Friday, October 9, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
* Days of the Week / Los días de semana
Days of the Week
lunes
Monday
martes
Tuesday
miércoles
Wednesday
jueves
Thursday
viernes
Friday
sábado
Saturday
domingo
Sunday
lunes
martes
miércoles
jueves
viernes
sábado
domingo
el lunes
el martes
el miércoles
el jueves
el viernes
el sábado
el domingo
No trabajo el lunes.
I don't work on Monday.
No trabajo los martes.
I don't work on Tuesdays.
Hay una fiesta el miércoles.
There is a party on Wednesday.
Hay muchas fiestas los viernes.
There are many parties on Fridays.
el lunes
los lunes
el martes
los martes
el miércoles
los miércoles
el jueves
los jueves
el viernes
los viernes
el sábado
los sábados
el domingo
los domingos
¿Qué día es hoy?
What day is today?
Hoy es lunes.
Today is Monday.
Mañana es martes.
Tomorrow is Tuesday.
Notice that the following actions do not occur in the present, but rather in the near future.
Salimos el lunes.
We leave on Monday.
Mañana es domingo.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
Salimos el lunes.
We (will) leave on Monday.
Mañana es domingo.
Tomorrow (will be) is Sunday.
* SPANISH GRAMMAR
Lesson Topics
- Unit One
- Unit Two
- Unit Three
- Unit Four
- Unit Five
- Unit Six
- Unit Seven
- "Hace ..." to mean "ago"
- Formation of Adverbs
- Subjunctive I: Introduction
- Subjunctive II: Conjugating regular and stem-changing verbs
- Subjunctive III: Verbs that change orthographically
- Subjunctive IV: Irregular verbs
- Subjunctive V: Desire
- Subjunctive VI: Ignorance, doubt
- Subjunctive VII: Impersonal Expressions
- Subjunctive VIII: Actions not yet completed
- Unit Eight
- Rel. Pronouns - que
- Rel. Pronouns - quien
- Rel. Pronouns - el que and lo que
- Rel. Adjective - cuyo
- Rel. Pronouns and Adjectives - Review
- Formal Commands
- Inform. Commands - tú
- Irreg. Commands - tú
- Using Object Pronouns with Commands
- Commands Review I
- Informal Commands - vosotros
- 1st Person Commands - nosotros
- Indirect Commands
- Commands Review II
- Unit Nine
Source: http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
Saturday, October 3, 2009
* Spanish Grammar
Spanish Grammar
Below, you will find many grammar topics explained in detail with examples and exercises to practice. These can be extremely helpful for a quick lesson or an easy review. Choose one of these more popular topics, or continue below for many others.
Popular Topics
- Ser and Estar - They both mean "to be," but have very different uses!
- Para and Por - What's the difference in these 2 prepositions that mean "for"?
- Accents - When do you put those funny marks over which letters?
- Gender - How can a noun be masculine or feminine?
- Definite Articles - Why do you put "el" and "la" in front of all the nouns?
- Personal Pronouns - What's the difference in "tú" and "usted"? When do I use "vosotros"?
- Prepositions - How can one word mean "in," "on," and "at"?
Pronunciation
- The Alphabet
- Stress
- Accents (tildes)
- Punctuation
Nouns
- Gender (masculine, feminine)
- Singular & Plural (number)
Articles
- Definite Articles (el, la, los, las)
- Indefinite Articles (un, una, unos, unas)
- Neuter Article (lo)
Pronouns
- Personal (Subject) Pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.)
- Direct Object Pronouns (me, te, lo, la, etc.)
- Indirect Object Pronouns (me, te, le, etc.)
- Object Pronouns Together (me la, se los, etc.)
- Demonstrative Pronouns (ése, ésta, aquél)
- Possessive Pronouns (el mío, la tuya, etc.)
- Relative Pronouns (que, cual, quien, cuyo)
- Reflexive Pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se)
- Reciprocal Pronouns (nos, os, se)
- Impersonal Se
- Passive Se
Adjectives
- Descriptive Adjectives
- Short Form Adjectives (buen, primer, algún)
- Placement
- Comparisons (más que, menos que)
- Superlatives
- Demonstrative Adjectives (ese, este, aquel)
- Possessive Adjectives (mi, tu, su, etc.)
- Cardinal Numbers (uno, dos, tres, etc.)
- Ordinal Numbers (primero, segundo, tercero, etc.)
Other
- Prepositions (a, en, de)
- Adverbs (suavemente, felicemente, etc.)
- Negative and Indefinite Words (nadie, nunca, alguien, siempre, etc.)
- Question Words (¿qué?, ¿cómo?, ¿dónde?, etc.)
- Exclamatory Words (¡qué!, ¡cómo!, ¡cuánto!, etc.)
- Para and Por
- Ser and Estar
* Questions / ¿Qué es...? / ¿Cuál es...?
