These all are very useful Spanish nouns for the airport that write and sound pretty much the same in English. Also, maybe you noticed that the ending “tion” in “Reservation” gets slightly changed to “ción”. This is a useful thing to remember: Most words ending in “tion” in English end in “ción” in Spanish.
Detail:
You can also see that “Distance” is translated as “Distancia”. The ending “-nce” is often mapped to “-ncia”; as in “assistance” and “asistencia”. You should also keep this in mind, especially while in Latin- America or Spain.
Fingers in Spanish have special names too: the thumb is ‘el pulgar’, the index is ‘el índice´, the middle is ‘el cordial’ [related to the heart], the ring is the ‘anular’ [for the 'anillo'] the little finger is the ‘meñique’ or ‘auricular’ [because some people use it for ear (áurícula’) cleaning]
There are informal names too, as ‘el dedo gordo’ [the fat finger] for the thumb, and ‘el dedo chiquito’ [the little finger] for the little one.
‘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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
English expression ‘is going to…’ has been wrongly incorporated into spoken Spanish in some American countries, as in ‘vamos a estar…’ [we are going to be…', where a much shorter 'estaremos...' [we'll be...] would have been enough.
You can both save words and talk a better Spanish if you avoid this practice. Use the future tense if you are comfortable using it. If you are not, then use the common construction: ‘Voy a’ + infinitive verb (in this case you don’t need to know all verb variations for the future tense)
These reforms mainly call for some single syllable words -and some with more than three- NOT to have a stress mark, when certain vowels meet, as in ‘guión’ [slash] The advice: don’t worry about changing your orthography… at least for been very different: People have even gone to court)
In the last 10 years, the Spanish regulation Academy ‘RAE’ has published three reforms for Spanish orthography, but they all have been ignored in the other Spanish speaking countries (it also happened in other languages, but reaction has the next 10 years.
How to address a representative of the authority Oficial‘ [? 'officer] is a sure bet whether he or she is ranked or not. They’ll gladly accept it nevertheless.
You can use this word for all kinds in Latin-America and any representative with uniform in Spain. ‘Oficial’ is also the translation for ‘Official’, so don’t get confused if you hear it in another context.
If you can´t remember the right time of day to use ‘buenos días’, ‘buenas tardes’ or ‘buenas noches’ [good morning, good afternoon, good evening] you can always use the orthographically correct ‘Buen día’ [Good day] at any time of the day (it can be used on writing too, as an introduction for all kinds of e-mail, formal or not)
If you don´t want to sound that formal, you can say the colloquial that locals use:‘buenas’. They say it at any time of day, but mostly to their acquaintances
Don’t be confused when you hear Spanish speakers’ medical talk full of truncated words when referring to specialties, as in ‘endocrino’: short for ‘endocrinólogo’ [endocrinologist]. These apocopes are often used simply to save time or just because the speaker doesn´t really know the final part.
In most of the instances the missing part is ‘-logo’ [-logist], as in ‘cardio’ [for cardiologist], ‘procto’ [for proctologist]. Sometimes the missing part is huge, as in ‘otorrino’, for otorhinolaryngologist!
When trying to get an attendant´s attention, using his or her job’s name could be considered impolite. Usage in most of Spain and Latin-America calls for a general name to be used instead, such as ‘señor’ or ‘señora’, instead of ‘mesero’ or ‘mesera’ [waiter] or any other attendant job name.
If the attendant is a young man or woman, then you can also use ‘joven’ [young man] for a male, or ‘señorita’ [miss], for a female (just remember never to call a male attendant with archaic ‘señorito’, as it is only used these days in a pejorative sense)
What’s a foreigner to do when the Spanish name of something is unknown but -nevertheless- it is part of the conversation? Well, just say “esa cosa”, as locals do when they are talking so fast they don´t want to slow down and remember the exact name of “that thing”
This phrase is used more frequently in Spanish than in English, so you won’t be taken for someone lazy if you use it, just don’t forget to point it out if you can see “that stuff”.
Example:
¿Cuánto vale eso?… esa cosa que cuelga del techo.
Translation:
How much is that?….that thing hanging from the ceiling.
You will find these courtesy titles almost paired to “Sir” and “Lady”, although you can still find ‘Señor Don” and ‘Señora Doña’ used in Spain… which falls short of queen itself. You will see it used in most written invitations.
