What are reflexive verbs in Spanish? A reflexive verb is a verb in which the subject (person or thing that completes the action) and object (person or thing that receives the action) are one and the same. In other words, the action "reflects back" onto the subject, or entails something one does to or for him or herself. It is no wonder then, that many of the things we "do to ourselves" in our daily routines (e.g. shaving ourselves, washing ourselves, etc.) fall into the category of reflexive Spanish verbs.
How can we recognize Spanish reflexive verbs? The main way to distinguish reflexive verbs in Spanish is by the fact that they all end in the pronoun se in their infinitive form. To take a very simple example, while the verb hablar means "to talk," hablarse is a reflexive verb meaning "to talk to oneself." However, the translations for reflexive verbs in Spanish aren't always so straightforward.
As we often say just "I shave" or "I wash" in lieu of "I shave/wash myself," the English translations of Spanish reflexive verbs won't always include pronouns like "myself," "yourself," etc. In other cases, the meanings of verbs like parecer (to seem) completely change in their reflexive forms (parecerse means "to look like"). And so, as there are a lot more reflexive verbs in Spanish than in English, many of which may not "seem" reflexive, with increased exposure to Spanish, we will learn which English concepts are expressed with Spanish reflexive verbs.
To conjugate reflexive verbs in Spanish, we must memorize the reflexive pronouns that correspond to each personal pronoun: yo (I), tú (you), etc.. Reflexive pronouns are most often placed before the verb, which is conjugated "as usual" (in the same way as its non-reflexive form). To demonstrate this, let's take a look at the reflexive pronouns and the simple present conjugation of the regular verb hablar. We will then show you the conjugation of its reflexive form (hablarse).
Personal Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun | Hablar | Hablarse |
---|---|---|---|
yo | me | hablo | me hablo |
tú | te | hablas | te hablas |
él, ella, usted | se | habla | se habla |
nosotros/as | nos | hablamos | nos hablamos |
vosotros/as | os | habláis | os habláis |
ellos/as, ustedes | se | hablar | se hablan |
Now that you know the Spanish reflexive pronouns and how to conjugate reflexive Spanish verbs, let's take a look at some examples of reflexive verbs in Spanish for describing things that many of us do on a daily basis, with lots of instances from our Yabla video library as always! Here is our list of Spanish reflexive verbs for your daily routine:
The Spanish reflexive verb despertarse means "to wake up":
y por la mañana me despierto entre seis y cuarenta y cinco a siete y cuarto.
and in the morning I wake up between six forty-five and seven fifteen.
Caption 62, Los médicos explican - Diagnóstico: nervios y estrés
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After waking up, the next step might be levantarse ("to get up" or "get out of bed"):
Se levanta muy temprano.
She gets up very early.
Caption 51, El Aula Azul - Las Profesiones
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In other contexts, the reflexive Spanish verb levantarse could also mean, among other things, "to stand up" or "get up," as from a seat, or even "to rise up against," as in a rebellion.
The Spanish noun baño means "bath," and the verb bañarse can mean "to take a bath" as well. However, as bañarse can also be the more general "to bathe," a person might even use this verb to express the fact that they are taking a shower! Let's look at an example of this reflexive Spanish verb:
Uno se baña todos los días, mijita.
One bathes every day, my girl.
Caption 41, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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On the other hand, if a person at the beach expresses their desire to bañarse, rather than wanting to wash the sand off of themselves, they are letting you know they would like to take a dip! The Spanish reflexive verb bañarse can also mean "to go swimming," a translation that often comes as a surprise to English speakers:
No hay muchas olas grandes como en Atacames.
There aren't many big waves like in Atacames.
Es más tranquilo para bañarse.
It's more peaceful to go swimming.
Captions 62-63, Pipo - Un paseo por la playa de Atacames
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In the morning, at night, or after the beach, indeed, one might need to ducharse (to take a shower):
¿Qué está haciendo Silvia?
What is Silvia doing?
Silvia se está duchando.
Silvia is taking a shower.
Captions 11-12, El Aula Azul - Actividades diarias: En casa con Silvia
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Note that, in this example, the verb ducharse is conjugated in the present progressive tense. As with the present indicative and all other tenses, verbs are conjugated in the exact same way as they would be were they non-reflexive, with the addition of the appropriate reflexive pronoun.
The reflexive verb in Spanish lavarse generally means "to wash (oneself)." Let's look at an example:
Por ejemplo, "Yo me lavo".
For example, "Yo me lavo" [I wash myself].
La acción recae sobre la persona
The action falls back upon the person
que realiza la acción.
who carries out the action.
Pero, "Yo lavo los platos".
But, "Yo lavo los platos" [I wash the dishes].
Captions 45-48, Lecciones con Carolina - Verbos reflexivos
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In this informative video about Spanish reflexive verbs, Yabla fan favorite Carolina explains the difference between reflexive and non-reflexive verbs, in this case the verbs lavar (to wash) and lavarse (to wash oneself). Let's look at an additional example:
Yo me lavo las manos. Tú te lavas las manos.
I wash my hands. You wash your hands.
Captions 19-20, Fundamentos del Español - 9 - Verbos Reflexivos
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Unlike in English, where we express the idea of washing one's hands or some other body part with a possessive pronoun (my, your, etc.), this is not the case in Spanish. Instead, we use the definite article for the noun in question, manos (hands), in this case, las (the). Because the reflexive pronoun already indicates that the action is something we do to ourselves, it would be redundant in Spanish to say: Yo me lavo mis manos. As the correct way to express this is "Yo me lavo las manos," it might help you to remember the literal but non-sensical translation: "I wash myself the hands."
That said, let's move on to something else that's expressed with the notion of "washing" in Spanish: lavarse los dientes (to brush one's teeth).
Lavarse los dientes (literally "to wash one's teeth") is one of saying "to brush one's teeth" in Spanish:
Después, ehm... suelo lavarme los dientes en el baño,
After that, um... I usually brush my teeth in the bathroom,
Caption 3, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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Different countries, regions, or individuals might instead use cepillarse los dientes, which also means "to brush one's teeth." Let's check out an example in the preterite tense:
Se cepilló los dientes,
He brushed his teeth,
Caption 20, Aprendiendo con Carlos - El microrrelato
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By extension, the noun el cepillo means "the brush," and we might have a cepillo de dientes (toothbrush) as well as a cepillo de pelo/cabello (hair brush), as in the following caption:
Sí... -¿Qué necesitamos para ir allí?
Yes... -What do we need to go there?
El cepillo de dientes.
A toothbrush.
El cepillo del pelo.
A hair brush.
Captions 49-51, Un Viaje a Mallorca - Planificando el viaje
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So, you've probably surmised by now that the verb cepillarse el pelo/cabello means "to brush one's hair."
The verb peinarse can mean "to comb one's hair" with a comb (un peine), "to brush one's hair," or "to do" or "style" one's hair in general:
Por eso paró en la playa
That's why she stopped on the beach
para mirarse en el espejo y peinarse.
to look at herself in the mirror and comb her hair.
Captions 21-22, Guillermina y Candelario - Mi Amiga la Sirena
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Afeitarse is the verb for "to shave" (oneself, of course)!
Vos sabés lo que es todas las mañanas...
Do you know what it's like every morning...
mirarse en el espejo cuando uno se afeita
to look at oneself in the mirror when one's shaving,
Captions 30-31, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
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The next step in one's morning routine might be maquillarse (to put on makeup):
Aquí, siempre me maquillo para mis conciertos.
Here, I always put on makeup for my concerts.
Caption 47, Ariana - Mi Casa
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Alternatively, one might say Aquí, siempre me pinto para mis conciertos, as pintarse (literally "to paint oneself") also means "to put on makeup."
Vestirse is the way to say "to get dressed" in Spanish.
Yo salgo y... y te vistes.
I'll leave and... and you get dressed.
Caption 30, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 2
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Another way to say this might be ponerse la ropa (to put on one's clothes).
Although sacarse la ropa is one manner of saying "to get undressed" or "take off one's clothes," there are many other examples of reflexive verbs in Spanish that mean the same thing, including: quitarse la ropa, desvestirse, and desnudarse. Let's look at a couple of examples:
Si "Libertinaje" te saca...
If "Libertinaje" takes off your.....
te invita a sacarte la ropa,
invites you to take off your clothes,
Captions 4-5, Bersuit Vergarabat - EPK
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Y se desnuda poco a poco y se convierte en tu piel
And she gets naked little by little and she becomes your skin
Caption 6, Reik - Inolvidable
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As you can see, the more literal "to get naked" might be an alternate translation for desnudarse.
We're finally getting to the end of our daily routine, when it's time for us to acostarnos (go to bed):
Tranquilícese, vaya a acostarse y deje de pensar en imposibles.
Calm down, go to bed, and stop thinking about impossible things.
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 48 - Soluciones
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And finally, once in bed, it's time to fall asleep! While the non-reflexive dormir means "to sleep," dormirse means "to fall asleep."
Me dormí pensando en ti; pensando en ti, me desperté
I fell asleep thinking about you; thinking about you, I woke up
Caption 10, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Of course, this is just a partial list of reflexive verbs in Spanish that might be applicable to our daily routines. There are a lot more common reflexive verbs in Spanish that describe things one might do on a daily basis, including secarse (to dry oneself off), sentarse (to sit down), sentirse (to feel), emocionarse (to get excited), encontrarse con alguien (to meet with someone), acordarse de (to remember), olvidarse (to forget), sonreírse (to smile), reírse (to laugh), despedirse (to say goodbye), irse (to leave), and many, many more!
For additional information on Spanish reflexive verbs, check out this video from the series Fundamentos del Español. And don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
In a previous lesson, we focused on the Spanish verb pretender (to hope, expect, try, etc.). Although this word closely resembles the English word "pretend," its meaning is totally different, putting it into the category of false cognates in Spanish. Also known as "faux amis" or "false friends," English-speakers often misuse these types of words for obvious reasons! Let's take a look at some of the most common false cognates in Spanish so we can be on the lookout for them in everyday speech.
While English speakers might be tempted to say Estoy embarazada when attempting to say "I'm embarrassed," this could lead to a very serious misunderstanding! Let's take a look:
Si estuviera embarazada, me hubiera dado cuenta. ¿No le parece?
If I were pregnant, I would have noticed! Don't you think?
Caption 71, Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro
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While we can see that estar embarazada means "to be pregnant," there are many ways to express the idea of being embarrassed in Spanish, such as tener vergüenza or dar(le) pena (a alguien). Let's look at some examples:
Es que me da pena.
It's just that I'm embarrassed.
Caption 42, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8
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En este momento, duda porque tiene vergüenza de ir a la escuela,
At this moment she hesitates because she's embarrassed to go to school,
Caption 49, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje
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The Spanish adjective actual is very confusing since it is spelled exactly like the English word "actual." However, actual is a false cognate in Spanish that "actually" means "current," as in the following example:
Creo que realmente hay que buscar otra vía, otra solución a...
I think that you really need to find another road, another solution to...
la situación de ahora. -A la situación actual.
to the situation now. -To the current situation.
