Posts in May 2008

Conjunctions and discourse markers

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When we read and write in Spanish, or any other language, we need to provide this text (an e-mail, a letter, a report, a memo, or even a simple note) with cohesion and coherence. Conjunctions and discourse markers play a major role in connecting your ideas logically over long stretches of text or speech. They also make your output a lot richer. Here are some of the most common:

Y / e (and)
Ni (nor)
O / u (or)
Pero (but)
Mas (but)
Aunque (although / though)
No solo … sino también (not only … but also …)
Sin embargo (however)
Antes (before / rather)
Antes bien (rather)
Más bien (although / even though)
Si bien (although / even though)
A pesar de (in spite of the fact that)
Con todo (in spite of)
Así pues (so / therefore)
Así que (so)
Conque (so)
Es decir (that is)
Esto es (this is)
Luego (so / therefore / afterwards)
O sea (in other words, that is)
Por esto (because of…)
Por (lo) tanto (therefore / so)
Por consiguiente (therefore / so)
Pues (since / as)

So next time you’re writing or reading a text, pay close attention to these markers. Try to use as many as you can in your speech or writing in order to sound authentic. Start with one or two at a time until you feel comfortable using them. Before you know it, you will start connecting your sentences in more complex and varied ways.

See you next time!

 

Food vocabulary

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Hello there! OK, so a reader e-mailed me last week and asked, “Adir, Spanish is spoken in so many countries, and I just found out that food has several names in different countries, so how do I do to memorize that?” I gave it some thought and the answer to that question is: you don´t memorize it, you just have to know the difference and pick a variant, be it in grammar, vocabulary and accent. One of the greatest joys of teaching and learning Spanish is the amount of variety inside Spanish, but for those of you who are so desperate because you´d learned that strawberry is fresa (in Spain) but when you went to Argentina and ordered zumo de fresa (strawberry juice), people gave you a weird look, here´s a small list of some different fruit and vegatable names in Spanish. I chose Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela for the examples.

1. Strawberry
Spain: fresa
Mexico: fresa
Argentina: frutilla
Venezuela: fresa

2. Peanuts
Spain: cacahuete
Mexico: cacahuete
Argentina: maní
Venezuela: maní

3. Peach
Spain: melocotón
Mexico: durazno
Argentina: durazno
Venezuela: durazno

4. Beans
Spain: judía, alubia, haba
Mexico: frijol
Argentina: poroto
Venezuela: caraota

4. Sweetcorn
Spain: mazorca
Mexico: elote
Argentina: choclo
Venezuela: jojoto

5. Avocado
Spain: aguacate
Mexico: aguacate
Argentina: palta
Venezuela: aguacate

6. Pepper
Spain: pimiento picante
Mexico: chile
Argentina: ají
Venezuela: ají

¡Nos vemos prontito!

 

Expressions with “ir” (to go)

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The verb ir, like its English counterpart to go, has several meanings and sometimes you can´t figure them out by considering indivual parts of the expression. “Ir” is usually used with the preposition a, when it means direction or future time:

Voy a estudiar para la prueba. – I´m going to study for the test.
Voy a la iglesia los domingos por la mañana. – I go to church on Sunday mornings.

Here are some other common uses of ir:

1. Ir en + name of the vehicle – to go, travel (by a certain vehicle)
¿Cómo vas a la escuela? Voy en autobús. (How do you go to school? I go by bus.)

2. Ir para + verb – to go in order to do something
Mi hermano va para conocer los padres de su novia. – My brother is going to meet his girlfriend´s parents.

3. Ir para + job – be likely to become
Juan va para abogado. – Juan is going to become a lawyer.

4. Ir + gerund – to do something, usually slowly or laboriously
Voy aprendiendo español. – I´m learning Spanish (little by little).

5. Ir tirando – to get by, make ends meet
¿Cómo van tus estudios? Voy tirando. (How are you getting along with your studies? Well, I´m getting by.)

6. Ir de – 1. to be about (movie, book); 2. to think about yourself as.
La película Into the Wild va de un muchacho que dejó todo por seguir en un viaje hacia Alaska. (The movie Into the Wild is about a guy who left everything to go on a trip towards Alaska.)
María va de muy inteligente pero por poco no suspende algunas asignaturas. (Maria thinks she´s smart but she almost flunked some subjects.)

7. Ir por – 1. to search for; 2. fetch; 3.to be at a certain point (task)
Vamos por una escuela para nuestra hija. (We´re looking for a school for our daughter.)
Voy a la tienda por leche. (I’m going to the shop to get some milk.)
Maestra, no se preocupe; ya voy por la mitad del libro. Prontito lo termino. (Miss, don´t worry; I´m halfway through the book. I´ll finish it pretty soon.)

8. Irse – to go away
¡Vete de aquí ahora, no quiero verte más! (Go away now, I don´t want to see you anymore!)

See you next time!

 

El voseo

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Voseo is the use of the second person singular pronoun vos instead of . Vos is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular predominantly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and in the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In the dialect of Argentina and Uruguay (known as Rioplatense Spanish) vos is also the standard form for use in television media. Here are some examples of Rioplatense Spanish and European Spanish in the imperative form, the first form is Rioplatense Spanish and the other is European Spanish.

Hablá - Habla
Comé - Come
Viví - Vive
Pensá - Piensa
Dormí - Duerme
Entendé - Entiende
Cerrá - Cierra
Tené - Ten
Hacé - Haz
Andá (ir) - Ve
Decí - Di
Poné - Pon

The song “Cha Cha Cha”, by La Mosca, has some examples of voseo, have a look:

“Vení, bailá, quedáte un rato más” (Come, dance, stay a little longer)
Las horas nunca se me pasan si no estoy con vos (The hours don´t go by when I´m with you.)

See you next time!

 

Body part idioms I

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Today we´re going to learn some idioms related to body parts.

PELO hair

No tener pelos en la lengua – not to mince words
Le dije que era un sinvergüenza porque yo no tengo pelos en la lengua.I told him he was shameless because I don´t mince words.

Poner los pelos de punta – to give someone the creeps
Sólo pensar en el accidente me pone los pelos de punta. Thinking about the accident gives me the creeps.

Tomarle el pelo a alguien – to pull someone´s leg
Sus amigos le están tomando el pelo.His friends are pulling his leg.

BRAZO – arm

No dar su brazo a torcer – not to give in, to stand firm
El testarudo de Luis no da su brazo a torcer.Luis is so stubborn he doesn´t give in.

Cruzarse de brazos – to fold one´s arms, not to do anything
María se cruzó de brazos y esperó a que los demás dejaran de discutir. María folded her arms (didn´t do anything) and waited for the others to stop arguing.

PIERNA – leg

Dormir a pierna suelta/tendida – to sleep soundly
Estaba tan cansado que durmió a pierna suelta toda la noche. He was so tired he slept soundly all night long.

Salir por piernas – 1. rush out of a place 2. used to indicate that relationships (usually business) had an unpleasant outcome.

Querían armar un lío en el bar, entonces salimos por piernas.People wanted to pick up a fuss at the bar, so we rushed out.
Espero que no tengas que salir por piernas de esa empresa. I hope everything works out at this company.

DEDO – finger

Para chuparse los dedos – delicious, scrumptious
La paella estaba para chuparse los dedos.The paella was delicious/scrumptious.

Elegir / nombrar a dedo – to give someone a job, arbitrarily
La nueva secretaria fue elegida a dedo.The new secretary was given the job.

Pronto volvemos con más expresiones, ¡no se lo pierdan!