Don't you just want 2020 to be over? Without a doubt, this year has been quite challenging, especially due to everything that has occurred as the result of the coronavirus. In fact, 2020's Spanish Word of the Year is one of the terms most associated with this awful virus. Let's reveal this year's tragic winner.
Yes, pandemia (pandemic) is 2020's Spanish Word of the Year. Do we really have to explain why? Our friend Fermin sums it all up in a very simple phrase:
Esta maldita pandemia del coronavirus.
This damn coronavirus pandemic.
Caption 5, El coronavirus - Confinamiento en España - Part 1
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It is important to say, however, that in contrast to the English word "pandemic," which can function as both an adjective and a noun, in the Spanish language, pandemia is only a noun, whereas the adjective is pandémico / pandémica.
Most of the words on this list of runners-up for 2020 Spanish Word of the Year are associated with the coronavirus pandemic. However, at the end of this list, we have also included a word (a name, actually) that represents yet another of the many sad events that have occurred this year. Let's take a look.
Hoy les voy a contar sobre mi cuarentena en casa.
Today I'm going to tell you about my quarantine at home.
Caption 4, El coronavirus - La cuarentena en Ecuador
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Los tres primeros días del confinamiento
The first three days of confinement,
tuvimos sensaciones muy extrañas.
The first three days of confinement, we felt very strange feelings.
Captions 7-8, El coronavirus - Confinamiento en España - Part 2
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The Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DLE) states that the word desinfectante is an adjective. Let's see it in action:
La segunda tarea que realizo es rellenar el gel desinfectante,
The second task I perform is refilling the sanitizing gel,
que se encuentra ubicado en tres posiciones distintas:
which is found in three different locations:
Captions 16-17, Sergio - Socorrismo y COVID-19
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However, throughout Latin America, the word desfinfectante is also used as a noun:
También recuerda ocupar desinfectante para mano,
Also remember to use hand sanitizer
que tenga por lo menos unos [sic] sesenta por ciento de alcohol.
that has at least sixty percent alcohol.
Captions 16-17, El coronavirus - Cómo protegerse
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Las medidas sanitarias que utilizo son:
The sanitary measures that I use are:
la mascarilla y desinfectarme las manos.
the mask and sanitizing my hands.
Captions 12-13, Sergio - Socorrismo y COVID-19
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Y una gran crisis a nivel sanitario, económico y social.
And a great health, economic and social crisis.
Caption 60, El coronavirus - Introducción y vocabulario
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From Kobe Bryant to Sean Connery, this year, the world has lost some of its most beloved people. In fact, the Spanish-speaking world has lost one of its most iconic figures: Diego Armando Maradona, and the death of the football/soccer superstar has been deeply felt throughout the world.
Si yo fuera Maradona, nunca me equivocaría
If I were Maradona, I would never make a mistake
Si yo fuera Maradona, perdido en cualquier lugar
If I were Maradona, lost anywhere
La vida es una tómbola de noche y de día
Life is a raffle [lottery] by night and day
La vida es una tómbola y arriba y arriba
Life is a raffle and up and up
Captions 3-6, Manu Chao - La Vida Tómbola
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That's all for today. What do you think of the Spanish Word of the Year 2020? Do you agree with this choice? Can you think of a better word? Please, feel free to share with us your comments and suggestions, and let's hope 2021 brings us less tragedy and more joy.
Despite the old saying that "Las comparaciones son odiosas" (Comparisons are odious), the truth is that they are often necessary. Whether you need to decide on a vacation destination, select a present for a loved one, or weigh the pros and cons of any situation, comparisons will be a part of your decision-making process. That said, let's learn some useful language for that purpose.
Unlike English, Spanish does not modify adjectives with the addition of suffixes (e.g. the English -er and -est) for comparative purposes. Instead, adjectives are accompanied by comparative structures to indicate equality, inequality, or difference in degree between one or more people, ideas, or things. Since there is plenty to learn on this topic, this lesson will deal with inequality, while part two will cover comparisons of equality and superlatives.
For comparisons of inequality, the word that specifies what the comparison is about will be preceded by más (more) or menos (less). One might compare qualities (adjectives), ways of doing something (adverbs), or even nouns as in the sentence: La canasta roja tiene más manzanas que la verde (The red basket has more apples than the green one). Let's take a look at some common comparative structures involving adjectives, adverbs, and nouns, and some examples of each:
La vida a esta altitud se hace más difícil que en el frondoso pinsapar.
Life at this altitude becomes more difficult than in the dense Spanish fir forest.
Caption 64, Tecnópolis - Sierra de las nieves
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Este libro es menos interesante que el otro.
This book is less interesting than the other one.
Caption 72, Karla e Isabel - Comparativos
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As you may have inferred from these examples, the comparative particle que is the equivalent of than in English. In addition, the video in our second example above introduces several comparative structures with examples and is thus worth viewing in conjunction with this lesson.
Les inyectaba hormonas para que crecieran más rápido.
She would inject them with hormones so that they would grow faster.
Caption 45, Kikirikí - Animales
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Note that, in this case, the comparative particle que is not present since the second term of the comparison is not mentioned. In addition, remember that, although the adverb rápidamente does exist, we often use rápido as an adverb as well as an adjective in the same way as the English word fast, depending upon whether it modifies a noun or a verb in a sentence.
As we saw in the introduction, this structure can also be used with nouns. In this case, it is worth mentioning that while, according to traditional English usage rules, "fewer" should be used for countable objects while "less" should be employed with singular mass nouns (i.e. salt), this distinction does not exist in Spanish. That said, menos will be used for both countable and uncountable nouns in Spanish.
Ten en cuenta que los productos en tamaño familiar,
Take into account that family-sized products,
sean de lo que sean,
whatever they are,
generan menos residuos por unidad de producto.
generate less waste per product unit.
Captions 51-53, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Since the Spanish verb tener años (literally "to have years") is used to express the idea of someone being a certain age, the expression Tengo más años que mi hermana (literally "I have more years than my sister") is equivalent to saying "I am older than my sister." The following example is similar:
Yo tengo un año menos que tú.
I am a year younger than you.
Caption 12, Clara y Cristina - Saludar
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Although the position of the noun in these examples is different, they demonstrate the additional point that prepositional object pronouns like mí and ti cannot be used in comparatives as the second object of comparison (immediately after que). For example, while in English, one can say either "My sister is younger than I am" or "My sister is younger than me," Mi hermana es más joven que mí is unacceptable in Spanish, while Mi hermana es más joven que yo is the correct way to express this.
Sometimes, the difference between the objects, people, or ideas being compared is so big or so small that formulas that include intensifiers such as mucho/muchísimo/tanto + más/menos or mitigators like un poco/poquito + más/menos can help to express this.
Y eso también lo habéis comprado más barato de lo normal.
And that also you have bought cheaper than what's normal.
Pero muchísimo más barato, ochenta por ciento más barato, una cosa así.
But way cheaper, eighty percent cheaper, something like that.
Captions 14-15, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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No es tanto más grande que yo.
She's not that much older than me.
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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De Los Cabos sí queda un poquito más lejitos,
From Los Cabos, it's a little bit further,
un poquito más de dos horas.
a little bit over two hours.
Captions 73-74, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!
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The parallel comparative structure, cuanto más + adjective/adverb, más/menos, is also useful in Spanish. The common English expression, "The sooner, the better," for example, translates as: Cuanto antes, mejor.
Cuanto más sucia, menos le[s] pagáis. -Claro.
The dirtier it is, the less you pay them. -Of course.
Caption 81, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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A few adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative forms and don't fall into the typical patterns using más/menos + adjective/adverb + que:
Adjective: buen/a (good) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adjective: mal/a (bad) Comparative: peor (worse)
Es una buena cantante (She's a good singer).
Es mejor cantante que Mariana (She is a better singer than Mariana).
Es un mal alumno (He is a bad student).
Es peor alumno que Juan (He is a worse student than Juan).
Interestingly, when the adjectives mejor/peor describe how good or bad one is at something, their forms are irregular. However, when referring to good and evil, their regular comparative forms come into play:
Es más malo que el diablo.
He is more evil than the devil.
The following adverbs, however, have only an irregular comparative:
Adverb: bien (well) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adverb: mal (badly) Comparative: peor (worse)
María canta mejor que su hermana.
