El musical Evita, con música de Andrew Lloyd Weber y letra de Tim Rice fue todo un éxito en Broadway y debutó en 1978.
La canción ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ has a version in Spanish, No Llores por Mí Argentina, and it is sung by many artists until today. Here’s a video of Spanish performer Paloma San Basilio, who starred as Evita in the Spanish version of Evita in Madrid, singing ‘No Llores por Mí, Argentina’.
Watch the video. Click here to read the lyrics.
Nos vemos prontito.
Today we are going to talk about a literary device that is part of Spanish culture: a mixture between “juego de palabras” (pun) and metáfora (metaphor), known as Greguería.
The name was coined by the Spanish author Ramón Gómez de la Serna, one of the first writers to use this device. He was born in 1888 and, even though he studied Derecho (Law), he dedicated his whole life to literary and artistic pursuits. De la Serna was not only “el padre” (the creator of) Greguerías, but also a prolific author of biographies, novels, plays, essays, literary magazines and newspapers… He was one of the most important figures in the Spanish Vanguardia (avant- garde), took part in tertulias (informal public debates to share ideas and discuss about politics, art, society, etc.) and was a great influence in the Surrealismo (Surrealism), where the element of surprise was one of the main features.
Greguerías are poetical sentences, with some hints of humor and metaphor. The author obtains a funny effect through:
But Ramón Gómez de la Serna is not the only Spanish author who became famous for his humorous and satiric works in the beginning of the 20th century; we can find another example in the jienense (from Jaén) Antonio de Lara Gavilán “Tono”, who used both language and images to create early examples of graphic humor:
“You must be mistaken sir, because I don’t have a phone…”
“Excuse me, is this the kidnapper’s home?”
I tried to write my own one. What do you think?:
“La luna es el queso del cielo, que a veces es mordido por el ratón del sol…”
Now let’s have some fun… Can you rearrange these sentences to create greguerías?
One challenge for Spanish learners is distinguishing when to use ser or estar, both of which translate into “to be” in English. Generally, ser is used with adjectives expressing permanent characteristics (including nationality, physical appearance and personality) while estar is used for temporary states or conditions, such as emotions. Sometimes learners believe that a given adjective is always and exclusively used with one or the other, but in fact some adjectives can be paired with both ser AND estar depending on what the speaker is trying to express.
Here are a few examples. Notice the difference in meaning:
“Dequeísmo”
It is becoming increasingly more common to hear incorrect expressions in Spanish such as:
Pienso de que…
Creo de que…
Opino de que…
Dije de que…
Not only among students of the language, but also native speakers. There are certain verbs that require the preposition “de”, but to do so when it is not necessary is a mistake known as “dequeísmo”. We should be saying:
Pienso que…
Creo que…
Opino que…
Dije que…
Let’s have a look at some examples:
The subject of a sentence never starts with a preposition, and that’s the function performed by the “que..” phrase.
The same thing happens when the phrase is acting as a direct object, especially with ‘thinking verbs’ (pensar, opinar, creer, considerar, etc.), ‘speaking’ verbs (decir, comunicar, exponer, etc.), ‘fearing’ (temer, etc.) and ‘perceiving’ (ver, oír, etc.):
Other verbs require a completely different preposition:
When acting as an attribute (after the verb “ser”), the phrase should not be preceded by the preposition:
While we have to be aware of these cases, we shouldn’t fall into the trap of eliminating the preposition in every case, since some verbs do require it. Some verbs even have a different meaning depending on whether they are followed by “de” or not:
advertir algo (to realise)
advertir de algo a alguien (to warn someone about something)
cuidar que (to pay attention to)
cuidar de que (to make sure)
We must also bear in mind that the usage is sometimes different in Spain and Latin America for some of these verbs, so we shouldn’t mark them as incorrect:
informar algo a alguien (Latin América)
informar de algo a alguien (Spain).
An easy way to check whether we used the correct expression is to turn the statement into a question:
We should also avoid the opposite mistake: to get rid of the preposition “de” when it’s needed. This phenomenon is known as “queísmo”, and it’s caused by hypercorrection.
If you still have any questions about this, feel free to ask!
Only one more thing before leaving… let me check if you know which of these sentences is correct:
¡Y esto es todo por hoy, amigos!
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¡Hola, mi gente! ¿Cómo les va todo? |
Hello, everybody! How’s it going? We all like to learn using music, right? Singer Christina Aguilera’s mother is American and her dad is Ecuatorian and in her 2000 album, Mi Reflejo (My Reflection) she pays hommage to her origins and it was in the first place in Latin Billboard lists. Here is the song Por Siempre Tú, the English version for I Turn to You, with the lyrics in the video so you all can sing and practice your Spanish. |
Cuando estoy por caer yo sé que tu amor me volverá a socorrer Venceré el temor mientras sepa que tú sientes dentro lo mismo que yo En el dolor y el bien, tú me supiste amar y lo que soy es por ti sin dudar Eres mi protección mi sosten No hay ningún amanecer Eres mi protección mi sosten Mi guardian será refugio de tu querer |
When I’m about to fall I know your love will rescue me again I will conquer fear As long as I know that you feel Inside the same as I do In pain or not you knew how to love me And what I am is because of you, without a doubt You’re my protection, my support There’s not one day You’re my protection, my support My guardian will be the shelter of your love |
