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Yabla's Top 10 Verbs Like Gustar

The focus of today's lesson will be "verbs like gustar." But... what is gustar like?! 

 

The Verb Gustar 

The Spanish verb  gustar describes the concept of "liking" someone or something. In contrast to English, where we'd say "We" (the subject) "like cheese" (the object), in Spanish, whatever "we like" becomes the subject that projects the action "onto us." This is similar to how the English verb "to please" functions, e.g., "Cheese pleases us," where "the cheese" carries out the action of "pleasing" (us). For an in-depth exploration of this topic, we recommend this two-part lesson on Gustar vs. "To Like": A Difference in Perception. In the meantime, we'll give you a few tips regarding conjugating the verb gustar and verbs that act in a similar fashion. 

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1. An indirect object pronoun (me (to me), te (to you), le (to him/her/formal "you"), nos (to us), os (informal plural "to you"), and les ("to them" or plural "to you")) is used to indicate who is "being pleased," or, in English, the person who "likes" someone or something. 

 

2. Regardless of tense, the verb gustar is conjugated in accordance with the Spanish subject (what is "being liked" or "pleasing").

 

3. If the subject is a noun, the definite article is used (el, la, los, las, which mean "the").

 

4. Optionally, a phrase with a (to) + a prepositional pronoun ( (me), ti (you), él (him), ella (her), usted (formal "you"), nosotros (we), vosotros (informal plural "you"), or ustedes (plural "you")) can be added before or after the verb for emphasis. A direct object may also be introduced with a.

 

Armed with this information, let's look at a few examples:

 

A mí me gustan las hamburguesas.

I like hamburgers.

Caption 11, Español para principiantes Los colores

 Play Caption

 

Me gustas. 

I like you.

Caption 44, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 12

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¡A las niñas grandes les gustan los coches deportivos, les gusta el dinero, les gusta bailar!

Big girls like sports cars, they like money, they like "bailar"!

Captions 22-23, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar - Part 3

 Play Caption

 

In accordance with our tips, in all of these examples, the indirect object pronoun indicates or agrees with who is "liking"/"being pleased," with me being "I" and les agreeing with the direct object, las niñas grande. The verb gustar, on the other hand, agrees with who or what "pleases"/"is liked" in English: the plural gustan with las hamburguesas and los coches deportivosgustas with the implied tú (you), and gusta with el dinero and the infinitive bailar.

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Yabla's Top 10 Verbs that Function Like Gustar

Now that we've recalled how gustar functions, we bet you're dying to know Yabla's Top Ten Verbs Like Gustar in the sense of the "reversal" of the roles of the traditional subject and object. Let's take a look.

 

1. Doler (to hurt)

Although this verb is most often translated as just "hurt(s)," it might help you to think of the more literal translations for the examples below: "My legs hurt (me)" and "your head hurts (you)," respectively. 

 

¡Me duelen las piernas!

My legs hurt!

Caption 45, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar - Part 1

 Play Caption

 

Cuando tú estás enfermo, te duele la cabeza,

When you're ill, your head hurts,

Captions 32-33, El Aula Azul Las Profesiones - Part 2

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2. Encantar (to love)

Note that as gustar can be translated as "to like," encantar is most often translated as "to love." However, it might behoove you to think of the English word "enchant(s)" to help remember the Spanish structure, e.g.  "Feathers enchant me." 

 

Me encantan las plumas.

I love feathers.

Caption 33, Ariana Cena especial

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Aquí, a los alemanes les encanta sentarse afuera

Here, Germans love to sit outside

Caption 21, Venezolanos por el mundo Zoraida en Alemania - Part 2

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3. Fascinar (to fascinate/be fascinated)

Interestingly, although fascinar can be translated as "to fascinate," it is more commonly used in Spanish than its English equivalent and can often mean something comparable to the verb encantar, or "to love." 

 

Es una ciudad que me fascina,

It's a city that fascinates me

Caption 16, Venezolanos por el mundo Gio en Barcelona

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y me fascinaba perderme entre sus calles

and it fascinated me to get lost in its streets

Caption 11, Venezolanos por el mundo Gio en Barcelona

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An alternative translation for this second caption might be: "and I loved getting lost in its streets."

 

4. Hacer falta (to need/be necessary)

While "need" is the most often-heard translation for the verb hacer falta, you can think of the following examples with "to be necessary for" to more closely imitate their Spanish structure, i.e., "the only thing that's necessary for us" and "Those songs are necessary for me."

 

lo único que nos hace falta es una voz líder.

the only thing we need is a lead singer.

Caption 31, X6 1 - La banda - Part 3

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Me hacen falta esas cantadas

I need those songs

Caption 66, Félix Carlos Hello Chamo

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5. Importar (to matter/be important to)

While the English verbs "to matter (to)" and "be important (to)" work much like the Spanish verb gustar, importar plus an indirect object pronoun can also occasionally be translated as "to care about."

 

Me importás vos.

You matter to me.

Caption 23, Yago 6 Mentiras - Part 2

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¡Mis hijos me importan!

I care about my children!

Caption 60, Yago 3 La foto - Part 6

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This second example could also be translated more literally as "My children matter to me!"

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6. Interesar (to interest/be interested in)

The verb interesar can be translated as either "to interest" or "be interested." For example, if you say, Me gusta la ciencia, either the more literal "science interests me" or "I'm interested in science" suffice as possible translations. Let's see a couple of examples, noting the inclusion of the word atraer (to attract), which also functions like gustar.

 

no me atraen ni me interesan...

they neither attract me nor interest me...

Caption 8, Enanitos Verdes Amores Lejanos

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si les interesa saber cómo es la cumbia, en Yabla pueden encontrar un video

if you're interested in knowing what cumbia is like, you can find a video on Yabla

Captions 90-91, Cleer y Lida El Carnaval de Barranquilla - Part 2

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7. Molestar (to bother)

Since the English verb "to bother" works much like the Spanish molestar, the translations for sentences with the verb molestar plus an indirect object pronoun should seem pretty straightforward for English speakers. 

 

¿Por qué te molestan tanto?

Why do they bother you so much?

Caption 3, Guillermina y Candelario La Peluqueria del Mar - Part 2

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¡No, no me molestas para nada! -Adiós.

No, you don't bother me at all! -Goodbye.

Caption 48, Yago 9 Recuperación - Part 1

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8. Parecer (to seem/seem like/think)

In our first example below, a more literal translation would be "it seems cool to them." However, "to think" is a very common translation for parecer(le) a alguien (to seem to someone). For more on the verb parecer, check out Clase Aula Azul's seven-part series on El verbo parecer as well as Doctora Consejo's video on Parecer y parecerse.

 

Están muy interesados en la música, les parece chévere.

They're very interested in the music, they think it's cool.

Caption 54, Cleer Entrevista a Lila

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¿Te parezco una mujer?

Do I seem like a woman to you?

Caption 29, Muñeca Brava 8 Trampas - Part 1

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9. Preocupar (to worry)

When you want to talk about "being worried" or "worrying" yourself, the reflexive verb preocuparse (to worry) is the one to choose. But in the case that something worries you, the verb preocupar plus an indirect object pronoun can help you to describe this. 

 

Sí, te preocupa. -¿A mí qué me preocupa? -¿Morena?

Yes, it worries you. -What worries me? -Morena?

Caption 32, Yago 9 Recuperación - Part 4

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para hablarles de un tema que parece del pasado pero que nos preocupa a todos en el presente.

to talk to you about a topic that seems [to be] from the past but which concerns us all in the present.