María sings better than her sister.
Let's conclude with some additional examples of regular and irregular comparatives from our Yabla video library:
Tres aspirinas. -Bueno, tomá algo más fuerte que te haga mejor.
Three aspirins. -Well, take something stronger that makes you better.
Caption 61, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Mal. Peor que la semana pasada.
Bad. Worse than last week.
Caption 7, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: Subjuntivo y condicional
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That's all for this first part of our lesson on comparatives. We hope it has been clear, and don't forget to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
In the first part of this lesson, we focused on the difference in perception in English versus Spanish when it comes to expressing the concept of "liking." Although in English, the subject of a sentence (the person, place, thing, or idea who performs the action of the sentence's verb) is perceived to "perform the action" of "liking" onto the object of the sentence (the receiver of the action, or "what is being liked"), in Spanish, the opposite is true. Let's review this concept with a simple example:
Me gustan mucho las ciudades.
I really like cities.
Caption 58, Carlos y Cyndy - Uso del Voseo en Argentina
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In English, "I" is the subject and "cities" is the object because "I" am the person who performs the action of liking upon "cities." In Spanish, on the other hand, las ciudades (the cities) are the subject that are thought to "cause" the implied object "yo" (I) to like them. As this functions similarly to the English verb "to please," it is useful to keep in mind the alternative translation "Cities really please me" when thinking about this and other sentences with gustar.
Armed with this information, let's explore how to create and understand Spanish sentences with this verb. First off, how do we express in Spanish the English concept of who or what is "doing the liking"? In other words, how would one say, "I like" or "you like" or "they like," etc.? In order to do this, Spanish employs the following indirect object pronouns with the verb gustar as follows:
-(A mí) me gusta/n: I like.
-(A ti) te gusta/n: You like.
-(A él/ella/usted) le gusta/n: He/She/You like(s).
-(A nosotros/as) nos gusta/n: We like.
-(A vosotros/as) os gusta/n: You (all) like.
-(A ellos/ellas/ustedes) les gusta/n: They like/You (all) like.
Let's take a look at some examples:
Y aquí tengo una blusa que me gusta.
And I have here a blouse that I like.
Caption 6, Ana Carolina - Salir de compras
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Muy bien, ¿te gusta esa música?
Great, do you like that music?
Caption 63, Carlos y Cyndy - Comentario sobre Muñeca Brava
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A nosotras nos gustan los colores del arcoíris.
We like the colors of the rainbow.
Caption 10, Español para principiantes - Los colores
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Note that, while in the third example, A nosotras was included before nos gustan, this is completely optional, and we could have written simply, Nos gustan los colores del arcoíris (We like the colors of the rainbow) to mean exactly the same thing. In fact, all such "a phrases" (a mí, a ti, a vosotros, etc.) indicated in parentheses above serve to add emphasis but do not change the meaning of sentences with gustar.
Now that we have learned how to indicate or know who or what is "doing the liking," let's focus on how to conjugate the verb gustar, which we will do in accordance with "what is being liked." Let's revisit the previous examples, as well as their alternative translations, to better understand this:
Y aquí tengo una blusa que me gusta.
And I have here a blouse that I like.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: And I have here a blouse that pleases me
Muy bien, ¿te gusta esa música?
Great, do you like that music?
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: Great, and does that music please you?
A nosotras nos gustan los colores del arcoíris.
We like the colors of the rainbow.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: The colors of the rainbow please us.
Notice that, since "what is being liked" is the subject that performs the action in Spanish, in the aforementioned examples, we see gustar conjugated in the third person singular (gusta) in the cases where the subject is singular (esa músical"that music" and una blusa/"a blouse") and third person plural (gustan) in the cases where the subject is plural (los colores del arcoíris/"the colors of the rainbow"). Similarly, the verb "to please" is conjugated in accordance with said subjects in English.
What if, on the other hand, "what's liked" comes in the form of a verb's infinitive? In that case, the third person singular form of gustar should be utilized:
Y... aparte de... de la música, me gusta patinar.
And... apart from... from music, I like to skate.
Caption 14, Zoraida - Lo que gusta hacer
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While in all of the aforementioned examples, the verb gustar has been conjugated in either third person singular or plural, there are cases in which the subject calls for a diffrent conjugation. Let's take a look:
Me gustas.
I like you.
Porque sí.
Just because.
-Tú también me gustas mucho.
-I like you a lot too.
Captions 44-46, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: You please me. Just because. -You please me too.
Since the subject "being liked" is tú (you), gustar is conjugated in the second person singular: gustas, and the alternative translation "You please me" can again help us to grasp this construction. Let's examine a couple of additional examples:
A este chico le gusto mucho.
That guy likes me a lot.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: I please that guy a lot.
A ustedes les gustamos mucho.
You guys like us a lot.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: We please you guys a lot.
As always, the verb gustar is conjugated in agreement with the Spanish sentences' subjects: yo/"I" (in the first person singular gusto) and nosotros/"we" (in the first person plural gustamos).
Let's conclude with one final example:
Y la directora de la biblioteca me dijo
And the director of the library told me
que el texto había gustado mucho.
that [people] had liked the text a lot.
Captions 48-49, Aprendiendo con Carlos - El microrrelato
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ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: and the director of the library told me that the text had pleased [people] a lot.
Once again, gustar has been conjugated in the third person singular as había gustado (this time in the past perfect) in agreement with what is being liked: el texto (the text). However, the absence of an indirect object pronoun to specify who or what is "doing the liking" gives us the essence that the text is generally pleasing, in other words: people liked it.
We hope that these lessons have helped to shed some light on how to use/understand the verb gustar, which might initially seem daunting to English speakers. That's all for today, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions.
Do you know how to write prefixes in Spanish? In this lesson, we will share three very useful rules that you should always keep in mind when using Spanish prefixes. Let's take a look.
A prefix should always be connected to the word that follows. Let's look at an example:
¿Han visto algunos actores que tienen la piel supertersa?
Have you seen some actors who have super smooth skin?
Caption 39, María Fernanda - Mascarilla de aguacate
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In this example, you can see that the prefix super- is connected to the word tersa (smooth). For that reason, it would be incorrect to write this word with a space (super tersa) or hyphen (super-tersa).
This rule also applies when you have several prefixes before a word:
antiposmodernism (anti-postmodernism)
In this example, you have the word modernismo preceded by two prefixes (anti- and pos-).
If a prefix goes before a word that starts with a capital letter, a hyphen should be used between the prefix and the word. Let's take a look:
y que dentro tiene dos mini-DVDs,
and which inside has two miniDVDs,
Caption 6, Fiesta en Miami - This Is Not a Gallery
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Since the word "DVD" starts with a capital letter, a hyphen is necessary. Let's look at some additional examples:
anti-NAFTA (anti-NAFTA)
pro-Obama (pro-Obama)
pos-Gorbachov (post-Gorvachov)
A hyphen must also be employed if the prefix is followed by a number instead of a word:
Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 (South American U-20* Championship)
* Keep in mind that "under" is the English equivalent of the Spanish prefix sub-.
A multi-word lexical unit is a term made of two or more words. Examples include terms like pena de muerte (death penalty) and derechos humanos (human rights). If a prefix precedes a multi-word lexical unit, there must be a space between the prefix and said unit as follows:
anti pena de muerta (anti-death penalty)
pro derechos humanos (pro-human rights)
Finally, keep in mind that, sometimes, with the addition of a prefix, a word's accentuation changes. For example, by itself, the word bien (well) doesn't require a graphic accent. However, when the prefix super- is added, it automatically becomes a three-syllable word with the stress on the last syllable. And, since the word ends in "n," you will need to indicate such with a graphic accent (see lesson on palabras agudas).
Pues nada, que ha empezado el día superbién.
Well, she's started the day very well.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Un día de mala suerte
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That's all for now. We invite you to keep these three rules in mind when using prefixes in Spanish. And, don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
Elections are a fundamental part of any democracy, where citizens exercise their right to vote for leaders and decisions that shape their nation's future. This lesson explores key terms and concepts related to voting and campaigns in Spanish-speaking countries.
