Love-Spanish.com: 01/01/2014

Friday, 31 January 2014

It Is Twenty Minutes Past 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 twenty minutes past seven, so in Spanish you should say:

Son las siete y veinte

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, 30 January 2014

Where Are Your Parents From?

Introduction

This post is about the use of describing words/ adjectives in general, and more specifically about the use of masculine/ plural form of a describing word/ adjective.

SCENARIO

Imagine you talking about family/relatives to someone who doesn't know your parents. At some point the other person asks you: "where are your parents from?".

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

¿De dónde son tus padres^*?

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

¿De dónde son sus padres^*?

*NB The Spanish word padres (masculine/ plural) may also mean fathers.

OUR TIP

This is a straightforward question about your parents. If your answer does not include a reference to the person asking the question, you DO NOT need be concerned about the degree of formality in the original question. You can just concentrate on answering the question.

Questions like this one are usually answered by indicating:

The nationality of your parents
The country your parents come from
The city/ town your parents come from

Here are some sample replies:

Mis padres son ingleses* (my parents are English).
Mis padres son italianos* (my parents are Italian).
Mis padres son estadounidenses* (my parents are American).
Mis padres son vietnamitas* (my parents are Vietnamese).
Mis padres son de Inglaterra (my parents are from England).
Mis padres son de Londres (my parents are from London).
Mis padres son ingleses*, de Londres (my parents are English, they are from London).

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿De dónde son tus padres?

*NB See Grammar below

*Grammar-Adjectives

	Gender	Number	Adjective
padre	masculine	singular	inglés
padres	masculine/ mixed	plural	ingleses
madre	feminine	singular	inglesa
madres	feminine	plural	inglesas

Noun-Adjective Agreement

See notes below on Noun-Adjective agreement

Noun-Adjective Agreement

As you can see above, in Spanish you can also use a describing word/ adjective to indicate where someone comes from. Below follow some notes on how to choose the correct form of the adjective for a given noun.

Adjectives -Gender

When you use Spanish describing words/ adjectives, you need to bear in mind that for each describing word in English, there are often two related but different describing words/ adjectives in Spanish. The reason being that Spanish describing words/ adjectives have to 'agree' with the gender (masculine or feminine) of the noun they describe. Most Spanish describing words have similar but separate words for each of the two genders (for example, americano/ americana). A few, however have one single form (for example, canadiense).

Thus when you come to use a describing word to indicate where someone comes from, you need to check whether the corresponding Spanish describing word/ adjective has:

One single form (for example , estadounidense)
Two separate forms (for example, inglés/ inglesa).- If the describing word/ adjective has two separate forms, then you need to choose the form which matches the gender (masculine/ feminine) of the noun it describes.

Adjectives -Number

When you use Spanish describing words/ adjectives, you also need to bear in mind that Spanish describing words/ adjectives have singular and plural* forms the same as nouns. A Spanish describing word/ adjective must also to 'agree' with the number (singular/ plural) of the noun it describes. For example, padre inglés (English father) or padres ingleses (English parents/ fathers).

Thus when you come to use a describing word/ adjective to indicate where someone comes from, you need to choose the form of the Spanish describing word/ adjective which matches the noun's number (singular/ plural).

*NB View posts with details about the plural of Spanish words here.

Adjectives -Use

All the practical examples in this post refer to parents (plural), padres. Consequently, they require the masculine/ plural form of a describing word/ adjective, for example, ingleses.

Spelling

Please note that in Spanish, the names of countries, towns, cities, etc. (for example, “Inglaterra” or “Londres”) are capitalised. However, the nationality describing words/ adjectives (for example “italiana”) are not.

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Wednesday, 29 January 2014

What Colour Is The Coat?

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a work colleague. You are talking about a new coat you have bought. At some point the other person says to you something like: "what colour is the coat?"

In Spanish, the other person could say:

¿De qué color es el abrigo?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say what colour your coat is. Here are some examples of how you could reply:

Es negro (it is black);
Es blanco (it is white);
Es marrón (it is brown);
Es marrón claro (it is light brown);
Es marrón oscuro (it is dark brown);
Es azul (it is blue);
Es azul marino (it is navy blue);
Es gris (it is grey);
Es rojo (it is red);
Es verde (it is green);
Es amarillo (it is yellow);

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿De qué color es el abrigo?

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Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Tell Me, Who Would Not Be Afraid Of Getting Things Wrong?

Introduction

This post is about the practical conjugation of verbs in general and more particularly the conditional tense, indicative mood of regular verbs ending in -er.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. You are talking about making some decisions and how being afraid of getting things wrong may impact in those decisions. At some point, the other person says to you something like: "tell me, who would not be afraid of getting things wrong?".

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

Dime, ¿quién no temería equivocarse?

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

Dígame, ¿quién no temería equivocarse?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say who would not be afraid of getting things wrong. When stating who would not be afraid of someone or something, 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 no temería* equivocarme (I would not be afraid of getting things wrong);
Tú no temerías* equivocarte, ¿verdad? (you -familiar would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would you?);
Usted no temería* equivocarse, ¿verdad? (you -formal would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would you?);
Pedro no temería* equivocarse, ¿verdad? (Pedro would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would he?);
María no temería* equivocarse, ¿verdad? (María would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would she?);
Nosotros no temeríamos* equivocarnos, ¿verdad? (we would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would we?);
Vosotros no temeríais* equivocaros, ¿verdad? (you -familiar/ plural would not be afraid of getting things wrong , would you?);
Ustedes no temerían* equivocarse, ¿verdad? (you -formal/ plural would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would you?);
Pedro y María no temerían* equivocarse, ¿verdad? (Pedro and Maria would not be afraid of getting things wrong, would they?);

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

Dime, ¿quién no temería equivocarse?

*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-Conditional Tense

1. Regular Verbs Ending in -ar

Subject		TRABAJAR (TO WORK)
I	Yo	TRABAJARÍA
You	Tú	TRABAJARÍAS
You	Usted^*	TRABAJARÍA
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	TRABAJARÍAMOS
You	Vosotros**	TRABAJARÍAIS
You	Ustedes***	TRABAJARÍAN
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	COMERÍA
You	Tú	COMERÍAS
You	Usted^*	COMERÍA
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	COMERÍAMOS
You	Vosotros**	COMERÍAIS
You	Ustedes***	COMERÍAN
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	VIVIRÍA
You	Tú	VIVIRÍAS
You	Usted^*	VIVIRÍA
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	VIVIRÍAMOS
You	Vosotros**	VIVIRÍAIS
You	Ustedes***	VIVIRÍAN
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 conditional-indicative mood of regular verbs with some examples of your own.

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