Captions 28-29, La Sub30 Familias - Part 1

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10. Quedar (to have left)

In literal terms, quedar plus an indirect object pronoun can be thought of as "what remains" or "is left for" someone or something. Let's take a look at this verb in action:

 

Como: Todavía me queda tiempo.

Like: I still have time.

Caption 110, Escuela BCNLIP Clase con Javi: el futuro - Part 10

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todavía nos quedan muchos más prefijos para ver.

we still have a lot more prefixes left to look at.

Caption 52, Carlos explica Los prefijos en español - Part 4

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Note that this very same verb can also refer to how something "looks on" or "fits" someone when accompanied by adjectives such as bien, mal, grande, etc. 

 

Que me pasa a mí es que los guantes siempre me quedan grandes.

What happens to me is that the gloves are always too big for me.

Caption 78, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 5

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With this final example, we conclude our list of Yabla's Top Ten Verbs Like Gustar. While these are just a handful of the many verbs that function like gustar in Spanish, we hope that this lesson has aided your understanding of how they work and look forward to your suggestions and comments.

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Todo sobre los cumpleaños (All About Birthdays) in Spanish

Let's talk about cumpleaños (birthdays) in Spanish!

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Talking about Age in Spanish

To kick off our lesson on birthdays in Spanish, let's first recall that the way to say that you are a certain edad (age) in Spanish is tener años (literally "to have years"). So, if you wanted to ask someone how old they were in Spanish, you could say:

 

¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

Caption 11, El Aula Azul Los tutti frutti

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(or ¿Cuántos años tiene? when addressing someone as the more formal usted). And if someone asks you how old you are, you could say tengo (insert a number) años, as we see here:

 

Tengo dieciséis años.

I'm sixteen years old.

Caption 7, Cleer Entrevista a Lila

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Like in English, if you wanted to say just "I'm sixteen" without the "years old," you could omit the word años and say simply, "Tengo dieciséis." And, as you could say, "What's your age?" in English, in Spanish, you could say: 

 

¿Tú qué edad tienes? ¿Yo? Veinticuatro.

How old are you? Me? Twenty-four.

Captions 6-7, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 8

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(This question could be translated as "How old are you?" as well). If you need a refresher on the numbers in Spanish, we invite you to read this lesson on The Numbers from One to One Hundred in Spanish.

 

Finally, if you wish to speak more generally about age in Spanish, you might use adjectives like jóven (young), viejo/a (old),

adolescente (teenage/adolescent), de edad media (middle-aged), or anciano/a (elderly), although you shouldn't forget that la edad es solo un número (age is just a number)!

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How Do You Ask "When's Your Birthday?" in Spanish?

The Spanish word for birthday, (el) cumpleaños, comes from the verb cumplir años, which means "to have a birthday." Its literal meaning is something like "to complete" or "accomplish years," which makes sense since getting to the next age sometimes feels like an accomplishment! So, to ask someone when his or her birthday is, you might say: 

 

¿Cuándo cumple(s) (años)?

When's your birthday?

 

Cumple is, of course, the usted (formal "you") form, while cumples is the less formal version with . And the word años (years) is in parentheses because including it is optional, as you will see in the following clip that includes both versions (notice that the second instance of cumplir is conjugated with vos, or the informal "you" in certain regions):

 

¡No lo puedo creer! -¡Yo cumplo mañana! ¿Mañana cumplís años? -¡Sí, mañana! -¡Llegué pa' la fiesta!

I can't believe it! -My birthday is tomorrow! Tomorrow is your birthday? -Yes, tomorrow! -I arrived [just in time] for the party!

Captions 89-90, Muñeca Brava 3 Nueva Casa - Part 8

 Play Caption

 

We also see the first person conjugation with yo (I), which will come in handy when you want to tell someone when your birthday is:

 

Cumplo el dos de abril

My birthday is April second. 

 

Note that when this verb is used with a certain number, it means "to turn (a certain number of) years old."

 

Yo hoy cumplo treinta y seis años;

Today I turn thirty-six;

Caption 46, Clase Aula Azul Pedir deseos - Part 1

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And to say you "just turned" a certain age, you might say:

 

Tengo nueve años recién cumplidos. [Paula y Ester]

I just turned nine years old. [Paula and Ester]

Caption 3, Paula y Ester Los objetos de Paula

 Play Caption
 
Alternative ways to say this include "Acabo de cumplir nueve añosand "Recién cumplí nueve años.

 

To conclude this section, let's take a look at slightly more literal options for asking someone when his or her birthday is and saying when yours is, noting that tu and su are the less and more formal ways to say "your," respectively:

 

¿Cuándo es tu/su cumpleaños? -Mi cumpleaños es el dos de abril

When is your birthday? -My birthday is April second. 

 

Or, you could use the more colloquial, abbreviated form and say merely: "¿Cuándo es tu/su cumple?"

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Formal Birthday Terms

Another, more formal way to ask someone when they "were born" is with the verb nacer, with a question like:  "¿Cuándo naciste (tú)?" or "¿Cuándo nació (usted)?" Now, let's see how to say "I was born":

 

Nací el catorce de enero de mil novecientos ochenta y siete.

I was born on January fourteenth, nineteen eighty-seven.

Caption 18, Raquel Poner una denuncia

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As this question might evoke a more detailed response involving your birth month/year, if you need to review how to say these things in Spanish, check out these lessons on How to Write and Say the Months in Spanish and Saying Years in Spanish. And remember that, like in English, Spanish has a different word for "birthdate" (as opposed to "birthday"), which is fecha de nacimiento

 

Birthday Party Vocabulary

Now that you know how to talk about age and birthdays in Spanish, let's learn some vocabulary to festejar or celebrar (both mean "to celebrate") a feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday). 

 

Perhaps you want to plan a fiesta de cumpleaños (birthday party). The verbs for having, or throwing a party in Spanish include hacer (to make/do), preparar (to prepare), or organizar (to organize) una fiesta (a party):

 

Karla, sabes, me gustaría hacer una fiesta

Karla, you know, I'd like to have a party

Caption 10, Karla e Isabel Preparar una fiesta

 Play Caption

 

First, you'd better send out some invitaciones (invitations) to the lista de invitados (guest list). 

 

Ya he enviado las invitaciones a todos mis amigos

I have already sent the invitations to all my friends

Caption 3, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños

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When the guests arrive, they just might come bearing regalos (gifts). The verb for giving a gift is regalar. They might also give you a tarjeta de cumpleaños, which can also be called a tarjeta de felicitación (literally a "congratulations card"). In fact, in addition to telling you "Feliz cumpleaños" on your birthday, Spanish speakers might say "Felicitaciones" (Congratulations) or "Te/le felicito" (I congratulate you).  

 

In terms of the decoraciones (decorations), you've got to have balloons! While globo is probably the most common word for "balloon" in Spanish, different countries have different words like balónvejiga (which also means bladder!), chimbombaor just bomba.

 

O una bomba de papel metalizado.

Or a silver paper balloon.

Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 10 - Part 6

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And don't forget the cake! Words for "cake," which also vary from country to country, include la tarta, el pastel, la torta, and el bizcocho. Let's hear a couple of these in action:

 

Mirad, aquí está la tarta. Cumplo treinta y seis.

Look, here's the cake. I'm turning thirty-six.

Caption 11, Clase Aula Azul Pedir deseos - Part 1

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Un rol protagónico lo tiene el pastel de la quinceañera

The birthday girl's cake plays a leading role

Caption 33, Venezuela La tradición de los quince años

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In the second example, quinceañera refers to the birthday girl at a special, coming-of-age celebration for girls' fifteenth birthday that is celebrated in many Latin American countries (this word can also refer to the party itself). The video La tradición de los quince elaborates on this custom. 

