Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Learn Spanish- How to Greet Someone in Spanish- Basic Conversation
Learn Spanish-How to Greet Someone in Spanish- Basic Informal Conversation
¡Hola! Learn Spanish! In this video we are going to talk about how to greet someone using a basic informal conversation.
Hola (Hello, hi)
¿Cómo estás tú? (How are you?)
¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)
¡Tanto tiempo sin verte! (Long time no see!)
An informal way to greet would be:
¿Cómo estás tú?(How are you?)
But if you want to greet an older person or someone you do
not know you use:
¿Cómo está usted? (How are you?)
So, you use the usted-form for formal and the tu-form for
the informal (friends, young teens, children, pets, people
you know well).
¿Cómo está usted? for adults, people you do not know.
Other greetings are:
Buenos días (Good morning)
Buenas tardes (Good afternoon)
Buenas noches (Good night)
NOTICE: that buenos días is the only one that has an _O in
buenos. That is because días is a masculine word
therefore, it needs an adjective to be masculine
and in this case it is" buenos".
Buenas tardes and buenas noches are both
feminine.
So, do not write buenos tardes or buenos noches
You need to match the adjective that describe the
word in this case:
Buenos días (masculine with masculine)
Buenas tardes (feminine with feminine)
Buenas noches (feminine with feminine)
So , short encounter:
Hay dos personas (There are two people)
Se encuentran en la plaza central. (They find each other at
the main plaza.)
Se llaman Sr. Lopez y Sra. García. (They are named Mr.
Lopez and Mrs. García.)
Mr. Lopez greets Mrs. García:
- Buenas tardes. ¿Cómo está usted?
She answers:
-Buenas, muy bien, gracias , ¿Y usted?
-Bien gracias. ¡Tanto tiempo sin verle!
-Sí estoy bien ocupada con mis nietos.(Yes, I'm very busy
with my
grandchildren.)
-Entiendo. ¡Hasta otro día!
Other ways to greet informally:
¿Qué tal? (How are you doing?)
The answer could be:
más o menos (more or less)
bien (well)
muy bien (very well)
mal (bad)
Small quiz at the end of the video
Thanks for watching!
Remember to subscribe!
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Learn Spanish-10 Rules to Help Know When a Noun is Masculine or Feminine-10 Reglas para Saber Cuando un Nombre es Masculino o Femenino
Learn Spanish-10 Rules to Help Know When a Noun is Masculine or Feminine-10 Reglas para Saber Cuando un Nombre es Masculino o Femenino
As we have been learning Spanish; we noticed that: Nouns Have Gender!!
So, What are nouns?
Nouns (un sustantivo) is a word that is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
English: male beings, female beings, or neuter things
male: man, grandfather, boy
Female: woman, grandmother, girl
Neuter: tree, yard, love
In Spanish, all nouns have gender. Even adjectives and numbers have gender as they describe the noun.
Masculine (for male)
|
Feminine (for female)
|
| El niño (boy) | La niña (girl) |
| El hombre (man) | La mujer (woman) |
| El maestro (teacher) | La maestra (teacher) |
| El papá (dad) | La mamá (mom) |
What about? Carro (car) flor (flower)
Are you confused yet?
We all have been taught that if a word ends in -o is masculine and in -a is feminine.
So, What happens when a word does not end in -o or -a?
We use:
Masculine: -L, -O, -N, -E, -R, -S and -Ma, -ta as in el mapa
Feminine: -A, -D, -ÓN, -Z, -IS, -IE, -UMBRE as in el agua (el instead of la as not to have two a+a)
10 Rules to Help Know When a Noun is Masculine or Feminine
Rule One: If a noun ends in -o, it's probably masculine
el libro, el huevo, el carro, el barco, el juego, el bolígrafo, el diccionatio, el escritorio, etc.
Exceptions: la mano, la fotografía, la radio ( some places it is a masculine word to refer to the electronic device)
Rule two: If a noun ends in -a, it's probably feminine.
La casa, la boca, la camisa, la ventana, la librería, la piscina, la oficina, la cartera, la alerta
Exceptions:el día, el mediodía, el sofá, el tranvía, el alerta. Greek origin words ending in :-ma, -ta and -pa are masculine: el idioma, el poema, el problema, el planeta, el mapa
The words are feminine but use”el” and “un since the emphasis is on the first syllable when is an “a” (as not to have a+a=la agua)
el agua, el águila, el área, el hacha (h is silent), el alma, el hada
When plural, these words use las and unas: las aguas, unas almas.
