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Body idioms II

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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 (Vaya cabeza dura que tiene ese hombre. – That man’s so stubborn.)
3. cabeza de turco – scapegoat (Buscaron un cabeza de turco para evitar que el escándalo afectara a todo el partido. – They looked for a scapegoat to avoid the whole party being affected by the scandal.)
4. en cabeza / a la cabeza – in the first place. (Nuestro equipo va en cabeza. – Our team is in first place.)
5. agachar / bajar / doblar la cabeza – 1. to lower one’s head, in sign of respect (Dobla la cabeza ante el rey. – Lower your head before the King.) 2. to lower one’s head, due to shame (Cuando descubrieron sus mentiras, bajó la cabeza. – When his lies were discovered, he lowered his head.)
6. apostar / jugarse la cabeza – used to indicate that one is certain about a particular outcome. (Me apuesto la cabeza que se marcha del bar sin pagar. – I bet my head he’s going to leave the bar without paying.)
7. calentar la cabeza – to worry about something. (Ya se arreglará, no te calientes más la cabeza. – It will be be all right, don’t worry about it.)
8. darse con la cabeza en la pared – to kick oneself, literally to bang one’s head against the wall.  (Por haber perdido esa oportunidad, ahora se da con la cabeza en la pared. – He’s kicking himself for losing that opportunity.)
9. de cabeza – 1. to be worried about something (Con la reforma de la casa andamos de cabeza. – We’ve been worried because of the remodeling of the house.) 2. headfirst, completely (Su mujer se metió de cabeza en el mundo de los negocios. – His wife got herself completely into the business world.)
10. escarmentar en cabeza ajena – to learn from somebody else’s mistakes (Aunque se lo advertí, nadie escarmienta en cabeza ajena. – Although I warned them, nobody learns from somebody else’s mistakes.)
11. írsele la cabeza – to feel dizzy (Mi abuela no puede bajar las escaleras mecánicas porque se le va la cabeza. – My grandma can’t climb down escalators because she gets dizzy.)
12. meter la cabeza – to get yourself hired (Metió la cabeza en el banco y ahora es director de la sucursal. – He managed to be hired in the bank and now he’s the branch manager.)
13. rodar cabezas – used to indicate that someone is going to be fired (En este departamento van a rodar cabezas. – People are going to get fired in this department.)
14. sentar la cabeza – to settle down (Cuando era joven me gustaba ir de juerga, pero después de casarme, senté la cabeza. – When I was young, I liked to party but after I got married I settled down.)
15. subírsele a la cabeza – 1. (of an alcoholic drink) to take effect (No bebas vino que se te sube a la cabeza. – Don’t drink wine, because it’s going right up your head.) 2. to become vain or snobbish (El dinero se le ha subido a la cabeza. – Money has gone up to his head.)

Nos vemos prontito.

 

Chilean Spanish

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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, many years ago
Cabra/o – girl; boy
Cabra/o chica/o – young girl/boy
Chupar – to drink (alcoholic beverages) a lot
Colarse – to crash a party
Copucha – gossip
Cuico/a – snobbish high-class person
Guagua – baby
Guata – belly
Huevón – jerk, idiot
Llorar a moco tendido – to cry one’s eyes out
Lolo – young man
Mijito – Chilean way of addressing someone (it comes from Mi hijito, “my little son”.)
Pajarón – absent-minded
Pisco – a kind of aguardiente
Pololo/a – boyfriend/girlfriend
¡Por la cresta! – Holy cow!
Poto – buttocks

If you have advanced Spanish read this article about Chilean Spanish on La Página del Idioma Español (http://www.elcastellano.org/espachil.html).

 

Grammar tip: forma reduplicativa

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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 be at the office by 8 o’clock.)

The forma reduplicativa (literally, the redoubled form) is a very common sentence structure and it’s used as an equivalent to sentences using “whatever”, “whoever” and “whenever”. In this kind of structure, the subjunctive mood is repeated and the verbs are separated by a conjunction or phrase – mostly cuando, como or lo que. Here are some more examples:

Sea como sea, sus metas son muy claras. (In any case, his goals are very clear.)
Digan lo que digan sobre la violencia en las películas, los niños todavía siguen viéndolas. (Whatever they say about violence in the movies, kids keep watching them.)
Veas lo que veas, no le digas nada a nadie. (Whatever you see, don’t tell anyone anything.)
No voy a aceptar eso, sea de quien sea. (I won’t accept that, whoever it comes from.)
Eso saldrá perfecto, lo hagas como lo hagas. (This will come out perfectly, however you do it.)
Vamos a superar eso, venga lo que venga. (We’re going to get through this, come what may.)

