01035 Spanish Lesson - Present Tense - Tener

01036 Spanish Lesson - Present Tense - tener (part 2); useful phrases

Isla Mujeres

What's Really Happening in Mexico: Isla Mujeres, Mexico_Part 1

Talking about movies in Spanish

¡Hola! ¿Cómo les va?

A todos nos gusta ver películas y hoy les traigo algunas expresiones bien útiles cuando vamos a hablar de cine y películas.

¿Qué tipo de película te gusta? – What kind of movie do you like?
No soy aficionado a las películas de horror. – I’m not into horror movies.
¿Ya has visto…? – Have you seen…?
¿Te gustó? – Did you like it?
La película es buenísima. – The movie is very good.
Me gustó un montón. – I really liked it.
Esa película se estrenó ayer. – This movie opened yesterday.
¿Te acuerdas de aquella película en que…? – Do you remember that movie where…?
Vi el corto. – I saw the trailer.
Me encantó. – I loved it.
Tú tienes que verla. – You have to see it.
No puedes perdértela. – You can’t miss it.
Hace tiempo que no veo una película tan buena. – I haven’t seen such a good movie in a long time.
Es una película entretenida. – It’s a fun movie.
Voy a verla en DVD. – I’m going to see it on DVD.
No era lo que esperaba. – It was not what I was expecting.
Me dormí en mitad de la película. – I fell asleep in the middle of the movie.
Estaba tan aburrida que salí en la mitad. – It was so boring I left in the middle of it.
Quise mi plata de vuelta. – I wanted my money back.
Hay una escena… - There’s a scene…
Es para morirse de la risa. – It’s extremely funny. (You’re going to crack up.)
Lloré de tanto reírme. – I laughed my head off.
Al comienzo es medio aburrida. – It’s a little boring in the beginning.
No te voy a contar el final. – I’m not going to tell you the ending.
El argumento es malo / buenísimo. – The plot is bad / very good.

Syllabification in Spanish -WITH PRACTICE POEM AND ANSWERS!

Pronunciation is a big issue when acquiring a new language. To be good at it, we need to know how to separate a word into syllables. That will be the topic of this post. A syllable is, according to Wordreference, “a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, and forming all or part of a word.”

The basic rule of word division at the end of a line in Spanish is that the divided word in a new line begins with one consonant unit or a strong vowel. Let´s take a look at some examples to apply this rule and its exceptions properly:

- A consonant goes with the following vowel. We should have in mind that in spanish the combinations “ch” “ll” and “rr” are considered as one single consonant.

a-bu-so                   ce-rra-do               lla-no              co-che

- A syllable doesn´t usually start with more than a consonant unit, (that is, a single consonant and a vowel, ) but when the second one is L or R, the syllable breaks before them:

a-trás                            blan-co                           in-glés                     flo-ri-do

Obviously, every rule has some exceptions, so the combinations “rl,” “sl,” “tl,” “sr,” and “nr” will be separated as follows:

Is-la                   per-la             at-las

- Dipthongs ant tripthongs are not divided. A dipthong is a combination of a strong vowel (a, e, o) and a weak one (i and u) if the weak ones are not stressed. The two vowels are pronounced together in one syllable, giving each one its own sound, and they are not separated when a word is divided into syllables.

Ai-re              deu-da

A tripthong is a combination of a stressed strong vowel between two weak vowels. It is considered a single syllable. The four combinations are iai, iei, uai (uay), uei (uey).

Buey                      miau             pa-ra-guay

But if the weak vowel of a diphthong or triphthong is accented, or the first vowel when both are weak, they will be considered as two different syllables.

dí-a                               le-í-do

Only a few more things before we leave it for next day: try to avoid single letters standing on their own at the beginning of a line, and do not break prefixes to fit them into the rules we have been talking about.

Des-or-den (not de-sor-den)                       sub-ur-ba-no (not su-bur-ba-no)

I hope you find it useful for your next Spanish paper. And if you feel confident enough,

try what we have learned with this poem by Garcilaso de la Vega. See you soon!

Cual suele el ruiseñor con triste canto

quejarse, entre las ramas escondido,

del duro labrador que cautamente

le despojó su caro y dulce nido

de los tiernos hijuelos entretanto

que del amado ramo estaba ausente,

y aquel dolor que siente

con diferencia tanta

por la dulce garganta

despide que a su canto el aire suena,

y la callada noche no refrena

su lamentable oficio y sus querellas,

trayendo de su pena

el cielo por testigo y las estrellas.

(Égloga primera, de Garcilaso de la Vega)

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       DO NOT LOOK BEYOND THIS LINE BEFORE TRYING IT YOURSELF!
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Cual sue-le el rui-se-ñor con tris-te can-to

que-jar-se, en-tre las ra-mas es-con-di-do,

del du-ro la-bra-dor que cau-ta-men-te

le des-po-jó su ca-ro y dul-ce ni-do

de los tier-nos hi-jue-los en-tre-tan-to

que del a-ma-do ra-mo es-ta-ba au-sen-te,

y a-quel do-lor que sien-te

con di-fe-ren-cia tan-ta

por la dul-ce gar-gan-ta

des-pi-de que a su can-to el ai-re sue-na,

y la ca-lla-da no-che no re-fre-na

su la-men-ta-ble o-fi-cio y sus que-re-llas,

tra-yen-do de su pe-na

el cie-lo por tes-ti-go y las es-tre-llas.

How to have people over in Spanish

We never know when we’re going to have a Spanish-speaking guest in our home so let’s learn some useful expressions.

A la llegada de los invitados

¡Hola! – Hi!
¿Encontraste el camino fácilmente? – Did you find the way all right?
Qué bueno que viniste. - I’m glad you could make it.
¡Adelante! – Come on in.
No te fijes en el desorden. – Don’t mind the mess.
Generalmente es más arreglado. – It’s usually tidier.
No es gran cosa, pero… – It’s not a lot, but…
Pásame tu chaqueta. – Give me your jacket.
Siéntate. – Have a seat.
¿Tienes hambre? – Are you hungry?
¿Aceptas algo para tomar? – Would you like something to drink?
¿Qué quieres tomar? – What would you like to drink?
Hay refresco, cerveza, vino… – There’s soda, beer, wine…
¿Aceptas una copa de vino? – Would you like a glass of wine?
¿Te molesta si fumo? – Do you mind if I smoke?
Ven a conocer la casa. - Let me show you the house.
Sírvete, por favor. – Help yourself, please.

A la salida de los invitados

¿Ya te vas? – Leaving already?
Quédate un ratito más. – Stay a little longer.
¿Te sirvo un cafecito antes de irte? - Can I get you a coffee before you leave?
Voy a buscar sus cosas. – Let me get your things.
Gracias por haber venido. – Thanks for coming.
Ven a visitarme cuando quieras. – Come visit me whenever you want.
A ver si no te desapareces. – Don’t be a stranger.
Ve con cuidado. - Drive safely.
¿Por qué no te quedas a dormir acá? – Why don’t you sleep over?
Es un poco tarde para conducir. – It’s a little late to drive home.

Eso es todo por hoy. Nos vemos prontito.