Posts from November 2009

Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense Part 01

Posted by Adir 2 Comments
Nov 30 2009

Yeah, I know Spanish verbs are hard to learn but sometimes you just need to follow a pattern and bingo! you get it right.

Our first irregular verb pattern is when the root vowel ‘e’ becomes ‘ie’. Check out the verb apretar (to tighten).

Yo aprieto
Tú aprietas
Él / ella / usted aprieta
Nosotros apretamos
Vosotros apretáis
Ellos/ellas / ustedes aprietan

So, you change the ‘e’ to ‘ie’ in the yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes persons.

Here are some more verbs that follow this rule. Why don’t you try conjugating them in your notebook or make a Byki list with the verb forms?

Alentar (to encourage)
Aterrar (to terrify)
Atravesar (to go across)
Calentar (to heat up)
Cegar (to blind)
Cerrar (to close)
Comenzar (to start)
Confesar (to confess)
Desconcertar (to disconcert)
Desenterrar (to unearth, to dig up)
Desmembrar (to dismember, to split)
Despertarse (to wake up)
Desplegar (to spread, to unfurl, to deploy)
Desterrar (to exile)
Empedrar (to pave)
Empezar (to begin)
Encomendar (to entust)
Fregar (to wash)
Gobernar (to rule)
Manifestar (to manifest)
Merendar (to have a snack)
Pensar (to think)
Quebrar (to break)
Recomendar (to recommend)
Regar (to water)
Remendar (to patch)
Sembrar (to sow)
Sentar (to sit)
Sosegar (to settle down)
Temblar (to shiver)
Tropezar (to trip)

Perífrasis Verbales

Posted by Adir 1 Comment
Nov 25 2009

Perífrasis verbales are combinations of two verbs that convey a meaning that’s different from that of the separate verbs. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. estar + gerund – ongoing action -> Estoy buscando mi libro. (I am looking for my book.)

2. seguir + gerund – continuity -> Sigo dando clases de español. (I keep teaching Spanish.)

3. Deber + infinitive – moral obligation, need -> Debes agradecerle a tu maestro el haberte ayudado. (You must thank your teacher for helping you.)

4. Deber de + infinitive – strong assumption -> Su marido la dejó por otra, así que debe de sentirse sola. (Her husband left her for another woman so she must be lonely.)

5. Tener que + infinitive – personal obligation -> Tengo que estar en la escuela a las 2. (I have to be at school at 2.)

6. Haber que + infinitive – impersonal obligation -> Hay que subir las escaleras para llegar a su oficina. (You have to go up the stairs to go to his office.)

7. Echar a / ponerse a / romper a + infinitive – sudden action -> Echó a reír. (He burst into laughter). Rompieron a llorar. (They started crying.) Estaba tan nerviosa que se puso a hablar y nadie pudo callarla. (She was so nervous she started taking and no one could shut her up.)

Nos vemos prontito!

B or V?

Posted by Adir No Comments
Nov 23 2009

As it happens with G and J, the letters B and V are very similar and it’s usually not very easy to choose between them. So, another little test for you: fill in the blanks with B or V.

Cara___ela (caravel)
Cala___era (skull, skeleton)
Llama___a (I/he/she was calling)
I___a (I/he/she was going)
Automó___il (automobile)
A___obado (silly)
Ra___ia (anger)
___asco (Basque)
Mo___ilización (mobilization, demonstration)
Li___ro (book)
En___asar (to can)
Estu___o (he was)
Hu___o (there was)
Tu___e (I had)
Escri___ir (to write)
___arniz (varnish)
De___er (duty)
Ca___allo (horse)
Go___ierno (government)
___ainilla (vanilla)
Nu___e (cloud)
Esta___le (stable)
Her___ir (to boil)
Em___estir (to charge towards)
In___ertir (to invest)
Mo___ilidad (mobility)
Co___arde (coward)
Gra___ar (to record)

Nos vemos prontito.

Foreign Words in Spanish

Posted by Adir 1 Comment
Nov 19 2009

Spanish has borrowed words from many other languages, and that is one of the reasons why it is such a colorful language. Here’s a list of some foreign words (extranjerismos) with their equivalent Spanish expressions.

Baby-sitter – niñera, canguro
Best-seller – superventas
Blackout – apagón
Buffet – bufé
Cassette – (cinta) casete
Chantilly – nata, chantillí
Jeans – vaqueros/ tejanos
Kindergarten – párvulos; jardín para niños; jardín de infancia
Puzzle – rompecabezas
Sandwich – sándwich, emparedado
Standard – estándar
Stress – estrés
Volley-ball – balonvolea, voleibol

Nos vemos prontito.

Colombian accent with Shakira

Posted by Adir 2 Comments
Nov 16 2009

Here’s a very cool interview with Colombian singer Shakira for CNN en Español. She talks about a law to help education in many countries.

YouTube Preview Image

Listening tip: listen and watch the video many times, get used to real spoken Spanish. Input is of extreme importance to be fluent in any language so the more you listen and read, the more fluent you will become.

Back to the Top