Use the feminine form of the adjective if there is one: El agua está fría. (The water is cold)
Rule Three: If a noun ends in -D, it's probably feminine
la libertad, la universidad, la ciudad, la verdad, la felicidad, la pared, la red, la sed, etc
Exceptions: el ataúd, el césped, el ardid
Rule Four: If a noun ends in -E, it's probably masculine or feminine
Masculine: el café, el tomate, el restaurante, el coche, el baile, el traje, el parque, el estante, el pie
Feminine: la carne, la noche, la gente, la leche, la calle, la sangre, la clase
Nouns ending in -aje and in -ambre might be masculine:
-aje: el equipaje, el paisaje, el viaje, el aterrizaje
-ambre: el calambre, el pelambre, el alambre, el enjambre
Exceptions: el hambre (h is silent like in agua and águila)
Tengo mucha hambre.
La pelambre, la raigambre
Nouns ending in -ie, -nte and -umbre will probably be feminine
la serie, la cumbre, la corriente, la fuente, la costumbre la incertidumbre, la superficie,etc
Exceptions: el diente, el puente,etc
Rule Five: If a noun ends in -L, it's probably masculine
el papel, e; árbol, el animal, el hospital, el material, el metal, el hotel
Exceptions: la sal, la piel, la cárcel, la miel, la vocal
Rule Six: If a noun ends in -N, it's probably masculine
el pan, el examen, el camión, el almacén, el capitán, el catalán el cinturón, el botón, etc
Exceptions: la imagen, la orden, la razón, la sartén (In many places of the Americas &
Spain it's used as masculine – el sartén)
If a noun ends in -ion, it's probably going to be feminine
la reunión, la televisión, la opinión, la nación, la acción, la canción, la religión,etc
Exceptions: el camión, el avión, el bastión, el escorpión
Rule Seven:If a noun ends in -R, it's probably masculine
el amor, el dolor, el sudor, el color, el calor, el valor, el rigor, el pulgar, el error, el mar,etc
Exceptions: la labor,la flor, la mar (Mariner language and poetry)
Rule Eight: If a noun ends in -S, it's probably masculine
el lunes,el viernes, el mes, el análisis, el gis (Mexico), el país, el inglés, el estrés, etc
Exceptions: la tos, la diabetes la mies, la res
Nouns ending in -sis will be feminine: la crisis, la dosis, la tesis,etc
Nouns ending in -itis will be feminine: la apendicitis, la artriris, la hepatitis, etc
Rule Nine: If a noun ends in -Z, it's probably feminine
la vez, la cruz, la luz, la paz, la voz, la nariz, la vejez, la nuez, la lucidez
Exceptions: el lapiz, el arroz, el pez, el matiz, el haz
Rule Ten: if a noun ends in vowel with an accent on it, it's probably masculine
el café, el té, el champú, el rubí, el tabú
Other nouns will change meaning depending on if they are masculine or feminine
masculine | feminine |
El capital (capital money)
|
La capital (city)
|
El cura (priest)
|
La cura (cure)
|
El coma (coma)
|
La coma (comma)
|
El papa (pope)
|
La papa (potato)
|
El corte (cut)
|
La corte (court)
|
El frente (front)
|
La frente (forehead)
|
El cometa (comet)
|
La cometa (kite)
|
El mañana (tomorrow)
|
La mañana (morning)
|
El parte (message,report)
|
La parte (part, portion)
|
El pendiente (erring)
|
La pendiente (hill or slope)
|
El orden (order, arrangement)
|
La orden (order, command)
|
El pez (fish)
|
La pez (tar)
|
Animals show their gender in their names:
Masculine | Feminine |
El perro (dog)
|
La perra
|
El caballo (horse)
|
La yegua
|
El gato (cat)
|
La gata
|
El gallo (rooster)
|
La gallina (hen)
|
El toro (bull)
|
La vaca (cow)
|
El pato (duck)
|
La pata
|
El león (lion)
|
La leona (lioness)
|
El venado (deer- buck)
|
La venada (deer-doe)
|
Other animals are either masculine or feminine by default and you have to specify “macho” or “hembra”
Masculine | Feminine |
El tiburón
|
La rana (la rana macho to specify male frog)
|
El gusano
|
La abeja
|
El gorila
|
La jirafa
|
El pez
|
La serpiente
|
El sapo (not masculine of rana)
|
La mariposa
|
El rinoceronte
|
La ardilla
|
El chimpacé
|
La ballena
|
El canguro
|
La araña
|
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Learn Spanish- Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación de la Letra C
Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación de la LetraC
Learn
Spanish- Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación
de la Letra C
Even
though, Spanish seems easy to pronounce. Remember that there is not
an exact match with the letter and its sounds. Therefore some letters
are pronounced differently depending on the vowel that is located
after. This is the case of the letter C.
The
letter C has two different sounds, but also where you say it.
The first sound, it is found mainly in Spain there is a sound /θ/ like in cesta /ˈθesta /.
