Grupo Básico Español – lección veintiocho

Grupo Básico Español – lección veintiocho

Buenos días señores y señoras. Bienvenidos a la lección veintiocho de la clase de español.

Hoy:

:: Leeremos el capítulo uno de nuestro libro: La profe de espanol.

:: Continuamos el capítulo diez de Sueños.

:: Vamos a ver un nuevo video

Pero primero ... revisión:

¿Puedes decir lo siguiente en español?

1.     Can I have two tickets to Madrid please?

2.    What time does the bus leave for Bilbao?

3.    I want a return ticket to Malaga please.

4.    How can I get from Madrid to Barcelona?

5.    How often does the bus go to Cadiz from here?

1. ¿Puedo tener dos billetes a Madrid por favor?

2. ¿A qué hora sale el autobús hacia Bilbao?

3. Quiero un boleto ida a vuelta a Málaga por favor.

4. ¿Cómo puedo ir de Madrid a Barcelona?

5. ¿Con qué frecuencia va el autobús a Cádiz desde aquí?

La profe de español

Read story.

For homework this week, read chapter 2.

Warning: Chapter 2 contains a new tense – the pluperfect or (as I prefer to call it) the past perfect. On page 10, third line from the bottom, Charles says: Lo había olvidado. I had forgotten.

We know there’s a past tense being used because we can see a past participle: olvidado. This is the past perfect, sometimes called pluperfect.

Last week, we looked at how to use the verb haber to combine with the past participle of a verb to create the present perfect tense. We also use haber to combine with a past participle to create the past perfect.

So, you remember the how to conjugate haber in the present perfect?

Yo he

Tú has

El/ella/usted ha

Nosotros hemos

Vosotros habéis

Ellos/ellas/ustedes han

And when do we use the perfect tense? To describe an action that started in the past but has not been completed.

So what about the past perfect tense? This is used to describe an event that happened in the past before another past event. Por ejemplo:

When I arrived home, my brother had gone out.

Cuando llegué a casa, mi hermano había salido.

First my brother went out, then I arrived home. Both actions happened in the past. The action that occurred in the past before the other past action is in the pluperfect (or past perfect). Note that I arrived is in the preterit because it was an action that happened in the past and was completed.

You can use the past perfect to describe an action that happened, even though no other action is described. Por ejemplo:

John had lost his keys in the street.

John había perdido sus llaves en la calle.

It is assumed that John had lost something before some other past action, even though it isn’t described. This form is used a great deal.

Let’s look at conjugating haber in the past perfect:

Yo había

Tú habías

El/ella/usted había

Nosotros habíamos

Vosotros habíais

Ellos/ellas/ustedes habían

It’s easier because we have a lot of había in there.

EXERCISE

Ido - I have gone, I had gone … he, había

Puesto (to put poner) – she has put, she had put … ha, había

Comprando (to buy comprar) – we have bought, we had bought … hemos, habíamos

Caído (caer to fall) – he has fallen, he had fallen … he, había

Who will be watching Eurovision this weekend?

I thought I’d give you a sneak preview of the Spanish entry. It’s called La Venda and it’s by a chap called Miki Núñez Pozo (often called just Miki).

He’s 23 and trained as a primary school teacher before taking part in Operación Triunfo last year. This is a reality TV show aiming to find Spain´s next solo singing sensation - a bit like X Factor. He finished sixth.

The song is called La Venda, which translates as “the bandage” or (in this case) “the blindfold”. If you like Miki, you can vote for him on Saturday.

You can see the video at: https://youtu.be/vpMIb5rabKQ

                                                                                                

Spanish in Five Minutes

When I was preparing the lesson is was going to say that I had a special treat for you today (that was the Spanish Eurovision entry) but I realised I didn’t know how to say that in Spanish.

The verb “to treat” is tratar, but tengo una trata para ustedes hoy doesn’t make any sense. My daughter-in-law Lucy tells me that there is no direct translation for “a treat” in Spanish; the verb tratar means to treat something or to try and you cannot convert it to a noun. Apparently, my son Tom has fallen into the same trap.

If you want to give a treat, Lucy suggests:

Una golosina – food treat

Una sorpresa – a surprise

Un regalo – a present

Un obsequio – a gift

La chuchería – titbit, sweet

Algo especial – something special