You will also find a college degree used instead of “señor” [Mr.] or “señora” [Lady] as in ‘doctor’ [doctor] or ‘ingeniero´[engineer]. If you don’t know whether somebody has a degree or not, be on the safe side and use “Don” freely, as it works both in formal and important occasions.
Is it ‘Yo recordé’ or ‘Yo me acordé’? [I remembered] When it comes to remembering, you use the first form if you remembered something willingfully, or the second one if you didn´t mean it, and just came to you because you saw something or it came to your mind by itself.
The pronominal form ‘me recuerdo’ is never to be used, except if you are remembering yourself in some situation, as in ‘me recuerdo en los brazos de mi madre’ [I remember myself in my mother's arms]
‘Gana’ [wins | makes | will ] is most used when talking about winning: ‘El estudiante más rápido gana’ [The fastest student wins] It is also used in the sense of making money: “Gana doce mil al año” [makes twelve thousand a year]
Yet another meaning for this word is will to do something: ‘lo hizo sin gana’ [he did it unwillingly], in this same context, ‘gana’ can be used as a noun: ‘échale más ganas’ [put more will into it]
The rule of thumb calls for putting the words right to left when it comes to a string of adjectives, like in ‘el coche nuevo azul marino’ [the ocean blue new car]. But that’s not the case always, as in the example below.
It is because “freshly” clearly refers to “ground” first than to the noun “pepper”, that the order is not quite from right to left, as it would have been the case if “freshly” had been “fresh” as in: “ground black fresh pepper”
Function:Noun
It all depends which country you are, so will the local words for bathroom be. ‘sanitario’ [sanitary] being the most universal but perhaps too formal. ‘Servicios’ is very much preferred in Spain, but it is rather incomplete, don’t use it in America as most locals will ask ‘¿qué clase de servicios?’ [what kind of services are you looking for?]
Los servicios sanitarios’ would be the whole, but kilometric form. If you are with family or friends you can always use ‘baño’ [bathroom], which can also has the verbal form ‘bañar’ [to bath], used when talking about some thing being covered with a substance, as in “baño de azúcar” [sugar bath] used in cooking recipes.
“Keep the pronouns at a minimum” is a golden rule for foreigners talking or writing in Spanish. Remember that most of the time the verb is enough to tell male from female and plural from singular.
If the subject has been mentioned keep all pronouns and references to it out, until another subject comes around. You just don’t need it and keeps the phrasing from being unnecessarily repetitive.
Example:Gaia, la pequeña niñera, entró en el cuarto con paso ágil, haciendo sonar sus sandalias. Era casi una niña, como atestiguaba su pelo castaño claro y su alegre carita. Translation:Gaia, the little nursemaid, came briskly into the nursery, her sandals clattering on the floor. She was hardly more than a child, with her light brown hair and merry face.
You can make your writing and talk sound more “Hispanic” by joining the typical (and correct) English short sentences with a conjunction, preposition or, like in the example below, with a mere replacement of a period with a comma.
Ritmo con síncopes’ [syncopated rhythm] is the formal description of English writing, where short sentences are not the exception but the rule. Spanish way is just the opposite around: as long as sentences have something in common. On the other side, Spanish is called “a language with runaway paragraphs” by foreigners. Example:Cuando lo necesite, tome la bolsa entre sus manos y rómpala, la piel entrará en contacto con la crema y así obtendrá el agua que necesita.
Translation:When in need you can take the bag with your hands and break it. The skin will make contact with the cream and will get the water it needs.
Querida has several connotations, some of them very different from one another: it is used frequently as an introduction in personal letters written to female members of the family, i.e. ‘Querida madre’ [Dear mother], but when used as a noun, it means “mistress”.
Querida’ (or masculine Querido) can also be used in the middle of the sentence, just as any other adjective: ‘Es una muy querida amiga’ [She is a very dear friend] “Siempre fue un hijo muy querido” [He was always a very beloved son]
Just to be on the safe side, you can use this word when talking to -or about- a lady. It works for all-kinds of situations, formal or informal. It is almost like using “madam”.
If you know the marital status, then you can use ‘señora’ for the married woman and ‘señorita’ for the unmarried. ‘Muchacha’ is used only for acquaintances. ‘Nena’ [baby] is supposed just for small female children, younger than a ‘niña’ [girl].
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