Basic Spanish for the Virtual Student- Section 2
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This page has been checked by a
native speaker for mistakes.
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This does not mean the page is 'mistake-free.'
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It means a lower probability of
problems.
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We advise that for everything you
learn here, find it somewhere else too!
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¡Bueno!
(older Spanish uses ¡ and
¿, but over the years, they are disappearing, and this is blamed
on an increased usage of computers, for which these symbols are not readily
available)
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You have some knowledge of pronouns--we'll
build on that
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You can do the first round of regular
verb conjugation
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And you know where to go to look it
up again
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Plus you know about the incredible
verb
conjugator
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You know about adjectives
SHORT ACHIEVABLE GOALS
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adverbs
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Coordinative Conjunctions
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prepositions
Be sure to read the caution that the Spanish conjunctions
do not always translate to the English conjunctions listed next to them
in the table. Thank you.
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adverbs
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Gradeschool English memory lane:
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you can divide a sentence into a subject part and a predicate
part: we started out with noun/verb for this reason.
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We discussed adjectives to build better subject descriptions
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With adverbs we can write more descriptive predicates
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One other interesting thing to encounter
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you can construct adverbs from adjectives
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we could argue that adverbs and adjectives come from the
same "root structures"; we may have some time for a philosophical discussion
of this later
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Estar vs. Serser o estar-- este es
el problema...
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regular verb conjugations for preterit
and imperfect-
For the english "she spoke" Spanish has
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preterit- ella habló
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imperfect- ella hablaba
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become aware of the four possible forms for
the
past tense of 'to be'-
you must consider
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estar vs. ser
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preterit vs. imperfect
ADVERBS
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Adverbs can be constructed out of adjectives
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You take the feminine form of the adjective and add -mente
to it
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natural
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naturalmente
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rápido
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rápidamente
COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS
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You may recall conjunctions and prepositions help you string
short sentences together
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and, but, etc.
English |
Spanish |
and |
y |
and |
e |
or |
o |
or |
u |
but |
pero |
but |
sino |
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The word 'e' is needed if the next word starts with 'i'
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The word 'u' is needed if the next word starts with "o"
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John e Irene
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John and Irene
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Use sino if your sentence stars with one idea, and then goes
on to a contradition to an opposite
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No quiero comer, sino beber (I don't want to eat, but to
drink)
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No quieren la paz, sino la guerra (They don't want peace,
but the war)
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No es gris, sino rojo (It is not grey, but red)
Borges contrasted red with grey, with red for life, and
grey for death
PREPOSITIONS
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The table below equates Spanish prepositions to English prepositions
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A word of caution is in order
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The correspondence may not be always true
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You may find cases where the English translation isn't appropriate
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You may read the credit "Cien Años de Soledad por
Gabriel Garcia Márquez"
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Here 'by', not 'of', works better
a |
to, at, by, on |
con |
with, by, in spite of |
de |
from, by, of, with |
desde |
from, since |
en |
on, in, at, for |
hacia |
toward, about |
hasta |
until |
para |
for, to, towards, by |
por |
for, by, through, because of |
sin |
without |
Long term goal--to provide lots of examples
MORE ADVERBS
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Use these to build better sentences
before (adv) |
antes |
after, later, next (adv) |
después |
moreover, besides (adv) |
además |
ESTAR vs. SER
A more accurate description of the differences is to say
that ser is used for characteristics and estar is used for conditions.
The Latin root for ser is essere--like essence in English, and for estar
is stare--like state or static in English. This is a better distinction
than permanent/temporary, because conditions can be permanent--"esta muerto"--and
characteristics can be temporary--"es joven". As you wrote, personal info
is usually used with ser--soy profesora, delgada, catolica, democrata,
bonita, etc. The characteristic/condition distinction can be exploited
to express something unusual--"Gilda esta bonita hoy"---implying that she
usually isn't pretty, but she looks good today.
Special thanks to Catherine Holm
(Community College of Allegheny County)
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in general estar is 'to be' for conditions
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in general ser is 'to be' for characteristics
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estar works for the answer to question "How are you today?"
