About.com

Impersonal Es Phrases Often Trigger the Subjunctive Mood

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:14:29 +0000

The subjunctive mood can be intimidating when you first start to learn it, but don't let that deter you — although the subjunctive mood is often neglected in English, it's an essential feature of Spanish. One way to ease yourself into using the subjunctive is by studying our list of phrases such as "Es posible que" and "Es necesario que" and learning which ones can trigger the use of the subjunctive mood. That list is featured in our newest grammar lesson, on es phrases and the subjunctive.

¡Feliz Día de San Valentín!

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:31:58 +0000

If you're celebrating St. Valentine's Day today, you might assume that people in Spanish-speaking countries are celebrating el Día de San Valentín. Indeed that's the case — although it is also known in some areas as el Día de los Enamorados (Day of Those in Love), el Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship) and/or el Día del Cariño (Sweetheart's Day or Affection Day).

If you're looking for something appropriate with regard to learning Spanish today, I'd suggest a look at a 4-year-old blog post that has become one of the most popular on this site, and it still gets occasional comments: "'Te Quiero' or 'Te Amo'?" (I'll warn you, though, that you can't believe all the comments you read.) For a more formal explanation of the difference been two verbs for love, querer and amar, see the lesson on saying "I love you" in Spanish.

Expand Your Vocabulary With Suffixes

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:26:48 +0000

In Spanish, a tabla is a board (among other things). By changing its ending, you can come up with new words and meanings: A tablado is a platform, a tablero can be a game board (such as for chess), a tableta is a tablet or a candy bar, and a tablón is a plank or a bulletin board. These endings added to tabl- are known as suffixes, and in Spanish they can be used with great versatility to add nuances of meaning or to come up with new words entirely.

Although most suffixes are different enough from those in English that you might not be able to guess their meanings, that's not so with Spanish prefixes, which overlap substantially with those of English.

How Do You Say 'It' in Spanish?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:42:21 +0000

If you've learned Spanish for more than a few weeks, you probably know that él typically means "he" (or sometimes "him") and ella means "she." But did you also know that both of these words are sometimes used to say "it"? Other words such as lo, la and ello are also used at times to mean "it." But more often than not, as explained in our lesson about "it," no word is used at all.

Spanish Has Single Sound for L

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:21:15 +0000

Beginning Spanish students are often told that the L of Spanish is pronounced pretty much like it is in English. But that isn't necessarily true. While the English word "low" and the Spanish lo are pronounced very much alike, "tall" and tal are not. Although you may not have noticed, English has two "L" sounds that are quite different — and, as explained in our lesson on pronouncing the L, only one of them is used in Spanish.

What's Your Job?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:09:57 +0000

What do you do for a living? Or what do you want to be when you're through with school? At least in the culture where most of us live, those questions are among the first you may ask or be asked upon getting to know someone. If you're asked the same question in Spanish, our lesson on Spanish words for occupations may help you come up with the answer.

Also, keep in mind that, as explained in our lesson on omitting the indefinite article, when you're saying something like "I am a student" in Spanish, you don't need to translate the "a": Soy estudiante.

Chico y Rita To Debut in U.S. Next Week

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:52:57 +0000

Chico y Rita, the only Spanish-language film to receive an Oscar nomination this year, will have its U.S. opening weekend starting Feb. 10, according to the website Box Office Mojo. The film was nominated for best animated feature.

Chico y Rita, directed by Spaniards Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, is aimed at adults and tells the story of a singer and songwriter who meet in Havana in the late 1940s and follow each other and their dreams to Europe and the United States. It has been praised for its retro-style animation as well as its music. Much of the animation was based on live filming done in Havana in 2007.

The film played in

Read Full Post

Chico y Rita To Debut in U.S. Next Week originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 14:52:57.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Keeping It Short: Spanish Abbreviations

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:36:13 +0000

You probably don't have to think too hard to figure out what the Spanish abbreviations a.m. and p.m. mean. But how about d.C. and ONU, which are also very common? To find out, check out our list of the most common abbreviations you're likely to run across.

Verbs Following Si Often in Subjunctive Mood

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:22:55 +0000

Most clauses that begin with si (the equivalent of "if") are what is known as conditional clauses. Which verb you use as part of that clause depends a great deal on how likely you believe the condition to be true. Thus a clause such as si yo fuera tú ("if I were you") uses an imperfect subjunctive verb because it's not likely to be true. (In this example, note that the English also uses the subjunctive.) This concept is further explained in our lesson on clauses beginning with si.

Don't Get Rid of Quitar

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:06:02 +0000

Take a look at the verb quitar, and "quit," "quite" and "quiet" may come to mind first. But don't be deceived by these false friends. Quitar has nothing to do with quiet (although "quiet," "quite" and quitar might be distant cousins, all possibly related to the Latin quitare), and it can mean "quit" only in a specialized usage. As our newest lesson, on the use of quitar explains, quitar usually means "to remove" or "to take away."