After day 7, I think we need a break. You and me both!
If you are feeling gung ho, though, check out some Spanish Google News articles http://news.google.com/?ed=es_mx or Wikipedia articles http://es.wikipedia.org/ and see what a big difference those 25 little words can make in your progress understanding Spanish.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sweating the small stuff
Day 7: The 25 most common Spanish words
Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest difference. In Spanish, these "25 little words" are key in correctly interpreting the proper meaning of almost every Spanish sentence.
The bad news is that they are quite varied and it would not be easy to memorize this list and these meanings. The good news, however, is that these words all appear over and over (and over) in Spanish so, for better or for worse, you will get to know them and their meanings very quickly and early on.
Again, don't bother memorizing these, but maybe keep a printed copy with you as you read in Spanish. If you forget a meaning, you can look again at the list; eventually, you will need to do this less and less.
Here is the list, without examples. I repeat it with some examples of each below.
This time with feeling (and examples):
*f.s.= feminine singular,
m.s. = masculine singular,
f.pl. = feminine plural,
m.pl. = masculine plural
Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest difference. In Spanish, these "25 little words" are key in correctly interpreting the proper meaning of almost every Spanish sentence.
The bad news is that they are quite varied and it would not be easy to memorize this list and these meanings. The good news, however, is that these words all appear over and over (and over) in Spanish so, for better or for worse, you will get to know them and their meanings very quickly and early on.
Again, don't bother memorizing these, but maybe keep a printed copy with you as you read in Spanish. If you forget a meaning, you can look again at the list; eventually, you will need to do this less and less.
Here is the list, without examples. I repeat it with some examples of each below.
- de = of, from, "possessive"
- la = the (f.s.)*; the one (f.s. demonstrative pronoun); you (f.s. outsider), her, it (direct object pronoun)
- que = that, who (relative pronoun)
- y = and
- el = the (m.s.)
- en = in, on
- a = to, "personal a"
- los = the (m.pl.), them (direct object pronoun)
- se = "passive se"; (reflexive pronoun): itself, himself, herself, yourselves (outsiders), themselves, each other
- no = not, no
- un = a, an, one (m.s., before noun)
- las = the (f.pl.), them (direct object pronoun)
- del = of the (m.s.), from the (m.s.), belonging to the (m.s.)
- por = by means of, in exchange for, along, through, out of, for, because of, near
- con = with
- una = a, an, one (f.s.)
- es = it is, he is, she is, you (outsider) are [when describing how something is essentially]
- lo = it, what's [lo que = what]
- para = in order to, to (for the purpose of), by (a certain date), for
- su = its, his, her, your (outsider)
- al = to the
- como = as, like
- más = more
- o = or
- pero = but
This time with feeling (and examples):
- de = of, from, "possessive"
Es una muñeca de nieve. (literally, "it is a doll of snow") = It is a snowman.
Ellos son de Seattle. = They are from Seattle.
Están con los amigos de Araceli. = They are with Araceli's friends. - la = the (f.s.); the one (f.s. demonstrative pronoun); you (f.s. outsider), her, it (direct object pronoun)
La música de Colombia es la mejor. = Colombian music is the best (music).
¿No es ella la de ayer? = Isn't she the one from yesterday?
Mañana la llamo. (literally, "tomorrow you I call") = I'll call you tomorrow. - que = that, who (relative pronoun)
Es algo que hago todos los días. = It is something that I do every day.
Es una persona que juega muchos deportes. = She/He is a person who plays many sports. - y = and
Tú y yo somos amigos. = You and I are friends. (If both are female, then "Tú y yo somos amigas.") - el = the (m.s.)
El gato y el perro son amigos. = The cat and the dog are friends. - en = in, on
El pez nada en el río. = The fish swims in the river.
El pescado está en el plato. = The fish is on the plate.
["El pez" is a fish that has not been caught. After a fish is caught, it is called "el pescado" (literally, "fished," from the verb "pescar," to fish).] - a = to, "personal a"
Voy a la tienda. = I am going to the store.
[The "personal a" is the use of "a" before a specific direct object considered to have a soul.]
Vió a la niña. = S/he saw the girl. (A specific human.)
Necesito un ayudante. = I need a helper. (Human, but not a specific one.)
Vió el delfín. = S/he saw the dolphin. (Just some dolphin.)
Vió a su perro. = S/he saw his/her dog. (His/her pet.)
Vió el perro. = S/he saw the dog. (Just some dog, viewed as just another animal.)
Vió al perro. = S/he saw the dog. (The "personal a" here suggests that it is a dog which the person somehow recognizes as more than just an animal.)
Vió la lámpara. = S/he saw the lamp. (No soul.) - los = the (m.pl.), them (direct object pronoun)
Los lápices están en la mesa. = The pencils are on the table.
No los veo. = I do not see them. - se = "passive se"; (reflexive pronoun): itself, himself, herself, yourselves (outsiders), themselves, each other
Se dice "Mejor solo que mal acompañado." = It is said "Better [to be] alone than poorly accompanied." (Or if you are female, "Mejor sola que mal acompañada.")
Se llama Bob. = He is called Bob.
Se mira en el espejo. = S/he looks at himself/herself in the mirror.
Se miran. = They look at each other. - no = not, no
No me mires así. = Do not look at me like that.
¿Vienes con nosotoros, sí o no? = Are you coming with us? Yes or no? - un = a, an, one (m.s., before noun)
Él es un buen amigo. = He is a good friend.
Es un honor poder trabajar con ella. = It is an honor to be able to work with her.
Un día, todo esto será tuyo. = One day, all of this will be yours. - las = the (f.pl.), them (direct object pronoun)
Las científicas están dando una conferencia en el congreso. = The scientists [all female] are giving a lecture at the convention.