In presidential elections, the citizens of a country votan por (vote for) the candidate of their choice. In a referendum, however, voters will votar a favor de / en contra de (vote for or against) a particular decision.
No sé si voy a votar por Manuel u Oscar
I don't know if I am going to vote for Manuel or Oscar
en las elecciones presidenciales.
in the presidential elections.
Caption 33, Lecciones con Carolina - Conjunciones disyuntivas
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As we all know, political parties run campaigns to persuade citizens to vote for them. We also know about the promises that politicians make when están en campaña (they are campaigning).
"La mejor campaña" dijo, "es la del pueblo."
"The best campaign" he said, "is that of the people."
Caption 24, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - En campaña
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Interestingly, there is an expression with the word campaña that is not related to presidential or marketing campaigns. Ponerse en campaña means "to start working on something" or "become active."
Está todo claro. -Nos ponemos hoy mismo en campaña.
Everything is clear. -We'll start working on that today.
Caption 69, Yago - 10 Enfrentamientos
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We can find some compelling examples of electoral promises in Felipe Calderon's Campaign cuando se postulaba como presidente de México (when he was running for president of Mexico) back in 2006.
Igualdad de oportunidades para todos,
Equal opportunity for everyone,
una democracia efectiva, que le dé sentido a nuestra vida cotidiana
an effective democracy that gives meaning to our everyday lives,
y finalmente desarrollo sustentable.
and finally, sustainable development.
Captions 59-61, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Unsurprisingly, these promises are pretty much the same in each contienda electoral (presidential race) and are often expressed at debates televisados (televised debates) before the veda electoral (election silence), the period in some countries prior to the election in which it is forbidden to show any sort of political propaganda.
Pero no sólo a los PANistas,
But not only the PANistas,
como espero que sea el candidato de Acción Nacional
since I hope he'll be the candidate for Acción Nacional
en la próxima contienda presidencial de dos mil seis.
in the next presidential race in two thousand six.
Captions 71-73, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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While in some countries, voting is mandatory (sufragio obligatorio), and a fine is imposed if one does not ejercer el derecho al voto (exercise one's right to vote), in countries like the U.S. or Mexico, it is optional (sufragio voluntario), and campaigns are thus conducted to encourage people to vote. Tu Rock es votar was a commercial created to persuade young people to participate in los comicios (the elections) in Mexico's 2006 presidential race. A similar campaign, as Armando explains, also enjoyed success in the U.S.:
Y lo habían hecho funcionar muy bien, y habían inscrito a
And they had made it work very well, and they had registered
más de millón y medio de jóvenes
more than one and a half million young people
para votar en el proceso electoral norteamericano.
to vote in the American election process.
Y ayudaron a, entre muchos otros esfuerzos,
And they helped to, among many other efforts,
Captions 20-23, Tu Rock es Votar - Armando
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The ways in which we cast our votes may vary. Some countries may choose electronic voting (voto electrónico) or mail-in voting instead of the traditional ballot box (urna), leading to the saying that el futuro del país se decidirá en las urnas (the future of the country will be decided at the ballot box). And, you may be surprised to hear Argentinians and Uruguayans speak about el cuarto oscuro (literally "the dark room"). Mind you, there is no connotation of darkness or dishonesty in this expression, which is simply the name of the voting booth in those nations.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, so we should always stay informed and carefully think it through before weighing in on who will be in charge, or, as Armando puts it:
Y es elegir a quien va a tomar las riendas de este país.
And that is to choose who is going to take the reins of this country.
Caption 84, Tu Rock es Votar - Armando
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We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to vote! Oh, and leave us your comments and suggestions.
To begin this lesson, let's take a look at a caption in a Yabla video that recently baffled one our subscribers:
Obviamente, la comunicación es la esencia de este tipo de trabajos.
Obviously, communication is the essence of this type of job.
Caption 40, Negocios - La solicitud de empleo
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Spanish sentences such as this one involving "tipo de" ["type" or "types of"] tend to confuse English speakers. After all, the literal translation of this sentence would read, "Obviously, communication is the essence of this type of jobs," which doesn’t work in English since “this” is singular and “jobs” is plural. In the vast majority of similar constructions in English involving countable nouns (nouns like "leaf/leaves," "cookie/cookies," etc. that can be physically counted), there must be singular/singular or plural/plural agreement, leaving one with the choice of either "this type of job" or "these types of jobs."
However, this is not the case in Spanish since singular with plural is the most common construction, or occasionally singular with singular in the case of a single noun. Let’s look at some examples of each of these cases:
Si a todo esto añadimos otro tipo de problemas medio ambientales.
If to all this we add another kind of environmental problem.
Caption 16, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Yo sí tengo la esperanza que se reduzc'... se reduzcan este tipo de eventos, ¿no?
I do have the hope that these types of occurrences will be red'... will be reduced, right?
Caption 57, Amigos D.F. - El secuestrar
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¿Qué tipo de habitación desea?
What kind of room would you like?
Caption 10, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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Note that in the case above, habitación is considered a single noun since the gentleman being addressed is only looking for one room; hence the singular with singular construction.
In both Spanish and English, uncountable nouns (nouns like "water," "coffee," "love," etc. that cannot be counted) go in singular with tipo de (or "type(s)" or "kind(s)") of as follows:
Y digamos que conforme se va fabricando ese tipo de líquido,
And let's say that just as that type of liquid is being produced,
Caption 92, Animales en familia - La operación de Yaki
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En ellos, recibió todo tipo de apoyo de sus simpatizantes.
In them, he got all kinds of support from his followers.
Caption 35, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - Publicidad de Obrador
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To add further confusion for English speakers (sorry!), in most such cases with "partitive" (referring to part of a whole) constructions like "tipo de," the verb can be conjugated in either singular or plural! Let's take a look at a couple of examples:
En cuanto al tipo de... trabajos que me gusta ver.
In terms of the types of... projects that I like to see.
Caption 22, Álvaro - Arquitecto Español en Londres
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Note that the verb gustar is conjugated in first person in accordance with the singular noun el tipo. However, without changing the translation, it would be perfectly acceptable to instead conjugate gustar in accordance with the plural trabajos:
En cuanto al tipo de... trabajos que me gustan ver.
In terms of the types of... projects that I like to see.
Let's look at one more example:
Además, en la conjugación de los verbos,
Also, in the conjugation of verbs,
este tipo de sufijos nos indican.
these types of suffixes tell us.
Captions 35-36, Carlos explica - Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 1: Los sufijos
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While indicar is conjugated in accordace with the plural noun sufijos, it could alternatively be conjugated in accordance with the singular noun tipo:
Además, en la conjugación de los verbos,
Also, in the conjugation of verbs,
este tipo de sufijos nos indica.
these types of suffixes tell us.
Finally, it is worth noting that, in the cases of particular Spanish linking verbs like ser (to be), estar (to be), or parecer (to seem), the verb is nearly always conjugated in plural when followed by a subject complement (most simply defined as an "attribute"), as follows:
Este tipo de bicicletas están pensadas
This type of bicycle is planned
para desplazamientos cortos.
for short distances.
Captions 5-6, Raquel - Alquilar una bicicleta
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To conclude, although we have focused on tipo de for the purpose of this lesson, other "partitive constructions" like el resto de (the rest of), la mayor parte de (most of), la mayoría de (most of), etc. function the same way.
We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions.
Let's talk about the Spanish conjugation of regular verbs. In particular, let's see how to form the preterite conjugation of regular verbs ending in -ar, -er, and -ir. But first, let's review the main idea behind the preterite tense in Spanish.
In very simple terms, when we talk about the Spanish preterite tense, we are talking about the simple past, in other words, a completed action that took place at a determined point in the past. Let's look at an example from the series where our friend Carlos talks about this tense:
Ayer trabajé hasta las ocho de la noche.
Yesterday I worked until eight at night.
Caption 30, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap. 1: Perfecto simple o Indefinido
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In this example, trabajé is the preterite conjugation of the regular verb trabajar for the first-person singular yo (I). Note that the only change necessary to form the preterite in this example is removing the -ar ending of the infinitive verb and replacing it with the ending -é.
There are a couple of things we want to mention about the conjugations you will find throughout this tutorial.