Captions 43-44, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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If you do want to speak about the "actual situation" in Spanish, you might say: la situación verdadera or la situación real. Let's check out these two words in action:
Pero esta es la verdadera isla
But this one is the actual island
Caption 26, Cholito - En la playa con Cholito
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Nadie sabe el nombre real de esta ciudad,
Nobody knows the actual name of this city,
Caption 37, Querido México - Teotihuacán
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The Spanish noun éxito might look like "exit," but its actual meaning is "success," while the Spanish verb tener éxito means "to be successful":
Bueno, ha sido un éxito, ¿no, Jesús?
Well, it has been a success, right, Jesus?
Caption 88, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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El brut ha tenido mucho éxito.
The brut has been very successful.
Caption 51, Europa Abierta - Champagne en Andalucía
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On the other hand, in order to talk about an actual "exit" in Spanish, la salida is the way to go:
Tiene una salida al patio de atrás para su ventilación.
It has an exit to the back patio for your ventilation.
Caption 12, Ricardo - La compañera de casa
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Although it might seem like la fábrica would mean "the fabric," its true translation is "the factory."
un tipo que tenía una fábrica de alcancías ¿no?
a guy who had a piggy bank factory, right?
Y la gente dejaba de ahorrar y el tipo se va a la quiebra.
And people stopped saving and the guy goes bankrupt.
Captions 32-33, Muñeca Brava - 47 Esperanzas
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As we see in the following example, the Spanish word for "fabric" is tela:
Aquí, tengo un cárdigan liviano.
Here, I have a light knit sweater.
La tela no es muy gruesa,
The fabric isn't very thick,
Captions 30-31, Natalia de Ecuador - Vocabulario de prendas de vestir
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As a side note, although the verb fabricar occasionally means "to fabricate" in the sense of lying or making things up, the more common verbs for describing those actions are mentir and inventar, whereas the most typical translation for fabricar is "to make" or "manufacture":
la cuarta generación de una empresa familiar
the fourth generation of a family business
que fabrica diferentes variedades de zumos,
that manufactures different kinds of juices,
sidras, sopas y mermeladas.
ciders, soups and jams.
Captions 28-29, Europa Abierta - Empuje para Pymes
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That said, let's take a look at some additional verbs that fall into the "false friend" category.
The Spanish verb molestar does not mean "to molest" (for which you might say abusar or acosar sexualmente), but rather "to annoy" or "bother":
Vine a decirte que te quedes tranquilo,
I came to tell you to not to worry,
que mi hijo no te va a molestar más.
that my son is not going to bother you anymore.
Captions 1-2, Muñeca Brava - 46 Recuperación
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Once again, substitution of the word this verb sounds like in English could result in a very serious misunderstanding.
Just because it sounds like "envy," don't mix up the Spanish verb enviar, which means "to send," with envidiar (to envy). Let's take a look at examples of each of these verbs:
Como ya tengo su dirección de correo, le puedo enviar el contrato.
As I already have your e-mail address, I can send you the contract.
Caption 37, Negocios - Empezar en un nuevo trabajo
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¡Ay, cómo envidio esa sartén! No sabe.
Oh, how I envy that frying pan! You don't know.
Caption 1, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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The most common translations for the Spanish verb introducir are "to put" or "insert." Let's look:
Ahora lo que tenemos que hacer es introducir todo en la olla.
What we have to do now is put everything in the pot.
Caption 43, La cocina de María - Cocido Malagueño
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Ahora introduces la esquina izquierda en este doblez,
Now you insert the left corner into this fold,
Caption 48, Manos a la obra - Separadores de libros: Charmander
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It is worth noting that the Spanish verb introducir can occasionally be translated as "to introduce," most often when speaking about the introduction of some item or concept. However, the most frequently employed verb to describe the idea of "introducing," say, people to one another, is presentar:
Les quiero presentar a Pedro, un experto en la Calle Ocho.
I want to introduce you guys to Pedro, an expert on Calle Ocho.
Caption 21, La Calle 8 - Un recorrido fascinante
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Let's examine a typical use of the Spanish verb asistir:
y me fascinaba perderme entre sus calles
and it fascinated me to get lost in its streets
y asistir a la innumerable cantidad de eventos culturales
and attend the countless number of cultural events
que la ciudad tiene para ofrecerte.
that the city has to offer you.
Captions 11-13, Latinos por el mundo - Gio en Barcelona
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Although the Spanish verb asistir can indeed mean "to help" or "assist," this verb and its counterpart asistir a are included in the category of false cognates in Spanish due to their alternative meaning, "to attend."
Although the Spanish false cognate recordar certainly seems like it would mean "to record," it actually means "to remember" or "remind," as in the following captions:
empiezan a hacer su ritual de movimientos y sonidos, si hace falta,
they start to do their ritual of movements and sounds, if necessary,
para recordarte que es la hora de su comida.
to remind you that it's their mealtime.
Captions 58-59, Fermín y los gatos - Mis gatas vecinas
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¿Recuerdas cuál era la copa para servir vino?
Do you remember which cup was the one for serving wine?
Caption 36, Ana Carolina - El comedor
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"To record," in turn, is conveyed with the Spanish verb grabar:
Utiliza video o audio
Use video or audio
para grabarte mientras lees o improvisas un pequeño diálogo,
to record yourself while you read or improvise a little dialogue,
Captions 51-52, Ana Carolina - Mejorando la pronunciación
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Rather than "to support," the Spanish verb soportar often means "to tolerate," "endure," or "bear":
No lo pude aguantar, no se puede soportar eso.
I couldn't stand it, that can't be tolerated.
Caption 50, Yago - 7 Encuentros
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Although "soportar" can also mean "support" in the sense of bearing weight, the more common verb for talking about the notion of "supporting" someone or something, especially in figurative senses such as emotionally, economically, etc., is apoyar:
La abuela estaba loca si pensaba que la íbamos a apoyar.
Grandma was crazy if she thought that we were going to support her.
Caption 9, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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These are just a few examples of the many false cognates in Spanish. For additional examples of false cognates in Spanish, you might enjoy our lessons on the verbs realizar (to carry out) and falta (shortage, foul, offense, etc.). In the meantime, we hope our list of false cognates in Spanish will help you to identify and understand them when you run across them— and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
Should you use mucho or muy? Do you know how to say the Spanish words muy and mucho in English? What is the difference between muy vs. mucho in Spanish?
Simply put, muy in English would be "very" or "really," while mucho in English means "many," "much," or "a lot." However, as these words can wear muchos sombreros (a lot of hats), muy vs. mucho can be un concepto muy difícil (a very difficult concept) for many English speakers.
When muy is accompanied by an adjective, the adjective that modifies the noun must agree with that noun in terms of gender and number. The "good news," however, is that the word muy itself always stays the same, regardless of whether the noun it modifies is singular or plural or masculine or feminine. Let's take a look:
es un artista plástico español muy reconocido.
is a very famous fine art artist.
Caption 14, Amaya - Vínculo: un mural muy especial
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¡estos plátanos son muy pequeños!
these bananas are very small!
Caption 30, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
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Es una ciudad muy linda que tiene un cri'... clima primaveral.
It's a very beautiful city that has a spri'... spring-like climate.
Caption 47, Cleer - Entrevista con Jacky
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Las ranas son definitivamente las mejores maestras en salto.
Frogs are definitely the best jumping masters.
Pero son muy vanidosas.
But they're very full of themselves.
Captions 22-23, Guillermina y Candelario - Una Amiga muy Presumida
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Just to reiterate, although the adjectives are singular or plural and masculine or feminine, in agreement with their corresponding nouns, the word muy always remains the same.
The word muy in Spanish also remains the same when accompanying an adverb, which modifies a verb, as in the following examples:
Con un poco de práctica, podremos aprender estas reglas muy fácilmente.
With a bit of practice, we will be able to learn these rules very easily.
Caption 55, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 3: La división en sílabas
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Kristen, por ejemplo, tú has dicho, muy rápidamente,
Kristen, for example, you've said, very quickly,
Caption 11, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos
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When constructing or understanding sentences with muy in Spanish, how will you know whether you are contending with an adjective or an adverb? When you see a word that ends with the suffix -mente (equivalent to -ly in English), as in the examples above, you can be sure you have an adverb. However, as not all adverbs take this form and some words can function as either adjectives or adverbs, depending upon the context, it can sometimes be tough to tell the difference. Let's take a look at an example with the word rápido, which may be used as an adverb in lieu of rápidamente:
porque lo hacen muy rápido.
because they do it very quickly.
Caption 46, Animales en familia - Señales de calma y cosquillas en los perros
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Like the English word "fast," rápido can function as an adjective when describing a noun (e.g. un carro rápido/a fast car) or an adverb when describing an action (el carro va rápido/the car goes fast) to talk about something that happens "fast" or "quickly." The tricky aspect of this is that, while rápido would need to agree in terms of gender and number when employed as an adjective (e.g. unos carros rápidos), as an adverb, it remains the same (in its masculine singular form) regardless of the number of people or objects performing the action. Let's see one more example:
Vamos a trabajar muy fuerte.
We're going to work very hard.
Caption 29, Documental de Alejandro Fernandez - Viento A Favor
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Note that as always, the word muy is unchanging, and because fuerte (strong, hard, etc.) works as an adverb here, it remains unchanged, in its singular form, as well. Were it an adjective, on the other hand, gender and number would need to be taken into account, as in the example "Somos muy fuertes" (We are very strong).
Moving on to the word mucho in Spanish, taking into account what we have learned thus far regarding adjectives and adverbs, let's examine how this word can function as either of these parts of speech. To start, when mucho functions as an adjective, it must agree in terms of number and gender with the noun it modifies. Let's look:
¿Sí? No tengo mucho tiempo libre ahora.
Right? I don't have a lot of free time now.
Caption 20, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos
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La verdad es que yo he tenido muchos perros,
The truth is that I've had many dogs,
Caption 50, Tu Voz Estéreo - Laura
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En Málaga, hay mucha gente con tus mismos síntomas.
In Malaga, there are a lot of people with your same symptoms.
Caption 20, Ariana - Cita médica
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A muchas personas les gusta ir de vacaciones allí
A lot of people like to go on vacation there
Caption 22, El Aula Azul - Adivina el país
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As you can see in these examples that employ masculine singular/plural and feminine singular/plural nouns, the form mucho takes (mucho, muchos, mucha, or muchas) changes in accordance with the noun it modifies.
In contrast, when mucho functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, it is always mucho in the singular/masculine form, and the gender/quantity of the noun or verb has no effect on it. Let's look at some examples:
¿Se utiliza mucho el ajo en los platos peruanos?
Is garlic used a lot in Peruvian dishes?
Caption 19, Recetas de cocina - Papa a la Huancaína
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Estos ejercicios ayudan mucho
These exercises really help
Caption 59, Bienestar con Elizabeth - Relajación
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Me gusta mucho este parque.
I really like this park.
Caption 9, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.
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Sí, me gustan mucho las uvas.
Yes, I like grapes a lot.
Caption 21, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.