 

And finally, let's talk about las velas (candles) that go on a birthday cake. The verb for "blowing" them (out) is soplar, during which the cumpleañero/a (birthday boy/girl) should pedir deseos (make wishes):

 

Y yo que soy la cumpleañera, pido un deseo y soplo las velas.

And I, as I'm the birthday girl, make a wish and blow out the candles.

Captions 13-14, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños

 Play Caption

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The Happy Birthday Song in Spanish

And we mustn't forget the "Happy Birthday" song, which shares the same tune in English and Spanish. Let's listen to a couple of different versions in Spanish:

 

Cumpleaños feliz Cumpleaños feliz Cumpleaños felices Te deseamos a ti

Happy Birthday Happy Birthday Happy Birthdays We wish to you

Captions 6-9, Curso de guitarra Para los que empiezan desde cero - Part 3

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Que los cumplas feliz.

Happy birthday to you.

Caption 10, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños

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That's all for today. To hear many of these Spanish birthday vocabulary words in action and learn some more, you might watch Marta- Vocabulario de cumpleaños. In the meantime, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and... don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments

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Vocabulary

Talking About Yourself and Getting to Know Others in Spanish

Now that you've learned how to introduce yourself in Spanish, let's go over some basic questions and answers when telling others about ourselves or asking about them. 

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Where are you from?

Asking someone where they are from might be a common introductory question when getting to know someone. Let's take a look at both the (informal "you") and usted (formal "you") forms of this question: 

 

O, ¿de dónde eres? ¿De dónde es?

Or, where are you from? [with "tú"]. Where are you from? [with "usted"].

Captions 13-14, Karla e Isabel Tú y Usted

 Play Caption

 

And, what if someone asks you this question? You might use the construction Yo soy de (I'm from) to say the city, country, etc. you come from. Let's see some examples:

 

Yo soy de San Fernando, Cádiz.

I am from San Fernando, Cádiz.

Caption 27, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 21

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Yo soy de Argentina, de la provincia de Córdoba, eh... exactamente de un pueblito que se llama Río Ceballos,

I'm from Argentina, from the province of Córdoba, um... precisely from a little town called Río Ceballos;

Captions 8-9, Luana y Fede Viajes

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Alternatively, you might say your nationality, particularly when talking about yourself in a foreign country: 

 

Yo soy argentina.

I'm Argentine.

Caption 53, Carlos y Cyndy Uso del Voseo en Argentina

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soy español,

I'm Spanish,

Caption 2, Madrid Un recorrido por la capital de España

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To learn more about how to talk about nationalities in Spanish, check out this lesson on Adjectives of Nationality in Spanish. Let's explore some additional common questions/answers when getting acquainted with someone in Spanish. 

 

What do you do?

Another is common question you might ask or get asked is, "What do you do (for a living)"? Let's explore a few ways to ask this question:

 

Bueno, perdón. ¿Tú a qué te dedicas?

Well, sorry. What do you do?

Caption 48, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 9

 Play Caption

 

¿En qué trabajas tú, Inmaculada?

In what [field] do you work, Inmaculada?

Caption 31, 75 minutos Gangas para ricos - Part 12

 Play Caption

 

The usted versions would be "¿Usted a qué se dedica?" and "¿En qué trabaja usted?" Another possible way to ask this question is:

 

¿Cuál es tu/su trabajo?

What's your job? 

 

Now, let's look at some possible responses.

 

Me dedico a vender la leche.

I sell milk for a living.

Caption 2, Milkman Milk Seller, Nicaragua

 Play Caption

 

Yo trabajo en una tienda de ropa de segunda mano... -Ah...

I work at a second hand clothing store... -Oh...

Caption 69, 75 minutos Gangas para ricos - Part 14

 Play Caption

 

No, yo soy azafata.

No, I'm a flight attendant.

Caption 49, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 9

 Play Caption

 

Note that when talking about your profession in Spanish, the appropriate verb is ser ("to be" for fixed characteristics) rather than estar ("to be" for more temporary states) and that, in Spanish, unlike English, you don't include the article. For that reason, the aforementioned example reads soy azafata rather than soy una azafata

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How old are you?

The ways to say "How old are you?" in Spanish are "¿Cuántos años tienes?" when using  and "¿Cuántos años tiene?" with addressing someone with usted. Let's hear the tú version in action:

 

¿Tú cuántos años tienes, Mariano?

How old are you, Mariano?

Caption 69, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 6

 Play Caption

 

To answer this question, we use the verb tener años, which literally means "to have years," inserting the correct number of years between these two words. This is the Spanish equivalent of "being (a certain number) of years old." Let's take a look:

 

Tengo dieciséis años.

I'm sixteen years old.

Caption 7, Cleer Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

If you'd like to learn or refresh your Spanish numbers, check out the lesson The Numbers from One to One Hundred in Spanish.  

 

Are you married?

In this caption, you will hear both the question and answer to this question.

 

¿Y eres casado o soltero? Estoy casado con una mujer italiana de Nápoles.

And are you married or singleI'm married to an Italian woman from Naples.

Captions 8-9, Carlos y Xavi Part 2 Ustedes y Vosotros

 Play Caption

 

You might notice that in the example above, the first speaker uses the verb ser, saying "¿Y eres casado...?" instead of "¿Y estás casado?" while the second speaker uses the verb estar to answer. Although the adjective casado/a (married) is traditionally used with the verb estar, you might hear it used with ser in some Spanish-speaking regions. For more on the nuances of these two verbs, check out Ser vs. Estar- Yo Soy and Ser vs. Estar- Yo Estoy

 

Do you have kids/brothers and sisters?

We ask both of these questions with the Spanish verb tener (to have), which is conjugated as tiene with usted and tienes with . Let's hear how to ask these two questions with

 

¿Tienes hijos? -No.

Do you have children? -No.

Caption 87, Adícora, Venezuela El tatuaje de Rosana

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¿Tienes hermanos o hermanas? 

Do you have brothers or sisters?

Caption 5, Carlos y Xavi Part 2 Ustedes y Vosotros

 Play Caption
 

It is worth noting that, as the plural masculine noun los hermanos could refer to either just "brothers" or to both "brothers and sisters" or "siblings," you could simply say "¿Tienes hermanos?" when asking if someone has brothers and/or sisters. Similarly, los hijos could specifically mean "sons" or include both male and female "children." The singular and plural feminine nouns la(s) hermana(s) and la(s) hijas, on the other hand, refer to specifically female "sister(s)" and "daughter(s)." With that in mind, let's look at some potential answers to these questions:

 

Yo tengo dos hijos pequeños y...

I have two small children, and...

Caption 66, El Aula Azul Un día de surf

 Play Caption
 

Y, bueno, eh... tengo una hija de ocho años, ya sabéis. 

And, well, um... I have an eight-year-old daughter, you already know.

Caption 26, Clase Aula Azul La segunda condicional - Part 1

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Sí, tengo una hermana más pequeña que tiene tres años menos.

Yes, I have a younger sister who is three years younger.

Caption 6, Carlos y Xavi Part 2 Ustedes y Vosotros

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Let's move on to our last common question when getting to know someone in Spanish. 

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What do you like to do in your free time?

Here are some possible ways to broach the topic of what people like to do when they aren't working. 

 

¿qué te gusta hacer?

what do you like to do?

Caption 24, Cleer Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

¿Qué cosas te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre?

What do you like to do in your free time?

Caption 15, El Aula Azul Los profesores de la escuela - Part 1

 Play Caption

 

Or, you could simply say: "¿Qué te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre?" A good formula for answering what you like to do is to say (a mí) me gusta (I like) or (a mí) me encanta (I love) plus a verb in the infinitive. Let's see some examples: 

 

Me gusta salir a rumbear...