No encuentro las llaves. ¿Las tienes tú? = I can't find the keys. Do you have them? - del = of the (m.s.), from the (m.s.), belonging to the (m.s.)
Es el fin del camino. = It is the end of the road.
Sacó un libro del estante. = S/he took a book from the shelf.
Son los perros del vecino. = They are the neighbor's dogs. [Literally, "the dogs of the neighbor."] - por = by means of, in exchange for, along, through, out of, for, because of, near
Llegó al poder por una serie de conexiones personales y profesionales. = S/he came into power (literally, "arrived to power") by means of a series of personal and professional connections.
¿Cuánto me das por la bicicleta? = How much (money) will you give me (in exchange) for the bike?
Con la tiza, trazo una línea por el borde del papel. = With the chalk, I trace a line along the edge of the paper.
La Caperucita Roja camina por el bosque. = Little Red Riding Hood walks through the forest.
Él todo lo hace por amor. = He, everything he does (he does) out of love.
Lo hago por ti. = I do it for you.
Por descuido siempre pierde sus cosas. = Because of carelessness, s/he always loses his/her things.
La biblioteca está ahí por la catedral. = The library is over there near the cathedral. - con = with
Quiere arroz con pollo y café con leche. = S/he wants rice with chicken and coffee with milk. - una = a, an, one (f.s.)
Tengo un hermano y una hermana. = I have one brother and one sister.
Quiero una manzana y una caja de jugo. = I want an apple and a box of juice. - es = it is, he is, she is, you (outsider) are [when describing how something is essentially]
Es un edificio alto. = It is a tall building.
Es actor de cine. = He is a film actor.
Mi mamá es maestra de primaria. = My mom is an elementary (school) teacher.
Usted es la ganadora. = You are the winner. [For a male winner, "Usted es el ganador."] - lo = it, what's [lo que = what]
¿Tienes mi lápiz? No, no lo tengo. = Do you have my pencil? No, I do not have it.
Lo bonito de este carro es su diseño. = What's beautiful about this car is its design.
Eso no es lo que creo. = That is not what I believe. - para = in order to, to (for the purpose of), by (a certain date), for
Para ser rico hay que saber ganar el máximo de dinero en el mínimo de tiempo. = In order to be rich one must know how to earn the most money in the least time.
Prepara comidas ricas para hacer feliz a su pareja. = S/he makes delicious meals to make (for the purpose of making) his/her partner happy.
Lo necesito para el jueves. = I need it by Thursday.
¿Son para mí? = Are they for me? - su = its, his, her, your (outsider)
El perro está en su casa. = The dog is in his house.
Carlos siempre come su almuerzo en casa. = Carlos always eats his lunch at home.
Ella manda muchos texts a su novio. = She sends lots of texts to her boyfriend.
Su carroza le espera. = Your carriage awaits. - al = to the
Vamos primero a la playa y luego al parque. = First we are going to the beach and then to the park. - como = as, like
Se disfraza como Superman. = He gets dressed up as Superman.
De mayor quiero ser como ella. = When I grow up, I want to be like her. - más = more
Siempre quieren más y más. = They always want more and more.
¿Me das más arroz? = Could you give me more rice? - o = or
Es cuestión de vida o muerte. = It is a matter of life or death. - pero = but
Debo hacerlo, pero no quiero. = I should do it, but I don't want to.
*f.s.= feminine singular,
m.s. = masculine singular,
f.pl. = feminine plural,
m.pl. = masculine plural
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The tortoise and the hare
Day 6: You are farther along in Spanish than you thought.
Already moving pretty quickly. A brief recap of what you will have learned so far:
Day 1: Spanish is its own thing. Forget about how things are done in English; just learn how they are done in Spanish. Different language, different rules.
Day 2: Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. Learning words with their definite article (English "the"; Spanish "el" or "la") is the best way (but still not a perfect way) to remember a whether a noun is masculine or feminine. Words that use "la" are always feminine. Words that use "el" are almost always masculine.
Day 3: A, E, I, O, U, el burro sabe más que tú. (AH, EH, EE, OH, OO, ehl BOO-rroh SAH-bay MAHS kay tOO).
Day 4: "es" (ser) = "is" when describing how something is on an "ESsential" level, describing it's very "ESsence"; "está" (estar) = "is" when describing how something is as it passes through a "(E)STAge" or "(E)STAte" in space or time. Space and time, how appropriate for (E)STAR!
Day 5: More ways to say "is" depending on who you are talking about. Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están.
So already you:
• have freed your mind to learn Spanish on its own terms,
• have learned a little about the importance of masculine and feminine words,
• know the basics of Spanish vowel pronunciation,
• have been given an introduction to the differences between the two "to be"
verbs—ser and estar, and
• are aware of all the ways to say "is" (and "am" and "are") in Spanish.
Let's move on by looking at some real Spanish and focusing on how much we can figure out already (and not worrying about what we can't figure out yet):
-----
BRUSELAS, 17 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -
La Alta Representante de Política Exterior y de Seguridad Común de la UE, Catherine Ashton, ha apelado este sábado a Corea del Norte para que no realice el lanzamiento del satélite 'Kwangmyongsong-3', como ha anunciado Pyongyang, ya que supondría una violación de las resoluciones del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.
-----
This news article is reported from "Bruselas" on "17 Mar." and mentions Catherine Ashton of the European Union, so "Bruselas" would be Brussels, and the report is from March 17.