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To conclude our discussion on muy vs. mucho, note that the word mucho and its corresponding feminine/plural alternatives can be used as pronouns to replace nouns that have been mentioned or implied. Notice that the pronoun forms of mucho must agree in gender and number with the nouns they replace, as follows:
¿Se encuentran aquí buenas cositas o no,
Can you find good stuff here or not,
buenas gangas? -Sí, sí, sí. -¿Sí? -Muchas.
good bargains? -Yes, yes, yes. -Yes? -Many.
Captions 102-103, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 14
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Sí. -¿Que mucha más gente viene ahora?
Yes. -That a lot more people come now?
Sí, mucha. -Yo tengo un niño pequeño entonces...
Yes, a lot. -I have a small child so...
Captions 43-44, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 16
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Puedes ver que no tenemos muchos
You can see that we don't have many
porque hemos vendido últimamente bastantes.
because we have sold quite a few lately.
Captions 46-47, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 11
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While you can clearly see in the first two examples that the word mucho changes forms (to mucha and muchas) to agree with the feminine singular and plural nouns it replaces (cositas/gangas and gente), the third example is notable because the noun being replaced by the masculine plural form muchos is not immediately apparent. However, since the conversation in question, which began several captions earlier, involves cars (the masculine plural noun, los coches), the masculine plural form muchos must be utilized to express the idea of "many" in this context.
We hope that this lesson has helped to clarify the difference between muy vs. mucho in Spanish since sus muchos usos y matices pueden resultar muy difíciles (their many uses and nuances can be very difficult) for English speakers. We welcome any insight you might have on mucho vs. muy in Spanish, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
Are you familiar with the body parts in Spanish? Do you know how to say words like "hands," "legs," or "face" in Spanish? Let's see how to write and pronounce las partes del cuerpo en español (the parts of the body in Spanish), from head to toe!
Inclina tu cabeza hacia atrás,
Tilt your head back;
Caption 19, Bienestar con Elizabeth - Rehabilitación vestibular
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Pelo is a very common word for "hair." However, keep in mind that pelo can refer to any kind of body hair, while the word cabello only refers to the hair on one's head.
Vale, pero los dos tenemos el pelo negro, vale, muy bien, perfecto.
OK, but we both have black hair, OK, very good, perfect.
Caption 12, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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Para mi cabello, aquí tengo mi cepillo de cabello
For my hair, I have here my hair brush
Caption 27, Ana Carolina - Artículos de aseo personal
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Keep in mind that the Spanish word for the inner ear is el oído while the external ear (what you actually see) is called la oreja.
Las orejas son partes del cuerpo
The ears are parts of the body
que se encuentran en cada lateral de la cabeza
that are found on each side of the head
y que forman la parte exterior del oído.
and that form the external part of the inner ear.
Captions 53-55, Clara explica - El cuerpo
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Some of the most often used parts of the body in Spanish are placed in our face. Let's take a look.
There are two words for face in Spanish: la cara and el rostro. However, while cara is mostly used to talk about the physical part of the body, rostro is often used to talk in a sort of poetic, abstract way about someone's face. Let's see how to pronounce both words:
Esa mañana, al lavarse la cara,
That morning, while washing his face,
Caption 15, Aprendiendo con Carlos - El microrrelato
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Pinto mi rostro de mascarada
I paint my face in masquerade
Caption 20, Alejandra Guzmán - Porque no estás aquí
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Dio un suspiro y un golpe en la frente,
She let out a sigh and banged her forehead,
Caption 55, Cleer - Rafael Pombo y "Pastorcita"
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Me encantaría tener los ojos azules.
I would love to have blue eyes.
Caption 34, Clara explica - El cuerpo
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Ahora voy a delinear las cejas con un lápiz color café.
Now I am going to line the eyebrows with a brown-colored pencil.
Caption 53, Maquillaje - Con Cata y Cleer
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Después tenemos las pestañas.
Then we have the eyelashes.
Caption 21, Marta de Madrid - El cuerpo - La cabeza
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Cuando una mujer hablaba de mis mejillas,
When a woman talked about my cheeks,
Caption 23, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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que podía tener sangre por la nariz.
that he might have a bloody nose.
Caption 15, Juan Sánchez - Personajes
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Esta... esta boca quiere decir que está como un poco...
This... this mouth wants to say that it's like a bit...
Caption 67, Bucaramanga, Colombia - Pintor callejero
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Tanto te quise besar que me duelen los labios
I wanted to kiss you so much that my lips hurt
Caption 2, Shakira - Sale el Sol
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para que los dientes estén más fuertes
so that the teeth become stronger
Caption 61, Los médicos explican - Consejos: dientes de niños
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Esta letra la pronuncias poniendo la lengua junto al paladar
You pronounce this letter by putting the tongue next to the palate
Caption 61, Ana Carolina - Mejorando la pronunciación
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Después tenemos la barbilla.
Then we have the chin.
Caption 70, Marta de Madrid - El cuerpo - La cabeza
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Vas a bajar el mentón hacia tu cuello
You're going to lower your chin toward your neck,
Caption 28, Bienestar con Elizabeth - Relajación
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La cabeza es la parte superior del cuerpo
The head is the top part of the body
que está situada sobre el cuello
that is situated on the neck
Captions 49-50, Clara explica - El cuerpo
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y a Chibchacum lo puso a cargar la Tierra en sus hombros.
and forced Chibchacum to carry the Earth on his shoulders.
Caption 57, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica
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Esta que tengo en mis brazos se llama Poeska.
This one I have in my arms is named Poeska.
Caption 21, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Poeska
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Vamos a mover codos,
We're going to move [our] elbows,
que normalmente no movemos esta articulación.
as we don't normally move this joint.
Captions 15-16, Bienestar con Elizabeth - Activar las articulaciones
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Of all the names of body parts in Spanish, this is probably the most unique. The word muñeca indeed means not only "wrist" but "doll" as well, so keep that in mind when you need to remember how to say "wrist" in Spanish.
sufren mucha lesión en codos, en muñecas y en hombros.
they suffer a lot of injuries on [their] elbows, wrists and shoulders.
Caption 28, Adícora, Venezuela - Los fisioterapeutas
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los voy a colocar en mis manos,
I'm going to place them in my hands,
Caption 30, Ana Carolina - Gérmenes
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Tiene agujeros donde se colocan los dedos,
It has holes where you place your fingers,
Caption 38, Karla e Isabel - Instrumentos musicales
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Si tienes unas piernas fuertes y ganas de andar,
If you have some strong legs and feel like walking,
Caption 102, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona
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¡Vamos! Doble sus rodillas.
Let's go! Bend your knees.
Caption 24, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar
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unos zapatos para los pies del bebé.
some shoes for the baby's feet.
Caption 35, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 4: Regalos para un nuevo bebé
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También, este... son frecuentes en lesionarse [sic] mucho las articulaciones metatarsianas
Also, um... they frequently hurt their metatarsal joints a lot,
que son los dedos del pie,
which are the toes,
Captions 25-26, Adícora, Venezuela - Los fisioterapeutas
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And with this last term, we have come to the end of this lesson about Spanish body parts. We encourage you to practice the names of all of these partes del cuerpo, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Let's start today's lesson with a quote from the Argentinean telenovela, Yago:
Pero si no te casás,
But if you don't get married,
no tenés nada para aportar a la sociedad.
you don't have anything to contribute to the company.
No sos nadie, Melina. No sos nada.
You're nobody, Melina. You're nothing.
Captions 27-29, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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What's going on here (aside from a seemingly very dramatic situation)? Since the speaker is addressing this character as "you," shouldn't these verbs be conjugated as (tú) te casas, tienes, and eres?
What's going on here, grammatically speaking, is that in Argentina, Uruguay, and many other regions (including parts of Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, and Venezuela) vos is used in place of tú as the informal second person singular pronoun ("you"), causing some of the verb conjugations to vary slightly.
"Do I really have to learn another verb tense?!" you might be saying. However, even though el voseo (the use of vos instead of tú) might seem intimidating at first, there is a lot of "good news" regarding vos, particularly if you are already familiar with el tuteo (the use of tú):
1. The verb conjugations for vos only differ from those with tú in two tenses: the present indicative and the informal imperative (command). All of the other verb tenses (preterite, imperfect, etc.) are exactly the same as with tú, as are many of its pronouns (e.g. direct object, indirect object, reflexive, and possessive).
2. The formulas for conjugating verbs with vos in both present indicative and imperative are extremely simple.
3. With the voseo, there are a lot less irregular verbs than with tú. In fact, in the present indicative of vos, there are only three irregular verbs, while in the present indicative of tú, there are over one hundred irregular/stem changing verbs to memorize.
Let's start with how to conjugate -ar, -er, and -ir verbs with vos in the present indicative: Simply take the infinitive, replace the "r" with an "s," and add an accent to the final vowel. Let's look at some examples with the infinitives escuchar (to listen), saber (to know), and subir (to go up).
Qu'... Vos no me escuchás ni cuando yo te estoy contando
Wh'... You don't listen to me, not even when I'm telling you
una cosa que para mí es importante.
something that is important to me.
Caption 50, Yago - 2 El puma
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Si vos sabés muy bien que yo me sé adaptar.
You know very well that I know how to adapt.
Caption 43, Cuatro Amigas - Piloto
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En el segundo piso, de ahí subís y ahí es tu salón.
On the second floor, you go up there and there's your classroom.
Caption 49, La Sucursal del Cielo - Capítulo 1
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In the case of these regular -ar and -er verbs, you will note that their conjugations with vos are virtually identical to their tú forms (escuchas and sabes) with the addition of their written (and spoken) accents. However, regular -ir verbs like subir, which are typically conjugated with -es in their tú form (subes), retain their-i vowel plus an accent.
As previously mentioned, verbs that are irregular or stem-changing with tú are regular with vos. To get an idea, let's take the common verbs comenzar (to begin), tener (to have), and decir (to say), all of which have irregular forms when conjugated with tú. With vos, on the other hand, these verbs follow our regular pattern of replacing the "r" with "s" and adding an accent to the final noun:
Verb in Infinitive: | Present Indicative with Tú: | Present Indicative with Vos: |
---|---|---|
comenzar | comienzas | comenzás |
tener | tienes | tenés |
decir | dices | decís |
Let's look at a couple of these in action:
Y decís: "Bueno, pará que mañana tenés que seguir."
And you say, "Hey, hold on 'cause tomorrow you have to continue."
Caption 66, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro
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There are only three irregular verbs in the vos form of the present indicative, one of which we already saw (ser) and two of which share their forms with tú (haber and ir). All three of these appear in the following clip:
Además, vos ni vas al colegio, has perdido un montón de años.
Besides, you don't even go to school, you have missed a ton of years.
Vos no sos nadie.
You're [a] nobody.
Captions 33-34, La Sucursal del Cielo - Capítulo 1
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Now, let's take a look at these captions again, substituting the verb tú for vos:
Además, tú ni vas al colegio, has perdido un montón de años. Tú no eres nadie.
Besides, you don't even go to school, you have missed a ton of years. You're [a] nobody.
While the vos form of ser, sos, does differ from the tú form (eres), the verb conjugations for ir (vas) and haber (has) are exactly the same for both tú and vos.