I like to go out dancing...

Caption 15, Zoraida Lo que gusta hacer

 Play Caption

 

Pues, me gusta escuchar música, eh... pintar, y me gusta viajar mucho.

Well, I like to listen to music, um... paint, and I like to travel a lot.

Captions 25-26, Cleer Entrevista a Lila

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y me encanta ir a la playa con mis amigos.

and I love going to the beach with my friends.

Caption 39, Clara y Cristina Saludar

 Play Caption

 

We hope that this lesson has helped you learn some basic questions/answers for getting to know someone and telling them about yourself. Can you think of any other preliminary question you would like to learn to ask or answer in Spanish? Feel free to let us know with your suggestions and comments

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Caption 26, 25, 24, 7, 69
Beginner

The Imperfect Tense in Spanish: The Past That Just Won't Quit

What is the imperfect tense in Spanish? In contrast to the Spanish preterite, or simple past tense, which typically describes completed actions in the past, the imperfect tense in Spanish depicts past actions that were carried out regularly, over a longer period of time, or were in progress at a specified point. In addition to these uses of the imperfect tense in Spanish, there are other specific contexts in which it is necessary to use this tense, many of which we hope to illuminate for you today. 

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When Do You Use Imperfect Tense in Spanish? 

Let's take a look at some situations in which it is necessary to use the Spanish imperfect tense.

 

1. To Describe Habitual Actions in the Past

 

The imperfect tense in Spanish distinguishes actions that occurred on a habitual basis in the past from isolated incidents. Let's begin to understand this by examining how this idea might be expressed in English:

 

When I was young, I used to visit my grandparents every summer.

 

When I was young, I would visit my grandparents every summer.

 

When I was young, I visited my grandparents every summer. 

 

Interestingly, all of these English sentences could be translated to Spanish using the same sentence in the imperfect tense: "Cuando yo era joven, visitaba a mis abuelos todos los veranos." This is because, despite their structural differences, they all mean the same thing: that the speaker would regularly visit his or her grandparents in the past. 

 

Armed with this idea that the imperfect tense in Spanish can encompass various English constructions, let's take a look at some additional examples of sentences with verbs in the imperfect tense:

 

Cuentan los cronistas que veían desfilar a las tropas

The chroniclers tell that they would see the troops parading,

bajando desde lo que era el Cuartel de San Telmo

coming down from what used to be the San Telmo Barracks

hasta lo que hoy es conocido como el Bulevar donostiarra, 

to what is known today as the "Bulevar donostiarra"

Captions 26-28, Días festivos - La Tamborrada de San Sebastián

 Play Caption
 

eh... -Sí. -... practicaba fútbol.

um... -Yes. -...I used to play soccer.

Caption 27, Club 10 - Capítulo 2

 Play Caption

 

In this second example, although an English speaker might say either, "Oh! I used to play soccer too!" or "Oh! I played soccer too!" to talk about something he or she did regularly at a previous juncture, the Spanish language would always employ the imperfect tense to distinguish this as a habitual action in the past. In contrast, if the speaker had just completed a game of soccer yesterday, he would instead use the preterite tense:

 

Ayer practiqué fútbol.

I played soccer yesterday. 

 

All that said, at the moment of constructing a sentence, in order to decide when to use the imperfect tense in Spanish, an English speaker must consider whether a past action took place just once or over an extended period, in which case it will be necessary to choose the imperfect tense. 

 

2. To Describe Incomplete or Interrupted Actions in the Past 

 

The imperfect tense in Spanish is also used to describe past actions that were incomplete or interrupted at the depicted moment. Let's take a look:

 

Vi que me acompañaba, mientras yo cantaba. -Sí.

I saw that you were accompanying me while I was singing. -Yes.

Caption 28, Yago - 1 La llegada

 Play Caption

 

Notice that imperfect verbs that describe past actions in progress are most commonly (but again, not always) expressed in English in the past progressive tense, e.g., "You were accompanying," "I was singing," etc. The same can be said of interrupted past actions, where the action in progress is conjugated in the imperfect tense in Spanish, while the interrupting action is in the preterite tense:

 

OK, o sea que vos pensás

OK, in other words, you think

que yo iba por la calle y de repente

that I was going down the street and suddenly,

conocí a una chica y la llevé a una obra en construcción

I met a girl and took her to a construction site

para seducirla.

to seduce her.

Captions 22-23, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto

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Me sentía perdido hasta que un día me llegó un email.

I was feeling lost until, one day, I got an email.

Caption 24, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje

 Play Caption

 

Notably, although the Spanish past progressive tense can also be used to describe incomplete or interrupted actions in some cases (e.g. Yo cocinaba cuando mi marido llegó a casa and Yo estaba cocinando cuando mi marido llegó a casa both mean "I was cooking when my husband got home"), in our examples above, the imperfect tense in Spanish would be the more likely choice. 

 

3. To Describe Conditions and Characteristics

 

Since they tend to be ongoing, rather than having a definite beginning or end, the imperfect tense in Spanish is additionally used to describe physical and other characteristics of people or things in the past.

 

Tenía una barba blanca que le llegaba hasta la cintura

He had a white beard that went down to his waist

y una larga cabellera.

and long hair.

Tenía además una corona dorada y vestía un manto blanco.

He also had a golden crown and wore a white robe.

Captions 12-14, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica

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Pero no era la... mi... la Connie, mi esposa,

But it wasn't the... my... Connie, my wife,

sino era la otra, la rubia,

but rather it was the other one, the blonde,

que era muy bonita de ojos azules. 

who was very pretty with blue eyes.

Captions 29-30, Gonzalo el Pintor - Vida

 Play Caption
 

In this second example, it is notable that, even though the third person singular form of the verb ser (to be) in its preterite form (fue) can also be translated as "was" in some cases, the imperfect tense in Spanish is the correct manner of talking about traits in the past. The imperfect is also the preferred tense for describing past states of being, as in the following example:

 

Tenía su pata rota.

His leg was broken.

Esta pata de aquí, la tenía rota.

This leg here, it was broken.

Captions 17-18, Amaya - La historia de Lukas

 Play Caption
 
This descriptive nature of the imperfect tense in Spanish makes it ideal for explaining "how things were," or "setting the scene" in literature, which is the focus of this additional Yabla lesson on the imperfect tense. 
 

4. To Talk About Age

 
Since age can also be thought of as characteristic rather than something that "occurs" in a given moment, the imperfect tense in Spanish is used to talk about it in past tense: 
 

Desde cuando tenía doce años, más o menos. 

Since I was twelve years old, more or less.

Caption 13, Encuentro Volkswagen en Adícora - Escarabajos en la playa

 Play Caption
 

5. To Talk About Dates and Time

 

Additionally, since "setting the scene" might entail recounting what day or time it "was," dates and times must be described in the Spanish imperfect tense:

 

Eran las cinco de la tarde.

It was five o'clock in the evening. 

 

ya que recuerdo que hacía un calor terrible,

as I remember that it was terribly hot,

aunque todavía era el mes de junio

despite the fact that it was still the month of June,

Captions 38-39, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Poeska

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6. To Talk About Feelings

 

The imperfect tense in Spanish is also utilized to speak about emotions in the past:

 

Un poquito y ajá, y estaba triste porque dejaba

A little bit, and uh-huh, and I was sad because I was leaving

mi familia y eso y ya.

my family and all that and that's it.