Making some educated guesses and substituting the resulting English words for the Spanish ones, the sentence might look like this (compare to the Spanish above):
The Alta Representative de Política Exterior y de Security Common de the EU, Catherine Ashton, ha appealed este sábado a Korea del North para que no realice the lanzamiento del satellite 'Kwangmyongsong-3', como ha announced Pyongyang, ya que supondría una violation de the resolutions of the Council of Security of the UN.
The important thing here is not to spend lots of time figuring out the whole thing, nor even to entirely trust our guesses, but instead to see what we can learn about Spanish from this exercise. Besides "Bruselas" = "Brussels," we can also guess (accurately) that "de" can mean "of" (and "del" and "de la" = "of the"). There also appears to be a tendency to put some related words in a different order in Spanish ("Seguridad Común" for "Common Security," "UE" for "EU," "Corea del Norte" for "North Korea," "el satélite 'Kwangmyongsong-3'" for "the 'Kwangmyongsong-3' satellite," "la ONU" [la Organización de las Naciones Unidas] for "the UN" [the United Nations]). These all happen to be nouns followed by adjectives, in Spanish, corresponding to adjectives followed by nouns in English. It is true that adjectives often follow nouns in Spanish, but it is not always true. More on that much later.
So even without being able to read this Spanish perfectly (it may take a long time for that), we can still use the Spanish we do know—and the English we already know—to make some educated guesses that allow us to add to our Spanish knowledge. And, if we are so inclined, and have extra time on a given day, we can even look up in a good dictionary some of what we are unsure of or haven't figured out, and learn even more. But please don't think perfection is necessary, or even desirable. It's far more important to stay interested, keep things simple, so you will stay motivated to stick with it and keeping making progress bit by bit. Slow and steady wins the race.
Already moving pretty quickly. A brief recap of what you will have learned so far:
Day 1: Spanish is its own thing. Forget about how things are done in English; just learn how they are done in Spanish. Different language, different rules.
Day 2: Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. Learning words with their definite article (English "the"; Spanish "el" or "la") is the best way (but still not a perfect way) to remember a whether a noun is masculine or feminine. Words that use "la" are always feminine. Words that use "el" are almost always masculine.
Day 3: A, E, I, O, U, el burro sabe más que tú. (AH, EH, EE, OH, OO, ehl BOO-rroh SAH-bay MAHS kay tOO).
Day 4: "es" (ser) = "is" when describing how something is on an "ESsential" level, describing it's very "ESsence"; "está" (estar) = "is" when describing how something is as it passes through a "(E)STAge" or "(E)STAte" in space or time. Space and time, how appropriate for (E)STAR!
Day 5: More ways to say "is" depending on who you are talking about. Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están.
So already you:
• have freed your mind to learn Spanish on its own terms,
• have learned a little about the importance of masculine and feminine words,
• know the basics of Spanish vowel pronunciation,
• have been given an introduction to the differences between the two "to be"
verbs—ser and estar, and
• are aware of all the ways to say "is" (and "am" and "are") in Spanish.
Let's move on by looking at some real Spanish and focusing on how much we can figure out already (and not worrying about what we can't figure out yet):
-----
BRUSELAS, 17 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -
La Alta Representante de Política Exterior y de Seguridad Común de la UE, Catherine Ashton, ha apelado este sábado a Corea del Norte para que no realice el lanzamiento del satélite 'Kwangmyongsong-3', como ha anunciado Pyongyang, ya que supondría una violación de las resoluciones del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.
-----
This news article is reported from "Bruselas" on "17 Mar." and mentions Catherine Ashton of the European Union, so "Bruselas" would be Brussels, and the report is from March 17.
Making some educated guesses and substituting the resulting English words for the Spanish ones, the sentence might look like this (compare to the Spanish above):
The Alta Representative de Política Exterior y de Security Common de the EU, Catherine Ashton, ha appealed este sábado a Korea del North para que no realice the lanzamiento del satellite 'Kwangmyongsong-3', como ha announced Pyongyang, ya que supondría una violation de the resolutions of the Council of Security of the UN.
The important thing here is not to spend lots of time figuring out the whole thing, nor even to entirely trust our guesses, but instead to see what we can learn about Spanish from this exercise. Besides "Bruselas" = "Brussels," we can also guess (accurately) that "de" can mean "of" (and "del" and "de la" = "of the"). There also appears to be a tendency to put some related words in a different order in Spanish ("Seguridad Común" for "Common Security," "UE" for "EU," "Corea del Norte" for "North Korea," "el satélite 'Kwangmyongsong-3'" for "the 'Kwangmyongsong-3' satellite," "la ONU" [la Organización de las Naciones Unidas] for "the UN" [the United Nations]). These all happen to be nouns followed by adjectives, in Spanish, corresponding to adjectives followed by nouns in English. It is true that adjectives often follow nouns in Spanish, but it is not always true. More on that much later.
So even without being able to read this Spanish perfectly (it may take a long time for that), we can still use the Spanish we do know—and the English we already know—to make some educated guesses that allow us to add to our Spanish knowledge. And, if we are so inclined, and have extra time on a given day, we can even look up in a good dictionary some of what we are unsure of or haven't figured out, and learn even more. But please don't think perfection is necessary, or even desirable. It's far more important to stay interested, keep things simple, so you will stay motivated to stick with it and keeping making progress bit by bit. Slow and steady wins the race.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
What it IS!
Day 5: All the ways to say "is" (and "am" and "are")
On day 4, I explained a little bit about the differences between the two Spanish "to be" verbs, "ser" and "estar", and gave some examples of ways to use "es" (from ser) and "está" (from estar).
"Es" and "está" will allow you to talk about what outsiders ARE: i.e, what "he", "she", and "it" IS and what "you (outsider(s))" ARE.