Conjugating verbs with vos in the imperative (command) form is even easier: Simply take the infinitive, remove the r, and add an accent over the final vowel. Let's look at some examples of the vos command forms for each type of verb ending, utilizing the verbs tomar (to drink), tener (to have), and venir (to come).
Sabés que no tomo whisky. -¡Pero tomá!
You know that I don't drink whiskey. -But, drink it!
Caption 22, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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Este... tené un poquito de paciencia.
Umm... have a little bit of patience.
Caption 7, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto
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Vení, vamos a bailar.
Come, let's go dance.
Caption 33, Muñeca Brava 7 El poema - Part 6
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Once again, verbs like tener and venir that are irregular in the imperative form with tú (ten and ven, respectively) are regular in the imperative form with vos. While ir (to go) is the only irregular verb in this category, its formal conjugations, id or ite, are almost never heard, and the command form of andar (to walk/go), andá, is often used in its place.
Keep in mind that, due to the Spanish accent rules, the addition of a pronoun to a command form with vos may lead to the omission of the written accent:
Olvidate, divertite, hacé algo. -No quiero,
Forget about it, have fun, do something. -I don't want to,
Caption 8, Muñeca Brava 46 Recuperación - Part 7
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To conclude, remember that in all of the other tenses besides the present indicative and informal imperative, vos is conjugated in exactly the same way as tú. In the following example, we see the preterite form of ser (to be) fuiste as well as the imperfect form of estar (to be), taking into account that the indirect object pronoun te is also identical for both vos and tú:
Porque a vos no te hice absolutamente nada.
Because I've done absolutely nothing to you.
Todo lo contrario.
On the contrary.
Fuiste la protagonista de la fiesta, estabas maravillosa.
You were the star of the party, you were looking wonderful.
Captions 15-17, Muñeca Brava - 41 La Fiesta
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We hope that this lesson has made conjugating verbs with the informal second person pronoun vos seem a bit less daunting. For more information on this topic, we recommend this Yabla series on the Voseo, ustedeo, and tuteo as well as this video on the use of vos in Argentina— and don't hesitate to contact us with your comments and suggestions.
In the first part of our lesson on comparative structures, we covered comparisons of inequality. However, what if we would like to talk about similarity? Part two of this lesson will deal with comparisons of equality as well as superlatives, and considering that 2020 has been uno de los años más difíciles para muchos (one of the hardest years for many people), superlative structures could definitely come in handy.
Let's start by using the Spanish equivalent of as ___ as (as good as, as fast as, etc.). We can use this structure with both adjectives and adverbs.
Oye, no, no es tan fácil como tú lo ves, ¿eh?
Hey, no, it's not as easy as you see it, huh?
Caption 21, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 17
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Tampoco saliste con una mina tan finoli como ella.
You haven't dated a woman as elegant as her either.
Caption 18, Yago - 12 Fianza
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Notice that we use tan rather than tanto before the adjective or adverb. Thus, in the previous examples, it would be a mistake to say tanto fácil or tanto finoli. We can, however, say tanto más or tanto menos fácil (as explained in part one of this lesson).
On the other hand, the similar structure tanto como is the Spanish equivalent of "as much as." In the following example, note that because tanto is an adverb, it is unmarked for gender and number.
Espero que hayáis disfrutado al menos
I hope that you have enjoyed at least
tanto como yo disfruto
as much as I enjoy
estando todos los días con vosotros.
being here every day with you guys.
Captions 76-78, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli
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Unlike the examples with adjectives and adverbs above, tanto must be marked for gender when used with nouns. We will therefore use tanto/s before masculine nouns and tanta/s before feminine nouns as follows:
Tiene tanto dinero como su hijo.
She has as much money as her son does.
Tiene tanta paciencia como tú.
She has as much patience as you do.
Tienes tantas hermanas como yo.
You have as many sisters as I do.
When talking about things (cosas) that are similar, we can employ this term as an adjective (marked for number and gender) to say that they are parecidas. On the other hand, to express that something is done in a similar way, we use the unmarked adverb: parecido, as in Juana y su hermana hablan parecido. And to top it all off, parecido is also a noun that indicates resemblance.
La [cultura] gitana es muy parecida a la cultura árabe.
Gypsy [culture] is very similar to Arab culture.
Caption 37, Europa Abierta - Jassin Daudi - Con arte
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Notice the use of the preposition a following the adjective parecida to indicate "to."
Now, let's look at parecido as a noun as it appears in this caption from Clase Aula Azul, which explains the use of the verb parecer:
Hablamos de parecidos físicos, ¿sí?
We're talking about physical similarities, right?
Se parece es como decir, es parecido, es similar, ¿mmm?
"Se parece" [It looks like] is like saying, it's alike, it's similar, hmm?
Captions 37-38, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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While we can use parecido or similar to describe similarities, what if the items being compared are exactly the same? When items are virtually indistinguishable, idéntico, igual, or mismo are suitable terms. Remember that these are adjectives and are therefore marked for number and gender, except for igual, which is gender neutral. It is worth mentioning that only el/la mismo/a or los/las mismos/as can come before the noun. Thus, if one has the same t-shirt someone is wearing, he or she might say the following:
Tengo la misma remera (I have the same t-shirt).
Tengo una remera igual (I have a t-shirt just like that).
Tengo una remera idéntica (I have an identical t-shirt).
Let's take a look at some additional examples:
Porque uno idéntico a este
Because one identical to this one
embarcó en el Titanic en mil novecientos doce.
embarked on the Titanic in nineteen twelve.
Captions 24-25, Málaga - Museo del automóvil
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Si hay diez personas trabajando con los mismos medios y las mismas herramientas.
If there are ten people working with the same media and the same tools.
Caption 73, Lo que no sabías - Arte electrónico
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As a side note, the interesting expressions me da igual or me da lo mismo mean "it's all the same to me" or "I don´t really care":
Ya lo que digan me da igual
What people say doesn't matter to me anymore
Caption 22, Alejandro Fernandez - Eres
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Another keyword when it comes to making comparisons is como (like).
Juli, vas a quedar como una cobarde,
Juli, you're going to look like a coward,
como si te diera miedo.
as if it scared you.
Captions 44-45, Club 10 - Capítulo 1
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And you will definitely remember this comparative structure after listening to the Calle 13 song in this clip:
No hay nadie como tú
There is no one like you
Caption 29, Calle 13 - No hay nadie como tú
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Finally, we have the superlative forms with the following structures: el/los/la/las/lo + más + adjective:
La prueba de sonido es lo más importante quizás porque es la preparación, ¿no?
The sound check is the most important thing, maybe because it's the staging, right?
Caption 6, David Bisbal - Haciendo Premonición Live
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Este es el aguacate más caro que hay en el mercado.
This is the most expensive avocado that there is on the market.
Caption 38, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 1
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Note that there are a few irregular superlatives:
el mejor (the best)
el peor (the worst)
el mayor (the oldest)
For "the oldest," el más grande can also be used. While this is very common in some regions and can also mean "the largest," "the greatest," or "the biggest," it is important to remember that, as is the case with all irregular superlatives, mayor cannot be used in conjunction with más. Thus the sentence "Paul is the oldest in his class" can be translated as Paul es el más grande de su clase or Paul es el mayor de su clase but NOT Paul es el más mayor.
We hope that you have enjoyed our newsletter, y lo que es más importante (what matters most) is that you have learned a lot! Don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
A recent Yabla video entitled La Doctora Consejos: parecer y parecerse demonstrated the difference between the verb parecer (to seem) and the reflexive verb parecerse ("to look like" or "be similar"). Although, at first glance, the difference between these two verbs might seem simple, this can be confusing when pronouns are thrown into the mix.
When no pronouns are present, it will be quite obvious that the verb in question is parecer. Let's take a look:
La verdad es que pareces cansado.
To be honest, you seem tired.
Caption 11, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: parecer y parecerse
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Las cosas son más fáciles de lo que parecen.
Things are easier than what they seem.
Caption 25, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 3: La división en sílabas
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On the other hand, when a sentence does involve pronouns, these two verbs become a bit harder to distinguish. One reason for this is that, although parecerse employs reflexive pronouns, while parecer is often accompanied by indirect object pronouns, there is some overlap in terms of the forms of these two pronoun types. Let's take a look:
Personal Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun | Indirect Object Pronoun |
---|---|---|
yo | me | me |
tú | te | te |
él, ella, usted | se | le |
nosotros, nosotras | nos | nos |
vosotros, vosotras | os | os |
ellos, ellas, ustedes | se | les |
Should we encounter se then, we will know it is reflexive, while we will recognize le or les as indirect object pronouns. However, as you will notice that the reflexive and indirect object pronouns that correspond to four out of the six personal pronouns appear identical (me, te, nos, and os), how can we tell whether an instance of parecer accompanied by one of these pronouns is indeed parecer or its reflexive counterpart?
Let's start with the verb parecerse. Keeping in mind that this is a reflexive verb, note that it is conjugated "as usual" to agree with its subject's corresponding personal pronoun: in other words, just like the verb parecer with the addition of the appropriate reflexive pronoun. With this in mind, let's take a look at the present indicative forms of parecer and parecerse:
Personal Pronoun: | Present Indicative of Parecer: | Present Indicative of Parecerse |
---|---|---|
yo | parezco | me parezco |
tú | pareces | te pareces |
él, ella, usted | parece | se parece |
nosotros, nosotras | parecemos | nos parecemos |
vosotros, vosotras | parecéis | os parecéis |
ellos, ellas, ustedes | parecen | se parecen |
Now, let's look at some examples of the verb parecerse in action:
En eso me parezco mucho a mi madre.
I'm a lot like my mother in that way.
Caption 38, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: parecer y parecerse
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¡Nos gustan las mismas cosas!
We like the same things!
Nos parecemos.
We are similar.
Captions 40-41, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
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pero entonces tienes que decir, "Mis ojos se parecen a los ojos de mi madre",
but then you have to say, "My eyes look like my mother's eyes,"
Caption 28, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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Note that with the verb parecerse, the conjugations agree with the sentence's subjects, or who or what is performing the action of the sentence: in these cases yo (I), nosotros (we), and mis ojos (my eyes). In other words, we conjugate them in accordance with who or what "looks like" or "is similar to" something else.
In contrast, when the verb parecer is accompanied by an indirect object pronoun, this verb falls into a class of verbs that function in a manner similar to the verb gustar. While we use the same conjugations of parecer (present indicative, etc.), the person or thing to whom or which something seems a certain way becomes the object of the sentence (receiver of the verb's action), while what seems that way to that entity is the subject. Let's take a look at some examples:
¿Qué cosas te parecen muy importantes en tu día a día?
What things seem very important to you in your daily life?
Caption 25, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: parecer y parecerse
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Here, parecer is conjugated in accordance with las cosas (the things) that seem important rather than the person to whom they are, and the indirect object pronoun te tells us that the person they seem important to is tú (you). In addition, when parecer is accompanied by an indirect object pronoun, it entails an opinion, similar to the idea in English that someone "thinks" something. So, although, in the above example, parecer is translated as "to seem," an additional translation might be: "What things in your daily life do you think are important?" Let's look at another example:
A ti te parece bonita.
You think it's pretty [literally "To you it seems pretty"].
