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For all the animal lovers out there, here is a collection of Spanish expressions related to pets and their owners.
The word for pet in Spanish is mascota, yes, similar to the English word "mascot." The only difference is that mascota can be used to talk about an animal kept as a companion (a pet), or to refer to a special person, animal or thing used to symbolize a sports team, company, organization or other group (a mascot). Of course, the word mascota meaning "pet" can also be applied to a person, as in the following example:
...todos eran mucho más viejos que yo.
...they were all much older than me.
Eh... y, como que, yo era como la mascota.
Uh... and, so like, I was like the pet.
Captions 64-65, Carli Muñoz - Niñez
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Now, in English the word "pet" is also a verb that means to stroke an animal affectionately. But in Spanish there is only one verb you can use instead of "to pet," or "to stroke," or even "to pat." That verb is acariciar (to caress). The following example is not about animals, but it's about el alma (the soul), a word that shares with the word animal a common etymological root: the Latin anima.
Acaricia mi alma, vuélvete la luna
Caress my soul, become the moon
Caption 14, Shaila Durcal - Vuélvete Luna
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Let's talk about the distinction between animales domésticos (domestic animals) and animales salvajes (wild animals). When you tame an animal it becomes domesticated or tamed, right? Spanish uses the verbs domesticar (to domesticate), domar (to tame), which come from the Latin domus (house). Sometimes, Spanish also uses the verb dominar (to dominate), which comes from the Latin dominus (the latin word for master or owner, "the lord of the house"). Ah, but if you want to talk about taming a horse, there's a specific word for that: desbravar (to break in, literally "to take out the braveness").
Another very common word is amansar (to make docile, meek). So it's common to hear people saying about a pet that es manso(a) or mansito(a) to indicate that it's gentle, friendly.Un perro que no muerde (a dog that doesn't bite) es mansito!
Uy, buena, Pepino.
Oh, good one, Pepino.
-Es mansito. -Tan bonito el gatito.
-He's tame. -Such a pretty kitty.
Captions 57-58, Kikirikí - Animales
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Talking about bites and dogs, there is a famous saying in Spanish, perro que ladra no muerde,which means, literally, "a barking dog never bites."
Pero perro que ladra no muerde, querida.
But, his bark is worse than his bite, dear [literally, "...the dog that barks doesn't bite"].
Caption 65, Muñeca Brava - 3 Nueva Casa
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It may be a little disrespectful, but some people may use the verb amansar to refer to the action of calming down a person, or even appeasing the gods:
Y tener poderes místicos para amansar las "tulucus".
And having mystical powers to tame the "tulucus".
Caption 26, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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What if an animal is not mansito? That means it's fiero (fierce), feroz (ferocious), salvaje (wild), or maybe even feral (feral). A famous one is el lobo feroz, (the Big Bad Wolf) yes, the one that tried to eat Caperucita roja (Little Red Riding Hood) and los tres cerditos (the three little pigs). Can you blame him? Have you ever had un hambre feroz?
Si pones la mesa que no sea para dos,
If you set the table, it shouldn't be for two,
Porque somos como catorce con un hambre feroz
Because we are like fourteen people with a ferocious hunger
Captions 3-4, Mexican Institute of Sound - Alocatel
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One last expression before saying goodbye. It's important to walk your dog everyday, right? Agreed, but never ever ever say something like caminar a tu perro. That makes no sense in Spanish. The correct expression is sacar a pasear a tu perro (to take the dog out for a walk). The Argentinian band Los Pericos (the Parrots) have a song entitled Fácil de engañar (Easy to Be Fooled) in which a former lover is compared to a pet owner:
Me tenías en la jaula, me sacabas a pasear
You had me in a cage, you took me out for walks
Caption 8, Los Pericos - Fácil de Engañar
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By the way, if you are not easily fooled, you probably like the saying that goes:
A otro perro con ese hueso.
Don't try that one on me [literally, "To another dog with that bone"].
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
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That was two last expressions. The thing is, there are so many interesting words about pets and owners! We should revisit the subject again in the future.
Let's learn some Spanish expressions related to the summer season.
Hace, the impersonal form of the verb hacer (to do, to make) is essential to talk about the weather in Spanish. Do you want to know how to say "it's hot"?
Ferné, sopla esa gaita que hace calor.
Ferné, blow those bagpipes 'cuz it's hot.