What if you want to talk about what "we" are, or what "they" are, or "I" am, or "you (insider)" are? Well, then you will need to learn a little more Spanish.
This table presents, in bold text, the main personal subject pronouns of the Spanish language:
I say "main" personal subject pronouns because there is one missing here. In many countries of Latin America, the word "tú" is replaced by "vos" (which is not the same as vosotros!!!; it is the "same" as tú). If you plan to travel to Central America or Argentina, you will need to learn how to use vos instead of tú. We'll talk about vos later, but it is important to hear about it now.
Notice that there are two columns in these tables. The singular column is for when you are talking about one person or thing; the plural column is for when you are talking about more than one person or thing.
I used to struggle to explain why "you" shows up in both the second row and in the third row of these tables. The table rows are traditionally labeled "1st person", "2nd person", and "3rd person", which is what you will see everywhere else, but to me it doesn't make sense that what is strictly "2nd person" in English (the word "you") should show up as both "2nd person" and "3rd person" in Spanish! Not much fun to teach something that nonsensical, either. (I do understand the historical reasons, so don't e-mail me about those. I get it.)
I am hoping that my new classification will make more sense to you:
The first row is for talking about yourself (either alone (yo [I]), or with others (nosotros, nosotras [we])).
The second row is for talking to people who are close to you (and whom you are talking to directly) (your friend(s), your family member(s), your coworker(s), etc.)
The third row is for talking about people or things in some way not close to you, like those people or things "over there" whom you are not talking to directly (he, she, it, they) or the stranger/superior/outsider you are talking to (your boss, a client, someone much older than you).
So no longer 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, but:
I. oneself
II. insiders (when you are talking directly to them)
III. outsiders.
This next table shows the ways to "conjugate" (change) the verb "ser" depending on who or what is being described:
Pronunciations:
SOY, SOH-mohs
EH-rehs, SOYSS
EHSS, SOHN
And here is a similar table for the verb "estar":
Pronunciations:
ehs-TOY, ehs-TAH-mos
ehs-TAHSS, ehs-T"EYE"SS
ehs-TAH, ehs-TAHN
If you copy down or print out these three tables and compare them to anything written in Spanish, you should find many of these words, especially the ser and estar conjugations, almost everywhere you look.
Here are those three tables again, without all the intervening text:
On day 4, I explained a little bit about the differences between the two Spanish "to be" verbs, "ser" and "estar", and gave some examples of ways to use "es" (from ser) and "está" (from estar).
"Es" and "está" will allow you to talk about what outsiders ARE: i.e, what "he", "she", and "it" IS and what "you (outsider(s))" ARE.
What if you want to talk about what "we" are, or what "they" are, or "I" am, or "you (insider)" are? Well, then you will need to learn a little more Spanish.
This table presents, in bold text, the main personal subject pronouns of the Spanish language:
| SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ | |
| I. ONESELF | yo (I) | nosotros, nosotras (we) |
| II. INSIDERS | tú (you [e.g., friend, child, coworker]) | vosotros, vosotras (you guys, y'all) |
| III. OUTSIDERS | él (he), ella (she), usted (you [e.g., boss, stranger]) | ellos (they), ellas (they), ustedes (you guys, y'all) |
I say "main" personal subject pronouns because there is one missing here. In many countries of Latin America, the word "tú" is replaced by "vos" (which is not the same as vosotros!!!; it is the "same" as tú). If you plan to travel to Central America or Argentina, you will need to learn how to use vos instead of tú. We'll talk about vos later, but it is important to hear about it now.
Notice that there are two columns in these tables. The singular column is for when you are talking about one person or thing; the plural column is for when you are talking about more than one person or thing.
I used to struggle to explain why "you" shows up in both the second row and in the third row of these tables. The table rows are traditionally labeled "1st person", "2nd person", and "3rd person", which is what you will see everywhere else, but to me it doesn't make sense that what is strictly "2nd person" in English (the word "you") should show up as both "2nd person" and "3rd person" in Spanish! Not much fun to teach something that nonsensical, either. (I do understand the historical reasons, so don't e-mail me about those. I get it.)
I am hoping that my new classification will make more sense to you:
The first row is for talking about yourself (either alone (yo [I]), or with others (nosotros, nosotras [we])).
The second row is for talking to people who are close to you (and whom you are talking to directly) (your friend(s), your family member(s), your coworker(s), etc.)
The third row is for talking about people or things in some way not close to you, like those people or things "over there" whom you are not talking to directly (he, she, it, they) or the stranger/superior/outsider you are talking to (your boss, a client, someone much older than you).
So no longer 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, but:
I. oneself
II. insiders (when you are talking directly to them)
III. outsiders.
This next table shows the ways to "conjugate" (change) the verb "ser" depending on who or what is being described:
| SER (to be) | SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ |
| I. ONESELF | soy | somos |
| II. INSIDERS | eres | sois |
| III. OUTSIDERS | es | son |
Pronunciations:
SOY, SOH-mohs
EH-rehs, SOYSS
EHSS, SOHN
And here is a similar table for the verb "estar":
| ESTAR (to be) | SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ |
| I. ONESELF | estoy | estamos |
| II. INSIDERS | estás | estáis |
| III. OUTSIDERS | está | están |
Pronunciations:
ehs-TOY, ehs-TAH-mos
ehs-TAHSS, ehs-T"EYE"SS
ehs-TAH, ehs-TAHN
If you copy down or print out these three tables and compare them to anything written in Spanish, you should find many of these words, especially the ser and estar conjugations, almost everywhere you look.