Caption 70, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

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Todos en la casa estaban muy emocionados

Everyone in the house was very excited,

Caption 17, Cuentos de hadas - Cenicienta

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The Imperfect Tense in Spanish: Final Thoughts 

So... when do you use the imperfect tense in Spanish? We hope that this lesson has made it more clear that, in contrast to the Spanish preterite tense, the Spanish imperfect is reserved for past events that "kept on going" for an extended period. For more examples of imperfect tense in Spanish, we recommend Carlos' video on this topic, where he explores not only when to use imperfect tense in Spanish, but also how to conjugate its regular and some of its most common irregular forms.

 

That's all for today, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments

 

Verb tenses

Yabla's Top 12 Spanish Verbs for Carrying on a Conversation

Today's lesson will examine Yabla's "Top 12" picks for the most useful verbs for having a conversation in Spanish. This time, we'll focus on the meanings of those verbs as well as giving you a lot of simple, conversational examples from Yabla's Spanish video library. Additionally, we'll provide you with conjugation tables for the "Top 3" most useful Spanish tenses: the simple present, the imperfect (which describes ongoing or continuous past actions), and the preterite (which describes completed past actions).

 

In addition to the aforementioned links, you can consult this lesson entitled Spanish Verb Tenses Explained if you need to brush up on those tenses and more! Although memorizing all of these conjugations might seem a bit intimidating, it could really help your ability to converse in Spanish.

 

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1. Ser (to be) 

The fact that there are two verbs that mean "to be" in Spanish, ser and estar, can feel quite confusing for non-native speakers. Generally speaking, the verb ser is employed to describe more permanent characteristics. The acronym DOCTOR (description, occupation, condition, time, origin, relationship) is very useful for helping us to remember some of the many situations in which this verb is used. Let's take a look at how this verb is conjugated as well as some examples: 

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  soy era fui
Tú  eres eras fuiste
Él, ella, usted es era fue
Nosotros, nosotras somos éramos fuimos
Vosotros, vosotras sois erais fuisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes son eran fueron

 

Soy profesor de fotografía.

I'm a photography teacher.

Caption 13, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 5

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Sus cuadros eran muy extraños.

His paintings were very strange.

Caption 25, El Aula Azul - Adivina personajes históricos

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También fuimos parte de todas estas, eh... mega empresas, pero...

We were also part of all these, um... mega companies, but...

Caption 22, Doctor Krápula - Entrevista

 Play Caption

 

Notably, although ser usually denotes permanence, while the preterite tense denotes that something had a definite ending point, the verb ser is used in the preterite to describe something that "was" in the past, but did come to a conclusive end. 

 

2. Estar (to be)

The verb estar also means "to be" for traits that are variable/less permanent. The acronym PLACE (position, location, action, condition, emotion) might help you to remember some contexts in which the verb estar should be chosen. Let's take a look: 

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  estoy estaba estuve
Tú  estás estabas estuviste
Él, ella, usted está estaba estuvo
Nosotros, nosotras estamos estábamos estuvimos
Vosotros, vosotras estáis estabais estuvisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes están estaban estuverion

 

Sí... Vale, entonces, estamos aquí.

Yes... OK, then, we're here.

Caption 6, Curso de español - Disculpe, ¿hay un cine por aquí?

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Un poquito y ajá, y estaba triste porque

A little bit, and uh-huh, and I was sad because

dejaba mi familia y eso y ya.

I was leaving my family and all that and that's it.

Caption 70, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

Los árabes estuvieron en España más de seiscientos años.

The Arabs were in Spain for more than six hundred years.

Caption 23, Rosa - Antequera, Málaga

 Play Caption

 

Be sure to check out this lesson if you want to learn more about the difference between ser and estar

 

3. Tener (to have)

The verb tener means "to have" in Spanish. Let's take a closer look: 

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  tengo tenía tuve
Tú  tienes tenías tuviste
Él, ella, usted tiene tenía tuvo
Nosotros, nosotras tenemos teníamos tuvimos
Vosotros, vosotras tenéis teníais tuvisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes tienen tenían tuvieron

 

¿Tienes plumones y tijeras?

You have markers and scissors?

Sí, tengo plumones y tijeras,

Yes, I have markers and scissors,

pero no tengo mi teléfono.

but I don't have my phone.

Captions 20-22, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 1: No tengo mi teléfono.

 Play Caption

 

Tenían mi mochila en la Oficina de Objetos Perdidos.

They had my backpack in the Lost and Found.

Caption 44, Raquel - Oficina de objetos perdidos

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La noche anterior a la rumba, tuve otro sueño.

The night before going out on the town, I had another dream.

Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 7

 Play Caption

 

Additionally, we invite you to explore some of the many idiomatic expressions with the verb tener

 

And, we'll just take a second to mention that if you throw in the word que after the verb tener plus a verb's infinitive ("to" form), you'll have the very useful Spanish construction tener que that means, "to have to" (do something):

 

Hoy tengo que trabajar.

Today I have to work.

Caption 74, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 14

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Tuvimos que trasladarnos a esta nueva ciudad.

We had to move to this new city.

Caption 39, Ciudad de Panamá - Denisse introduce la ciudad

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4. Hacer (to make/to do)

The Spanish verb hacer can mean either "to make" or "to do." But, not to fear— typically, the context will let you know quite clearly which meaning is intended.

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  hago hacía hice
Tú  haces hacías hiciste
Él, ella, usted hace hacía hizo
Nosotros, nosotras hacemos hacíamos hicimos
Vosotros, vosotras hacéis hacíais hicisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes hacen hacían hicieron

 

Y ¿tú qué haces?

And what are you doing?

Caption 24, Guillermina y Candelario - Un pez mágico

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Y yo no hacía esto. Yo hago otro acto, que es con las motos.

And I didn't do this. I do another act, which is with motorcycles.

Caption 35, Rueda de la muerte - Parte 1

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También hizo alguna película.

He also made a movie.

Caption 28, El Aula Azul - Adivina personajes históricos

 Play Caption

 

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5. Ir (to go)

The Spanish verb ir means "to go." Let's check out some of its conjugations and uses:

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  voy iba fui
Tú  vas ibas fuiste
Él, ella, usted va iba fue
Nosotros, nosotras vamos íbamos fuimos
Vosotros, vosotras vais ibais fuisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes van iban fueron

 

Voy a la piscina los lunes y los miércoles.

I go to the pool on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Caption 7, Ariana - Mi Semana

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Iba mucho con mi padre al campo.

I used to go with my father to the countryside a lot.

Caption 56, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 10

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¿Por qué fuiste al cine?

Why did you go to the movies?

Caption 48, Carlos explica - Las preposiciones 'por' y 'para'

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You might have noticed that the preterite form of the verb ir is conjugated in the exact same way as the verb ser. However, in most cases, context should help you to easily identify which verb is in use. 

 

Another great "trick" to be aware of is that adding an a plus a verb's infinitive to the verb ir is a very simple way of expressing what we are "going to" do and is, thus, an alternative to the future tense. Let's take a look: 

 

Vamos a hablar de mi familia, ¿sí?

We are going to talk about my family, OK?

Caption 2, Curso de español - Vamos a hablar de la familia

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Porque las chicas iban a salir, para no dejarte sola.

Because the girls were going to go out, so you wouldn't be alone.

Caption 11, Muñeca Brava - 18 - La Apuesta

 Play Caption

 

6. Venir (to come)

If we're going to talk about ir (to go), we'd better mention venir (to come)! Let's look:

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  vengo venía vine
Tú  vienes venías viniste
Él, ella, usted viene venía vino
Nosotros, nosotras venimos veníamos vinimos
Vosotros, vosotras venís veníais vinisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes vienen venían vinieron

 

Yo vengo del sur de España

I come from the South of Spain

Caption 10, Carolina - Acentos

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¿Qué venía después?

What came next?

Caption 23, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8

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Los otros cisnes vinieron hacia él.