¿Qué es...? / ¿Cuál es...? (by Lazarus)
'¿Qué es tu nombre'? is a common mistake in Spanish, and the only way to answer this definition is by answering it as a definition, i.e. "My name is the word that I am known by". If you use '¿Qué..:? and the verb 'ser', these is how you should answer these questions:
What is your name? The Word that I am known by. What is your age? The period of time I have been alive. What is your height? The distance from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. What is your job? The regular work which I normally do to earn money. What are the dimensions of the room? The distance between its walls.
¿Qué es tu nombre? La palabra con la que me conocen. ¿Qué es tu edad? El periodo de tiempo que llevo vivo. ¿Qué es tu altura? La distancia desde lo más alto de mi cabeza hasta mis pies. ¿Qué es tu trabajo? Lo que hago regularmente para ganar dinero. ¿Qué son las dimensiones de la habitación? La distancia entre sus paredes.
If you want a more 'normal? question, you shouldn't use '¿Qué''', but '¿Cuál''':
¿Cuál es tu nombre? Lazarus. ¿Cuál es tu edad? 35 ¿Cuál es tu altura? 1,80 ¿Cuál es tu trabajo? Profesor ¿Cuáles son las dimensiones de la habitación? 2 por 3 metros.
What is your name? Lazarus. What is your age? 35 What is your height? 1,80 What is your job? Teacher. What are the dimensions of the room? 2 by 3 metres.
As you can see, English works on common sense interpretations rather than on choice of words, but Spanish has a very precise mechanism here to determine whether one expects a definition, or simply information on a topic inquired. This mechanism, necessary or useless as it may seem, is a reality, and using it correctly is a must.
The same goes with other "qué" plus "ser" sentences:
Sé qué es tu nombre = I know what your name is (= I know the definition of "your name") Sé (cuál es) tu nombre = I know what your name is (= I know exactly what people call you)
Sé qué es tu edad = I know what your age is (= I know the definition of "your age") Sé (cuál es) tu edad = I know what your age is (= I know exactly how old you are)
http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100861/qu-es...-cul-es...-by-lazarus
* Grammar / Syllables : how to divide a word in Spanish
These rules are all used to separate syllables and decide how to stress. Notice that sometimes some words are pronounced differently in some regions, but these rules apply nevertheless.
SYLLABLES
DEFINITIONS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
- A diphthong is a single syllables having two vowels. It must be an unstressed closed vowel (i, u) and an open vowel (a, e, o), or two closed vowels. The possible combinations are ai, ei, oi, au, eu, ou, ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo, iu and ui. There is always more stress on the open vowel, or if there are two closed ones, the second one. Diphthongs with two closed vowels are often pronounced separately, but orthographically they are considered as one syllable. A h between vowels doesn't make any difference.
- Two open vowels (e.g. ae, oa) are always two syllables (hiatus). The same happens with an open vowel and a stressed closed one (e.g. ía, eí), but here the closed vowel must have an accent. A h between vowels doesn't make any difference.
- A triphthong is a syllable with three vowels, and the middle one must be always a open one (a, e, o), and the closed ones (i, u) must be unstressed (otherwise, it will be a vowel plus a diphthong). A h between vowels doesn't make any difference.
- The u in the digraph qu or the digraph gu before -e or -i are not regarded as vowels. If you want the u to be pronounced with g and before -e or -i, you must use the diaeresis: güe.
- The letter h is completely ignored when determining syllables, so remove it temporarily before counting - it will be easier. The x is treated exactly as ks.
GENERAL RULES
1) The digraphs ch, ll, rr, qu and gu (before e and i) form a single syllable. However, the rr is split if it is clear from its etymology, as in inter-relacionado.
2) A consonant between vowels belongs to the same syllable as the second vowel, and never the first (e.g. a-ma, o-ro)
3) Certain consonants (b, c, d, f, g, k, p, t) followed by r or l always go together (e.g. tra-ba-jo, a-pli-car). The exceptions to this rule are words with prefixes, such as At-lán-ti-co, sub-li-mi-nal, which are also pronounced separately. Also, the sequences tl and dl are separated or not depending on the country, but they are generally split.
4) Any other two consecutive consonants not mentioned so far, will belong to two different syllables (e.g. ac-ción), unless they are at the beginning of a word (e.g. psi-có-lo-go)
5) When three consonants appear together, the last one will belong to a different syllable, unless it is an r or an s (e.g. ins-truir).
HYPHENATION
1) Never split a syllable at the end of a line.
2) It is advisable never to hyphenate between two consecutive vowels.
3) It is advisable not to to leave a single vowel alone (after hyphenation).
4) Words with prefixes and suffixes are normally separated from the word, if the rest of the word has a meaning of its own (e.g. sub - terráneo).
5) Use common sense to avoid ugly combinations, like cál-culo (2nd part means "ass").
6) Foreign words are divided according to their native rules, and if these are unknown, do not hyphenate.
Notice that the digraph rr becomes r after hyphenation (e.g. arropar: a-ropar)