Spanish Adverb: Antaño
Pronunciation: Ahn-tah-nyoh
Translation: Times gone
Function: Adverb
‘Antaño’ is a very old word about very old times, and gives Spanish sentences the flavor of times gone past: ‘Ya no hacen vinos como los de antaño’ [they don´t make wines as in the old times] If you find it resembles the word ‘año’ [year], you are right, they are related: ‘antaño’ comes from ‘ante-’ [before -] and ‘año’ [year]
‘Como en antaño’ is very much in use, but the ‘en’ is out of place: ‘como antaño’ (‘como antes’) is the right way to use this word.
Example:
Las mujeres de antaño no podían estudiar en las universidades.
Translation:
In the old times, women couldn´t study in universities.
Tags: Antaño, learn spanish, Spanish Adverb, spanish lesson
Posted in Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar |
Spanish Adjective: Bien
Pronunciation: Bee-ayn
Translation: Very
Function: Adjective
‘Bien’ [good] has a second meaning: [very] and it is very much alive in the Spanish language. You can find in food praising ‘está bien rico’ [it is very tasty] or -for example- in the time of day: ‘ya es bien tarde’ [it is very late already]
This adjective works very much like the word “well”, but it has to appear before the adjective to function as “very” -and praising something too-
Example:
Es un muchacho bien malo
Translation:
He is a very bad boy
Tags: spanish, spanish adjective, spanish lesson
Posted in Spanish Grammar, spanish adjective |
Spanish Noun: Sabio
Translation: Wise and educated
Function: Noun
One who has both talent and knowledge, and also gets to produce new ideas is known in Spanish as ‘sabio’. Sometimes the word is mistakenly used as ‘erudito’ [erudite], but this last word means knowing many things about many topics, not necessarily related with one another.
Also, if you get to know about somebody who knows a great deal about one subject, but doesn´t produce that many new ideas, you can call him/her ‘docto’ [taught]
Example:
No solo era erudita sino sabia también
Translation:
Not only did she was an erudite, but a wise woman as well
Tags: learn spanish, Sabio, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Dolencia
Pronunciation: Doh-layn-ceeah
Translation: Ailment
Function: Noun
‘Dolencia’ comes from Spanish ‘dolor’ [pain] and it is used frequently instead of ‘enfermedad’ [sickness]. In case it comes across, you should find out whether or not a pain is involved.
Should pain be out of the picture, you must take it as ‘sickness’, not as a suffering pain.
Example:
Esa dolencia tiene más de un mes con él
Translation:
He has had that ailment for more than a month
Tags: Dolencia, learn sapnish, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Moral
Pronunciation: Moh-rahl
Translation: Moral
Function: Noun
In Spanish, this word has a clear different meaning than ‘ética’ [ethics], as ´moral’ refers to a way to achieve the ethical principles. The first is about practice and the second about theory.
Furthermore; ‘Moral’ is taken in Spanish as a series of ‘modos’ [ways] and ´etica’ as a series of principles.
Example:
Ética
Translation:
Ethics
Tags: moral, spanish, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Lengua
Pronunciation: Layn-gooah
Translation: Tongue
Function: Noun
‘Lengua’ is frequently translated as “tongue”, “language” or “idiom”, but it should be used just for the first two, as “language” is related to ‘Lenguaje’, and the Spanish signification is associated with an individual practice: each person has his or her own language.
A nation has a ‘lengua’ and each one of its citizens, has a version of her own: her ‘lenguaje’. In English that is not the case. Both tongue and language refer to the same set of symbols.
Example:
Es una lengua muy rica en adjetivos
Translation:
It is a tongue very rich in adjectives.
Tags: lengua, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Disculpas
Pronunciation: Dees-cool-pahs
Translation: Apologies
Function: Noun
When it comes the time to apologize in Spanish don’t use ‘me disculpo’ [I apologize myself] or ‘Doy una disculpa’ [I give an apology], because apologies are, like in English, offered… and they could even be rejected.
‘Ofrezco una disculpa’ [I offer an apology] is the right way to do apologize in Spanish, although you might find some countries in America where the wrong-way form ‘pido una disculpa’ is used the most.
Example:
Por favor acepte mis disculpas
Translation:
Please accept my apologies
Tags: disculpas, learn spanish, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Cometa
Pronunciation: Koh-may-tah
Translation: Comet
Function: Noun
‘Cometa’ can be translated straightforwardly as “comet”, but it could also mean “kite” in both Spain and America. The context will tell you what people are talking about.