The other swans came toward him.

Caption 50, Cleer - El patito feo

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7. Decir (to say)

The Spanish verb decir means "to say" or "to tell."

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  digo decía dije
Tú  dices decías dijiste
Él, ella, usted dice decía dijo
Nosotros, nosotras decimos decíamos dijimos
Vosotros, vosotras decís decíais dijisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes dicen decían dijeron

 

Yo digo que Playa Balandra es el paraíso oficial.

I say that Balandra Beach is the official paradise.

Caption 67, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!

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Pero siempre me decía: ¡Mira! Mira eso allá.

But he always used to tell me: Look! Look at that over there.

Caption 42, Federico Kauffman Doig - Arqueólogo

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Y la señorita me dijo algo completamente diferente.

And the lady told me something totally different.

Caption 45, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 5

 Play Caption

 

Since we often say or tell things "to" others, you will notice that the verb decir is quite typically accompanied by indirect object pronouns like me (to me), te (to you), etc. to indicate the person to whom something is said or told. You can learn more about this and other aspects of this verb in our lesson entitled The Spanish Verb Decir.

 

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8. Poder (to be able)

The verb poder means "to be able." It can be used alone to say simply "I can," "you could," etc. but is often used in conjunction with an infinitive verb to express what it is one "is able" to do. Let see it in action:

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  puedo podía pude
Tú  puedes podías pudiste
Él, ella, usted puede podía pudo
Nosotros, nosotras podemos podíamos pudimos
Vosotros, vosotras podéis podíais pudisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes pueden podían pudieron

 

¿Puedo ver el menú por favor?

Can I see the menu please?

Caption 12, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante

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¿Por qué las cosas no podían ser sencillas?

Why couldn't things be easy?

Caption 31, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 10

 Play Caption

 

Gracias a su cola, pudieron volar.

Thanks to its tail, you were able to fly.

Caption 49, Guillermina y Candelario - Una aventura extrema

 Play Caption

 

To learn more about the verb poder and how it is used, we recommend the following lesson: The Verb Poder - Common Expressions.

 

9. Saber (to know)

This word means "to know," but, in its preterite form, can mean "to find out." 

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  sabía supe
Tú  sabes sabías supiste
Él, ella, usted sabe sabía supo
Nosotros, nosotras sabemos sabíamos supimos
Vosotros, vosotras sabéis sabíais supisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes saben sabían supieron

 

Pero no sé dónde!

But I don't know where!

Caption 28, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso

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No sabía qué decirle.

I didn't know what to say to her.

Caption 12, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1

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Nunca supe la verdad

I never found out the truth

Caption 2, Aleks Syntek - Intocable

 Play Caption

 

10.  Querer (to want)

If we're going to converse in Spanish, we had better be able to say what we "want"! The verb querer can stand alone to express our desire for a particular thing or be used with an infinitive verb to say what we "want to do." Let's take a look:

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  quiero quería quise
Tú  quieres querías quisiste
Él, ella, usted quiere quería quiso
Nosotros, nosotras queremos queríamos quisimos
Vosotros, vosotras queréis queríais quisisteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes quieren querían quisieron

 

Porque realmente quiero mi propio baño.

Because I really want my own bathroom.

Caption 37, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación

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Y algunos querían volver a su casa.

And some wanted to go back to their home.

Caption 13, Guillermina y Candelario - El mundo de los juguetes perdidos

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No me quiso decir su nombre.

She wouldn't tell me her name.

Caption 8, Yago - 14 La peruana

 Play Caption

 

Keep in mind that when the verb querer is used with no in the preterite, it can convey the idea that someone "wouldn't" do something or "refused to." 

 

One more important aspect of the Spanish verb querer is that, when speaking about actions that we "want" others to do or that we "want" to happen, the subjunctive form of the verb that follows is required (vuelvas instead of vuelves in the following example):

 

Quiero que... que vuelvas a New York.

I want for... for you to come back to New York.

Caption 23, Yago - 11 Prisión

 Play Caption

 

11. Dar (to give)

The Spanish verb dar means "to give." Let's look at some of its forms and examples:

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  doy daba di
Tú  das dabas diste
Él, ella, usted da daba dio
Nosotros, nosotras damos dábamos dimos
Vosotros, vosotras dais dabais disteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes dan daban dieron

 

Yo doy agua a mi gato.

I give water to my cat.

Caption 14, Lecciones con Carolina - Verbo - dar

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Adriana Espinel siempre daba unas respuestas tan profundas.

Adriana Espinel always gave such deep answers.

Caption 72, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4

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Eh... Mi asistente me dio sus datos.

Um... My assistant gave me your information.

Caption 39, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1

 Play Caption

 

Like the verb decir, the verb dar is often accompanied by indirect object pronouns to highlight the person to whom something is given. 

 

12. Ver (to see)

And, to conclude our list of the Top 12 Spanish verbs for carrying on a conversation, we thought it would be a good idea to give you a verb to describe the things you observe! 

 

Personal Pronoun Present Imperfect Preterite
Yo  veo veía vi
Tú  ves veías viste
Él, ella, usted ve veía vio
Nosotros, nosotras vemos veíamos vimos
Vosotros, vosotras veis veíais visteis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes ven veían vieron

 

Eh... ¿Cómo veo la vida?

Um... How do I see life?

Caption 79, Adícora, Venezuela - El tatuaje de Rosana

 Play Caption

 

¡Pero veíamos serpientes por todos lados!

But we saw snakes everywhere!

Caption 41, Guillermina y Candelario - La Isla de las Serpientes

 Play Caption

 

Vimos una película.

We saw a movie.

Caption 14, Zulbani - Trip to Merida

 Play Caption

 

Although it was certainly tough to narrow down the top 12 useful verbs in Spanish for carrying on a conversation, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson and that it helps you to hold a lot of stimulating conversations! Let us know with your suggestions and comments if there are any other verbs or topics you'd like to learn more about. 

 

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Math in Spanish: The Words You Need

How do you say "math" in Spanish? This is a question even native speakers ask themselves. The reason is that there are two terms that people use to say "mathematics" in Spanish. Let's find out which term you should use and explore some of the most basic math terms in Spanish. 

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How do you say "mathematics" in Spanish?

Matemática and its plural form matemáticas are the two valid terms you can use when talking about the noun that refers to "the science of numbers, forms, amounts, and their relationships." Let's see a couple of examples:

 

matemática

 

Vos te puedes equivocar en la matemática también.

You can make mistakes in math too.

Caption 19, Yago - 11 Prisión

 Play Caption

 

matemáticas

 

Esta mañana he resuelto el problema de matemáticas.

This morning I solved the math problem.

Caption 55, Lecciones con Carolina - Participios irregulares

 Play Caption

 

Yo tenía que responder exámenes de matemáticas.

I had to answer math tests.

Caption 34, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 7

 Play Caption

 

There are a couple of things worth mentioning. First of all, keep in mind that the plural form matemáticas tends to be used more frequently than the singular form. Second of all, you don't need to use capital letters for any of these two terms. Now, let's review some useful vocabulary related to math in Spanish.

 

Basic math terms in Spanish

 

Basic mathematical operations

 

Let's see how to say the most basic math operations in Spanish:

 

Addition (Adición or suma)

Substraction (Sustracción or resta)

Multiplication (Multiplicación)

Division (División)

 

And how about the verbs that you use to indicate those basic operations? Let's listen to our friend Ester from El Aula Azul:

 

Tienes números, tienes que sumar,

You have numbers, you have to add,

tienes que restar, multiplicar, dividir.

you have to subtract, to multiply, to divide.