See you next time!

 

Expressions with TOMAR

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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 el tren para venir aquí. – I took the train to come here.
Toma algunas fotos cuando viajes. – Take some pictures when you travel.
Tomó apuntes durante la conferencia. – She took notes at the conference.

2. to consider

Lo toman por tonto. – They consider him stupid.

3. to have (food, drink)

He tomado mucha gaseosa. – I’ve had a lot of soda.
Anda a la escuela después de tomarte el desayuno. – Go to school after you have breakfast.

4. no tomar en serio – not to take something seriously

El dueño no tomó en serio nuestra propuesta.
– The owner didn’t take our proposal seriously.

5. ser de armas tomar – be bold and demanding.

Es una mujer de armas tomar, no se detiene ante nada. – She’s a very bold woman, nothing will stop her.

6. tenerla tomada – to have it in for someone or something

La profesora la tiene tomada conmigo. – The teacher has it in for me.

7. tomar en cuenta – take something into account

No tomó en cuenta nuestro esfuerzo. – He didn’t take our effort into account.

8. tomar por donde quema – to take something the wrong way

No tomes estas cosas por donde queman, deja de ser suspicaz. – Don’t take things the wrong way, stop being suspicious.

9. tomar el pelo – to make fun of

Me estás tomando el pelo, ¿verdad? – You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?

10. toma y daca – give and take

No puedes pretender que solo trabaje yo en ello; esto ha de ser un toma y daca. – You can’t expect me to be the only one working on this; it has to be give and take.

Hasta la próxima.

 

The Imperative

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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 –er verbs have the vowel –a.

Hablar – Hable Ud. / Hablen Uds.
Comer – Coma Ud. / Coman Uds.
Vivir – Viva Ud. / Vivan Uds.

The first singular of the present indicative serves as the root for the formation of the formal commands.

Pensar (pienso) – piense Ud. – piensen Uds.
Contar (cuento) – cuente Ud. – cuenten Uds.
Perder (pierdo) – pierda Ud. – pierdan Uds.

The following are irregular verbs:

Dar – dé Ud. – den Uds.
Estar – esté Ud. – estén Uds.
Ir – vaya Ud. – vayan Uds.
Ser – sea Ud. – sean Uds.
Saber – sepa Ud. – sepan Uds.

To form the negative imperative in formal commands you only have to place no before the verb.

Hable Ud. – No hable Ud.
Salgan Uds. – No salgan Uds.

The informal commands (using the pronouns and vosotros) is always the same as the third-person singular of the present indicative form of the verb. Note that the pronoun is usually omitted with the command form. To form the imperative with vosotros, take out the “r” in the infinitive and place a “d” instead.

Hablar – habla – hablad
Cantar – canta – cantad
Comer – come – comed
Aprender – aprende – aprended
Vivir – vive – vivid
Escribir – escribe – escribid
Pensar – piensa – pensad
Volver – vuelve – volved

The following verbs have irregular forms for the familiar command.

Tener– ten
Poner– pon
Venir – ven
Salir – sal
Hacer – haz
Ser – sé
Decir – di
Ir – ve

As with the formal commands, the subjunctive form of the verb is used for all negative informal commands.

Cantar – no cantes
Beber – no bebas
Escribir – no escribas
Dormir – no duermas
Ser – no seas
Ir – no vayas
Estar – no estés

In most Spanish-speaking countries there is no differentiation between the formal and familiar forms in the plural, and they all use the Uds. form. However, in Spain, vosotros is used for plural informal imperative forms.

To express the idea of let’s the first-person plural form of the subjunctive is used.

Hablemos. – Let’s speak.
Bebamos la cerveza. – Let’s drink the beer.
Salgamos pronto. – Let’s leave soon.

Nos vemos prontito.