Here are those three tables again, without all the intervening text:
| SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ | |
| I. ONESELF | yo (I) | nosotros, nosotras (we) |
| II. INSIDERS | tú (you [e.g., friend, child, coworker]) | vosotros, vosotras (you guys, y'all) |
| III. OUTSIDERS | él (he), ella (she), usted (you [e.g., boss, stranger]) | ellos (they), ellas (they), ustedes (you guys, y'all) |
| SER (to be) | SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ |
| I. ONESELF | soy | somos |
| II. INSIDERS | eres | sois |
| III. OUTSIDERS | es | son |
| ESTAR (to be) | SINGULAR = 1 | PLURAL = 2+ |
| I. ONESELF | estoy | estamos |
| II. INSIDERS | estás | estáis |
| III. OUTSIDERS | está | están |
Monday, January 2, 2012
To be or to be
Day 4: The two "to be" verbs, ser and estar
An American president once famously said, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." Maybe he studied Spanish, because that is something every Spanish speaker and Spanish language-learner has to consider almost anytime they open their mouth to speak.
In Spanish, there are two ways to say 'is':
If you are talking about how something is at the moment (some impermanent state that it is going through) or where it is, then the 'to be' verb to use is the verb 'estar' and the translation of 'is' is 'está'.
If you are talking about what something is like (some permanent or inherent characteristic of that thing), then the 'to be' verb to use is the verb 'ser' and the translation of 'is' is 'es'.
Su objetivo es alcanzar la paz.
His goal is to achieve peace.
His goal is what it is (it's not going to change), so 'es'.
Es neurocirujano.
He is a neurosurgeon.
That is what he is fundamentally, so 'es'.
El virus es similar a los virus H5N1.
The virus is similar to the H5N1 viruses.
It's similarity is not something about it that will be changing, so 'es'.
Está muy arrepentido.
He is very sorry.
This is about how he is feeling, not about a permanent personal characteristic, so 'está'.
(The distinction between permanent personal characteristics [es] and temporary feelings [está] can be demonstrated with the word 'aburrido': "Ella está aburrida" means that "She is bored" [at the moment] and "Ella es aburrida" means that "She is boring" [always].)
El caso está en un 70% resuelto.
The case is 70% solved.
That is where the case is at the moment, so 'está'. (It might be simpler to think of 'estar' [and therefore 'está'] as describing the state of something in space or in time.)
No está de ánimo para celebrar el Año Nuevo.
She is not feeling like celebrating the New Year.
Again, something changeable (her feeling), so 'está'.
Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to go find some Spanish somewhere and see how many times you can see the words 'es' or 'está'. Sometimes you might even be able to understand enough of the rest of the sentence to notice that 'es' is being used for permanent things and 'está' for things that are changeable in time or space.
While you are at it, see what other words you can understand or figure out. Sometimes just knowing English helps (even if sometimes it gets in the way). Other times, seeing words next to a picture can give you a clue.
An American president once famously said, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." Maybe he studied Spanish, because that is something every Spanish speaker and Spanish language-learner has to consider almost anytime they open their mouth to speak.
In Spanish, there are two ways to say 'is':
If you are talking about how something is at the moment (some impermanent state that it is going through) or where it is, then the 'to be' verb to use is the verb 'estar' and the translation of 'is' is 'está'.
If you are talking about what something is like (some permanent or inherent characteristic of that thing), then the 'to be' verb to use is the verb 'ser' and the translation of 'is' is 'es'.
Su objetivo es alcanzar la paz.
His goal is to achieve peace.
His goal is what it is (it's not going to change), so 'es'.
Es neurocirujano.
He is a neurosurgeon.
That is what he is fundamentally, so 'es'.
El virus es similar a los virus H5N1.
The virus is similar to the H5N1 viruses.
It's similarity is not something about it that will be changing, so 'es'.
Está muy arrepentido.
He is very sorry.
This is about how he is feeling, not about a permanent personal characteristic, so 'está'.
(The distinction between permanent personal characteristics [es] and temporary feelings [está] can be demonstrated with the word 'aburrido': "Ella está aburrida" means that "She is bored" [at the moment] and "Ella es aburrida" means that "She is boring" [always].)
El caso está en un 70% resuelto.
The case is 70% solved.
That is where the case is at the moment, so 'está'. (It might be simpler to think of 'estar' [and therefore 'está'] as describing the state of something in space or in time.)
No está de ánimo para celebrar el Año Nuevo.
She is not feeling like celebrating the New Year.
Again, something changeable (her feeling), so 'está'.
Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to go find some Spanish somewhere and see how many times you can see the words 'es' or 'está'. Sometimes you might even be able to understand enough of the rest of the sentence to notice that 'es' is being used for permanent things and 'está' for things that are changeable in time or space.
While you are at it, see what other words you can understand or figure out. Sometimes just knowing English helps (even if sometimes it gets in the way). Other times, seeing words next to a picture can give you a clue.
Friday, December 30, 2011
"There are 178 parent languages on our planet with over 1000 dialects. It's amazing we communicate at all...
Day 3: A, E, I, O, U, how to pronounce Spanish vowels
American English, or its "Midwestern" (television) dialect anyway, has about 23 vowel sounds, if I remember correctly. Spanish can be considered to have 5 vowel sounds, though a case could easily be made for a couple more.
The 5 "main" vowel sounds of Spanish are:
AH [letter a]
EH [letter e]
EE [letter i and letter y]
OH [letter o]
OO [letter u]
A common rhyme using these sounds is this one:
A, E, I, O, U [AH, EH, EE, OH, OO]
El burro sabe más que tú [ehl BOO-rroh SAH-bay MAHS kay TOO]
which means, "A, E, I, O, U, the donkey knows more than you."