1. While usted (the formal, second-person singular "you") does not appear in our conjugation lists, keep in mind that when using that pronoun, the verb is conjugated in the exact same way as verbs in the third-person singular forms with él (he) and ella (she). Let's take a look at this in action with the preterite conjugation of the verb hablar (to speak/talk):
Usted habló de Fabio Sirenio.
You talked about Fabio Sirenio.
Caption 83, Yago - 7 Encuentros - Part 14
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Entonces él habló con...
So, he spoke with...
con los pescadores y los pescadores aceptaron.
with the fishermen and the fishermen accepted.
Caption 17, Instinto de conservación - Parque Tayrona
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2. In order to offer a more simplistic verb conjugation snapshot, in this article, we only employ the masculine versions of the plural forms nosotros (we), vosotros (you), and ellos (they). That said, keep in mind that the conjugations are the same for the feminine forms nosotras, vosotras, and ellas.
3. Just like usted, ustedes (the standard second person plural "you" in Latin America and the formal second person plural in Spain) does not appear among the conjugations shared here. However, keep in mind that the conjugations of verbs with "ustedes" are the exact same as the third-person plural forms utilized with ellos and ellas (they). Let's look at an example of this with the preterite conjugation of the verb cantar (to sing):
Ustedes cantaron muy bien (You guys sang very well).
Ellos/Ellas cantaron muy bien (They sang very well).
Having said all this, let's explore the preterite conjugations of some regular verbs in Spanish.
Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the verb hablar (to speak).
Yo hablé (I spoke).
Tú hablaste (You spoke).
Él/Ella habló (He/She spoke).
Nosotros hablamos (We spoke).*
Vosotros hablasteis (You spoke).
Ellos hablaron (They spoke).
* It's important to note that because the verb conjugation for the first person plural "nosotros" (we) is the same for both the simple present and simple past tenses, the speaker's intention must be determined by context as follows:
Nosotros estudiamos mucho todos los días (We study a lot every day).
Ayer nosotros estudiamos mucho (Yesterday, we studied a lot).
Example 1.: The verb comprar (to buy)
¡Y compraste melones en vez de limones!*
And you bought melons instead of lemons!
Caption 16, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 2: Sam va de compras
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* Remember that pronouns are frequently omitted in Spanish. Thus, in the example above and without changing the meaning, one could say: "¡Y tú compraste melones en vez de limones!" However, despite the fact that the speaker does not use the pronoun here, the -aste verb ending lets the listener know that the person referred to is "tú" (you).
Example 2.: The verb escuchar (to listen/hear)
La canción que escuchamos
The song that we heard
introduce la quinta parte del primer episodio.
introduces the fifth part of the first episode.
Caption 54, Carlos comenta - Los Años Maravillosos - La década de los 80 y música
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Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the regular verb comer (to eat).
Yo comí (I ate).
Tú comiste (You ate).
Él/Ella comió (He/She ate).
Nosotros comimos (We ate).
Vosotros comisteis (You ate).
Ellos comieron (They ate).
Example 1.: The verb aprender (to learn)
...y aprendí que los pulpos pueden cambiar de color.
...and I learned that octopi can change color.
Caption 45, Guillermina y Candelario - La Señora Pulpo
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Example 2.: The verb vender (to sell)
Creo que vendimos unos quinientos dólares en unas...
I think we sold about five hundred dollars (worth) in about...
tres horas, dos horas.
three hours, two hours.
Captions 25-26, Un café con Julia - Año nuevo
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Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the verb vivir (to live).
Yo viví (I lived).
Tú viviste (You lived).
Él/Ella vivió (He/She lived).
Nosotros vivimos (We lived).
Vosotros vivisteis (You lived).
Ellos vivieron (They lived).
Example 1.: The verb escribir (to write)
¿Por qué dices eso?
Why do you say that?
Porque una vez me escribiste
Because once you wrote to me
contándome que te casabas en Nueva York.
telling me that you were getting married in New York.
Captions 61-62, Yago - 6 Mentiras - Part 5
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Example 2.: The verb abrir (to open)
Primero, Lisa Bernal abrió la herida.
First, Lisa Bernal opened the wound.
Caption 61, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 6 - Part 4
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And with this example, we have reached the end of this lesson. But before we go, a little homework for you: go ahead and choose some other regular verbs and practice the Spanish conjugation of the preterite tense. Sooner or later, you will be able to master those preterite endings! We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Do you know how to say goodbye in Spanish? Believe it or not, there are many different ways to say goodbye in Spanish.
In this lesson, we will review some of the standard terms you can use as well as other alternative ways of saying goodbye in Spanish slang. Let's take a look.
If you want to know the most standard way of saying goodbye in Spanish, adiós is your go-to term. Let's hear how to pronounce it:
Adiós. -Adiós.
Goodbye. -Goodbye.
Caption 50, Cita médica - La cita médica de Cleer
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Bueno, mucho gusto, Ana. -Mucho gusto.
Well, nice to meet you, Ana. -Nice to meet you.
Adiós. -Adiós.
Goodbye. -Goodbye.
Captions 67-68, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 3: ¿De quién es esta mochila?
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The preposition hasta (usually translated as "until" or "even" in English) is quite useful when we want to say bye to someone. While the following expressions are not as literal as adiós, people use them often when they want to say goodbye in Spanish. The idea here is, "Let's meet at some point in the future." Let's take a look:
Así que, ¡nos vemos muy pronto!
So, see you very soon!
¡Hasta luego!
See you later!
Captions 83-84, Amaya - Mi burro Pepe
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¡Adiós, amigos de Yabla, hasta pronto!
Bye, friends of Yabla, see you soon!
Caption 51, Ariana - España
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Gracias por su atención y hasta la próxima.
Thank you for your attention, and see you next time.
Hasta luego.
See you later.
Captions 74-75, Carlos explica - Las preposiciones 'por' y 'para'
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Hasta mañana, Ivo. -Chau, mi amor. -Chau.
See you tomorrow, Ivo. -Bye, my love. -Bye.
Chau, papá. -Chau.
Bye, dad. -Bye.
Captions 79-80, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Bueno, os esperamos por Madrid.
Well, we await you in Madrid.
¡Hasta la vista!
So long!
Captions 91-92, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
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Are you wondering how to say bye in Spanish in the shortest possible way? Look no further. These slang terms, taken from the standard Italian manner of saying goodbye (ciao), are the words you're looking for. Let's see how to pronounce chao and chau:
Bueno... Nos vemos en la casa, chao.
OK... See you at home, bye.
Caption 53, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 9
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...porque ahora tengo un compromiso. Claro.
...because now I have an appointment. [Is that] clear?
Chau, Andrea. -Chau.
Bye, Andrea. -Bye.
Captions 21-22, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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Ha sido un placer estar con vosotros.
It has been a pleasure being with you.
Nos vemos. Un saludo.
See you. A greeting.
Captions 34-35, Azotea Del Círculo de Bellas Artes - Andrés nos enseña una nueva perspectiva
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Sobres, cuídate.
OK, take care.
Caption 7, El Puesto de Frutas de Javier - Haciendo una ensalada de frutas
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Solamente quería saber si usted estaba vivo todavía.
I just wanted to know if you were still alive.
Suerte, Magoo.
Good luck, Magoo.
Captions 36-37, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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Since its straightforward translation is "to arrive," you might wonder if the Spanish verb llegar is worth a whole lesson. However, this is language, and we always find new meanings, uses, and/or idiomatic expressions.
That said, let's take a few minutes to analyze this verb and see a qué conclusión podemos llegar ("what conclusion we can draw" or "come to").
When we refer to a place, llegar means "to arrive."
Soñé que llegaba al colegio y estaba sin ropa.
I dreamed that I arrived at school and I was [there] with no clothes.
Caption 27, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Llegar can additonally mean to reach someone, either physically or emotionally. If someone shuts you out, no hay forma de llegar a esa persona (there's no way to reach that person). On the other hand, in the example below, the team at Biopark had not been able to physically reach the leopards.
No había forma de... de llegar a ellos.
There wasn't any way to... to get close to them.
Caption 27, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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Again with this idea of reaching, llegar can also be used with an amount or specific point in space as we see in the following examples:
Supongo que si están un poquito más chaparritos,
I guess if you're a little bit shorter,
les ha de llegar al pecho.
it should come up to your chest.