Caption 75, Calle 13 - Cumbia de los Aburridos
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In Spanish you can talk about the sun as being caliente or caluroso (both words mean "hot") or fuerte (strong):
Y no es un sol tan fuerte y tan caluroso como en verano.
And it's not a sun as strong and as hot as during the summer.
Caption 23, Azotea Del Círculo de Bellas Artes - Andrés nos enseña una nueva perspectiva
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Of course, you can also talk about the sun as being radiante (radiant):
Como pueden ver es un sol radiante.
As you can see it's a radiant sun.
Caption 45, Cabarete - Charlie el taxista
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Check out how Spanish uses the verb tomar (to take) to express the action of getting sun:
Y también me alegra que esté tomando sol
And it also makes me happy that she is getting sun
porque últimamente está muy pálida.
because lately she's very pale.
Captions 24-25, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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If you get sun te bronceas (you get a tan), and having una piel bronceada (a tan skin, the verb is derived from the word bronce) is nice.
Ir a tomar sol con ella y su bronceador
Go sunbathe with her and her suntan lotion
Caption 29, Enanitos Verdes - Cuánto Poder
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But if you get too much sun te quemas (you get sunburn)! Some people may even like this, but it's not really a healthy thing to do. You may hear some Spanish speakers use the expression estar quemado as a synonym of estar bronceado:
A mí me encanta estar quemada
I love being tan
pero este sol me recalienta la cabeza,
but this sun is overheating my head,
los sesos, así que me voy adentro.
my brains, so I'm going inside.
Captions 22-23, Muñeca Brava - 30 Revelaciones
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We say it's better to use bloqueador solar (sunscreen), don't you think? Did you notice the verb recalentar (to overheat)?
By the way, the word calor (heat) is one of those Spanish nouns of indeterminate gender, like el sartén/la sartén (the pan), la azúcar/el azúcar (the sugar), etc. This means that both forms of the noun, masculine and feminine, are considered correct by the DRAE. However, the use of one form or the other can tell you a lot about who the speaker is. For example, the use of la calor is common in the coastal regions of Peru and many small town across all Latin America, but it's still considered incorrect (even a sign of lack of education) by many Spanish speakers, who don't necessarily (and why would they) catch up with the many updates and revisions done to the DRAE by the Real Academia Española. Here are two examples:
Pero la calor en verano es un poco mala.
But the heat in summer is a bit bad.
Caption 43, Clara y Cristina - Hablan de actividades
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A ti como que el calor te está afectando las neuronas, ¿verdad?
For you [it's] like the heat is affecting your brain cells, right?
Caption 26, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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What we do recommend is to stick to the use of only one form, whichever you prefer. If you like to say la calor always use the feminine, if you like to use el calor, well, stick to the masculine. Apply this advice to similar words like el sartén/la sartén (the pan), la azúcar/el azúcar (the sugar). As an exception, the noun la mar/el mar (the sea), a summer word for many indeed, comes to mind. Our take on this word is that you use el mar when talking about the sea in a very practical way, for example:
Bajando por todo el mar Mediterráneo
Going down along the whole Mediterranean Sea [coast]
Caption 49, Álvaro - Arquitecto Español en Londres
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And use la mar for when you want to get poetic:
Muchos son los talentos que se pierden en la mar
A lot of talents get lost in the sea
Caption 16, La Mala Rodriguez - La Niña
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The Spanish verb dar means "to give." However, Spanish uses this verb in many more ways than the English verb "to give." A basic dictionary reports more than forty different uses for it. We already have a lesson exploring some of them. But since the list is long, let's explore another use of the verb dar by analyzing examples found in our catalog of authentic Spanish videos.
Let's focus on the expression estar dando, which literally means "to be giving" as in El papá le está dando dinero a su hijo (the father is giving money to his son). Since Spanish uses dar in many more ways than English uses "to give," you will find that estar dando is used in a much broader sense too. For example:
...porque le está dando la luz al monumento.
...because it is lighting the monument.
Caption 26, Club de las ideas - De profesión
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Let's analyze this construction for a moment. It uses dando (giving), which is the gerundio of the verb dar, followed by the noun luz (light) to express a continuous action. It's not that Spanish lacks more orthodox options to express continuous actions. In Spanish, you can also directly use the gerundio of the verb iluminar (to light): porque está iluminando al monumento (because it is lighting the monument). This is how English usually expresses these continuous actions anyway, by using verbs with the -ing ending, like "lighting." The Spanish use of dando is just an alternative, one that not all verbs would accept. In fact, if you look closely at the last examples in the following list, you'll notice that the alternative using "giving" also exists in English, with certain verbs.