Caption 11, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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Were this the verb parecerse utilized with the reflexive pronoun te, the conjugation would instead be: te pareces (you look like). However, this is an instance of the verb parecer conjugated in the third person singular (parece) and accompanied by the indirect object pronoun te to indicate that what "seems" pretty to "you'" is "it'" (we know from the previous sentences that the "it" is the city of San Sebastian, Spain). And as with the verb gustar, adding a mí (to me), a ti (to you), a ellos (to them), etc. is optional but not essential for adding emphasis to this construction.
Let's conclude with one last example:
y además podéis aprovechar para dar vuestra opinión
and you can also take the opportunity to give your opinion
sobre qué os parece este espacio y qué os parecen mis recetas.
about what you think of this space and what you think of my recipes.
Captions 36-37, La cocina de María - Tortilla de patatas
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Again, remember that although os parece and os parecen have both been translated as "you think" here, which tends to be the more common way to express this idea colloquially, the more literal translations of sentences like this one (in this case, "and you can also take the opportunity to give your opinion about how this space seems to you and how my recipes seem to you") are useful to keep in mind when attempting to decipher or create such structures.
We hope this lesson has helped you to better differentiate the verbs parecer vs. parecerse when pronouns are present, particularly since many of the reflexive and indirect object se parecen (look alike). For an even more in-depth exploration of this topic, check out Clase Aula Azul's series entitled El verb parecer (The Verb Parecer).
That's all for today, and don't forget to send us your questions and comments.
The colloquial expression "Woulda, coulda, shoulda" is often used to express regret about something that, in retrospect, one "would have," "could have," or "should have" done differently. As learners of Spanish are often anxious to find manners of expressing these same ideas in Spanish, today, we'll provide some simple formulas for doing so.
When conjugated in the conditional tense, the auxiliary verb haber means "would have." Let's take a look at this conjugation:
Yo habría (I would have)
Tú habrías (You would have)
Él/Ella/Usted habría (He/She/You would have)
Nosotros/Nosotras habríamos (We would have)
Vosotros/Vosotras habríais (You all would have)
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes habrían (They/You all would have)
Then, to express what one "would have" done under other circumstances, we use the past participle. Although certain verbs have irregular past participle forms, in the majority of cases, the past participle is formed by replacing the -ar of infinitive -ar verbs with -ado or the -er or -ir of -er and -ir verbs with -ido as follows:
Infinitive: comenzar / Past participle: comenzado
Infinitive: comer / Past participle: comido
Infinitive: subir / Past participle: subido
Aside from this simple formula for conjugating the past participle of verbs, irregular past participles must be memorized. Some of the most common irregular past participles include: decir: dicho (said), escribir: escrito (written), hacer: hecho (done), poner: puesto (put), romper: roto (broken), morir: muerto (dead), ver: visto (seen), volver: vuelto (returned), cubrir: cubierto (covered). Although it would be impossible to list all of the irregular past participles here, you will find that many of them follow similar patterns that should become increasingly familiar with additional exposure to Spanish.
Now that we know the formula for expressing the idea of "would have" in Spanish, let's take a look at some examples:
Ya habríais ahorrado... -Dos mil euros.
You would have saved... -Two thousand euros.
Caption 72, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Sólo se trataba de cerrar los ojos y aguantar el dolor,
It was just about closing my eyes and dealing with the pain,
como habría hecho Ricardo Mendoza.
like Ricardo Mendoza would have done.
Captions 47-48, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Y si lo hiciera, yo ya me habría dado cuenta. -¿Sí?
And if he did, I would have realized it by now. -Really?
Caption 33, X6 - 1 - La banda - Part 10
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The formula for talking about things we "could have" done, but didn't, involves the conditional conjugation of the verb poder (to be able), plus the infinitive haber, plus the past participle. The conditional of the verb poder is as follows:
Yo podría (I could)
Tú podrías (You could)
Él/Ella/Usted podría (He/She/You could)
Nosotros/Nosotras podríamos (We could)
Vosotros/Vosotras podríais (You all could)
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes podrían (They/You all could)
Note that while the translation of the verb poder in its conditional form is "could," the addition of the infinitive haber creates a structure meaning "could have." For example, while Yo podría ir al circo means "I could go to the circus," Yo podría haber ido al circo (I could have gone to the circus) conveys the idea of an unfulfilled possibility. Let's take a look at some examples of this construction:
¡Pero qué bien! ¡Lo mismo me podría haber contestado un policía!
But how great! A policeman could have answered me the same way.
Caption 4, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Te la podrías haber traído más grande. ¿Cuántas has cogido?
You could have brought a bigger one. How many have you picked?
Caption 118, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Te podrías haber vestido un poco más de...
You could have dressed a little more like...
con... no sé, de señorita, digo.
with... I don't know, like a lady, I mean.
Captions 35-36, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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As you can see, this formula is extremely similar to the previous one, except that it employs the conditional form of the verb deber. Although the verb deber frequently involves the idea of obligation, with such translations as "to have to" or the idea that one "must" do something, in its conditional form, it takes on the meaning "should." Let's take a look at its conditional conjugation:
Yo debería (I should)
Tú deberías (You should)
Él/Ella/Usted debería (He/She/You should)
Nosotros/Nosotras deberíamos (We should)
Vosotros/Vosotras deberíais (You all should)
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes deberían (They/You all should)
As with our previous formula, the addition of the infinitive haber changes the meaning from "should" to "should have." Using the same example of the circus, while Yo
debería ir al circo means "I should go to the circus," Yo debería haber ido al circo (I should have gone to the circus) expresses regret about not having gone. Let's take a look at some additional examples:Le debería haber dado un trompazo en la boca nada más.
I should have punched her in the mouth and that's it.
Caption 16, Muñeca Brava - 30 Revelaciones
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Digo, debería haber confiado y...
I mean, I should have trusted and...
y se me ha escapado.
and it has escaped me.
Captions 46-47, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Of course, just as one might have the feeling that he, she, or someone else should have done something differently in the past, we can also find fault with things that we or others shouldn't have done:
No deberías haber salido de casa.
You shouldn't have left the house.
Caption 45, Muñeca Brava - 46 Recuperación
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We hope that these simple formulas help you to speak about what you "would have," "could have," or "should have" done in Spanish, and don't forget to leave us your questions and comments.
Don't you just want 2020 to be over? Without a doubt, this year has been quite challenging, especially due to everything that has occurred as the result of the coronavirus. In fact, 2020's Spanish Word of the Year is one of the terms most associated with this awful virus. Let's reveal this year's tragic winner.
Yes, pandemia (pandemic) is 2020's Spanish Word of the Year. Do we really have to explain why? Our friend Fermin sums it all up in a very simple phrase:
Esta maldita pandemia del coronavirus.
This damn coronavirus pandemic.
Caption 5, El coronavirus - Confinamiento en España - Part 1
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It is important to say, however, that in contrast to the English word "pandemic," which can function as both an adjective and a noun, in the Spanish language, pandemia is only a noun, whereas the adjective is pandémico / pandémica.
Most of the words on this list of runners-up for 2020 Spanish Word of the Year are associated with the coronavirus pandemic. However, at the end of this list, we have also included a word (a name, actually) that represents yet another of the many sad events that have occurred this year. Let's take a look.
Hoy les voy a contar sobre mi cuarentena en casa.
Today I'm going to tell you about my quarantine at home.
Caption 4, El coronavirus - La cuarentena en Ecuador
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Los tres primeros días del confinamiento
The first three days of confinement,
tuvimos sensaciones muy extrañas.
The first three days of confinement, we felt very strange feelings.
Captions 7-8, El coronavirus - Confinamiento en España - Part 2
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The Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DLE) states that the word desinfectante is an adjective. Let's see it in action:
La segunda tarea que realizo es rellenar el gel desinfectante,
The second task I perform is refilling the sanitizing gel,
que se encuentra ubicado en tres posiciones distintas:
which is found in three different locations:
Captions 16-17, Sergio - Socorrismo y COVID-19
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However, throughout Latin America, the word desfinfectante is also used as a noun:
También recuerda ocupar desinfectante para mano,
Also remember to use hand sanitizer
que tenga por lo menos unos [sic] sesenta por ciento de alcohol.
that has at least sixty percent alcohol.
Captions 16-17, El coronavirus - Cómo protegerse
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Las medidas sanitarias que utilizo son:
The sanitary measures that I use are:
la mascarilla y desinfectarme las manos.
the mask and sanitizing my hands.
Captions 12-13, Sergio - Socorrismo y COVID-19
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Y una gran crisis a nivel sanitario, económico y social.
And a great health, economic and social crisis.
Caption 60, El coronavirus - Introducción y vocabulario
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From Kobe Bryant to Sean Connery, this year, the world has lost some of its most beloved people. In fact, the Spanish-speaking world has lost one of its most iconic figures: Diego Armando Maradona, and the death of the football/soccer superstar has been deeply felt throughout the world.
Si yo fuera Maradona, nunca me equivocaría
If I were Maradona, I would never make a mistake
Si yo fuera Maradona, perdido en cualquier lugar
If I were Maradona, lost anywhere
La vida es una tómbola de noche y de día
Life is a raffle [lottery] by night and day
La vida es una tómbola y arriba y arriba
Life is a raffle and up and up
Captions 3-6, Manu Chao - La Vida Tómbola
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That's all for today. What do you think of the Spanish Word of the Year 2020? Do you agree with this choice? Can you think of a better word? Please, feel free to share with us your comments and suggestions, and let's hope 2021 brings us less tragedy and more joy.
Despite the old saying that "Las comparaciones son odiosas" (Comparisons are odious), the truth is that they are often necessary. Whether you need to decide on a vacation destination, select a present for a loved one, or weigh the pros and cons of any situation, comparisons will be a part of your decision-making process. That said, let's learn some useful language for that purpose.
Unlike English, Spanish does not modify adjectives with the addition of suffixes (e.g. the English -er and -est) for comparative purposes. Instead, adjectives are accompanied by comparative structures to indicate equality, inequality, or difference in degree between one or more people, ideas, or things. Since there is plenty to learn on this topic, this lesson will deal with inequality, while part two will cover comparisons of equality and superlatives.
For comparisons of inequality, the word that specifies what the comparison is about will be preceded by más (more) or menos (less). One might compare qualities (adjectives), ways of doing something (adverbs), or even nouns as in the sentence: La canasta roja tiene más manzanas que la verde (The red basket has more apples than the green one). Let's take a look at some common comparative structures involving adjectives, adverbs, and nouns, and some examples of each:
La vida a esta altitud se hace más difícil que en el frondoso pinsapar.
Life at this altitude becomes more difficult than in the dense Spanish fir forest.
Caption 64, Tecnópolis - Sierra de las nieves
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Este libro es menos interesante que el otro.
This book is less interesting than the other one.
Caption 72, Karla e Isabel - Comparativos
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As you may have inferred from these examples, the comparative particle que is the equivalent of than in English. In addition, the video in our second example above introduces several comparative structures with examples and is thus worth viewing in conjunction with this lesson.
Les inyectaba hormonas para que crecieran más rápido.
She would inject them with hormones so that they would grow faster.
