Love-Spanish.com: 01/06/2014

Monday, 30 June 2014

Is That Lady Your Mother?

Introduction

This post is about the use of describing words/ adjectives in general, and more specifically about the use of the feminine/ singular form of demonstrative adjectives -demostrativos.

SCENARIO

Imagine you talking to a friend or a work colleague. You are talking about family/ relatives. Looking at a picture, the other person who doesn't know your parents says: "is that lady your mother?".

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

¿Esa señora es tu madre?

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

¿Esa señora es su madre?

OUR TIP

The answer to this question is quite straightforward. You should pay particular attention to noun-adjective agreement -see grammar notes below^*.

Here are some sample replies:

Sí, esa^* señora es mi madre (yes, that lady is my mother);
No, esa^* señora no es mi madre (no, that lady is not my mother);
No, esa^* señora es mi tía (no, that lady is my aunt);

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Esa señora es tu madre?

*NB See Grammar below

^*Grammar-Adjectives

	Gender	Number	Adjective
señor	masculine	singular	ese
señores	masculine/ mixed	plural	esos
señora	feminine	singular	esa
señoras	feminine	plural	esas

Noun-Adjective Agreement

See notes below on Noun-Adjective agreement

Noun-Adjective Agreement

In Spanish describing words/ adjectives have to agree in gender and number with the noun(s) they describe.

Adjectives -Gender

Many Spanish describing words/ adjectives have two forms:

A masculine gender form (for example, alto)
A similar, but different feminine gender (for example, alta).

A few Spanish describing words/ adjectives have one single form for both masculine and feminine (for example, inteligente).

Every time you use a describing word which has two separate forms (for example, alto/ alta), you need to choose the form which matches the gender (masculine/ feminine) of what you are describing.

Adjectives -Number

In contrast with English, Spanish describing words/ adjectives have also plural^* forms. Every time you use a describing word with a plural noun (for example, señoras), you must use the plural form of the corresponding describing word/ adjective (for example, esas).

You should use the masculine/ plural form of a describing word/ adjective when it describes multiple persons/ things of different grammatical genders.

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

Adjectives -Use

All the practical examples in this post refer to one person, señora (lady). Consequently, they require the feminine/ singular form of a describing word/ adjective, for example, esa.

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It Is Twenty Minutes To Ten

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 to ten, so in Spanish you should say:

Son las diez menos 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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Friday, 27 June 2014

Tell Me, Who Was Likely To Have Eaten There?

Introduction

This post is about verb conjugation and in particular the pluperfect tense, subjunctive mood of regular verbs ending in -er.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague about an eating place/ restaurant. It appears likely that someone you know had eaten in that place. You are speculating who that person was and the other person says: "tell me, who was likely to have eaten there?".

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

Dime, ¿quién era probable que hubiera comido allí?

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

Dígame, ¿quién era probable que hubiera comido allí?

OUR TIP

Consider using a subjunctive mood if you want to indicate that your answer is speculative/ not fact. Make sure that you conjugate your verbs correctly. Remember that in some cases you will have to choose between a more formal or a less formal option -see examples below.

Typical answers could be:

Era probable que yo hubiera comido* allí (it was likely that I had eaten there);
Era probable que tú hubieras comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que usted hubiera comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que Pedro hubiera comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that Pedro had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que Maria hubiera comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that María had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que nosotros hubiéramos comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that we had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que vosotros hubierais comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar/ plural had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que ustedes hubieran comido allí, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal/ plural had eaten there, wasn't it?);
Era probable que Pedro y María hubieran comido* allí, ¿no? (it was likely that Pedro and Maria had eaten there, wasn't it?);

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

Dime, ¿quién era probable que hubiera comido allí?

**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.

Subjunctive Mood-Pluperfect Tense

1. Regular Verbs Ending in -ar

Subject		TRABAJAR (TO WORK)
I	Yo	HUBIERA o HUBIESE TRABAJADO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES TRABAJADO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE TRABAJADO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS TRABAJADO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS TRABAJADO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN 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	HUBIERA o HUBIESE COMIDO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES COMIDO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE COMIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS COMIDO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS COMIDO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN 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	HUBIERA o HUBIESE VIVIDO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES VIVIDO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE VIVIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS VIVIDO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS VIVIDO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN 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 to 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-subjunctive mood of regular verbs with some examples of your own.

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Thursday, 26 June 2014

Deporte

Today's WOTD is: "deporte" = sport

1. In Spanish, “deporte” is a masculine noun of Latin origin, the main meaning of which is sport, as in:

Hacer deporte es muy sano (practising sports is very good for your health);

2. A related word is “deportista”^*, a sports person, as in:

Aquí están unos deportistas muy famosos (here are some very famous sports people);

3. An expression with the word “deportista” is:

Deportista de élite/ elite (top level sports person);

*Grammar

Please note that the “deportista” has single form for both masculine and feminine (“el deportista” = sports person/ male and “la deportista” = sports person/ female).

4. Some expressions with the word “deporte” are:

Deporte de élite/ elite (top level sport);
Hacer deporte (to do sport/ to practise sports);
- Hago deporte por las tardes (I do sport/ practise sports in the afternoon);
Por deporte (for fun/ for the love of it);
- Estudio español por deporte (I study Spanish for the fun of it);
Practicar deporte (to do sport/ to practise sports);
- Practico deporte por las tardes (I do sport/ practise sports in the afternoon);
Pantalón/ pantalones de deporte (sports shorts or tracksuit bottoms);
Zapatillas de deporte (sports shoes/ trainers);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "deporte" in the YouTube clip: Decathlon - El deporte más grande del mundo

For more on the word "deporte", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Deporte

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

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