There are still more terms for ‘Cometa’ as a kite too, at least in some Latin-America countries: ‘papalote’ and ‘papagayo’ are the words used in Mexico and some Central American nations. In South America you will find them as ‘barriletes’
Example:
Papalote
Translation:
Kite
Tags: cometa, spanish, spanish lesson, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Software
Pronunciation: Sohft-wah-ray
Translation: Software
Function: Noun
Words with no Spanish counterpart are rare, but “Software” is one of them. ´Programa´ [program] is not the right translation, as software means also the data of those programs. To makes things harder, there is also software in other areas different from computer science, as in the musical field.
It is an intangible and it relates only to the information: the ordered elements of code or musical notes existing in a hard disk or CD. That is the reason you will find the word in Spanish untranslated. Don’t try to find a translation. And then… there is yet one neighbor: “Hardware”.
Example:
Hardware
Translation:
Hardware
Tags: Software, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Word: Comidas
Pronunciation: Coh-mee-dahs
Translation: foods
Function: Usage
Beware when asking for fruits and some vegetables in Latin-America or Spain. They may look the same, but their local names can vary: USA’s zucchini is known as ‘calabacin’ is Spain, ‘calabacita’ in Mexico, ‘zuquini’ in Bolivia, and many more instances -almost one different per country-
The same goes for beans of Latin-American: ‘frijoles, frijoles, frejoles y porotos’, they all are ‘judías’ in Spain. The same goes for some fruits, like South-American ‘damascos’, a.k.a. ‘chabacano’ in Mexico and ‘albaricoque’ in Cuba or Peru.
Example:
Maíz, Elote
Translation:
Corn
Tags: comidas, spanish, spanish usag, Spanish vocabulary
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Word: -ction
Pronunciation: see-ohn
Translation: -ction
Function: suffix
This ending clearly shows that English and Spanish share a common root: the Indo-European. When you start studying one of them as a foreign language, you are told “you already know dozens of words” by changing a mere letter, as in ‘acción’ [action]Spanish Word: -ción
And that’s what this suffix main significance is: action, movement; as in ‘conducción’ [conduction] and ‘introducción’ [introduction]. It can also denote a state, as in ‘desesperación’ [desperation] and ‘aflicción’ [affliction]
Example:
Reacción
Translation:
Reaction
Tags: -ción, Spanish vocabulary, Spanish Word
Posted in Spanish vocabulary, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Word: a.m., p.m.
Pronunciation: ah aymay, pay aymay
Translation: a.m., p.m.
Function: Abbreviation
In Spain, they say ‘buenas noches’ [good night] from dusk till dawn. In America it all depends on the clock, and changes to ‘buenos días’ at 12:01 a.m.
These abbreviations stand for “antemeridiano” [ante meridiem] y “postmeridiano” [post meridiem]. A change from the first to the second occurs at noon. In most Latin-American countries this change also indicates you should no longer greet with ‘buenos días’ [good morning] but with ‘buenas tardes´[good afternoon] instead.
Example:
Llegaremos a las 12 p.m.
Translation:
We will get there at noon
Tags: a.m., p.m., Spanish vocabulary, Spanish Word
Posted in Spanish vocabulary, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Preposition: A
Pronunciation: Ah
Translation: To
Function: Preposition
This preposition is a tricky one, even for locals, because its use is ‘multimodal’ [multiple modes] One of the most important ones is to indicate who is receiving from who, i.e. in ‘el perro persigue al gato’ [the dog is after the cat] if you take it away you’ll get: ‘el perro persigue el gato’, and you can’t tell who is after who.
Sometimes you have to “take the ‘a’ away”, as in: ‘Antonio busca un sastre’ [Anthony is looking for a tailor] because if you add the ‘a’, as in ‘Antonio busca a un sastre’, then it means he is looking for a certain tailor he knows. In these instances ‘a’ gives personification to whatever follows.
Example:
Prefiero un albañil a un plomero
Translation:
I prefer a mason to a plumber.