Caption 45, Kikirikí - Animales
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Note that, in this case, the comparative particle que is not present since the second term of the comparison is not mentioned. In addition, remember that, although the adverb rápidamente does exist, we often use rápido as an adverb as well as an adjective in the same way as the English word fast, depending upon whether it modifies a noun or a verb in a sentence.
As we saw in the introduction, this structure can also be used with nouns. In this case, it is worth mentioning that while, according to traditional English usage rules, "fewer" should be used for countable objects while "less" should be employed with singular mass nouns (i.e. salt), this distinction does not exist in Spanish. That said, menos will be used for both countable and uncountable nouns in Spanish.
Ten en cuenta que los productos en tamaño familiar,
Take into account that family-sized products,
sean de lo que sean,
whatever they are,
generan menos residuos por unidad de producto.
generate less waste per product unit.
Captions 51-53, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Since the Spanish verb tener años (literally "to have years") is used to express the idea of someone being a certain age, the expression Tengo más años que mi hermana (literally "I have more years than my sister") is equivalent to saying "I am older than my sister." The following example is similar:
Yo tengo un año menos que tú.
I am a year younger than you.
Caption 12, Clara y Cristina - Saludar
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Although the position of the noun in these examples is different, they demonstrate the additional point that prepositional object pronouns like mí and ti cannot be used in comparatives as the second object of comparison (immediately after que). For example, while in English, one can say either "My sister is younger than I am" or "My sister is younger than me," Mi hermana es más joven que mí is unacceptable in Spanish, while Mi hermana es más joven que yo is the correct way to express this.
Sometimes, the difference between the objects, people, or ideas being compared is so big or so small that formulas that include intensifiers such as mucho/muchísimo/tanto + más/menos or mitigators like un poco/poquito + más/menos can help to express this.
Y eso también lo habéis comprado más barato de lo normal.
And that also you have bought cheaper than what's normal.
Pero muchísimo más barato, ochenta por ciento más barato, una cosa así.
But way cheaper, eighty percent cheaper, something like that.
Captions 14-15, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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No es tanto más grande que yo.
She's not that much older than me.
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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De Los Cabos sí queda un poquito más lejitos,
From Los Cabos, it's a little bit further,
un poquito más de dos horas.
a little bit over two hours.
Captions 73-74, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!
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The parallel comparative structure, cuanto más + adjective/adverb, más/menos, is also useful in Spanish. The common English expression, "The sooner, the better," for example, translates as: Cuanto antes, mejor.
Cuanto más sucia, menos le[s] pagáis. -Claro.
The dirtier it is, the less you pay them. -Of course.
Caption 81, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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A few adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative forms and don't fall into the typical patterns using más/menos + adjective/adverb + que:
Adjective: buen/a (good) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adjective: mal/a (bad) Comparative: peor (worse)
Es una buena cantante (She's a good singer).
Es mejor cantante que Mariana (She is a better singer than Mariana).
Es un mal alumno (He is a bad student).
Es peor alumno que Juan (He is a worse student than Juan).
Interestingly, when the adjectives mejor/peor describe how good or bad one is at something, their forms are irregular. However, when referring to good and evil, their regular comparative forms come into play:
Es más malo que el diablo.
He is more evil than the devil.
The following adverbs, however, have only an irregular comparative:
Adverb: bien (well) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adverb: mal (badly) Comparative: peor (worse)
María canta mejor que su hermana.
María sings better than her sister.
Let's conclude with some additional examples of regular and irregular comparatives from our Yabla video library:
Tres aspirinas. -Bueno, tomá algo más fuerte que te haga mejor.
Three aspirins. -Well, take something stronger that makes you better.
Caption 61, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Mal. Peor que la semana pasada.
Bad. Worse than last week.
Caption 7, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: Subjuntivo y condicional
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That's all for this first part of our lesson on comparatives. We hope it has been clear, and don't forget to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
In the first part of this lesson, we focused on the difference in perception in English versus Spanish when it comes to expressing the concept of "liking." Although in English, the subject of a sentence (the person, place, thing, or idea who performs the action of the sentence's verb) is perceived to "perform the action" of "liking" onto the object of the sentence (the receiver of the action, or "what is being liked"), in Spanish, the opposite is true. Let's review this concept with a simple example:
Me gustan mucho las ciudades.
I really like cities.
Caption 58, Carlos y Cyndy - Uso del Voseo en Argentina
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In English, "I" is the subject and "cities" is the object because "I" am the person who performs the action of liking upon "cities." In Spanish, on the other hand, las ciudades (the cities) are the subject that are thought to "cause" the implied object "yo" (I) to like them. As this functions similarly to the English verb "to please," it is useful to keep in mind the alternative translation "Cities really please me" when thinking about this and other sentences with gustar.
Armed with this information, let's explore how to create and understand Spanish sentences with this verb. First off, how do we express in Spanish the English concept of who or what is "doing the liking"? In other words, how would one say, "I like" or "you like" or "they like," etc.? In order to do this, Spanish employs the following indirect object pronouns with the verb gustar as follows:
-(A mí) me gusta/n: I like.
-(A ti) te gusta/n: You like.
-(A él/ella/usted) le gusta/n: He/She/You like(s).
-(A nosotros/as) nos gusta/n: We like.
-(A vosotros/as) os gusta/n: You (all) like.
-(A ellos/ellas/ustedes) les gusta/n: They like/You (all) like.
Let's take a look at some examples:
Y aquí tengo una blusa que me gusta.
And I have here a blouse that I like.
Caption 6, Ana Carolina - Salir de compras
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Muy bien, ¿te gusta esa música?
Great, do you like that music?
Caption 63, Carlos y Cyndy - Comentario sobre Muñeca Brava
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A nosotras nos gustan los colores del arcoíris.
We like the colors of the rainbow.
Caption 10, Español para principiantes - Los colores
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Note that, while in the third example, A nosotras was included before nos gustan, this is completely optional, and we could have written simply, Nos gustan los colores del arcoíris (We like the colors of the rainbow) to mean exactly the same thing. In fact, all such "a phrases" (a mí, a ti, a vosotros, etc.) indicated in parentheses above serve to add emphasis but do not change the meaning of sentences with gustar.
Now that we have learned how to indicate or know who or what is "doing the liking," let's focus on how to conjugate the verb gustar, which we will do in accordance with "what is being liked." Let's revisit the previous examples, as well as their alternative translations, to better understand this:
Y aquí tengo una blusa que me gusta.
And I have here a blouse that I like.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: And I have here a blouse that pleases me
Muy bien, ¿te gusta esa música?
Great, do you like that music?
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: Great, and does that music please you?
A nosotras nos gustan los colores del arcoíris.
We like the colors of the rainbow.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: The colors of the rainbow please us.
Notice that, since "what is being liked" is the subject that performs the action in Spanish, in the aforementioned examples, we see gustar conjugated in the third person singular (gusta) in the cases where the subject is singular (esa músical"that music" and una blusa/"a blouse") and third person plural (gustan) in the cases where the subject is plural (los colores del arcoíris/"the colors of the rainbow"). Similarly, the verb "to please" is conjugated in accordance with said subjects in English.
What if, on the other hand, "what's liked" comes in the form of a verb's infinitive? In that case, the third person singular form of gustar should be utilized:
Y... aparte de... de la música, me gusta patinar.
And... apart from... from music, I like to skate.
Caption 14, Zoraida - Lo que gusta hacer
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While in all of the aforementioned examples, the verb gustar has been conjugated in either third person singular or plural, there are cases in which the subject calls for a diffrent conjugation. Let's take a look:
Me gustas.
I like you.
Porque sí.
Just because.
-Tú también me gustas mucho.
-I like you a lot too.
Captions 44-46, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: You please me. Just because. -You please me too.
Since the subject "being liked" is tú (you), gustar is conjugated in the second person singular: gustas, and the alternative translation "You please me" can again help us to grasp this construction. Let's examine a couple of additional examples:
A este chico le gusto mucho.
That guy likes me a lot.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: I please that guy a lot.
A ustedes les gustamos mucho.
You guys like us a lot.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: We please you guys a lot.
As always, the verb gustar is conjugated in agreement with the Spanish sentences' subjects: yo/"I" (in the first person singular gusto) and nosotros/"we" (in the first person plural gustamos).
Let's conclude with one final example:
Y la directora de la biblioteca me dijo
And the director of the library told me
que el texto había gustado mucho.
that [people] had liked the text a lot.
Captions 48-49, Aprendiendo con Carlos - El microrrelato
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ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION: and the director of the library told me that the text had pleased [people] a lot.
Once again, gustar has been conjugated in the third person singular as había gustado (this time in the past perfect) in agreement with what is being liked: el texto (the text). However, the absence of an indirect object pronoun to specify who or what is "doing the liking" gives us the essence that the text is generally pleasing, in other words: people liked it.
We hope that these lessons have helped to shed some light on how to use/understand the verb gustar, which might initially seem daunting to English speakers. That's all for today, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions.
Do you know how to write prefixes in Spanish? In this lesson, we will share three very useful rules that you should always keep in mind when using Spanish prefixes. Let's take a look.
A prefix should always be connected to the word that follows. Let's look at an example:
¿Han visto algunos actores que tienen la piel supertersa?
Have you seen some actors who have super smooth skin?
Caption 39, María Fernanda - Mascarilla de aguacate
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In this example, you can see that the prefix super- is connected to the word tersa (smooth). For that reason, it would be incorrect to write this word with a space (super tersa) or hyphen (super-tersa).
This rule also applies when you have several prefixes before a word:
antiposmodernism (anti-postmodernism)
In this example, you have the word modernismo preceded by two prefixes (anti- and pos-).
If a prefix goes before a word that starts with a capital letter, a hyphen should be used between the prefix and the word. Let's take a look:
y que dentro tiene dos mini-DVDs,
and which inside has two miniDVDs,
Caption 6, Fiesta en Miami - This Is Not a Gallery
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Since the word "DVD" starts with a capital letter, a hyphen is necessary. Let's look at some additional examples:
anti-NAFTA (anti-NAFTA)
pro-Obama (pro-Obama)
pos-Gorbachov (post-Gorvachov)
A hyphen must also be employed if the prefix is followed by a number instead of a word:
Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 (South American U-20* Championship)
* Keep in mind that "under" is the English equivalent of the Spanish prefix sub-.
A multi-word lexical unit is a term made of two or more words. Examples include terms like pena de muerte (death penalty) and derechos humanos (human rights). If a prefix precedes a multi-word lexical unit, there must be a space between the prefix and said unit as follows:
anti pena de muerta (anti-death penalty)
pro derechos humanos (pro-human rights)
Finally, keep in mind that, sometimes, with the addition of a prefix, a word's accentuation changes. For example, by itself, the word bien (well) doesn't require a graphic accent. However, when the prefix super- is added, it automatically becomes a three-syllable word with the stress on the last syllable. And, since the word ends in "n," you will need to indicate such with a graphic accent (see lesson on palabras agudas).
Pues nada, que ha empezado el día superbién.