It's a little confusing that the Spanish letter e is pronounced EH (like the name of our letter a) and that the Spanish letter i is pronounced EE (like the name of our letter e). I run into this sometimes when I am interpreting, and the nurse or doctor is trying to guess what the patient is spelling before I interpret the letters. The patient says "EH," and before I can interpret it as the letter e, the nurse thinks it's the letter a. Kind of annoying, but everyone is doing their best, so I just deal with it and make sure the nurse ultimately gets it right.
As you can see already, from "el burro sabe más que tú," the letter e really has two sounds, a shorter sound as in "el" [ehl] and a longer one as in "sabe" [SAH-bay]. Basically, the shorter sound appears when the e is within a syllable, and the longer one when the e is at the end of a syllable, so:
la empresa [laehm-pRAY-sah] = the business (f.)
la gente [la-HEHN-tay] = the people (f.)
There is a similar distinction to be made with shorter and longer pronunciations of the letter o, again with the shorter sound appearing within a syllable, and the longer one when the o is at the end of a syllable, but that is a much finer distinction, harder to represent phonetically, and one that you will probably be more likely to do correctly without realizing it or having to put in any extra effort. In fact, I will tend to always write the sound for o as "oh," in either position, even though there really is an ever-so-slight difference, for example, in the o sounds in:
pronto [PROHN-toh] = quickly, soon (adv.)
Basically the first o is "colored" by the n (or other consonant) that follows it in the same syllable. It's really not a big deal. The sounds are close enough to be practically identical, imho.
This is cute (and better than I could do, too):
| Languages and dialects, with this one...thing...in common: A E I O U, Sometimes Y Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! A E I O U, A E I O U, A E I O U, A E I O U, Sometimes Y!" |
American English, or its "Midwestern" (television) dialect anyway, has about 23 vowel sounds, if I remember correctly. Spanish can be considered to have 5 vowel sounds, though a case could easily be made for a couple more.
The 5 "main" vowel sounds of Spanish are:
AH [letter a]
EH [letter e]
EE [letter i and letter y]
OH [letter o]
OO [letter u]
A common rhyme using these sounds is this one:
A, E, I, O, U [AH, EH, EE, OH, OO]
El burro sabe más que tú [ehl BOO-rroh SAH-bay MAHS kay TOO]
which means, "A, E, I, O, U, the donkey knows more than you."
It's a little confusing that the Spanish letter e is pronounced EH (like the name of our letter a) and that the Spanish letter i is pronounced EE (like the name of our letter e). I run into this sometimes when I am interpreting, and the nurse or doctor is trying to guess what the patient is spelling before I interpret the letters. The patient says "EH," and before I can interpret it as the letter e, the nurse thinks it's the letter a. Kind of annoying, but everyone is doing their best, so I just deal with it and make sure the nurse ultimately gets it right.
As you can see already, from "el burro sabe más que tú," the letter e really has two sounds, a shorter sound as in "el" [ehl] and a longer one as in "sabe" [SAH-bay]. Basically, the shorter sound appears when the e is within a syllable, and the longer one when the e is at the end of a syllable, so:
la empresa [laehm-pRAY-sah] = the business (f.)
la gente [la-HEHN-tay] = the people (f.)
There is a similar distinction to be made with shorter and longer pronunciations of the letter o, again with the shorter sound appearing within a syllable, and the longer one when the o is at the end of a syllable, but that is a much finer distinction, harder to represent phonetically, and one that you will probably be more likely to do correctly without realizing it or having to put in any extra effort. In fact, I will tend to always write the sound for o as "oh," in either position, even though there really is an ever-so-slight difference, for example, in the o sounds in:
pronto [PROHN-toh] = quickly, soon (adv.)
Basically the first o is "colored" by the n (or other consonant) that follows it in the same syllable. It's really not a big deal. The sounds are close enough to be practically identical, imho.
This is cute (and better than I could do, too):
Something new. It's gonna blow your mind, blow your mind.
Day 2: Spanish nouns, masculine and feminine
Oh, let's just get this out there and over with, shall we?
In English, we are used to people being generally male or female, and to most animals being male or female, and that's biologically true regardless of what language you are speaking, really.
In Spanish, however, you can pretty much count on every noun (noun = a word that is the name of a person, place, or thing) being either masculine (male) or feminine (female). Sometimes you might even be able to make some kind of sense out of why something would be considered masculine or feminine, but more often than not there is no real rhyme or reason for it; it's just whatever gender it is, and you will do best to just try to learn it and remember it, without trying to find a logical reason for it.
It can be tempting to not worry about learning the gender of each noun, but if a noun is feminine (for example), then the Spanish word for "the" has to be feminine, and any words that describe the noun (adjectives) also have to be feminine, as well as any words that substitute for the noun (pronouns, like "it" or "that"). Trust me. If you don't bother to learn the gender of each noun, your Spanish will be very hard to understand later!
Here are some nouns, followed by "f." if they are feminine or by "m." if they are masculine. It's best to learn them with the preceding "la" (feminine "the") or "el" (usually masculine "the") as a way to remember the gender of each noun.
el hombre [ehl-OHM-bray] = the man (m.)
la mujer [lah-moo-HAIR] = the woman (f.)
el niño [ehl-NEE-nyoh] = the boy (m.)
la niña [lah-NEE-nyah] = the girl (f.)
el papá [ehl-pah-pAH] = the dad (m.)
[pronounce the "p"s more lightly than in English!]
la mamá [lah-mah-MAH] = the mom (f.)
el padre [ehl-pAH-dray] = the father (m.)
la madre [lah-MAH-dray] = the mother (f.)
el hijo [ehl-EE-hoh] = the son (m.)
la hija [laEE-hah] = the daughter (f.)
