In the lyrics of Buena Vista Social Club's Chan Chan song there is the line:
Se me sale la babita
What does babita mean? And the sentence altogether?
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Feb 09 - What is the meaning of "babita"?
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Feb 09 - How to say "if you look" in spanish
How do you say " if you look " in spanish?
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Feb 09 - Amo que...subjunctive?
Does "amo que..." use subjunctive? I want to say various phrases such as "amo que siempre me escuchas" and "amo que siempre me haces reír." Would it be grammatically correct to say "amo que siempre me escuches" and "amo que siempre me hagas reír" ? Gracias!!
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Feb 09 - Use of ir and llegar with tardar
Hey all,
So in my textbook, there is a little section on the verb tardar. In the examples they've used, they both translate to the same thing in English, but use different verbs.
So they have:
Tardo viente minutos en llegar a la oficina.
Juan tarda diez minutos en ir al trabajo.
So my question is, are these verbs (llegar and ir) interchangable in these instances? Or is there some grammatical rule behind it, determining which verb to use in which case? I asked my partner (native Spanish-speaker), but he couldn't explain it to me.
Thanks!
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Feb 09 - en/sobre usage
For my Spanish class we have to write a short paragraph about us for an oral presentation and written.
Part of my paragraph will include what classes I'm taking and when. Here is one I have...
Tomo biología humana sobre los martes y jueves de las once a las doce y cuarto con la profesora Moore.
I understand sobre meaning on or over. Can it be used for referring to a day(s) of the week?
¡Gracias!
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Feb 09 - Using two verbs in a sentence?
Hi all,
I'm getting a little confused with the use of two conjugated verbs in one sentence.
My professor said that you're supposed to conjugate the first verb and keep the infinitive for the second verb. My question is, how does this affect verbs that are not side by side?
For example, I want to say...
I ate a lot of food for Christmas celebration. "Yo comí la comida mucha para celebrar navidad." (Not sure if this even sounds right).
Would I have to conjugate celebrar as well, or am I thinking of this wrong?
Thanks in advance!
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Feb 09 - Double Object Pronouns for Beginners.
The matter of double object pronouns has some up and I have been asked to provide some clarification. As in the lesson taught by the Gringo guy in the video, I’m going to make the supposition that you can already handle single object pronouns whether they be direct bject, indirect object, or reflexive. I am also assuming that you know all the forms. If needed can add them at this point if requested.
First of all, Where are these object pronouns placed?
The answer is Before a conjugated verb or attached to an infinitive or a present participle (the “ando” “iendo” and “yendo” endings)
The rule applies whether you are using just ONE pronoun or TWO in the same sentence.
First of all we will take some very easy examples.
Ex. 1 (Talking about someone giving a gift to me—“regalo” is masculine so I’ll use the masculine direct object pronoun, “lo.”
Pedro me lo dio. Pedro gave it to me. In Spanish the Indirect object ALWAYS comes first.
Yo te lo di. I gave it to you.
Mamá nos lo dio. Mom gave it to us.
Up to this point I have avoided the third person, because there is a change. Normally “to him/her” is “le.” and “to them” is les. BUT!!! When used with another pronoun beginning with the letter “L” the “le” gets changed to “se.”
Ex. 2. You gave it (the same gift) to him. “Tú se lo diste. (a él –if a clarifier is needed.)
He gave it to her. El se lo dio (a ella—if a clarifier is needed.)
I gave it to them. (Yo) Se lo di (a ellos/ellas) (if a clarifier is needed.
Now we get a little more complicated. We now deal with dual verb sentences. I will use Querer with infinitives in the second verb, and “estar” with present participles in the second verb.
Ex. 3 My mom wants to give me a present. ( She wants to give it to me.)
Mi mamá quiere dármelo.
(Note the verb and the two pronouns are written as one word, and the accent mark is added to keep the stress on the correct syllable.
Now remember that I said that the pronouns can come before a conjugated verb. Well the first verb is conjugated, so the sentence can be written as:
Mi mamá me lo quiere dar.
This is the second form and the preferred form for most Spanish speakers.
Now With third person. I will continue to use “querer” as the first verb.
Mamá wants to give her son a new bicycle (fem. noun.) She wants to give it to him.
Mamá quiere dársela (a su hijo—clarifier) Without a context or an antecedent, the clarifier is necessary. It can also be written or said: Mamá se lo quiere dar (a su hijo.)
I want to give it to you “ Quiero dártelo/a a ti. (I put the clarifier in as an “enphasis” to show that I want to give it to you and not someone else. Also"Te lo quiero dar."
Present progressives follow the same rule.
You ask a question, “Have you written a letter to Grandma yet?”