Caption 24, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!
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Podremos estar llegando
We could be reaching
a los ochocientos mil euros aproximadamente.
eight hundred thousand euros approximately.
Caption 32, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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And speaking of money, there is a Spanish idiom that includes this verb: llegar a fin de mes (literally "to make it to the end of the month"), which is the Spanish equivalent of "making ends meet."
Llegar can be used with seasons, months, or times of day as well to indicate their beginning or arrival. In this context, it often translates as "to come": Cuando llega la noche / "When night comes" or "falls."
...y lo tuvo con ella hasta que llegó la primavera.
...and had him with her until spring came.
Caption 41, Cleer - El patito feo
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Another meaning of llegar is "to achieve." It is actually a verb that collocates with éxito (success), so if you become succesful, has llegado al éxito (you've achieved success).
De las etapas por las que pasan los conjuntos
Of the stages that groups go through
en su desarrollo y a lo que pueden llegar.
in their development and what they can become.
Captions 74-75, Arturo Vega - Entrevista
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Another possible translation of llegar is "to manage to" since when you llegas a hacer algo, you've succedeed in doing it after some effort.
...de lo que yo quería como llegar a expresar, ¿sí?
...to what I wanted to, like, manage to express, right?
Caption 13, Bogotá - Fotógrafo José Segundo Quinche Pérez
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Sometimes, when llegar follows si to introduce a condition, it makes that condition a bit more remote since si llego a enterarme de algo is closer to if I happen to/manage to hear anything.
Si llega a saber cualquier cosa que suceda
If you come to find out anything that happens
entre Milagros y su hermano, hágamela saber.
between Milagros and her brother, let me know about it.
Captions 21-22, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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Si llega a pillarlos, me avisa y consigo la cámara.
If you manage to catch them, let me know and I'll get the camera.
Caption 72, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4
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As you may notice, many of the meanings of the verb llegar are comparable to those of the English verb "to get" (e.g "to reach," "to arrive," "to manage," etc.).
We hope this lesson has been clear, but si llegan a tener dudas (if you happen to have any questions), don't forget to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
¿Cómo te llevas con el español? (How do you get along in Spanish?) Wait— didn't llevar mean "to take"? Well, yes... you're right! The verb llevar often translates as "to take," and not just in phrases like "take your umbrella" or "take your children to school," but also in collocations like "to take time." And these are just a few of the uses of the verb llevar that we'll examine in this lesson. Actually, llevaría más de una lección (it would take more than one lesson) to cover all of its uses. But let's try and do our best here!
We can llevar something from one place to another and also accompany or guide someone somewhere, as in the following examples:
Tengo la posibilidad de llevar todos los días al colegio a mi hijo.
I have the chance to take my son to school every day.
Caption 53, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 18
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Le voy a llevar de compras.
I'm going to take him shopping.
Caption 7, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 2: Sam va de compras
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It is no wonder, then, that the term for "takeout food" (comida para llevar) in Spanish can be literally translated as "food for taking":
Aquí había unas comidas para llevar.
There were some takeout places here.
Caption 8, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 10
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Note that while the speaker uses the term for "takeout food" to refer to the location, it is more common to say casa de comidas para llevar to refer to a takeout restaurant. By the way, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, these places are also called rotisería.
When this idea of direction goes beyond space to express cause, llevar means something closer to the verbs "to lead" or "to drive" in English, as in the following example:
Una cosa llevó a la otra, ¿no?
One thing led to another, right?
Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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A person might llevarte a la desesperación, a la ruina o a la locura ("lead" or "drive you to despair, bankrutpcy, or madness"), or maybe you are lucky and end up being very successful, like in this Yabla video:
Muchas veces, incluso nos puede llevar al éxito profesional.
Many times, it can even lead us to professional success.
Caption 13, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Llevar also resembles "to take" when used with time, work, or effort to express that it is necessary to invest such time or effort in something. For instance, in one of our videos, María Sol explains that learning Spanish is a long process by saying that:
...de que puede llevar mucho tiempo.
...that it can take a long time.
Caption 29, GoSpanish - Entrevista con María Sol
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Yet, it can also be used to refer to the time that has gone by since the inception of something:
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas en Marbella? -En Marbella, cuarenta y un años.
How long have you been in Marbella? -In Marbella, forty-one years.
Caption 10, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 11
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Llevamos más de dos semanas sin agua.
We've been without water for more than two weeks.
Caption 24, Kikirikí - Agua
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We also use llevar to refer to the clothing or glasses we "wear," or the way we have our hair, in sentences such as Llevaba lentes (He/She was wearing glasses) or María llevaba el cabello largo (María had long hair).
...y me gusta llevar faldas normalmente.
...and I like to wear skirts usually.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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Another instance in which llevar can be translated as "to take" is when we use the expression llevar a cabo (to take place), which might also mean "to carry out" or "conduct" depending on the case/collocation.
Aquí se va a llevar a cabo el Campeonato WK.
Here, the WK Championship is going to take place.
Caption 3, Adícora, Venezuela - Víctor
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We'll often hear people inviting us to let go, relax, and enjoy the feeling of dejarse llevar (letting oneself go), another expression which incorporates this verb:
Hay que estar relajado y dejarse llevar, ¿no?
You should be relaxed and let yourself go, right?
Caption 12, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Finally, we'll can state that nos llevamos bien/mal with a person or people to describe how well or poorly we "get along with" others.
Que la puedes llevar a una... a un sitio,
That you can take her to a... to a place,
y sabes que se va a llevar bien con todo el mundo...
and you know she'll get along with everyone...
Caption 61, Biografía - Enrique Iglesias
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As you can tell, there are so many uses of llevar that se hace difícil llevar la cuenta (it's hard to keep track) of all of them. We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
In an interview appearing in the Spanish series, 75 minutos, we can hear a beautiful gypsy voice singing the following:
Me dormí pensando en ti; pensando en ti, me desperté
I fell asleep thinking about you; thinking about you, I woke up
Soñé contigo, estoy sin ti y así llevo to' mi vi'a
I dreamed about you, I am without you, and I carry on like that all my life
Captions 10-11, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Do you see that "ti" in the example above? That's a prepositional pronoun, or pronoun that follows a preposition. As prepositional pronouns may have been outshone in your studies by the complexity of object pronouns (me, te, se, le, etc.), let’s focus on them for a change.
When pronouns follow prepositions, they take on a special form in the first and second person singular, as follows:
Tú sabes que una fiesta sin mí no es una fiesta
You know that a party without me is not a party
porque yo soy el alma de las fiestas.
because I am the soul of parties.
Caption 19, Club 10 - Capítulo 1 - Part 2
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He sentido un flechazo por ti.
I felt love at first sight with you.
Caption 7, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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Note that, unlike the possessive adjective mi (e.g. Mi nombre, or "My name"), the prepositional pronoun mí has a graphic accent (tilde) whereas ti does not.
In contrast to the first and second persons, the other persons utilize the same form as the subject pronoun (él, ella, nosotros, etc.) and do not require any special form:
Es un poco estresante para nosotros.
It's a bit stressful for us.
Caption 6, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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No, estoy hablando de ella.
No, I'm talking about her.
Caption 22, Muñeca Brava - 41 La Fiesta
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O en los brazos de ella.
Or in her arms.
Caption 21, El Ausente - Acto 3 - Part 8
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The third person is the only grammatical person to employ a specific form exclusively for reflexive use: sí. Although this form does not indicate gender or number, these aspects are apparent (and the agreement with the subject achieved) with the words mismo(s) and misma(s), which often follow the prepositional pronoun sí when expressing the idea of "himself" or "herself."
Agente, Pierre Bernard no habló mucho de sí mismo.
Agent, Pierre Bernard didn't talk much about himself.
Caption 24, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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Sí can also come after the preposition entre in the third person plural to express the idea of "with each other," as follows:
Entonces, ellas son amigas entre sí, también.
So, they are friends with each other also.