[no consonant separates the "la" and the "EE," so they are pronounced together (as one syllable)]
el hermano [ehl-ehr-MAH-noh] = the brother (m.)
la hermana [laehr-MAH-nah] = the sister (f.)
el perro [ehl-peh-RROH] = the (male) dog (m.)
la perra [lah-peh-RRAH] = the (female) dog (f.)
el gato [ehl-gAH-toh] = the (male) cat (m.)
[light pronunciation on the "g"s and "t"s, too!]
la gata [lah-gAH-tah] = the (female) cat (f.)
el amigo [ehl-ah-MEE-goh] = the (male) friend (m.)
la amiga [lah-MEE-gah] = the (female) friend (f.)
[no consonant separating "la" and "ah," so pronounced together as "lah"]
la persona [lah-per-SOH-nah] = the person (f.)
No matter whether someone is male or female, he or she is "una persona (f.)" [a person] and the word for person, in either case, is always female.
To say "the sisters," you would say "las hermanas"; "the brothers" is "los hermanos." To say brothers and sisters, you would traditionally say "los hermanos," and that is true of other nouns as well. As long as there is at least one male in the group, the plural (more than one) form used is the masculine plural form. So, your girl friends are "las amigas," your guy friends are "los amigos," and any group of your friends that has at least one guy as part of the group are "los amigos."
(There are other ways to handle this, especially if you are a Latin American politician giving a political speech, but they sound as natural and pleasant in Spanish as always saying "he or she" and "him or her" and "his or her" sounds in English. Even in writing, if you want to say "los amigos" to describe your mixed-gender group of friends and yet still be "gender inclusive," you can write it as "l@s amig@s" [which means "los amigos y las amigas"], and is similar in its effect to using "s/he" as a pronoun in English, so generally better avoided.)
Some other common words and their genders:
el animal [ehl-ah-nee-MAHL] = the animal (m.)
la planta [lah-pLAHN-tah] = the plant (f.)
el árbol [ehl-AHR-bohl] = the tree (m.)
el insecto [ehl-een-SEHK-toh] = the insect (m.)
la bacteria [lah-bahk-TEH-ryah] = the bacterium (f.)
el virus [ehl-bEE-roohs] = the virus (m.)
el cielo [ehl-SYAY-loh] = the sky (m.)
[el Cielo = Heaven (m.)]
la tierra [lah-tYEH-rrah] = the dirt, the land, the earth [i.e., "the soil"] (f.)
[la Tierra = the Earth]
la estrella [laehs-tRAY-yah] = the star (f.)
[on my pages I use the English "y" for the pronunciation of "ll," which is the Mexican way to do it; some countries pronounce the "ll" more like "zh" (like the second "g" in the English word "garage," Costa Rica [laehs-tRAY-zhah]) or "sh" (Argentina [laehs-tRAY-shah])]
el planeta [ehl-plah-NAY-tah] = the planet (m.)
[ends in "-a," but still masculine; it's a Greek word]
el cometa [ehl-koh-MAY-tah] = the comet (m.)
[another Greek word]
la cometa [lah-koh-MAY-tah] = the kite (f.)
[I'm sure there's an explanation, but I don't know it.]
el sol [ehl-SOHL] = the sun (m.)
la luna [lah-LOO-nah] = the moon (f.)
el aire [ehl-EYE-ray] = the air (m.)
el viento [ehl-bYEN-toh] = the wind (m.)
el fuego [ehl-FWAY-goh] = the fire (m.)
el agua [ehl-AH-gwah] = the water (f.)
[uses "el" only because the word begins with an accented "AH" sound, and it is not permitted to say "lah-AH," though "la-ah" (unaccented, which becomes "lah") is allowed]
las aguas [lahs-AH-gwahs] = the waters (f.)
la arena [lah-RAY-nah] = the sand (f.)
el alga [ehl-AHL-gah] = the alga (f.)
[see "agua"]
el alma [ehl-AHL-mah] = the soul (f.)
el organismo [ehl-ohr-gah-NEES-moh] = the organism, the (living) body (m.)
el hongo [ehl-OHN-goh] = the fungus (m.)
el liquen [ehl-LEE-kehn] = the lichen (m.)
[granted, not a common word, but I felt it should be mentioned once I mentioned the words for "alga" (plural = "algae") and "fungus"]
Don't be too concerned about learning all these words right away. There will be time later. Mostly I am just using them to introduce you to the concept of masculine and feminine words in Spanish, and to a few of the weird rules that make it all just a little more complicated than one might hope. There are some rules around gender in Spanish that I still don't have straight, and I deal with Spanish for a living, so if you haven't figured it all out by tomorrow, don't worry about it. Learn what you can, and then later learn some more. That's all you can do.
Something New by Vallejo, one of my favorite bands
Oh, let's just get this out there and over with, shall we?
In English, we are used to people being generally male or female, and to most animals being male or female, and that's biologically true regardless of what language you are speaking, really.
In Spanish, however, you can pretty much count on every noun (noun = a word that is the name of a person, place, or thing) being either masculine (male) or feminine (female). Sometimes you might even be able to make some kind of sense out of why something would be considered masculine or feminine, but more often than not there is no real rhyme or reason for it; it's just whatever gender it is, and you will do best to just try to learn it and remember it, without trying to find a logical reason for it.
It can be tempting to not worry about learning the gender of each noun, but if a noun is feminine (for example), then the Spanish word for "the" has to be feminine, and any words that describe the noun (adjectives) also have to be feminine, as well as any words that substitute for the noun (pronouns, like "it" or "that"). Trust me. If you don't bother to learn the gender of each noun, your Spanish will be very hard to understand later!
