We know that a suffix is often added to a word stem to create new words, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s take the example of the suffix –ducir in Spanish and some verbs formed with it: conducir, reducir, deducir, etc. Such verbs are derived from Latin ducere, which meant “to lead”. The examples [...]
US elections are around the corner and candidates are doing their best to get votes from the ever-growing Latin communities. John McCain www.johnmccain.com/espanol and Barack Obama www.barackobama.com/espanol have Spanish versions of their websites with lots of useful information. In case your Spanish is a little rusty, here’s a list of some handy political vocabulary.
apoyar – [...]
The prepositions por and para have very specific uses in Spanish. Here are some of them.
PARA
1. Para is used to indicate destination or purpose.
El barco salió para Francia. – The ship left for France.
Este regalo es para María. – This gifit is for María.
Estudia para abogado. – He studies (to be) a lawyer.
2. It’s also [...]
OK, so your mom always told you: “Eat your vegetables, theyre good for you!”; and guess what? She was right! Heres a list of some common verduras in Spanish.
artichoke — la alcachofa
asparagus — el espárrago, los espárragos
avocado — el aguacate, la palta
bean — la judía, la haba, la habichuela, el frijol
beet — la remolacha
broccoli — [...]
The word bread (pan) is the source of several idioms and expressions.
Contigo, pan y cebolla – We shall live on love alone.
Para casarse se necesitan muchas cosas, no sólo decir que contigo pan y cebolla.
Llamar al pan pan y al vino, vino. – to call a spade a spade.
Voy a hablarte claro, porque al pan, [...]
We’re back with the second part of body idioms. This post will be totally dedicated to la cabeza (the head). Check it out!
1. ser la cabeza pensante – to be the brains. (Es la cabeza pensante de la banda. – He’s the brains of the band.)
2. tener la cabeza dura – to be stubborn, obstinate [...]
I went to high school with two Chilean kids and one year I spent Christmas Eve with their families. I ended up learning some Chilean Spanish expressions. Here are some interesting ones:
¿Cachai? – Do you understand? Get it?
Agarrar p’al hueveo/leseo/chuleteo – make fun of someone
Al tiro – right away, immediately
Año de la pera – many, [...]
Take a look at this pair of sentences:
Puedes elegir la carrera universitaria que quieras y, hagas lo que hagas, siempre te vamos a apoyar. (You can choose whatever degree you want and, whatever you do, we’ll always support you.)
Pase lo que pase, tienes que estar en la oficina a las ocho. (Whatever happens, you must [...]
Tomar is a very common verb in Spanish. Here are some uses and expressions with it.
1. to take
Tomó el libro en las manos. – He took the book in his hands.
El camarero no ha querido tomar la propina que le daba. – The waiter didn’t want to take the tip he was being given.
He tomado [...]
The imperative mode is used to give orders, instructions, suggestions, and commands. Formal commands (using the pronouns usted and ustedes) are formed with the subjunctive form of the verb. Note that the vowel of the subjunctive ending is the reverse of that usually associated with the particular conjugation: -ar verbs have the vowel –e and [...]
