Love-Spanish.com: 01/02/2014

Friday, 28 February 2014

Shall I Take The First On The Right?

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend, a work colleague or even a stranger. You are giving him/ her directions. At some point the other person interrupts you and says something like: "shall I take the first on the right?"

In Spanish, the other person could say:

Perdón, ¿tomo la primera a la derecha?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to clarify the directions you are giving. Typically, your answer will involve giving directions to the person you are talking to. When the directions are for the person you are talking to, you MUST make a choice between two levels of formality*, commonly referred to as formal and informal.

Here are some examples of how you could reply:

Sí, usted toma la primera a la derecha (yes, you take the first on your right);
Sí, usted gira a la derecha (yes, you turn right);
Sí, usted tuerce a la derecha (yes, you turn right);
No, usted toma la primera a la izquierda (no, you take the first on your left);
No, usted gira a la izquierda (no, you turn left);
No, usted tuerce a la izquierda (no, you turn left);
No, usted toma la segunda a la izquierda (no, you take the second on your left);
No, usted toma la segunda a la derecha (no, you take the second on your right);
No, usted sigue todo recto (no, you go straight on);
No, usted sigue hasta el final de la calle (no, you go on to the end of the street);

*Level of Formality

The wording of the answers in this post assumes that the person you are giving the directions to is someone with whom you don't have a very good rapport. That person could be a friend, a relative or a work colleague. In any case, when wording your answers in this more formal manner you are also signalling that you want to keep your distance. There is a separate post dealing with wording your answers in a less formal manner.

Now you should practise answering the question:

Perdón, ¿tomo la primera a la derecha?

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Thursday, 27 February 2014

Tell Me, Who Had Called Him?

Introduction

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

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. You are talking about an event in the life of a third person (male) (for example his birthday). The conversation shifts to a phone call that third person had received before his birthday. At some point, the other person says to you something like: "tell me, who had called him?".

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

Dime, ¿quién le había llamado?

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

Dígame, ¿quién le había llamado?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say who had called the person in question. When stating who had done 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:

Le había llamado* yo (I had called him);
Le habías llamado* tú, ¿no? (you -familiar had called him, had you not?);
Le había llamado* usted, ¿no? (you -formal had called him, had you not?);
Le había llamado* Pedro, ¿no? (Pedro had called him, had he not?);
Le había llamado* María, ¿no? (María had called him, had she not?);
Le habíamos llamado* nosotros, ¿no? (we had called him, had we not?);
Le habíais llamado* vosotros, ¿no? (you -familiar/ plural had called him, had you not?);
Le habían llamado* ustedes, ¿no? (you -formal/ plural had called him, had you not?);
Le habían llamado* sus padres, ¿no? (his parents had called him, had they not?);

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

Dime, ¿quién le había llamado?

*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-Pluperfect Tense

1. Regular Verbs Ending in -ar

Subject		TRABAJAR (TO WORK)
I	Yo	HABÍA TRABAJADO
You	Tú	HABÍAS TRABAJADO
You	Usted^*	HABÍA TRABAJADO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HABÍAMOS TRABAJADO
You	Vosotros**	HABÍAIS TRABAJADO
You	Ustedes***	HABÍAN 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	HABÍA COMIDO
You	Tú	HABÍAS COMIDO
You	Usted^*	HABÍA COMIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HABÍAMOS COMEIDO
You	Vosotros**	HABÍAIS COMIDO
You	Ustedes***	HABÍAN 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	HABÍA VIVIDO
You	Tú	HABÍAS VIVIDO
You	Usted^*	HABÍA VIVIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HABÍAMOS VIVIDO
You	Vosotros**	HABÍAIS VIVIDO
You	Ustedes***	HABÍAN 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 pluperfect-indicative mood of regular verbs with some examples of your own.

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Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Acción

Today's WOTD is: "acción" = action

1. In Spanish, “acción” is a feminine noun of Latin origin, the main meaning of which is action, as in:

La gente pide más acción (people are asking for more action);
Al gritó de, “¡acción!”, se comienza a rodar (at the shout of, “action!”, the filming begins);

2. The noun “acción” is also used often to mean effect, as in:

Sometido a la acción del agua, el asfalto quedó destrozado (under the effect of water, the tarmac was destroyed);

3. The noun “acción” may also be used to refer to stock/ shares, as in:

Tenemos acciones de esa empresa (we have shares in that company);

4. A related word is the noun “accionista”, which means shareholder, as in:

Esa empresa sólo tiene grandes accionistas (that company has only large shareholders);

5. A related action word/ verb is “accionar”, the main meaning of which is to activate.

Primero accionamos el mecanismo de arranque (firstly we activated the start up mechanism);

6. Some expressions in Spanish with the word “acción” are:

Acción de gracias (Thanksgiving);
Acción social* (social action);
- Se destina una gran cantidad de recursos a la acción social (a great deal of resources are set aside for community projects);
Buena acción (good deed);
- Acabo de hacer mi buena acción del día (I have just done my good deed of the day);
De acción (action -adjective*);
- Es una película de acción (it is an action film);
Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving day);
En plena acción (in the act/ red handed);
- Fueron sorprendidos en plena acción (they were caught in the act);
Entrar en acción (to go into action);
- Las fuerzas especiales entraron en acción (the special forces went into action);
Esfera de acción (sphere of action);
Hombre de acción (man of action);
- Modelo ejemplar del hombre de acción (the epitome of a man of action);
Mala acción (wrongdoing);
- Pedro es incapaz de una mala acción (Pedro would never do anything bad);
Opción sobre acciones (share option/ stock option);
- Las opciones sobre acciones son un incentivo más para los directivos (stock/ share options are an additional incentive for management/ executives);
Paquete de acciones (shareholding);
- Hemos conseguido adquirir un paquete de acciones considerable (we have managed to acquire a considerable shareholding);
Radio de acción (range);
- Este teclado inalámbrico tiene un radio de acción de 10 metros (this wireless keyboard has a 10 metre range);
Sindicación de acciones (shares syndication);

*NB In Spanish, “acción social” is often used to refer to social/ political activism. It usually refers to activities with a significant social impact. It is also very often used to refer to the philantropic involvement of businesses in the community, supporting cultural activities or activities aimed at disadvantaged members of society.

**NB Often used to describe a film, a novel, etc.

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "acción" in the YouTube clip: Thalia - Accion Y Reaccion

For more on the word "acción", visit: Aordreference.com/es/en/ Acción*

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

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