Here are some nouns, followed by "f." if they are feminine or by "m." if they are masculine. It's best to learn them with the preceding "la" (feminine "the") or "el" (usually masculine "the") as a way to remember the gender of each noun.
el hombre [ehl-OHM-bray] = the man (m.)
la mujer [lah-moo-HAIR] = the woman (f.)
el niño [ehl-NEE-nyoh] = the boy (m.)
la niña [lah-NEE-nyah] = the girl (f.)
el papá [ehl-pah-pAH] = the dad (m.)
[pronounce the "p"s more lightly than in English!]
la mamá [lah-mah-MAH] = the mom (f.)
el padre [ehl-pAH-dray] = the father (m.)
la madre [lah-MAH-dray] = the mother (f.)
el hijo [ehl-EE-hoh] = the son (m.)
la hija [laEE-hah] = the daughter (f.)
[no consonant separates the "la" and the "EE," so they are pronounced together (as one syllable)]
el hermano [ehl-ehr-MAH-noh] = the brother (m.)
la hermana [laehr-MAH-nah] = the sister (f.)
el perro [ehl-peh-RROH] = the (male) dog (m.)
la perra [lah-peh-RRAH] = the (female) dog (f.)
el gato [ehl-gAH-toh] = the (male) cat (m.)
[light pronunciation on the "g"s and "t"s, too!]
la gata [lah-gAH-tah] = the (female) cat (f.)
el amigo [ehl-ah-MEE-goh] = the (male) friend (m.)
la amiga [lah-MEE-gah] = the (female) friend (f.)
[no consonant separating "la" and "ah," so pronounced together as "lah"]
la persona [lah-per-SOH-nah] = the person (f.)
No matter whether someone is male or female, he or she is "una persona (f.)" [a person] and the word for person, in either case, is always female.
To say "the sisters," you would say "las hermanas"; "the brothers" is "los hermanos." To say brothers and sisters, you would traditionally say "los hermanos," and that is true of other nouns as well. As long as there is at least one male in the group, the plural (more than one) form used is the masculine plural form. So, your girl friends are "las amigas," your guy friends are "los amigos," and any group of your friends that has at least one guy as part of the group are "los amigos."
(There are other ways to handle this, especially if you are a Latin American politician giving a political speech, but they sound as natural and pleasant in Spanish as always saying "he or she" and "him or her" and "his or her" sounds in English. Even in writing, if you want to say "los amigos" to describe your mixed-gender group of friends and yet still be "gender inclusive," you can write it as "l@s amig@s" [which means "los amigos y las amigas"], and is similar in its effect to using "s/he" as a pronoun in English, so generally better avoided.)
Some other common words and their genders:
el animal [ehl-ah-nee-MAHL] = the animal (m.)
la planta [lah-pLAHN-tah] = the plant (f.)
el árbol [ehl-AHR-bohl] = the tree (m.)
el insecto [ehl-een-SEHK-toh] = the insect (m.)
la bacteria [lah-bahk-TEH-ryah] = the bacterium (f.)
el virus [ehl-bEE-roohs] = the virus (m.)
el cielo [ehl-SYAY-loh] = the sky (m.)
[el Cielo = Heaven (m.)]
la tierra [lah-tYEH-rrah] = the dirt, the land, the earth [i.e., "the soil"] (f.)
[la Tierra = the Earth]
la estrella [laehs-tRAY-yah] = the star (f.)
[on my pages I use the English "y" for the pronunciation of "ll," which is the Mexican way to do it; some countries pronounce the "ll" more like "zh" (like the second "g" in the English word "garage," Costa Rica [laehs-tRAY-zhah]) or "sh" (Argentina [laehs-tRAY-shah])]
el planeta [ehl-plah-NAY-tah] = the planet (m.)
[ends in "-a," but still masculine; it's a Greek word]
el cometa [ehl-koh-MAY-tah] = the comet (m.)
[another Greek word]
la cometa [lah-koh-MAY-tah] = the kite (f.)
[I'm sure there's an explanation, but I don't know it.]
el sol [ehl-SOHL] = the sun (m.)
la luna [lah-LOO-nah] = the moon (f.)
el aire [ehl-EYE-ray] = the air (m.)
el viento [ehl-bYEN-toh] = the wind (m.)
el fuego [ehl-FWAY-goh] = the fire (m.)
el agua [ehl-AH-gwah] = the water (f.)
[uses "el" only because the word begins with an accented "AH" sound, and it is not permitted to say "lah-AH," though "la-ah" (unaccented, which becomes "lah") is allowed]
las aguas [lahs-AH-gwahs] = the waters (f.)
la arena [lah-RAY-nah] = the sand (f.)
el alga [ehl-AHL-gah] = the alga (f.)
[see "agua"]
el alma [ehl-AHL-mah] = the soul (f.)
el organismo [ehl-ohr-gah-NEES-moh] = the organism, the (living) body (m.)
el hongo [ehl-OHN-goh] = the fungus (m.)
el liquen [ehl-LEE-kehn] = the lichen (m.)
[granted, not a common word, but I felt it should be mentioned once I mentioned the words for "alga" (plural = "algae") and "fungus"]
Don't be too concerned about learning all these words right away. There will be time later. Mostly I am just using them to introduce you to the concept of masculine and feminine words in Spanish, and to a few of the weird rules that make it all just a little more complicated than one might hope. There are some rules around gender in Spanish that I still don't have straight, and I deal with Spanish for a living, so if you haven't figured it all out by tomorrow, don't worry about it. Learn what you can, and then later learn some more. That's all you can do.
Something New by Vallejo, one of my favorite bands
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