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estar is used if a person is sick, happy
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ser would work for height, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality,
etc.
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I think ser works for catergories like belief systems, politics,
etc.
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(Soy católico or Soy ateo)
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estar works for your location
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you write on the chatline, "I am in the Math Computer Science
Materials Building at the University of Macondo Realitecno."
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estar |
ser |
yo |
estoy |
soy |
tú |
estás |
eres |
ella, él, usted (Madame Presidente) |
está |
es |
nosotros |
estamos |
somos |
vosotros |
estáis |
sois |
ellos |
están |
son |
ESTAR-
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Daisy, Daisy, dame tu respuesta, di. Estoy medio loco
de amor por ti...
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Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. I am half crazy for
the love of you. ..
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Estoy is first person singular for estar.
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The computer Hall sings that he is half crazy 'Estoy medio
loco', a condition that is relatively new.
SER-
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La tierra es redonda como una naranja
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The earth is round like an orange.
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The geometry of the earth is a condition that on a relative
time scale is permanent.
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El demonio tiene propiedades sulfúricas, y esto
no es más que un poco de solimán.
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The devil has sulfuric properties--and this is no more than
just a little bichloride of mercury.
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one chemical can convert to another, but it is assumed here
that the bichloride of mercury has a shelf life that is permanent on a
relative time scale.
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Es el diamante más grande del mundo.
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It is the largest diamond in the world
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On a relative time scale, diamonds are forever...
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--Encantado de conocerle, doctor Floyd. Yo soy Nick Miller,
de la Seguridad de la Estación. Se estrecharon las manos.
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--It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Floyd. I am Nick Miller,
from Station Security. They extended the hands (handshake.)
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you name is permanent. notice 'the hands' rather than 'their
hands'. Often in Spanish an article (el, la, los, las) is used rather than
personal pronoun (mi, tu, su, etc.).
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No es su culpa. Es una leona. (Memorias)
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It's not her fault. She is a lioness.
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For lion, it is 'un león, and for lioness, 'una leona.'
PRETERIT vs. IMPERFECT
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In English, we say 'she spoke' for the third person singular
past tense
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In Spanish, there are two equivalents:
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Ella habló (preterit)
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Ella hablaba (imperfect)
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The preterit works for things that occured over a definite
time frame
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The imperfect may be used for something that was a common
occurance
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We used to watch X-Files on Friday night
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"We watched the X-Files Friday Night" using the imperfect
shows it was (or maybe even still is), a habitual action
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Father drank his coffee as he read the paper
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If you use preterit, the focus is on a particular time
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If you use imperfect, you are talking about a normal routine
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The imperfect is used if something started in the past and
it is still occuring.
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amar preterit |
amar imperfect |
correr preterit |
correr imperfect |
vivir preterit |
vivir imperfect |
yo |
amé |
amaba |
corrí |
corría |
viví |
vivía |
tú |
amaste |
amabas |
corriste |
corrías |
viviste |
vivías |
él, ella, usted |
amó |
amaba |
corrió |
corría |
vivió |
vivía |
nosotros |
amamos |
amábamos |
corrimos |
corríamos |
vivimos |
vivíamos |
vosotros |
amasteis |
amabais |
corristeis |
corríais |
vivisteis |
vivíais |
ellos |
amaron |
amaban |
corrieron |
corrían |
vivieron |
vivían |
ESTAR vs. SER and also PRETERIT vs. IMPERFECT
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The past tense verb 'was' can be expressed four ways
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Examples Provided
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A table has been constructed to compare the four
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preterit ser |
imperfect ser |
preterit estar |
imperfect estar |
yo |
fui |
era |
estuve |
estaba |
tú |
fuiste |
eras |
estuviste |
estabas |
ella, él |
fue |
era |
estuvo |
estaba |
nosotros |
fuimos |
éramos |
estuvimos |
estábamos |
vosotros |
fuisteis |
erais |
estuvisteis |
estabais |
ellas, ellos |
fueron |
eran |
estuvieron |
estaban |
Gracias a Yesid Lopez y
Johnny Nahui-Ortiz por su ayuda con las frases!