Español básico - lección cuatro

Grupo Básico Español – lección cuatro

Buenos días señoras y señores. Bienvenidos a la lección cuatro de la clase de español. Estamos haciendo (present continuous tense) un buen progreso.

In English, we use the present continuous tense all the time. That’s not so in Spanish.

They tend to use it only when absolutely required and mainly use the present simple tense.

To form the present continuous tense, we use the correct conjugation of estar + the gerund (present participle) of another verb. The gerund is the ‘-ing’ form in English.

Some examples:

Estoy hablando con mi madre = I am speaking with my mother.
Estamos cocinando la cena = we are cooking dinner.
Los niños están comiendo = the children are eating.

Present continuous:

¿Qué estás haciendo?

Estoy limpiando la cocina.

Present simple:

¿Qué haces?

Limpio la cocina.

Don’t worry too much about this. Stick with the Present Simple, but if you see the Present Continuous written down or hear it, you’ll know what it is.

Hemos completado capítulos cero y uno de Sueños. Sabemos cómo preguntar y decir muchas cosas.

Today, we are going to concentrate on revision and practice, also learn a useful new verb and hear a song in Spanish from Latin America.

Before we start today’s lesson, let’s look at our homework questions. We had 20 sentences to complete using ser o estar:

1.            I am very well thank you.  Estoy muy bien gracias. Being well is a health matter, so you use estar.

2.           Good morning John, how are you today? Buenos días Juan ¿cómo estás hoy? Addressing someone by their first name suggests you are speaking informally, therefore you use the informal version of how are you? We use estar because “how you are now” is a health question.

3.           I like that shirt, what colour is it? Me gusta esa camisa, de qué color es. We use ser because the colour of a shirt is permanent.

4.           Where is the church? ¿Dónde está la iglesia? We use estar for locations, even though the church is always there.

5.           Good morning Mr Rojas, how are you today? Buenos días, Sr. Rojas, ¿cómo está hoy? We are clearly in a formal situation; therefore use the formal versions of you in estar.

6.           What time is it? ¿Qué hora es? I know the time changes, but the time that it is at any moment is an unmovable fact, therefore use ser.

7.           It is half-past three. Son las tres y media. See 6.

8.           I am married. Estoy casado/a. In this case, estoy or soy would be OK. The textbooks say otherwise, but it seems public opinion (in Latin America at least) is on the side of choice.

9.           I am retired. Soy jubilado. No-one who is retired goes back to work (if they have a choice and any sense). We expect to stay retired, therefore ser.

10.         I am a carpenter. Soy carpintero. I know you may change job, but you will always have the skills of a carpenter.

11.          Lo siento, estoy tarde – I’m sorry, I am late.

12.         Buenos días María ¿Cómo estás? Good morning Maria. How are you?

13.         Buenos días señora ¿Cómo está? Good morning madam. How are you?

14.         Estamos en el aeropuerto. We are at the airport.

15.         ¿Dónde estan tus hijos esta mañana? Where are your children this morning?

16.         Soy jubilado. I am retired.

17.         Eres muy hermosa. You are very beautiful.

18.         ¿Qué color es? What colour is it?

19.         Somos muy pobres. We are very poor.

20.        Las tiendas están abiertas. The shops are open.

I also asked you to write a paragraph in Spanish saying where you are from, where you were born and where you live now. How did that go?

Soy de ………………………… Nací en ………………………………………. Ahora, vivo en …………………………………….

Any questions on last week’s homework? As I say, you’re making great progress. You might feel confused, but that’s how you should feel. When I speak Spanish I am permanently challenged and often I forget the word (I also forget the word in English too). But things that I thought I would never understand, now I do, and this is how it will be with you. Don’t worry, just plough on!

How are you finding Sueños? Some people have asked about some phrases used in the book and what they mean ...

Así se habla = One speaks like this (así means ‘like this’ so you could say lo quiero así – I want it like that or, more likely, no lo quiero así).

Así se dice = One says it like this

Temas = themes

Veamos de nuevo = let us see again

Así se acostumbra = this is how we usually do it

Hay = there is ... hay galletas = there are biscuits

No hay = there is no ... no hay galletas = there are no biscuits

Hay que = one must (impersonal) ... hay que esperar aquí = one must wait here

Let’s look at Page 14. Exercise C at the top of the Page.

Let´s also see if we can translate Item 2 on that page.

I think we need a little light relief.

Duerme Negrito is a popular Latin American lullaby. My daughter in law sang it to her babies and when I was on childcare duties it came in handy too.

The song is from the Caribbean and was written down by a folk singer called Atahualpa Yupanqui and popularised by himself and other musicians, including Mercedes Sosa, who sings our version.

The song tells the story of a slave who leaves her child in the care of a friend or neighbour while she goes out to work in the fields. It is sung to the child who has been left under her care. The carer tells the child to fall asleep because his mother is working in the fields. She promises that the child's mother will bring him treats if he falls asleep.

The carer tells the boy that, if he doesn't fall asleep, the white devil will come to eat his little feet. His mother continues to work, coughing (we assume she has tuberculosis). She’s also in mourning, so we assume she’s recently widowed.

Nothing like a happy story and threats of mutilation to send your child off to sleep.