Well, she's started the day very well.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Un día de mala suerte
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That's all for now. We invite you to keep these three rules in mind when using prefixes in Spanish. And, don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
As the U.S. elections are right around the corner, we think now is the perfect time to learn some useful election vocabulary.
In presidential elections, the citizens of a country votan por (vote for) the candidate of their choice. In a referendum, however, voters will votar a favor de / en contra de (for or against) a particular decision.
No sé si voy a votar por Manuel u Oscar
I don't know if I am going to vote for Manuel or Oscar
en las elecciones presidenciales.
in the presidential elections.
Caption 33, Lecciones con Carolina - Conjunciones disyuntivas
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As we all know, political parties run campaigns to persuade citizens to vote for them. We also know about the promises that politicians make when están en campaña (they are campaigning).
"La mejor campaña" dijo, "es la del pueblo."
"The best campaign" he said, "is that of the people."
Caption 24, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - En campaña
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Interestingly, there is an expression with the word campaña that is not related to presidential or marketing campaigns. Ponerse en campaña means "to start working on something" or "become active."
Está todo claro. -Nos ponemos hoy mismo en campaña.
Everything is clear. -We'll start working on that today.
Caption 69, Yago - 10 Enfrentamientos
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We can find some compelling examples of electoral promises in Felipe Calderon's Campaign cuando se postulaba como presidente de México (when he was running for president of Mexico) back in 2006.
Igualdad de oportunidades para todos,
Equal opportunity for everyone,
una democracia efectiva, que le dé sentido a nuestra vida cotidiana
an effective democracy that gives meaning to our everyday lives,
y finalmente desarrollo sustentable.
and finally, sustainable development.
Captions 59-61, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Unsurprisingly, these promises are pretty much the same in each contienda electoral (presidential race) and are often expressed at debates televisados (televised debates) before the veda electoral (election silence), the period in some countries prior to the election in which it is forbidden to show any sort of political propaganda.
Pero no sólo a los PANistas,
But not only the PANistas,
como espero que sea el candidato de Acción Nacional
since I hope he'll be the candidate for Acción Nacional
en la próxima contienda presidencial de dos mil seis.
in the next presidential race in two thousand six.
Captions 71-73, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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While in some countries, voting is mandatory (sufragio obligatorio), and a fine is imposed if one does not ejercer el derecho al voto (exercise one's right to vote), in countries like the U.S. or Mexico, it is optional (sufragio voluntario), and campaigns are thus conducted to encourage people to vote. Tu Rock es votar was a commercial created to persuade young people to participate in los comicios (the elections) in Mexico's 2006 presidential race. A similar campaign, as Armando explains, also enjoyed success in the U.S.:
Y lo habían hecho funcionar muy bien, y habían inscrito a
And they had made it work very well, and they had registered
más de millón y medio de jóvenes
more than one and a half million young people
para votar en el proceso electoral norteamericano.
to vote in the American election process.
Y ayudaron a, entre muchos otros esfuerzos,
And they helped to, among many other efforts,
Captions 20-23, Tu Rock es Votar - Armando
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The ways in which we cast our votes may also differ. Particularly in these times of COVID-19, some countries may opt for an electronic vote (voto electrónico) or mail-in voting over the traditional ballot box (urna), which brings us to the saying that el futuro del país se decidirá en las urnas (the future of the country will be decided at the ballot box). And, you may be surprised to hear Argentinians and Uruguayans speak about el cuarto oscuro (literally "the dark room"). Mind you, there is no connotation of darkness or dishonesty in this expression, which is simply the name of the voting booth in those nations.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, so we should always stay informed and carefully think it through before weighing in on who will be in charge, or, as Armando puts it:
Y es elegir a quien va a tomar las riendas de este país.
And that is to choose who is going to take the reins of this country.
Caption 84, Tu Rock es Votar - Armando
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We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to vote! Oh, and leave us your comments and suggestions.
To begin this lesson, let's take a look at a caption in a Yabla video that recently baffled one our subscribers:
Obviamente, la comunicación es la esencia de este tipo de trabajos.
Obviously, communication is the essence of this type of job.
Caption 40, Negocios - La solicitud de empleo
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Spanish sentences such as this one involving "tipo de" ["type" or "types of"] tend to confuse English speakers. After all, the literal translation of this sentence would read, "Obviously, communication is the essence of this type of jobs," which doesn’t work in English since “this” is singular and “jobs” is plural. In the vast majority of similar constructions in English involving countable nouns (nouns like "leaf/leaves," "cookie/cookies," etc. that can be physically counted), there must be singular/singular or plural/plural agreement, leaving one with the choice of either "this type of job" or "these types of jobs."
However, this is not the case in Spanish since singular with plural is the most common construction, or occasionally singular with singular in the case of a single noun. Let’s look at some examples of each of these cases:
Si a todo esto añadimos otro tipo de problemas medio ambientales.
If to all this we add another kind of environmental problem.
Caption 16, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Yo sí tengo la esperanza que se reduzc'... se reduzcan este tipo de eventos, ¿no?
I do have the hope that these types of occurrences will be red'... will be reduced, right?
Caption 57, Amigos D.F. - El secuestrar
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¿Qué tipo de habitación desea?
What kind of room would you like?
Caption 10, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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Note that in the case above, habitación is considered a single noun since the gentleman being addressed is only looking for one room; hence the singular with singular construction.
In both Spanish and English, uncountable nouns (nouns like "water," "coffee," "love," etc. that cannot be counted) go in singular with tipo de (or "type(s)" or "kind(s)") of as follows:
Y digamos que conforme se va fabricando ese tipo de líquido,
And let's say that just as that type of liquid is being produced,
Caption 92, Animales en familia - La operación de Yaki
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En ellos, recibió todo tipo de apoyo de sus simpatizantes.
In them, he got all kinds of support from his followers.
Caption 35, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - Publicidad de Obrador
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To add further confusion for English speakers (sorry!), in most such cases with "partitive" (referring to part of a whole) constructions like "tipo de," the verb can be conjugated in either singular or plural! Let's take a look at a couple of examples:
En cuanto al tipo de... trabajos que me gusta ver.
In terms of the types of... projects that I like to see.
Caption 22, Álvaro - Arquitecto Español en Londres
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Note that the verb gustar is conjugated in first person in accordance with the singular noun el tipo. However, without changing the translation, it would be perfectly acceptable to instead conjugate gustar in accordance with the plural trabajos:
En cuanto al tipo de... trabajos que me gustan ver.
In terms of the types of... projects that I like to see.
Let's look at one more example:
Además, en la conjugación de los verbos,
Also, in the conjugation of verbs,
este tipo de sufijos nos indican.
these types of suffixes tell us.
Captions 35-36, Carlos explica - Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 1: Los sufijos
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While indicar is conjugated in accordace with the plural noun sufijos, it could alternatively be conjugated in accordance with the singular noun tipo:
Además, en la conjugación de los verbos,
Also, in the conjugation of verbs,
este tipo de sufijos nos indica.
these types of suffixes tell us.
Finally, it is worth noting that, in the cases of particular Spanish linking verbs like ser (to be), estar (to be), or parecer (to seem), the verb is nearly always conjugated in plural when followed by a subject complement (most simply defined as an "attribute"), as follows:
Este tipo de bicicletas están pensadas
This type of bicycle is planned
para desplazamientos cortos.
for short distances.
Captions 5-6, Raquel - Alquilar una bicicleta
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To conclude, although we have focused on tipo de for the purpose of this lesson, other "partitive constructions" like el resto de (the rest of), la mayor parte de (most of), la mayoría de (most of), etc. function the same way.
We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions.
Let's talk about the Spanish conjugation of regular verbs. In particular, let's see how to form the preterite conjugation of regular verbs ending in -ar, -er, and -ir. But first, let's review the main idea behind the preterite tense in Spanish.
In very simple terms, when we talk about the Spanish preterite tense, we are talking about the simple past, in other words, a completed action that took place at a determined point in the past. Let's look at an example from the series where our friend Carlos talks about this tense:
Ayer trabajé hasta las ocho de la noche.
Yesterday I worked until eight at night.
Caption 30, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap. 1: Perfecto simple o Indefinido
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In this example, trabajé is the preterite conjugation of the regular verb trabajar for the first-person singular yo (I). Note that the only change necessary to form the preterite in this example is removing the -ar ending of the infinitive verb and replacing it with the ending -é.
There are a couple of things we want to mention about the conjugations you will find throughout this tutorial.
1. While usted (the formal, second-person singular "you") does not appear in our conjugation lists, keep in mind that when using that pronoun, the verb is conjugated in the exact same way as verbs in the third-person singular forms with él (he) and ella (she). Let's take a look at this in action with the preterite conjugation of the verb hablar (to speak/talk):
Usted habló de Fabio Sirenio.
You talked about Fabio Sirenio.
Caption 83, Yago - 7 Encuentros - Part 14
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Entonces él habló con...
So, he spoke with...
con los pescadores y los pescadores aceptaron.
with the fishermen and the fishermen accepted.
Caption 17, Instinto de conservación - Parque Tayrona
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2. In order to offer a more simplistic verb conjugation snapshot, in this article, we only employ the masculine versions of the plural forms nosotros (we), vosotros (you), and ellos (they). That said, keep in mind that the conjugations are the same for the feminine forms nosotras, vosotras, and ellas.
3. Just like usted, ustedes (the standard second person plural "you" in Latin America and the formal second person plural in Spain) does not appear among the conjugations shared here. However, keep in mind that the conjugations of verbs with "ustedes" are the exact same as the third-person plural forms utilized with ellos and ellas (they). Let's look at an example of this with the preterite conjugation of the verb cantar (to sing):
Ustedes cantaron muy bien (You guys sang very well).
Ellos/Ellas cantaron muy bien (They sang very well).
Having said all this, let's explore the preterite conjugations of some regular verbs in Spanish.
Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the verb hablar (to speak).
Yo hablé (I spoke).
Tú hablaste (You spoke).
Él/Ella habló (He/She spoke).
Nosotros hablamos (We spoke).*
Vosotros hablasteis (You spoke).
Ellos hablaron (They spoke).
* It's important to note that because the verb conjugation for the first person plural "nosotros" (we) is the same for both the simple present and simple past tenses, the speaker's intention must be determined by context as follows:
Nosotros estudiamos mucho todos los días (We study a lot every day).
Ayer nosotros estudiamos mucho (Yesterday, we studied a lot).
Example 1.: The verb comprar (to buy)
¡Y compraste melones en vez de limones!*
And you bought melons instead of lemons!
Caption 16, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 2: Sam va de compras
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* Remember that pronouns are frequently omitted in Spanish. Thus, in the example above and without changing the meaning, one could say: "¡Y tú compraste melones en vez de limones!" However, despite the fact that the speaker does not use the pronoun here, the -aste verb ending lets the listener know that the person referred to is "tú" (you).
Example 2.: The verb escuchar (to listen/hear)
La canción que escuchamos
The song that we heard
introduce la quinta parte del primer episodio.
introduces the fifth part of the first episode.
Caption 54, Carlos comenta - Los Años Maravillosos - La década de los 80 y música
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Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the regular verb comer (to eat).
Yo comí (I ate).
Tú comiste (You ate).
