Hello, everybody! Let’s learn (or review) some of the most common greetings in Spanish:
Hola - Hello, Hi
Hola, aló, bueno, diga, dígame - Hello (on the telephone)
Adiós - Goodbye/ Chao, Chau (informal, from italian “Ciao”)
Hasta luego - See you later
Hasta pronto - See you soon
¿Cómo estás? / ¿Cómo está? - How are you? (The [...]
I’m a helpless internet addict and as a teacher I’m always looking for alternatives to supplement my classes. While surfing the web, I came across this course, by BBC Online, called Mi Vida Loca. It’s a mystery series and it has tons of audio, video and explanations both in English and in Spanish. There are [...]
Let’s talk a bit about the future in Spanish. There are two basic forms: the first one is a specific verb conjugation called the simple future (futuro simple). For example, the verb estar (estaré, estarás, estará, estaremos, estaréis, estarán) in the simple future tense is equivalent in English to the form “will” (I will be, [...]
Learning to use Spanish verbs correctly is a hassle, and we all know that. When we learn the Pretérito Perfecto, we come up with irregular past participles. Here’s a list of some common irregular past participles.
* abrir (to open), abierto
* absolver (to absolve), absuelto
* cubrir (to cover), cubierto
* decir (to [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Let’s review some ways of making negative sentences in Spanish.
1. Place the adverb no before the verbal expression.
María conoce a Carlos. (Maria knows Carlos) - María no conoce a Carlos.
He terminado mis deberes. (I have finished my homework) - No he terminado mis deberes.
2. Here are some common negative words.
Nadie – nobody, no one
Nada – [...]
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. [...]