The person replies. “I’m writing it to her now. (letter is feminine)
“Se la estoy escribiendo ahorita.” or “Estoy escribiéndosela ahorita.” Note the accent mark to keep the stress on the right syllable.
Reflexives:
When using reflexive pronouns the same rules apply: I’ll give a few quick examples.
“Cuándo te vas a lavar el pelo?” “Me lo estoy lavando ahora.” or “Estoy lavándomelo ahora.”
¿Cuándo va Pedro a cepillarse los dientes? "Se los está cepillando en este momento". or "Está cepillándoselos en este momento. ( He is brushing them at this moment.)
I haven't given many examples with the reflexive using two pronouns because they just follow the same rules and there aren't that many occasions to use them.
Now it is obvious that I have not given an example for EVERY situation, but if you watch the video where the Gringo gives a lot of examples, plus going over this post a few times you should be able to grasp it. I’m sure there is a teaching lesson in the grammar portion of this site as well.
Buena suerte de Daniela. ♥♥
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Feb 10 - Desaparece la tilde en los pronombres demostrativos
¡Hola a todos!
Tengo una pregunta. ¿Es verdad que ahora los pronombres demostrativos (éste, ése, aquél, con sus respectivos femeninos y plurales) y el adverbio “sólo“ no llevan el accento ortográfico?
Aquí es la noticia - https://www.saberespractico.com/estudios/cultura-general/desaparece-la-tilde-en-los-pronombres-demostrativos/
Yo sé que hay la diferencia entre está (como estar) y esta (como pronombre), soló (como solamente) y solo (como adjetivo), pero a mí me interesa si ahora estas palabras se escriben igualmente.
¡Gracias!
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Feb 10 - Some Verbs in spanish
Could you give me some examples of verbs?
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Feb 10 - Some Interesting Adjectives
What would be an example of adjectives?
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Feb 10 - Direct object pronouns and conjugation
If I wanted to say...
"It tasted good."
Could I say... "Lo supo bien."
My book says "saber bien" means 'taste good', so I am trying to use it along with a direct object pronoun.
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Feb 10 - Uses of tenner
what are the tenses of tenner?
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Feb 10 - How do you find the right endings?
How do you know when to put o and a
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Feb 10 - Answering this question with the correct verb?
¿Cuáles fueron algunos de los ingredientes principales de los diferentes platos?
Can I say...
"Algunos de los ingredientes principales de los diferentes platos fueron el ajo, el aceite, la sal, y la pimienta."
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Feb 09 - Use of ir and llegar with tardar
Hey all,
So in my textbook, there is a little section on the verb tardar. In the examples they've used, they both translate to the same thing in English, but use different verbs.
So they have:
Tardo viente minutos en llegar a la oficina.
Juan tarda diez minutos en ir al trabajo.
So my question is, are these verbs (llegar and ir) interchangable in these instances? Or is there some grammatical rule behind it, determining which verb to use in which case? I asked my partner (native Spanish-speaker), but he couldn't explain it to me.
Thanks!
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Feb 10 - The most common tenses
Hi, I currently use both Fluencia and Duolingo (and a bit of memrise and italki) to learn Spanish. I have only been learning for 99 days, but I am really trying to crash course it.
I am really struggling with the tenses that seem superfluous to English natives.
My current thinking is that THESE are the ones in most popular usage (using COMER as an example):
PRESENT como
PRETERITE (Past tense) comí
FUTURE Ir voy a comer
PRESENT PERFECT he comido
PAST PERFECT (Haber imperfect) había comido
PRETERITE PERFECT (Haber preterite) hube comido
FUTURE PERFECT habré comido
PRESENT FUTURE comeré
Would you agree these are the most important to learn for an A1/A2 learner? Are there any that I should not be doing at this stage? Which ones are the most used? I think the top 3 but, please, correct me.
Please also see my spreadsheet to see my thinking if you have time. The green ones I am focusing on.
Link: https://i.imgsafe.org/dc2df87df7.png
I really appreciate any help.
Thanks
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Feb 10 - using the word diría
diría.....I have seen this word used in so many context. Is it best to avoid its use? when is it used in "everyday" speech? has it got a specific text to fit into?
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Feb 10 - present tense of -ar verbs
¿tú me al cine?(acompañar) what is the correct form of the -ar verb in parentheses
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Feb 10 - how to say "my turn?
It is my turn could be "Te toca a ti". How about "It is her turn" or "It is my turn"?
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Feb 10 - Help on Plurals
Hi, I was working on a Spanish lesson and I need help. A sentence that I want to write includes a plural form of a word but then again I tried to write it but it did not sound correct. Here is my sentence:
"I can buy them plants."
I was wondering if we should say unease plants or just plantas. Yo necesito su ayudarle, por favor. ¡Gracias!
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