In South America, negrito or negrita is a term of affection and used for black or non-black children. Lucy was called negrita by her father when she was little and she knows a couple of people who are still negrita even though they are now adults.

The word gained some notoriety in the UK when Luis Suarez, the former Liverpool footballer, called Manchester United's Patrice Evra 'negrito' during a match. Evra complained and the FA found Suarez guilty of using "insulting words with a reference to Mr Evra's colour”. He was fined £40,000 and banned for eight games.

His defence was that in South America 'negrito' is a term of endearment. It’s true, but it didn't convince the FA. The word would be politically incorrect in the UK, but fine for Latin America.

Listen to Mercedes Sosa sing the song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/brI6TFM0TrQ. Can you translate what she says in her introduction?

Verb of the week: Querer

Querer means to want – it's a very useful verb!

In English, there are only two conjugations:   He/she/it wants

                                                                      I/you/we/they want

In Spanish, every group gets its own form of the verb and, of course, there's also the formal and informal to consider.

                                        Present                 

yo                                     quiero

tú                                     quieres

él/ella /usted                    quiere

nosotros                          queremos

vosotros                          queréis

ellos/ellas/ustedes quieren

Examples (present tense):

¿Qué quieres beber? … what do you want to drink?

Quiero una cerveza, por favor … I want a beer please.

¿Quieres más? … would you like more?

Queremos alquilar un coche, por favor … we want to rent a car please

The imperfect subjunctive of the verb querer is quisiera and is used to politely express a wish or desire as in: I should like: quisiera hablar ahora (I should like to speak now). You can also use it to ask for things in a more polite way …

Quisiera más leche por favor … I would like more milk please

Quisiera mi carne bien hecha … I would like my meat well done

Quisiera una habitación con una vista al mar, si es posible … I would like a room with a sea view if possible.

Quisiera saber (I would like to know) is very useful:

Quisiera saber a qué hora el autobus sale para Madrid

Quisiera saber a qué hora se sirve el desayuno.

Quisiera saber de dónde sale el autobus para Barcelona y a qué hora

There are also other uses of the verb.

Querido/querida means 'dear'. So if you were writing to me, you could start the letter 'Querido Eric'.

Querida mía or querido mío mean 'my dear' (a term of endearment).

Te quiero means I like you or even I love you (depending upon the circumstances)

Here’s a video to help you practise: https://youtu.be/sIwFPNfUoik

We’re going to finish with an exercise speaking Spanish. I want you to pair up with the person next to you (not your marido o mujer). We are at a drinks party and you’re getting to know people. Talk to your partner and find out the following:

Their name

Their nationality

Where they are from

Where they live now

Whether they speak Spanish

Whether they speak any other languages.

Let’s try to make this as natural a conversation as we can. Pretend you have una copa de vino blanco en su mano and be as charming as you can.

I’ll go first and I’ll need a guinea pig. This is roughly what I said:

Hola ¿Qué tal? ¡Qué buena fiesta! Me llamo Eric ¿cómo te llamas? Hi, how’s it going? What a Good party. I’m Eric, what’s your name?

Linda/Lynda, es un nombre inglés? ¿Tú eres inglés? Linda/Lynda that’s an English name. Are you English?

Soy de Ecuador. Soy ecuatoriano, pero ahora vivo en Thorney cerca de Peterborough. Es un lugar muy bonito. ¿Dónde vives? I’m from Ecuador. I’m Ecuadorian (not really) but now I live in Thorney, near Peterborough. It’s a very pretty place. Where do you live?

Hempton? Ah, no sé ese lugar. ¿Es bonito? Tú hables español e (note e not y) inglés. ¿Hablas otra idioma? Hempton. I don’t know that place. Is it pretty? You speak Spanish and English. Do you speak another language?

Pues, ahora voy a tomar otra copa de vino. Fue bueno conocerte. Nos vemos de nuevo. Well, now I’m going to take another glass of wine. It was good to meet you. See you soon.

Well done to Linda (morning) and Lynda (afternoon) for being our guineas pigs. And well done everyone for attacking this challenge with such enthusiasm. You can’t learn a language by sitting and listening.

The task was to:

1. Introduce yourself
2. Ask someone’s name
3. Ask where they are from
4. Ask where they live
5. Ask them if they speak any languages.

Here are our help-me phrases

Necesito ayuda por favor = I need help please

Puedes ayudarme por favor = Can you help me please

No le entendí = I did not understand

Más despacio, por favor = More slowly please

Double verbs

When you have two verbs together, you only conjugate the first. The second stays in the infinitive form.

•        Quiero hablar = I want to speak

•        Voy a comprar = I’m going to buy

•        Queremos comer = we want to eat

•        No queremos comer = we don’t want to eat

Where to put ‘it’

‘It’ in Spanish is ‘lo’ and the word comes before the conjugated verb:

•        I want it is lo quiero (it I want). I don’t want it is no lo quiero.

•        When a verb is conjugated the word it always goes in front. Lo hago = I’m doing it. Lo llevo = I’m carrying it.

When you use ‘it’ with the infinitive form of the verb, the word it hooks on the end of the verb and is said as one word.

•        No quiero comerlo = I don’t want to eat it.

•        Queremos hacerlo = we want to do it.

Homework this week is to learn members of the family and numbers up to one million!