In the Americas, we use the sound /s/in its place. One can say that it is a minor phoneme in the Spanish Language; even though, in Spain can be differentiated thanks to the pairing of like concejo /konˈθexo / and consejo /konˈsexo / or caza /ˈkaθa / and casa /ˈkasa /.
The first sound, it is found mainly in Spain there is a sound /θ/ like in cesta /ˈθesta /.
In the Americas, we use the sound /s/in its place. One can say that it is a minor phoneme in the Spanish Language; even though, in Spain can be differentiated thanks to the pairing of like concejo /konˈθexo / and consejo /konˈsexo / or caza /ˈkaθa / and casa /ˈkasa /.
Remember
than in the Americas it would be: concejo/konˈsexo / and consejo
/konˈsexo/ or caza /ˈkasa / and casa /ˈkasa/.
The
second sound would be the /k/ sound when followed by certain vowels.
It would be like concejo /konˈθexo / and consejo /konˈsexo
/ or caza /ˈkaθa / and casa /ˈkasa /.
In
Spain, the letter Cc (ce) has two phonemes. One that sounds /θ/
c+e and c+i. Cerilla /θeˈɾiʎa / and
cielo
/θjelo /.
The
other phoneme is /k/ when c+a, c+o, c+u /ka/ /ko/ and /ku/
The
phoneme /ka/ as in casa; /ko/ as in coche and /ku/ as in cubo.
When
the letter c is followed by the letter l or r (cl) (cr), it has the
same phoneme sound /k/ as in clase
and cráneo. When the letter c is at the end of the word, it also has
the sound of /k/ as in bloc.
In
the Americas, the letter Cc (ce) has a phoneme /s/ instead of the
phoneme /θ/.We would say:
cerilla/seˈɾiʎa
/ and cielo/ˈsjelo /.
Like in Spain, also have the /k/ sound with
the phoneme /k/
when
the c is paired with c+a c+o c+u ca/ka/ co/ko/ cu/ku/. Also when it
is paired with the l and r as in
casa, coche, cubo, clase, cráneo, and when placed at the end of the
word bloc.
So,
let's practice- vamos a practicar.
In
the Spanish pronunciation:
cebolla
/θeˈβoʎa /; in the Americas cebolla /seˈβoʎa /
cena
/ˈθena / /ˈsena /
cine
/ ˈθine/ / ˈsine/
cierto
/ ˈθierto/ / ˈsierto/
cama/ˈkama)
cochino(koˈʧino)
cuello(ˈkweʎo)
clima(ˈklima)
crema(ˈkɾema
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Learn Spanish- When to Use Qué and Cuál-Cuando Usar Qué y Cuál
Learn Spanish- When to Use Qué and Cuál
Cuando Usar Qué y Cuál
In this video, we will learn few rules to help us decide when to use qué and cuál.
Qué and cuál are words that can be confusing to people
learning Spanish, because they both are often translated as
the same words into English.
The two words, when they have accents, are used as
pronouns in questions to mean "what" or "which." They can
stand for either feminine or masculine objects as well as
ideas or concepts.
Without accents, they normally aren't used in questions and
most often are connecting words or, as they are called,
relative pronouns, translated "which" or "that."
Isn't qué "what" and cuál "which" ?
Not always. In Spanish there are guidelines to help choose
when to use qué or cuál. When to Use Qué: "What?"
- Qué is used when asking for definitions, explanations
¿Qué es una ciudad?( What is a city?)
¿Qué hace un presidente? (What does a president do?)
¿Qué significa "parapet"?( What does "parapet" mean?)
2. Qué is used before a noun:
¿Qué libro estás leyendo? (Which book are you reading?
¿Qué carro prefieres? (Which car do you prefer?)
3. Qué is used before a noun: "What" "What a"
¡Qué casa tan fea! (What an ugly house!)
4. Qué is used to choose between items of different groups.
¿Qué compramos, un disco o un libro?
(What do you buy a CD or a book?)
5. Qué is used before adjectives "How!"
¡Qué hermosa es tu bebé! (How beautiful is your baby girl!)
¿Cuál muchacha? (What [which] young woman?
¿Cuál casa es la tuya? (Which [what] house is yours?)
¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)
¡Qué lástima! What a shame!
¡Qué hermoso! ( How beautiful!)
¡Qué día más horrible! (What a horrible day!)
¡Qué susto! (What a fright! )
¡Qué bonito! (How pretty!)
¿Qué tanto? (How much?)
¿Y qué? ¿Y a mí qué? (So what?)
¿Para qué? ¿Por qué? ( Why?)
¿Cuál?
1. Cuál usually is used before es and other forms of ser when not seeking a definition:
¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? (What is your phone number?)
¿Cuáles son las ciudades más grandes?
(What are the biggest cities?)
2. Cuál is used for more than one choice:
¿Cuál miras? (Which one are you looking at?)