Captions 4-5, El Aula Azul - Piensa rápido

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Now, let's see how to express these operations with some examples:

 

1 +1 = one plus one (uno más uno)

2 - 1 = two minus one (dos menos uno)

2 x 2 = two times two (dos por dos)

4 ÷ 2 = four divided by two (cuatro dividido dos)

 

Math terms we use in everyday life

There are many math terms we use every day even when we are not talking about mathematics. Let's look at some of these terms:

 

Mi escultura es la solución a una ecuación.

My sculpture is the solution to an equation.

Caption 25, San Sebastián - Peine del viento

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Y ¿cuál es la temperatura promedio en tu pueblo?

And what's the average temperature in your town?

Caption 39, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

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Producimos un doce coma seis por ciento más de residuos que la media Europea.

We produce twelve-point-six percent more waste than the average of Europe.

Caption 29, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje

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Ya ven uno y uno es igual a tres

Now you see one and one equals three

Caption 10, Jeremías - Uno y uno igual a tres

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Otra cosa im'... importante que tienes que calcular

Another im'... important thing that you have to calculate

además de todo ese movimiento.

in addition to all that movement.

Captions 64-65, El teatro. - Conversación con un doble de acción.

 Play Caption

 

Los números cardinales pueden ser simples o compuestos.

Cardinal numbers can be simple or compound.

Caption 11, Carlos explica - Los Números: Números Cardinales

 Play Caption

 

And that's it for today. If you want to learn more math in Spanish, we invite you to check out this useful English-Spanish glossary of terms and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.

Vocabulary

The Essential Spanish Question Words

How many question words in Spanish are you familiar with? Do you know how to write a question in Spanish? Asking questions is one of the most important skills you need to master in the language you are learning. In this lesson, we will learn the most important interrogative words in Spanish. However, before we explore those words, let's discuss a couple of things about asking questions in Spanish. 

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How do you say the word 'question' in Spanish?

'Pregunta' is how you say the word 'question' in Spanish. 'Pregunta' is a feminine noun and its plural form is 'preguntas'. Let's practice the pronunciation of this term:

 

Kevin, la pregunta es:

Kevin, the question is:

Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1

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Los voy a dejar con cuatro preguntas.

I am going to leave you with four questions.

Caption 48, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros

 Play Caption

 

Spanish question structure

Do you know how to write a question in Spanish? Let's take a look at the basic structure of a question in Spanish.

 

Punctuation and question marks

To begin with, you need to stick to the rules of Spanish punctuation. Because of that, when you write a question in Spanish you need to remember that question marks are always double-sided. In other words, you need to start the question with an opening question mark (¿) and end it with a closing one (?):

 

¿Cómo es Japón?

What's Japan like?

¿Qué te gusta de Japón?

What do you like about Japan?

Captions 69-70, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos

 Play Caption

 

Yes/No questions

Let's start with simple questions. Believe it or not, for these kinds of questions your intonation is what matters the most. You basically make Yes/No questions by transforming a statement into a question. The Spanish question structure for these kinds of questions is the following:

 

¿ + (subject) + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?

 

Please note that the terms in parenthesis are optional. Let's see a couple of examples:

 

A Pedro le gusta comer pizza. (Pedro likes to eat pizza.)

¿A Pedro le gusta comer pizza? (Does Pedro like to eat pizza?)

 

For negative questions, you just need to place a "no" before the conjugated verb.

 

No quieres estudiar. (You don't want to study.)

¿No quieres estudiar? (Don't you want to study?)

 

Go ahead and play the following clips so you can hear the intonation of the following Yes/No questions. Notice how the pitch of the speaker's voice gets higher at the end of the sentence when asking questions in Spanish:

 

Mmm... ¿Quieres ir al cine?

Mmm... Do you want to go to the movies?

-Sí, ¡buena idea!

-Yes, good idea!

Captions 45-46, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.

 Play Caption

 

¿Necesitas ayuda?

Do you need help?

-Mmm... Sí.

-Mmm... Yes.

Captions 9-10, Español para principiantes - La hora

 Play Caption

 

¿No conoces Manhattan?

You don't know Manhattan?

Caption 37, Yago - 2 El puma

 Play Caption

 

As you can see, it is very common to start Yes/No questions with a conjugated verb.

 

Questions that ask for specific information

The following is the Spanish question structure you need to keep mind when your question is aimed at getting some sort of information:

 

¿ + (preposition) + question word + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?

 

Please note that the terms in parenthesis are optional. Let's see a couple of examples:

 

¡Oh! ¿Dónde está el cajero automático?

Oh! Where's the ATM?

Caption 36, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico

 Play Caption

 

In the example above, we have the following structure: 

¿ + question word (dónde) + conjugated verb (está) + additional information (el cajero automático) + ?

 

Let's listen to another clip:

 

¿Desde cuándo tienes este piso?

Since when have you had this apartment?

Caption 35, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos

 Play Caption

 

In this last example, the Spanish question structure is the following: 

¿ + preposition (desde) + question word (cuándo) + conjugated verb (tienes) + additional information (este piso) + ?

 

Now that we have seen the structure of a question, let's take a look at some Spanish question words in sentences.

 

Top Spanish question words

It's time to review the most important interrogative words in Spanish. If you are thinking about WH questions, you are right. Let's find out what the Spanish question words are for 'what', 'which', 'when', 'where', 'who', 'why' and 'how'.

 

Top question words in Spanish

For your reference, here's a list of the top question words in Spanish.

 

What / Which (Qué / Cuál)

When (Cuándo)

Where (Dónde)

Who (Quién)

Why (Por qué)

How (Cómo)

 

Now, let's see each one of these question words in action with a list of some of the most basic Spanish questions you can ask.

 

Basic questions to ask in Spanish using WH questions

And now, let's dive into our list.

 

What / Which (Qué / Cuál)

 

Diremos, "¿Qué hora es?"

We'll say, "What time is it?"

Caption 49, Español para principiantes - La hora

 Play Caption

 

O, ¿A qué te dedicas?

Or, What do you do? [with "tú"].

Caption 17, Karla e Isabel - Tú y Usted

 Play Caption

 

Oye, y ¿en qué trabajas?

Hey, and what do you do [for a living]?

Caption 82, Ricardo - La compañera de casa

 Play Caption

 

Por supuesto; ¿cuál es su dirección de correo?

Of course; what is your e-mail address?

Caption 69, Negocios - Empezar en un nuevo trabajo

 Play Caption

 

¿Recuerdas cuál era la copa para servir vino?

Do you remember which cup was the one for serving wine?

Caption 36, Ana Carolina - El comedor

 Play Caption

 

When (Cuándo)

 

¿Y cuándo hizo el "check-in"?

And when did he check-in?

Caption 13, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 3

 Play Caption

 

¿Cuándo terminas de estudiar?

When do you finish studying?

Caption 72, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conjugación

 Play Caption

 

Where (Dónde)

 

¿De dónde eres?

Where are you from?

Caption 36, Curso de español - ¿De dónde eres?

 Play Caption

 

Y ¿en dónde vives?

And where do you live?

Caption 8, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

Let's see a couple of clips from Raquel to see the kind of questions you ask when you want to find out where something is located:

 

¿Me podrías decir dónde está el baño?

Could you tell me where the bathroom is?

Caption 7, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.

 Play Caption

 

¿Sabes dónde hay alguna farmacia?

Do you know where there's a pharmacy?

Caption 24, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.

 Play Caption

 

Who (Quién)

We use 'who' when we want to find out someone's identity. Let's see a couple of examples:

 

Mi jugador favorito juega en el Real Madrid.

My favorite player plays for Real Madrid.

¿Quién es?

Who is it?