Caption 48, Clase Aula Azul - Información con subjuntivo e indicativo
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However, entre can be also followed by the subject pronouns yo and tú:
Pues lo que está sucediendo
Because what's happening
es entre tú y yo
is between you and me
Captions 26-27, Vivanativa - Si tú me quieres
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Soñé contigo, estoy sin ti / I dreamed about you, I am without you
Considering the fact that pronouns do not often merge with the prepositions that preceed them, you may have wondered why conmigo, contigo and consigo are written as a single word. The fact is that the prepositional pronouns mí, ti, and sí have special forms when used with the preposition con.
Quédate conmigo
Stay with me
Caption 42, Carlos Baute y Marta Sanchez - Colgando en tus manos
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Bailar contigo y perdernos esta noche
Dancing with you and losing ourselves tonight
Caption 9, Monsieur Periné - Bailar Contigo
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Porque si no, muchas personas
Because otherwise, many people
tienen conflictos consigo mismas.
have conflicts with themselves.
Captions 2-3, Natalia de Ecuador - Los tipos de temperamento
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Some years ago, a politician in Latin America gained notoriety after saying conmigo o sinmigo, an egregious error for a native speaker of Spanish, let alone a public figure! Now that you have read this lesson, you can rest assured that contigo no tendremos ese problema (we won’t have that problem with you). We hope you liked this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Do you know how to use the preposition con (most commonly translated as "with") in Spanish? Let's explore some of the various ways of using this preposition correctly.
Like its English counterpart, the first use of the preposition con that most likely comes to mind is to introduce the concept of accompaniment by someone or something. We can find this use in the name of some of our series such as Aprendiendo con Carlos, Paseando con Karen, and also in the words of Ester from El Aula Azul:
Quédate con nosotros hoy
Stay with us today,
y aprende algo nuevo en nuestra clase.
and learn something new in our class.
Captions 4-5, Clase Aula Azul - Información con subjuntivo e indicativo
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The way con is used here is no different from the way we use "with" to describe accompaniment in English. However, it is worth mentioning that stranded prepositions (prepositions separated from their objects and often placed at the end of the sentence) do not occur in Spanish. Thus, a question like the one below must place the preposition con next to its object quién at the beginning of the sentence, as opposed to the manner in which "who" and "with" can be separated in informal English.
¿Y con quién vives en Alemania?
And who do you live with in Germany?
Caption 21, La rutina diaria - La mañana
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The preposition con can also be employed to introduce the means or tools used to do an activity or achieve something.
Hazlo primero con lápiz y después con plumón.
Do it first in pencil and then with a marker.
Caption 17, Manos a la obra - Separadores de libros: Pikachu
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Y os puedo asegurar que
And I can assure you that,
con paciencia y con disciplina se consigue todo.
with patience and discipline, one can achieve anything.
Caption 73, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Bimba
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We also use the preposition con in Spanish to introduce the way something is done or how it should be done:
¡Por acá, Guillermina, con cuidado!
Through here, Guillermina, carefully!
Caption 30, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror
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Notice that the word cuidado can also appear before con in phrases such as the following:
Cuidado con el perro.
Beware of the dog.
Or, as Karen warns us in her video:
Mucho cuidado con lo que escribes.
[Be] very careful with what you write.
Caption 38, Aprendiendo con Karen - Útiles escolares
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When the preposition con is followed by an infinitive, it can function as a gerund (the -ing form of a verb, which functions as a noun):
Con decir perdón es suficiente.
Saying you're sorry is enough.
Caption 20, Muñeca Brava - 47 Esperanzas
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Con is also the dependent preposition (preposition that depends upon or must follow a particular noun, verb, or adjective) after certain verbs such as terminar (to put an end to something), bastar (to be enough or suffice) or comparar (to compare), to name a few.
Terminar con mi noviazgo no parecía tan complicado.
Ending my relationship didn't seem so complicated.
Caption 61, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8
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Y me basta con saber que estás allí
And it's enough to know that you're there
Caption 19, Franco De Vita - Mi sueño
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A pesar de que lo... la cultura azteca también
Although the... the Aztec culture also
tenía su preciosismo no se compara con los Mayas...
had its beauty, it can't be compared to the Mayans...
Captions 46-47, Antonio Vargas - Artista - ilustración
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Finally, the preposition con can additionally introduce a phrase that stands in contrast to the following clause, taking on a meaning similar to "although" or "despite."
Esta mujer aquí donde la ve,
This woman who stands here before you,
con lo simpática que parece, es como un general.
as nice as she seems, is like a general.
Captions 62-63, Los casos de Yabla - El perrito malcriado
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That's all for this lesson. We hope it has been clear for you and you can now use this preposition con más seguridad y precisión (with greater confidence and accuracy)! And, don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions!
Most of the time, we use the word nada in Spanish as an indefinite pronoun that can be translated as either "nothing" or "anything." In this lesson, we will examine how to use this word to mean one vs. the other. Let's take a look.
Before we jump into the "nothing" vs. "anything" uses of nada, it's important to state the following: When an adjective appears next to nada, the adjective must be masculine. Let's look at a few examples:
No es nada malo, es algo natural.
It's nothing bad, it's something natural.
Caption 12, La Cocaleros - Personas y políticas
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Tenemos que devolver a la madre y esperamos
We have to return it to the mother and hope
que la madre no encuentre nada raro en su cachorro.
that the mother doesn't find anything strange with her cub.
Captions 90-91, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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Que haya jóvenes que realicen pequeños hurtos no es nada nuevo.
That there are young people who commit petty thefts is nothing new.
Caption 16, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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If nada comes after a verb, it must be expressed in a negative form with either no or some other negative element such as jamás/nunca (never) or nadie (nobody). Although such "double negatives" are incorrect in English (for example, you can't say "I don't have nothing"), in such cases in Spanish, nada becomes the positive "anything" in the English translation. Let's look at a couple of examples:
Juan no ha comido nada desde que llegó al aeropuerto.
Juan hasn't eaten anything since he arrived at the airport.
Caption 41, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap 3: Perfecto compuesto II
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No, no como nada frito.
No, I don't eat anything fried.
Caption 40, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante
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In the example above, you can see how the adjective frito is masculine (just to check whether you remember our aforementioned rule!).
Me encanta también cocinar.
I also love to cook.
Nunca me has hecho nada, ni un plato.
You have never made anything for me, not even one dish.
Captions 74-75, Cleer - Hobbies
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On the other hand, if nada goes before a verb, the verb does not need to be accompanied by a negative element. In this case, nada functions like the word "nothing" in English. Let's take a look:
Mi primo vive en una casucha en donde nada funciona bien.
My cousin lives in a "casucha" [awful house] where nothing works well.
Caption 54, Carlos explica - Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 2: Definiciones generales
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Nada me detendrá
Nothing will stop me
Caption 32, Ednita Nazario - Después De Ti
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Finally, keep in mind that when nada is used as a noun meaning "the void" or "nothingness," it is a feminine noun:
Era el frío de la nada
It was the cold of nothingness
Caption 41, Acercándonos a la Literatura - José Asunción Silva - "Nocturno III"
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Notice how in this case, the word nada is preceded by the definite female article "la."
That's all for this lesson. We invite you to keep these rules in mind, and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments.
Recently, one of our subscribers wrote into us, alarmed by the following translation:
Parece mentira
It's unbelievable
Caption 7, Café Tacuba - Mediodía
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As the literal meaning of "Parece mentira" is "It seems like a lie," he didn't understand how the translators at Yabla could have so terribly missed the mark. Long story short, translation is not always literal, and there are many occasions on which the same word, expression, or text could be translated in more than one fashion. There are many factors that come into play at the moment of translating, including idiomatic speech, differences in dialects, the format or genre of the translation, and even the audience for which it is intended.
Since much of the art of translation involves making actual choices, rather than simply translating each word literally, the audience for a translation and its intended purpose come into play. For example, someone might hire a translator to translate a legally binding contract into layperson's language if the purpose of the translation is simply for that client to be able to understand what is being said in everyday terms. On the other hand, were that same contract to be presented by a lawyer at a trial in a Spanish-speaking country, the translation would need to match the high register of the original document and contain exact equivalents of its complex legal terminology. This is further complicated by the fact that sometimes the laws of one country are so different from another's that there simply is no equivalent terminology.