Tags: A, learn spanish, Spanish Grammar, Spanish Preposition
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish Prepostion |
Spanish Adverb: Abajo, bajo
Pronunciation: Ah-bah-joh
Translation: Below, under
Function: Adverb
‘Hacia un lugar inferior’ [toward a place below] is what ‘Abajo’ means -when paired with movement verbs-, as in: ‘nadó aguas abajo’ [swam downstream]. If the associated verb doesn’t mean movement, then it has a sense of a place below: “Está allá abajo’ [he is below]
Without the ever important “movement” prefix ‘a’, ‘bajo’ can function as the “down” adverb: ‘a un volumen bajo’ [at a lower volume]. When it appears after a noun, it means in the lowest part: ‘río abajo’ [down river]
Example:
Voy abajo
Translation:
I am going below
Tags: abajo, bajo, Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar, spanish lesson
Posted in Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar |
Spanish Phrase: Modismos
Pronunciation: Moh-dees-moh
Translation: Adverbial idioms
Function: adverb phrases
There are some Spanish expressions that come from “who knows where” and follow no syntax rule, but they appear often. Here are the most popular ones: ‘a fuerza’, ‘por poco’,'en serio’,'de golpe’, ‘de veras’,'de milagro’,'poco a poco’, ‘de memoria’ and ´tarde o temprano’
They mean “forcefully, almost, seriously, suddenly, really, miraculously, little by little, by heart, sooner or later”. They all add-up “flavor” to the language and there is no other choice but to memorize and try to use them often.
Example:
A lo mejor
Translation:
Maybe
Tags: learn spanish, modismos, Spanish Adverb, spanish phrase
Posted in Spanish Adverb, Spanish Phrase Of the day, Spanish vocabulary |
Spanish Adverb: Donde, adonde
Pronunciation: Dohn-day, Ah-dohn-day
Translation: Where, to where
Function: Adverb
The ‘Donde’ [where] and ‘adonde’ [to where] difference is on movement: the second one is used when the action starts at someplace and ends somewhere else, as in ‘El almacén donde compramos tu traje’ [The store where we bought your suit]
When using these words in the interrogative form, don´t forget an ‘acento’ is in order: ‘¿en dónde vives?’ [where do you live?] ‘¿adónde fuiste?’ [where did you go?]
Example:
El lugar adonde van
Translation:
The place where you are going to
Tags: adonde, Donde, Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar
Posted in Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar |
Spanish Adverb: Ahí, allí
Pronunciation: Aee, a-yee
Translation: There, over there
Function: Adverb
Don’t get confused by ‘ahí’ and ‘allí’, just because they don´t have direct equivalents in English. They form a group with the word ‘aquí’ [here], that is: ‘aquí, ahí, allí’. They refer to something either close to the speaker, closer to the listener or far from both.
Although English doesn´t have the third one, English speakers manage by adding “over” when talking about something far from both speaker and listener, as in “over there”, the ‘ahí’ counterpart.
Example:
Llévalo de aquí a allí
Translation:
Take it from here to over there
Tags: ahí, allí, spaniah, Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar
Posted in Spanish Adverb, Spanish Grammar |
Spanish Word: Si
Pronunciation: See
Translation: If
Function: Conditional
Even if you think ‘acentos’ [diacritical stress marks] can be spared, you should keep an eye on using at least the most frequent ones, as Spanish speakers are used to exploit this “visual resource” to make reading faster. This is especially true when ‘homónimos’ [homonimous] are present.
‘Homónimos’ are words that sound the same, but have different meanings. The example below has two pairs: ’si’-’sí’ [if-yes] and ‘tú’-'tu’ [you-your]
Example:
Si tú le dices “sí” a tu padre
Translation:
If you tell “yes” to your father
Tags: Si, spanish conditional, Spanish Grammar, Spanish Word
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Word: Presente histórico
Pronunciation: Preay-sayn-tay ees-toh-ree-coh
Translation: Historical present
Function: Usage
To help you do story-telling when your Spanish past tenses are not that polished, you can do it the American way: by using the ‘presente histórico’ [historical present], which means you talk about something from the past using the present tense, something typically done by historians.
You can see in the following example how a happening of the past is told using the present tense, as if things were happening that very moment. You can use this rhetorical resource when your past-tense skills are yet to be fully learned.
Example:
Y ahí estoy, todo mojado, cuando de repente pasa todo un equipo de futbol y me ayuda a empujar el coche.
Translation:
And there I am, all wet, when all of a sudden, a whole soccer team passes by and helps me push the car.
Tags: presente histórico, spanish phrase, Spanish vocabulary, Spanish Word
Posted in Spanish vocabulary, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Word: Voz activa
Pronunciation: Bohs pah-see-bah
Translation: Active voice
Function: Usage
Your Spanish will sound more Castilian if you try your sentences to go from the active subject to the passive one, as opposed to the English sentence construction, where the subject receiving the verb action goes first more often.