Captions 19-20, El Aula Azul - Las Profesiones

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¿Usted quién es?

Who are you?

Roberto. Un amigo.

Roberto. A friend.

Captions 24-25, Yago - 9 Recuperación

 Play Caption

 

Why (Por qué)

 

¿Por qué dices eso? -No...

Why are you saying that? -No...

Caption 14, Cortometraje - Beta

 Play Caption

 

How (Cómo)

 

Para saludar, podemos decir: "Hola. ¿Cómo estás? ¿Todo bien?"

To greet (people), we can say: "Hello. How are you? (Is) everything good?"

Caption 7, Español en las calles - Varias expresiones

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Keep in mind that the word 'cómo' is not always translated as the English word 'how'. In fact, one of the most basic Spanish questions you can ask is a good example of that:

 

Buenos días, ¿cómo te llamas?

Good morning, what's your name?

Caption 8, La rutina diaria - La mañana

 Play Caption

 

When we want to find out someone's age or the price of an object, we combine 'how' with other words such as 'old' or 'much'. When we want to get that kind of information, we use other interrogative words in Spanish. Let's take a look:

 

Ah, lindo.

Oh, nice.

¿Cuánto cuesta?

How much does it cost?

Captions 33-34, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico

 Play Caption

 

¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

Caption 6, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

Ah, vale. ¿Cuántos hijos tienes?

Oh, OK. How many sons do you have?

Caption 39, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer

 Play Caption

 

¿Y cuántas botellas de agua hay aquí?

And how many bottles of water are there here?

Caption 78, Español para principiantes - Los números del 1 al 100

 Play Caption

 

And that's it for now. We hope you use this review of the most important Spanish question words as the perfect excuse to start asking questions in Spanish. Are you ready? We encourage you to do that and don't forget to send us your questions and comments.

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Pero, Sino and Sino Que

Do you know how to say “but” in Spanish? If you are wondering why we need a lesson to answer such a simple question, there’s a reason for that. In fact, we have three options to express the conjunction “but” in Spanish: pero, sino and sino que. Let’s look at each one:

 

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Pero in Spanish

As a conjunction, the Spanish word pero works like the English conjunction “but.” Let’s look at some examples:

 

Pues, fue muy estresante y agotador pero a la vez divertido porque…

Well, it was really stressful and exhausting but at the same time fun because…

Caption 62, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

 

Llegó al país de los Muiscas una bella pero mala mujer llamada Huitaca.

A beautiful but evil woman named Huitaca arrived in the country of the Muiscas.

Caption 28, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica

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We use pero in Spanish to create contrast between two statements. This contrast helps us to expand the information provided by the first statement. While most of the time the first statement is a positive one, there are some cases in which that statement can be negative:

 

No podemos ver, pero podemos escuchar.

We can’t see, but we can listen. 

 

In this case, you could also replace pero with sin embargo (however):

 

No podemos ver. Sin embargo, podemos escuchar.

We can’t see. However, we can listen.

 

What does sino mean?

We use the conjunction sino to create a contrast between two statements where the first one is ALWAYS a negative one. Let’s take a look:

 

Lo importante no es ganar, sino competir.

The important thing isn't winning, but competing.

Caption 41, Club 10 - Capítulo 1 

 Play Caption

 

Que no es una chica, sino un chico. -Oh...

That's it's not a girl, but rather a boy. -Oh…

Caption 40, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam

 Play Caption

 

You can think of sino as something that we could replace with por el contrario (on the contrary). Also, keep in mind that when you have a verb after sino, you need to use its infinitive form.

 

Sino que

We use sino que exactly the same way as the conjunction sino. The difference is that we use sino que when both statements contain a conjugated verb. Let’s take a look:  

 

En general, la... la gente no es sólo respetuosa,

In general, the... the people are not only respectful

sino que es súper amable con nosotros.

but are super kind to us.

Captions 41-42, El Instituto Cervantes - Jefa de biblioteca

 Play Caption

 

O sea que no solamente era una cosa, sino que eran varias.

I mean that it was not only one thing, but rather there were many.

Caption 27, María Marí - Su pasión por su arte

 Play Caption

 

Simple rules for using “but” in Spanish

Considering the fact that you have three options, you might not always know which option to choose in order to say “but” in Spanish. Luckily, there are some simple rules that will help you to figure out whether you need to use pero, sino or sino que. Let’s have a look:

 

- If the first statement is positive you need to use pero.

- If the first statement is negative, you need to use either sino or sino que.

- If the first statement is negative and you have a conjugated verb in both statements you need to use sino que.

- If you can replace “but” with “however” (sin embargo), you need to use pero.

- If you can replace “but” with “on the contrary,” (por el contrario) you need to use sino.

 

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That's all for now. Now that you know how to say “but” in Spanish, try to write 5 sentences with pero, 5 sentences with sino and 5 sentences with sino que. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

 

Using O Sea in Spanish

Have you ever heard someone use the expression, o sea? Chances are you have because this is a very popular and useful expression in both Spain and Latin America. Let's see how to use it.

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How to Use O Sea in Spanish

The expression, o sea, is generally used to introduce an explanation or consequence of something one has already said. If you think about it, the meaning is quite literal: The phrase is made up of the disjunctive conjunction, o ("or"), and the word, sea ("would be"), the third person present subjunctive form of the verb, ser ("to be"). Let's look at some examples.

 

Porque Barcelona no aburre nunca.

Because Barcelona is never boring.

O sea, siempre hay actividades,

I mean, there are always activities,

Captions 41-42, Escuela BCNLIP - Presentación de la directora

 Play Caption

 

Nos lo hemos pasado muy bien,

We had a great time,

muy bien. -Qué bien, o sea que buenísimas vacaciones.

great. -How nice, I mean, an amazing vacation.

Captions 48-49, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Vacaciones recientes

 Play Caption

 

You can also think of o sea as an equivalent of the English expression, "in other words":

 

O sea que ¿el tipo de hoy era Wilson Ríos?

In other words, the guy from today was Wilson Rios?

Caption 33, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1

 Play Caption

 

Sometimes, the word, que ("that"), is added after o sea without altering its meaning:
 

Sé surfear, ¿no? O sea que tengo una profesión ahora.

I can surf, right? I mean, I have a profession now.

Caption 43, Costa Azul Surf Shop - Hablando con los Empleados Del Surf

 Play Caption

 

Be careful, however: The combination "o + sea" can sometimes have a totally different meaning, so always pay close attention to the context:

 

...sea bueno o sea malo.

...whether it's good or whether it's bad.

Caption 34, Club de las ideas - Intuición

 Play Caption

 

Using O Sea as "Duh" or "Like"

In Latin America, there is another use of o sea that is very popular among upper/middle-class youngsters, some of whom are considered snobby and superficial. In this case, o sea is used as a sarcastic remark that can be translated as "obviously," "duh," "come on," "give me a break," or "I mean," depending on the context. Let's observe that use in action:

 

¡Ay pues, obvio que va a querer!

Oh well, [it's] obvious that he is going to want to!

¡Porque nadie le dice que no a una chica popular, o sea!

Because no one says no to a popular girl, duh!

Captions 21-22, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso

 Play Caption

 

You may also notice that in colloquial speech, o sea is sometimes used incessantly among certain groups or individuals as a filler word in the same way that certain English-speakers (e.g. Valley girls, etc.) constantly use the word, “like.”

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O Sea Should Be Two Words!

Finally, keep in mind that the expression, o sea, is written as two words, and it is incorrect to write it as a single word (osea means "bony"!). Furthermore, it is sometimes used as an alternative for the expression o séase, which should be also avoided. 


That's all for today. We invite you to incorporate this useful expression into your vocabulary, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions