
Mi casa queda muy cerca (my house is very near)
Mi casa queda a la vuelta de la esquina (my house is around the corner)
Mi casa queda al final de la calle (my house is at the end of the street/ road)
Mi casa queda a dos manzanas (my house is two blocks away)
Mi casa queda a dos cuadras (my house is two blocks away)
Mi casa queda a cinco minutos a pie (my house is five minutes away on foot)
Mi casa queda en el centro (my house is in the town centre/ downtown)
Mi casa no queda cerca (my house is not near)
Mi casa queda a doscientos metros^* (my house is 200 meters away)
Mi casa queda a trescientos metros^* (my house is 300 meters away)
Mi casa queda a dos kilómetros^* (my house is 2 kilometres away)

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Queda cerca tu casa?

*See some commonly used length in Spanish below

*Spanish Lengths

Some expressions of length/ distance commonly used in Spanish are shown below:

	Metros	Kilómetros
cien metros	100m
doscientos metros	200m
trescientos metros	300m
cuatrocientos metros	400m
quinientos metros	500m	1/2km
seiscientos metros	600m
setecientos metros	700m
ochocientos metros	800m
novecientos metros	900m
mil metros/ un kilómetro	1000m	1km

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Sunday, 29 September 2013

Today Is Sunday 29th Of September 2013

Question:

How do you say today's date in Spanish?

Answer:
Hoy es domingo veintinueve
de septiembre de dos mil trece.

Vocabulary notes:

Today is = Hoy es
Sunday = domingo
The 29th = veintinueve
Of September = de septiembre
2013 = de dos mil trece
In Spanish, we say "29" instead of "the 29th"
In Spanish we literally say: "of 2013"

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Saturday, 28 September 2013

Abrigo

Today's WOTD is: "abrigo" = coat

In Spanish, “abrigo” is a masculine noun of Latin origin, the main meaning of which is coat. The noun “abrigo” may also be used to refer to warmth, protection or shelter.

Some commonly used expressions with the word “abrigo” are:

A buen amigo buen abrigo (a friend in need is a friend indeed);
Al abrigo de algo/ alguien (under the protection/ shelter of something/ someone);
Abrigo de invierno (winter coat);
Abrigo de piel (leather/ fur coat);
Llevar abrigo (to wear a coat);
Ropa de abrigo (warm clothes);

Some examples of the use of the word "abrigo" are:

Al abrigo de su familia Pedro se recuperó en seguida (under the protection of his family Pedro soon recovered);
Para este tiempo se necesita un buen abrigo de invierno ¿verdad? (in this kind of weather you need a good winter coat, don't you?);
Llevo abrigo porque tengo frío (I am wearing a coat because I feel cold);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "abrigo" in the YouTube clip: Habitoal Abrigo - Julio Melgar (Con Juan Carlos Alvarado)

For more on the word "abrigo", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Abrigo

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

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Friday, 27 September 2013

It Is Five Minutes Past Five

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 five minutes past five, so in Spanish you should say:

Son las cinco y cinco

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.

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Thursday, 26 September 2013

Is The Travel Agency Far Away?

Introduction

This post deals with indicating how near/ far the travel agent's is in Spanish, and the distance from where you are to the travel agent's.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are with a relative, a friend, a work colleague or even a complete stranger who is looking for a travel agent's and asks you: "is the travel agency far away?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to say:

¿Queda lejos la agencia de viajes?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say how far away the travel agent's is. 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:

La agencia de viajes queda lejos (the travel agency is far away)
La agencia de viajes queda bastante lejos (the travel agency is quite far away)
La agencia de viajes queda muy lejos (the travel agency is very far away)
La agencia de viajes queda cerca (the travel agency is near)
La agencia de viajes queda bastante cerca (the travel agency is quite near)
La agencia de viajes queda muy cerca (the travel agency is very near)
La agencia de viajes queda a la vuelta de la esquina (the travel agency is around the corner)
La agencia de viajes queda al final de la calle (the travel agency is at the end of the street/ road)
La agencia de viajes queda a dos manzanas (the travel agency is two blocks away)
La agencia de viajes queda a dos cuadras (the travel agency is two blocks away)
La agencia de viajes queda a cinco minutos a pie (the travel agency is five minutes away on foot)
La agencia de viajes queda en el centro (the travel agency is in the town centre/ downtown)
La agencia de viajes no queda lejos (the travel agency is not far away);
La agencia de viajes queda a doscientos metros^* (the travel agency is 200 meters away);
La agencia de viajes queda a trescientos metros^* (the travel agency is 300 meters away);

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Queda lejos la agencia de viajes?

*See some commonly used length in Spanish below

*Spanish Lengths

Some expressions of length/ distance commonly used in Spanish are shown below:

	Metros	Kilómetros
cien metros	100m
doscientos metros	200m
trescientos metros	300m
cuatrocientos metros	400m
quinientos metros	500m	1/2km
seiscientos metros	600m
setecientos metros	700m
ochocientos metros	800m
novecientos metros	900m
mil metros/ un kilómetro	1000m	1km