Él/Ella comió (He/She ate).
Nosotros comimos (We ate).
Vosotros comisteis (You ate).
Ellos comieron (They ate).
Example 1.: The verb aprender (to learn)
...y aprendí que los pulpos pueden cambiar de color.
...and I learned that octopi can change color.
Caption 45, Guillermina y Candelario - La Señora Pulpo
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Example 2.: The verb vender (to sell)
Creo que vendimos unos quinientos dólares en unas...
I think we sold about five hundred dollars (worth) in about...
tres horas, dos horas.
three hours, two hours.
Captions 25-26, Un café con Julia - Año nuevo
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Let's take a look at the preterite conjugation of the verb vivir (to live).
Yo viví (I lived).
Tú viviste (You lived).
Él/Ella vivió (He/She lived).
Nosotros vivimos (We lived).
Vosotros vivisteis (You lived).
Ellos vivieron (They lived).
Example 1.: The verb escribir (to write)
¿Por qué dices eso?
Why do you say that?
Porque una vez me escribiste
Because once you wrote to me
contándome que te casabas en Nueva York.
telling me that you were getting married in New York.
Captions 61-62, Yago - 6 Mentiras - Part 5
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Example 2.: The verb abrir (to open)
Primero, Lisa Bernal abrió la herida.
First, Lisa Bernal opened the wound.
Caption 61, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 6 - Part 4
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And with this example, we have reached the end of this lesson. But before we go, a little homework for you: go ahead and choose some other regular verbs and practice the Spanish conjugation of the preterite tense. Sooner or later, you will be able to master those preterite endings! We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Do you know how to say goodbye in Spanish? Believe it or not, there are many different ways to say goodbye in Spanish. In this lesson, we will review some of the standard terms you can use as well as other alternative ways of saying goodbye in Spanish slang. Let's take a look.
If you want to know the most standard way of saying goodbye in Spanish, adiós is your go-to term. Let's hear how to pronounce it:
Adiós. -Adiós.
Goodbye. -Goodbye.
Caption 50, Cita médica - La cita médica de Cleer
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Bueno, mucho gusto, Ana. -Mucho gusto.
Well, nice to meet you, Ana. -Nice to meet you.
Adiós. -Adiós.
Goodbye. -Goodbye.
Captions 67-68, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 3: ¿De quién es esta mochila?
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The preposition hasta (usually translated as "until" or "even" in English) is quite useful when we want to say bye to someone. While the following expressions are not as literal as adiós, people use them often when they want to say goodbye in Spanish. The idea here is, "Let's meet at some point in the future." Let's take a look:
Así que, ¡nos vemos muy pronto!
So, see you very soon!
¡Hasta luego!
See you later!
Captions 83-84, Amaya - Mi burro Pepe
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¡Adiós, amigos de Yabla, hasta pronto!
Bye, friends of Yabla, see you soon!
Caption 51, Ariana - España
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Gracias por su atención y hasta la próxima.
Thank you for your attention, and see you next time.
Hasta luego.
See you later.
Captions 74-75, Carlos explica - Las preposiciones 'por' y 'para'
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Hasta mañana, Ivo. -Chau, mi amor. -Chau.
See you tomorrow, Ivo. -Bye, my love. -Bye.
Chau, papá. -Chau.
Bye, dad. -Bye.
Captions 79-80, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Bueno, os esperamos por Madrid.
Well, we await you in Madrid.
¡Hasta la vista!
So long!
Captions 91-92, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
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Are you wondering how to say bye in Spanish in the shortest possible way? Look no further. These slang terms, taken from the standard Italian manner of saying goodbye (ciao), are the words you're looking for. Let's see how to pronounce chao and chau:
Bueno... Nos vemos en la casa, chao.
OK... See you at home, bye.
Caption 53, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 9
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...porque ahora tengo un compromiso. Claro.
...because now I have an appointment. [Is that] clear?
Chau, Andrea. -Chau.
Bye, Andrea. -Bye.
Captions 21-22, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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Ha sido un placer estar con vosotros.
It has been a pleasure being with you.
Nos vemos. Un saludo.
See you. A greeting.
Captions 34-35, Azotea Del Círculo de Bellas Artes - Andrés nos enseña una nueva perspectiva
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Sobres, cuídate.
OK, take care.
Caption 7, El Puesto de Frutas de Javier - Haciendo una ensalada de frutas
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Solamente quería saber si usted estaba vivo todavía.
I just wanted to know if you were still alive.
Suerte, Magoo.
Good luck, Magoo.
Captions 36-37, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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Since its straightforward translation is "to arrive," you might wonder if the Spanish verb llegar is worth a whole lesson. However, this is language, and we always find new meanings, uses, and/or idiomatic expressions. That said, let's take a few minutes to analyze this verb and see a qué conclusión podemos llegar ("what conclusion we can draw" or "come to").
When we refer to a place, llegar means "to arrive."
Soñé que llegaba al colegio y estaba sin ropa.
I dreamed that I arrived at school and I was [there] with no clothes.
Caption 27, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Llegar can additonally mean to reach someone, either physically or emotionally. If someone shuts you out, no hay forma de llegar a esa persona (there's no way to reach that person). On the other hand, in the example below, the team at Biopark had not been able to physically reach the leopards.
No había forma de... de llegar a ellos.
There wasn't any way to... to get close to them.
Caption 27, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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Again with this idea of reaching, llegar can also be used with an amount or specific point in space as we see in the following examples:
Supongo que si están un poquito más chaparritos,
I guess if you're a little bit shorter,
les ha de llegar al pecho.
it should come up to your chest.
Caption 24, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!
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Podremos estar llegando
We could be reaching
a los ochocientos mil euros aproximadamente.
eight hundred thousand euros approximately.
Caption 32, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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And speaking of money, there is a Spanish idiom that includes this verb: llegar a fin de mes (literally "to make it to the end of the month"), which is the Spanish equivalent of "making ends meet."
Llegar can be used with seasons, months, or times of day as well to indicate their beginning or arrival. In this context, it often translates as "to come": Cuando llega la noche / "When night comes" or "falls."
...y lo tuvo con ella hasta que llegó la primavera.
...and had him with her until spring came.
Caption 41, Cleer - El patito feo
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Another meaning of llegar is "to achieve." It is actually a verb that collocates with éxito (success), so if you become succesful, has llegado al éxito (you've achieved success).
De las etapas por las que pasan los conjuntos
Of the stages that groups go through
en su desarrollo y a lo que pueden llegar.
in their development and what they can become.
Captions 74-75, Arturo Vega - Entrevista
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Another possible translation of llegar is "to manage to" since when you llegas a hacer algo, you've succedeed in doing it after some effort.
...de lo que yo quería como llegar a expresar, ¿sí?
...to what I wanted to, like, manage to express, right?
Caption 13, Bogotá - Fotógrafo José Segundo Quinche Pérez
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Sometimes, when llegar follows si to introduce a condition, it makes that condition a bit more remote since si llego a enterarme de algo is closer to if I happen to/manage to hear anything.
Si llega a saber cualquier cosa que suceda
If you come to find out anything that happens
entre Milagros y su hermano, hágamela saber.
between Milagros and her brother, let me know about it.
Captions 21-22, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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Si llega a pillarlos, me avisa y consigo la cámara.
If you manage to catch them, let me know and I'll get the camera.
Caption 72, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4
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As you may notice, many of the meanings of the verb llegar are comparable to those of the English verb "to get" (e.g "to reach," "to arrive," "to manage," etc.).
We hope this lesson has been clear, but si llegan a tener dudas (if you happen to have any questions), don't forget to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
¿Cómo te llevas con el español? (How do you get along in Spanish?) Wait— didn't llevar mean "to take"? Well, yes... you're right! The verb llevar often translates as "to take," and not just in phrases like "take your umbrella" or "take your children to school," but also in collocations like "to take time." And these are just a few of the uses of the verb llevar that we'll examine in this lesson. Actually, llevaría más de una lección (it would take more than one lesson) to cover all of its uses. But let's try and do our best here!
We can llevar something from one place to another and also accompany or guide someone somewhere, as in the following examples:
Tengo la posibilidad de llevar todos los días al colegio a mi hijo.
I have the chance to take my son to school every day.
Caption 53, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 18
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Le voy a llevar de compras.
I'm going to take him shopping.
Caption 7, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 2: Sam va de compras
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It is no wonder, then, that the term for "takeout food" (comida para llevar) in Spanish can be literally translated as "food for taking":
Aquí había unas comidas para llevar.
There were some takeout places here.
Caption 8, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 10
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Note that while the speaker uses the term for "takeout food" to refer to the location, it is more common to say casa de comidas para llevar to refer to a takeout restaurant. By the way, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, these places are also called rotisería.
When this idea of direction goes beyond space to express cause, llevar means something closer to the verbs "to lead" or "to drive" in English, as in the following example:
Una cosa llevó a la otra, ¿no?
One thing led to another, right?
Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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A person might llevarte a la desesperación, a la ruina o a la locura ("lead" or "drive you to despair, bankrutpcy, or madness"), or maybe you are lucky and end up being very successful, like in this Yabla video:
Muchas veces, incluso nos puede llevar al éxito profesional.
Many times, it can even lead us to professional success.
Caption 13, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Llevar also resembles "to take" when used with time, work, or effort to express that it is necessary to invest such time or effort in something. For instance, in one of our videos, María Sol explains that learning Spanish is a long process by saying that:
...de que puede llevar mucho tiempo.
...that it can take a long time.
Caption 29, GoSpanish - Entrevista con María Sol
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Yet, it can also be used to refer to the time that has gone by since the inception of something:
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas en Marbella? -En Marbella, cuarenta y un años.
How long have you been in Marbella? -In Marbella, forty-one years.
Caption 10, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 11
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Llevamos más de dos semanas sin agua.
We've been without water for more than two weeks.
Caption 24, Kikirikí - Agua
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We also use llevar to refer to the clothing or glasses we "wear," or the way we have our hair, in sentences such as Llevaba lentes (He/She was wearing glasses) or María llevaba el cabello largo (María had long hair).
...y me gusta llevar faldas normalmente.
...and I like to wear skirts usually.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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Another instance in which llevar can be translated as "to take" is when we use the expression llevar a cabo (to take place), which might also mean "to carry out" or "conduct" depending on the case/collocation.
Aquí se va a llevar a cabo el Campeonato WK.
Here, the WK Championship is going to take place.
Caption 3, Adícora, Venezuela - Víctor
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We'll often hear people inviting us to let go, relax, and enjoy the feeling of dejarse llevar (letting oneself go), another expression which incorporates this verb:
Hay que estar relajado y dejarse llevar, ¿no?
You should be relaxed and let yourself go, right?
Caption 12, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Finally, we'll can state that nos llevamos bien/mal with a person or people to describe how well or poorly we "get along with" others.
Que la puedes llevar a una... a un sitio,
That you can take her to a... to a place,
y sabes que se va a llevar bien con todo el mundo...
and you know she'll get along with everyone...
Caption 61, Biografía - Enrique Iglesias
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As you can tell, there are so many uses of llevar that se hace difícil llevar la cuenta (it's hard to keep track) of all of them. We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!