But, ¿Qué miras? (What are you looking at?)
¿Cuál prefieres? (Which one do you prefer?)
But, ¿Qué prefieres? (What do you prefer?)
¿Cuál es el más caro? (Which is the most expensive?)
¿Cuales?
Is the plural of ¿Cuál?
The answer to this question is plural.
¿Cuales son tus películas favoritas?
(Which are your favorite movies?)
¿Cuál(es)?
Is not used as an adjective by all Spanish speakers.
¿Cuál de los dos libros quieres?
(Which of the two books do you want?
But, ¿Qué libro quieres?
(Which [what] book do you want?)
Cuales and Qué
¿Cuáles quieres? (Which ones do you want?)
But, ¿Qué quieres? (What do you want?)
Now, choose between ¿Qué? o ¿Cuál?
(Watch video for answers)
¿________te gusta hacer en el invierno?
¿________de los dos prefieres, un CD o un disco?
¿________es tu color favorito?
¿________quieres hacer esta noche?
¿________son tus zapatos, los negros, los rojos o los blancos?
¿________es un chupacabra?
¿________carro te gusta más?
¿________coche te gusta más?
Note: In Latin American Spanish, you might hear:
¿Cuál carro te gusta más? or ¿Cuál coche te gusta más?
Car: carro, automóvil,vehículo, coche
Spain: coche
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Learn Spanish- The Verbs That End In -AR – Los Verbos Que Terminan en -AR
Present Tense of -ar Verbs ( Los Verbos -ar en el Presente)
Mini-dialogue in a party for us: the foreign students.
Oscar: ¿No desean ustedes bailar?
(Don't you want to dance?)
Julio: ¡Cómo no! Yo bailo con Luisa. Ella habla inglés.
(Of Course! I'll dance with Luisa. She speaks English.)
Marta: Yo hablo francés y bailo con Robert.
(I speak French and dance with Robert.)
Oscar: Y yo bailo con Nancy.
(And I dance with Nancy.)
Nancy: Sólo si pagas las bebidas. ¡Bailas muy mal!
(Only if you buy (pay for) the drinks! You dance very badly!)
Who made or might have made the following statements?
Yo bailo con Robert. (I dance with Robert.) ___________________
Yo hablo inglés. (I speak English.) __________________
Yo hablo alemán. (I speak German.) ________________
As you can see, there were a few -ar verbs in this mini-dialogue:
bailar (to dance)
hablar (to speak)
pagar (to pay[for])
Before we begin:
What is a verb?
A verb (un verbo) is a word that tells of an action or state of being.
The house is in Miami.
We run.
The infinitive (El Infinitivo)
Is a verb that has not been changed.
An infinitive verb cannot tell us who
or what does something or when it is done.
In English: the infinitive is translated to:
to dance, to pay [for], to speak.
In Spanish: all infinitives end in:
-ar, -er, or -ir. The regular -ar verbs are the
largest group of verbs in Spanish.
Hablar (to speak)
Singular Plural
yo hablo nosotros hablamos
tú hablas nosotras hablamos
usted (Ud.) habla vosotros habláis
él habla vosotras habláis
ella habla ustedes (Uds.) hablan
ellos hablan
ellas hablan
Did you noticed what happened to the endings of the verb “hablar” (to speak)?
Hablar habl-
-o
-as
-a
-amos
-áis
-an
Some important -ar verbs:
bailar (to dance) enseñar (to teach)
buscar (to look for) escuchar (to listen [to])
cantar (to sing) nadar (to swim)
comprar (to buy) practicar (to practice)
ayudar ( to help) regresar (to return)
estudiar (to study) tomar (to take, to drink)
cocinar (to cook) trabajar (to work)
dibujar (to draw) tocar ( to play)
In Spanish the word “for” is included in the verbs like:
pagar (to pay for)
buscar (to look for)
When two verbs are used one after the other, the second verb is in the infinitive form:
Necesito trabajar (I need to work)
Desean bailar también. (They want to dance too.)
In English, we need to use the subject or personal pronouns.
However, in Spanish, they are not required.
We might use them for clarification, emphasis, or contrast.
1.Clarification: When the context does not make the subject clear:
usted/ella/él habla.
2. Contrast: Subject pronouns are used to contrast two individuals or group:
Ellos hablan mucho; nosotros hablamos poco.
(They talk a lot; we talk a little.)
3. Emphasis:
Subject pronouns are used to emphized the subject when in English
you would stress it with your voice:
Yo hablo bien. ( I speak
well)
Negation:
A Spanish sentence is made negative by placing the word “no” before the conjugated verb. No equivalent for the English words “do” or “does” in negative sentences exists.
El señor no habla inglés. (The man does not speak English.)
No, no necesitamos dinero. (No, we do not need money.)
¡Hasta luego! See you later!
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