On the other hand, literary translation can be quite complicated with genres like poetry or children's stories that employ rhyme. The translator is then faced with the choice between translating the literal meaning of the poem and completely losing this literary element or employing rhyme while inevitably altering the meaning (as little as possible, of course!). Again, either one of these translation styles could be legitimate, depending upon the audience for the translation and/or what the translator considers more important in terms of maintaining the essence of the original literature.
In the case of Yabla, our audience consists of language learners. As our goal is to translate in a way that facilitates language learning, we are basically left with two choices in our aforementioned example: to literally translate the phrase "Parece mentira" as "It seems like a lie," which sounds a bit awkward in English, or to translate the actual meaning of this idiomatic expression, which is indeed utilized to convey the idea that something is "unbelievable," "incredible," or "hard to believe." Over time, Yabla has transitioned from more literal translation to a style that expresses actual meaning and/or the way in which a native speaker would express him or herself whenever possible.
To illustrate a very simple example, the concept of "black and white" (movies, for example) in Spanish is expressed in reverse order as blanco y negro. While in the past, Yabla may have opted to translate this as “white and black” in order not to confuse learners (perhaps leading them to believe that Yabla's translators need to brush up on their colors!), these days, we would most likely go with the more common manner of expressing this in English. This can be seen in the following clip.
Son los vari blanco y negro.
They are the black and white ruffed lemurs.
Caption 34, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Lémures
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Of course, as this is also a proper name, the translator should always choose the real name by which something is known in the target language (in our case, English) rather than the source language (Spanish), even when the literal translation would be completely different:
Bueno, en las costa se pueden, bueno, observar pingüinos, lobos marinos.
Well, at the shore you can see penguins, sea lions (literally "sea wolves").
Caption 49, Buenos Aires - Heladería Cumelen
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Interestingly, the very same animal, the sea lion, is literally referred to as a "sea wolf" in Spanish. However, translating it in this matter would only serve to confuse English speakers, perhaps causing them to wonder whether the speaker could be referring to some alternative species (or maybe a fantastical creature!). Whenever possible, Yabla also employs brackets to indicate the literal translation in such cases.
To further demonstrate the complex nature of translation, let's examine a few additional examples:
¿Qué te parece San Sebastián, Matías?
What do you think of San Sebastian (literally, "How does San Sebastian seem to you"), Matias?
Caption 29, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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The literal translation of ¿Qué te parece San Sebastián? is "How does San Sebastian seem to you?" However, although there is nothing grammatically incorrect about that English sentence, the translator must again put him or herself in the shoes of a speaker who, for example, is inquiring about the visitor to a particular city's opinion of it. In this case, "What do you think of San Sebastian?" would be a much more common utterance. Once again, since the intention of this video is to teach Yabla students grammar, you will note that the literal translation has additionally been provided in brackets.
Let's now take a look at an example in which two completely different idioms are used to express the same idea in Spanish vs. English:
El arreglo, un ojo de la cara.
The repair, an arm and a leg (literally "an eye off my face").
Caption 19, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante - Capítulo 1
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Amusingly, to say something costs "an eye off my face" has the same meaning as the English expression, "to cost an arm and a leg," and the translator should thus choose the equivalent idiomatic expression in the target language.
Let's look at one last example:
Sí, gorda, ya lo sé.
Yes, honey, I know that already.
Caption 32, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto
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As gorda literally means "fatty," the translation "honey" might initially seem off. However, terms such as gordo/a ("fatty"), flaco/a ("skinny'), and negro/negra ("blackie") are frequently employed in many Spanish-speaking countries (regardless of whether the person actually has these physical characteristics!) as terms of endearment equivalent to such English words as "dear," "honey," or "sweetie." This additionally demonstrates how a term deemed perfectly acceptable in one country could, in another, be misunderstood at best and offensive at worst. This becomes extremely important when translating, for example, advertisements targeted at specific audiences.
That's all for today. We hope that these examples have shed some light on a few of the countless challenges and choices that translators face regularly, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions!
If you are learning Spanish, you know that the hard, rolled sound of the letter 'r' in Spanish is one of the most challenging sounds to master. In this lesson, we will review some of the rules you should keep in mind when writing that sound. Let's take a look.
When it comes to pronunciation, there are two types of 'r' sounds in Spanish: the soft, simple 'r' sound and the hard, rolled 'r' sound. Let's listen to these two sounds in the following clip from our friend, Amaya:
Viajo con mi perro, como habéis visto antes.
I travel with my dog, as you've seen before.
Pero además, lo que hago es que intento aprovechar...
But additionally, what I do is that I try to take advantage of...
Captions 16-17, Amaya - El Refugio del Burrito
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As you can see, the word perro (dog) is pronounced with the hard, rolled 'r' sound, while the word pero (but) is pronounced with the soft 'r' sound. In order to indicate the pronunciation of that rolled ‘r’ sound between two vowels, the ‘rr’ (double ‘r’) must be utilized. Let's look at some more words that follow this rule:
Tras la guerra con Napoleón.
After the war with Napoleon.
Caption 64, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
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¿Ha venido en carro?
Have you come in a car?
Caption 64, Cleer y Lida - Recepción de hotel
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Mi barrio no es muy grande.
My neighborhood is not very big.
Caption 2, El Aula Azul - Mi Barrio
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Furthermore, it is important to note that words that begin with "r" also have this hard, rolled 'r' sound despite being written with the regular (not double) 'r.' Let's listen to some examples:
Encima del río hay un puente.
Over the river there's a bridge.
Caption 20, El Aula Azul - Mi Barrio
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Se oyó un ruido atronador.
A thunderous noise was heard.
Caption 43, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica
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Miren, hablando del Rey de Roma.
Look, speak of the devil (literally "the King of Rome").
Caption 60, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 5
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An important rule of thumb is to double the regular ‘r’ to ‘rr’ in cases where an element ending in a vowel is combined with a word that begins with "r.” This occurs very often with words that are formed with prefixes. Let's look at an example:
...como es la contrarreloj y trabajos de intensidad.
...like the time trial and high intensity workouts.
Caption 20, Semilleros Escarabajos - Capítulo 1
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In the example above, we have a word that is comprised of the prefix contra- (counter-) and the noun reloj (clock). As you can see, the prefix ends in a vowel, and the noun starts with 'r'. Since we want to keep the hard 'r' sound of the word reloj, we must double the 'r', and our new word must thus be written as contrarreloj (rather than contrareloj). In summary, in order to keep the hard 'r' sound between the two vowels, the 'r' must be doubled to 'rr.'
Let's take a look at some additional words that follow this rule:
Contrarreforma (Counter-Reformation): contra- + reforma
microrrelato (flash fiction): micro- + relato
pararrayos (lightning rod): para + rayos
That's all for today. We invite you to keep these rules in mind when writing that hard, rolled 'r' sound in Spanish. And don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
In this lesson, we will learn how to describe people in Spanish using the verb ser (to be). In particular, we'll focus on five different uses of the verb ser that you can use to identify and describe people. Let's take a look.
Eh... Luis, ella es mi mamá, mamá, él es Luis.
Um... Luis, this is my mom, Mom, this is Luis.
Y ella es mi abuela Carmen.
And this is my Grandma Carmen.
Captions 18-19, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4
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It's worth mentioning that the example above shows a very common way to introduce people in Spanish.
Es un hombre que se dedica a lo que yo hago.
He's a man who devotes himself to what I do.
Caption 61, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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Paul es estadounidense, de los Estados Unidos.
Paul is American, from the United States.
Caption 16, Carlos explica - Geografía y gentilicios
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Mi padre es arquitecto
My father is an architect
Caption 25, Leif - El Arquitecto Español y su Arte
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In particular, when we refer to essential traits, such as height, weight, and physical appearance.
Es bajo, es gordo.
He's short, he's fat.
Caption 33, El Aula Azul - Mis Primos
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Alguien que es delgado tiene poco peso.
Someone who is skinny doesn't weigh much.
Captions 32-33, Lecciones con Carolina - Adjetivos - Descripción de personas - Físico
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Carolina tiene treinta y cinco años
Carolina is thirty-five years old
pero parece que tiene veinte.
but she looks like she is twenty.
Es muy guapa.
She's very pretty.
Captions 2-4, El Aula Azul - Mis Primos
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Ellos son muy majos. Mi prima Marta es muy simpática.
They are very nice. My cousin Marta is very nice.