You can say ‘Troya fue sitiada por los griegos’ following English construction: “Troy was besieged by the greeks” or you can say ‘Los griegos sitiaron Troya’ [The Greeks besieged Troy], in the so called “active voice”: the “Castilian way”.
Example:
Todo el auditorio aclamó tu discurso
Translation:
Your speech was acclaimed by the whole auditorium
Tags: voz activa
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Phrase: ¿Me puede… ?
Pronunciation: Meh pooay-day
Translation: Can you… me?
Function: Phrase
When asking a question, starting the sentence with ‘me’ helps you keeping it simple, as in ‘¿Me puede decir… ?’ [can you tell me... ?] as opposed to ‘¿Puede decirme… ?, where the ‘me’ is joined with the verb, forming a complex word form called an “enclítical”
It clearly is simpler, to start with the pronoun ‘me’ (or plural form ‘nos’) and continue with a verb in infinitive, instead of the alternative: an enclitical.
Example:
¿Me puede ayudar?
Translation:
Can you help me?
Tags: spanish lesson, spanish phrase, Spanish vocabulary, ¿Me puede... ?
Posted in Spanish Phrase Of the day, Spanish vocabulary |
Spanish Noun: Castellano
Pronunciation: Cahs-tay-llah-noh
Translation: Castilian
Function: Noun
Some people in Spain prefer to use this word instead of “Spanish”, when it comes to talk about their language; and this is because there are in the country some bilingual regions, with a language of their own. As ‘Castilla’ prevailed militarily and politically over the other provinces, its language became the official tongue in the country… but the other ones are not forgotten.
In the rest of the world, you can use ‘Español’ or, with more detail: ‘Español castellano’ [Castilian Spanish]. In linguistics, there is yet another denomination: ‘Español de España’ as opposed to ‘Español de México’ or another Latin-America country. This is important for the foreigner, as some “bad words” are normal words in other countries.
Example:
¿Habla castellano?
Translation:
Do you speak castilian?
Tags: castellano, spanish lesson, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Noun: Gente
Pronunciation: Gayn-tay
Translation: People
Function: Noun
Using ‘gente’ (a collective) when talking abou a single person might be wrong, but people in Spain often do, i.e. ‘Ví una gente en el corredor’ [I saw somebody on the hall]. Latin-Americans try not to do it, as the word is defined as a group of persons.
You can use ‘gente’ for both “people” and “a person”, but try not to do it in Latin-America, where you should try to use ‘una persona’ [a person] or ‘alguien’ [somebody] instead.
Example:
- ¿Quién lo dice?
- La gente
Translation:
- Who says?
- People
Tags: Gente, learn spanish, Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun
Posted in Spanish Grammar, Spanish noun |
Spanish Word:Ha escrito
Pronunciation:Ah ays-cree-toh
Translation:Has written
Function: usage
Spain prefers it, even it takes more words to say or write: The so called “perfect tense”, where the verb ‘haber’ [have] functions as an auxiliary for another verb (in the gerund form) appearing right next to it, as in ‘hemos hablado’ [we have spoken]. Hispanic Americans would say a single word: ‘hablamos’ [we spoke] instead.
This form takes “less memory” from those learning Spanish, because all they need to memorize is the ‘haber’ verb conjugation and the other verbs gerunds, i.e. ‘Llegó y tomó el coche’ takes more words below, but you don’t have to know the indicative third-person past tense of the verbs ‘Llegar’ and ‘Tomar’
Example:
Ha llegado y tomado el coche
Translation:
Has come and taken the car
Tags: ha escrito, spanish lesson, Spanish Usage, Spanish Word
Posted in Spanish vocabulary, Spanish word of the day |
Spanish Word: Tú
Pronunciation: Too
Translation: You
Function: treatment
Remembering all kinds of people names is more important in English than Spanish, as English has no ‘tú’ treatment, and the only way to show familiarity trough the spoken word is to say a person’ name along the talking. In Spanish-speaking countries people can even talk with great familiarity to other people who call them on the streets… and get away with the fact that they don´t really remember who “that one” was.
You can use it more freely in Spain. In Latin-America the ‘tú’ treatment is reserved for family and friends only.
Example:
Háblame de tú
Translation:
Talk to me as a friend
Tags: learn spanish, spanish treatment, Spanish vocabulary, Tú
Posted in Spanish vocabulary, Spanish word of the day |