Caption 8, El Aula Azul - Mi familia
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Ricardo es muy... es muy tranquilo, ¿viste?
Ricardo is very... he's very calm, you know?
Caption 84, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro
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Porque mi mamá es una persona muy difícil.
Because my mom is a very difficult person.
-Eso a mí no me importa.
-That doesn't matter to me.
Caption 20, Yago - 10 Enfrentamientos
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That's it for today. Can you describe someone you know using the verb ser? We invite you to try it out and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Generally speaking, we use the present indicative in Spanish to talk about actions that are taking place at the moment (now). However, that's not the only use of it. Let's take a look at the following list so you can understand how to use the present indicative in Spanish.
Actions that are taking place right at the moment (now):
¿Dónde están las chicas?
Where are the girls?
¿Las chicas? -Ajá.
The girls? -Uh-huh.
Lola y Ana. -Uh...
Lola and Ana. -Uh...
Lola y Ana viven aquí.
Lola and Ana live here.
Captions 26-29, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam
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In the above sentence, you can see how the verbs estar (to be) and vivir (to live) are conjugated in the present indicative for the third person plural (las chicas/Lola y Ana/ellas... están/viven).
You can also talk about actions that take place over time:
Trabajo en un colegio.
I work at a school.
Soy maestra de música y de ciencias.
I'm a music and science teacher.
Captions 6-7, Ariana - Mi Casa
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In this example, you can see the verbs trabajar (to work) and ser (to be) conjugated in the present indicative for the first person singular (yo trabajo/soy).
IMPORTANT! Remember that in Spanish it is very common to drop the pronouns from the sentences. As you can see in the sentence above, Ariana doesn't say "yo trabajo" but rather only "trabajo".
En agosto, vamos a la playa.
In August, we go to the beach.
En septiembre, empieza el otoño.
In September, the fall begins.
Captions 21-22, El Aula Azul - Estaciones y Meses
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In the example above, we can see the present indicative of the verb ir (to go) in the first person plural (nosotros vamos) and the present indicative of the verb empezar (to begin) in the third person singular (el otoño empieza).
La Laguna de San Pablo está a los pies del imponente
The San Pablo Lagoon is at the foot of the imposing
Volcán Imbabura.
Imbabura Volcano.
Caption 13, Otavalo - Un día en la ciudad de los lagos
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In the example above, Natalia uses the present indicative of the verb estar for the third person singular (está) to state a fact.
You can talk about daily activities and habitual actions using the present indicative:
De lunes a viernes, me levanto a las siete de la mañana.
From Monday to Friday, I get up at seven in the morning.
Caption 2, GoSpanish - La rutina diaria de Sol
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In the above clip, you can see how Sol uses the present indicative of the verb levantarse (yo me levanto) to express one of her habitual actions.
Dante y Mika vienen todos los días a trabajar conmigo
Dante and Mika come work with me every day
aquí al Refugio del Burrito.
here at the Little Donkey Shelter.
Caption 62, Rosa - La perrita Mika
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Similarly, Rosa uses the present indicative of the verb venir (to come) to describe something habitual. In this case, the verb is conjugated in the third person plural (Dante y Mika/ellos... vienen).
Did you know that the present indicative can be used for things happening in the near future? Let's see some examples.
Le prometo que termino de morfar y... y salgo a laburar. Va a ver.
I promise you that I'll finish eating and... and go out to work. You'll see.
Caption 63, Yago - 8 Descubrimiento
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In this sentence, the speaker is using the present indicative of the verb salir (to go out) in order to express an action that will take place in the near future. Once he's done with his lunch, he will go out to work. The verb is conjugated in the first person singular (yo salgo).
Bueno, pues entonces, no hay que pensarlo más.
OK, well then, we don't have to think about it anymore.
Mañana hablamos con el jefe y desde la oficina
Tomorrow we'll talk to the boss and from the office
Captions 11-12, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 2
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In the previous example, you can fully appreciate how the present indicative of the verb hablar (to talk) is used to indicate an action that will take place tomorrow! This may be a bit weird for English speakers but it is a very common formula used by Spanish speakers. The verb is conjugated in the first person plural (nosotros hablamos).
Finally, it is worth mentioning that in journalism and the academic field, some people like to use the present indicative when referring to historical facts. Let's see the following example:
El Imperio romano cae en el año 476
The Roman Empire falls in the year 476
And that's it for today. We hope this lesson helped you to understand how to use the present indicative in Spanish. And don't forget to send us your comments and questions.
Do you know how to say "those" or "that" in Spanish? Let's explore Spanish demonstrative adjectives. However, before doing that, let's start this lesson with an important definition.
Adjectives describe and modify nouns. We use demonstrative adjectives to determine which person or object, for example, we are referring to, taking its distance with respect to the speaker and/or listener into account. Let's first review our options in English:
- Near the speaker: "this" and "these."
- Near the listener OR far from both the speaker and the listener: "that" and "those."
While there are only four demonstrative adjectives in English, you will notice that there are many more in Spanish (twelve to be exact!). Why is that? One reason is that, because nouns in Spanish have a gender, demonstrative adjectives in Spanish are not only singular and plural but masculine and feminine as well.
In addition, Spanish has two different sets of demonstrative adjectives to differentiate between nouns that are close to the listener vs. nouns that are far from both the speaker and listener (roughly corresponding to the English concept of "over there" rather than just "there").
Let's take a closer look at the demonstrative adjectives in Spanish, using M to indicate "masculine" and F to indicate "feminine":
- Near the speaker: "this" (M: este, F: esta) and "these" (M: estos, F: estas).
- Near the listener: "that" (M: ese, F: esa) and "those" (M: esos, F: esas).
- Far from both the speaker and the listener: "that" (over there) (M: aquel, F: aquella) and "those" (over there) (M: aquellos, F: aquellas).
It is worth noting that, in addition to indicating further physical distance, aquel/aquella/aquellos/aquellas can also refer to metaphorical distance such as dates or events in the future or past.
Now that we know the demonstrative adjectives in Spanish, it's time to look at some examples. Let's watch and listen to the following clips:
Me gusta mucho este parque.
I really like this park.
Caption 9, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.
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Esta mochila es de Lucas.
This backpack is Lucas'.
Caption 59, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 3: ¿De quién es esta mochila?
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En la noche, utilizaremos estos vasos bajos para servir licor.
At night, we'll use these short glasses to serve liquor.
Caption 20, Ana Carolina - El comedor
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Estas cintas son las que estamos sacando recientemente;
These ribbons are the ones that we are coming out with recently;
son nuevos diseños.
they are new designs.
Caption 19, Comercio - Camisas tradicionales
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Oiga y ese carro, esa belleza ¿de dónde la sacó, hermano, ah?
Hey and that car, that beauty, where did you get it, brother, huh?
Caption 43, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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¿Y esos otros tatuajes que tienes aquí, de qué son?
And those other tattoos you have here, what are they of?
Caption 67, Adícora, Venezuela - El tatuaje de Rosana
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Mire, Rubio, yo necesito que usted
Look, Rubio, I need you
le ponga vigilancia inmediata a esas dos mujeres, hermano.
to put those two women under immediate surveillance, brother.
Caption 52, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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La terminación del piso sería, en el futuro, de roca...
The last part of the floor would be, in the future, made out of rock...
de roca rústrica [sic] a propósito traída de aquel cerro que está allá.
out of rustic rock brought specifically from that hill over there.
Captions 22-23, Edificio en Construcción - Hablando con los trabajadores
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Esas cifras ya nos dicen
Those numbers tell us
que aquellas civilizaciones prehistóricas
that those prehistoric civilizations
ya sabían mucho de cálculo.
already knew a lot about calculus.
Captions 27-29, Rosa - Los dólmenes de Antequera
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Sería, "Aquellos coches son de mi padre"
Would be, "Those cars are my father's"
o "Aquellas casas son de mi madre".
or "Those houses are my mother's."
Captions 35-36, Lecciones con Carolina - Adjetivos demostrativos
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Keep in mind, however, that in less formal Spanish, we tend to use ese, esa, esos, and esas much more than aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas.
That's all for today. Although there are many more demonstrative adjectives in Spanish than in English, learning to use them is relatively simple. We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!