Lucía está dando gritos - Lucía está gritando / Lucia is shouting
Estás brincando - Estás dando brincos / You are jumping
Estamos informando - Estamos dando información / We're informing - We're giving information
Estoy coloreando - Estoy dando color / I'm coloring - I'm giving color
Estoy amando - Estoy dando amor / I'm loving - I'm giving love
Le estamos dando molestias - Le estamos molestando / We are bothering you - We are giving you trouble
Note that you can't always do these substitutions with all verbs. The example with the verb comer (to eat) is very illustrative: Elvira está comiendo (Elvira is eating) and Elvira está dando comida (Elvira is giving food) don't mean the same thing. But you can get away with it if you use the verb alimentar (to feed): Elvira está alimentando and Elvira está dando alimento mean exactly the same: "Elvira is feeding."
Here are more examples:
Me tiene dando vueltas como torbellino.
You have me spinning like a whirlwind.
Caption 61, Calle 13 - Cumbia de los Aburridos
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Ahí le vamos dando la forma, despacio.
There we go about shaping it, slowly. [There we go about giving it shape, slowly]
Caption 26, Recetas de cocina - Arepas colombianas
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Here is another example with a slightly different construction but the same principle:
Otras más polémicas son las de la Virgen María
Other more controversial ones are those of the Virgin Mary
dando el pecho en el portal de Belén.
breastfeeding in the Nativity scene.
Caption 12, Europa Abierta - Joaquín Pérez - Escultor de belenes
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By the way, in Spanish, there is also a verb for breast-feeding, it's amamantar. So it's also correct to say la Virgen María amamantando en el portal de Belén (the Virgin Mary breast-feeding in Bethlehem's stable).
Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation and are a great tool for expanding your vocabulary. However when learning cognates, you must also learn how to use them correctly. Take for example the word aparte (apart). In one of our newest videos we hear Cleer using it:
¿Puedo ordenarla sin cebolla y con el aderezo aparte?
Can I order it without onions and with the dressing on the side?
Caption 44, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante
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In this case, English generally uses the expression "on the side" and not the cognate "apart" to translate aparte, even though expressions such as "can I have the dressing apart" or "serve the dressing apart" are not necessarily incorrect. On the other hand, Spanish does have an equivalent expression to "on the side": a un lado, which, in this case, you can certainly use instead of aparte: ¿Puedo ordenarla sin cebolla y con el aderezo a un lado?
The word aparte is used a lot in Spanish. It could mean "besides, apart from, aside, as well, other than that" etcetera. For example:
...pero en lugar de ponerle nada más el caldito del piloncillo,
...but instead of putting into it only the little brown sugar cone broth,
aparte, se le va poniendo una leche, evaporada.
besides, one starts putting into it some milk, evaporated [milk].
Captions 46-48, Recetas - Capirotada
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It's very common to combine the word aparte with the preposition de.
Pues, pero aparte de eso, para mí lo más importante es la seguridad.
Well, but besides that, for me, the most important thing is safety.
Caption 33, La Sub30 - Familias - Part 13
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So you can use the expression aparte de as an equivalent of "apart from" meaning "besides" or "other than that":
Y... aparte de la música, me gusta patinar.
And... apart from music, I like to skate.
Caption 14, Zoraida - Lo que gusta hacer
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Sometimes you would need the verbs separar (to separate) or apartar (to put or get apart) for expressions that in English require the word "apart." For example, while in English you say "I'm never apart from you," you can't really say nunca estoy aparte de ti in Spanish. Spanish speakers would rather say nunca me aparto de ti or nunca me separo de ti.
Tiene un valor muy importante para mí...
It has a very important value for me...
jamás me separo de esa foto.
I'm never apart from that photo.
Caption 6, Yago - 3 La foto - Part 8
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Spanish doesn't use aparte in the same way English uses "apart" to talk about difference or separation in time, for example:
Como se llevan cuatro años de diferencia.
Since they are four years apart.
Caption 26, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro - Part 1
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So if you want to express the idea "they were born four years apart" you would say nacieron con cuatro años de diferencia [or separación].
Spanish also uses the verb separar (to separate) in cases where English uses expressions such as "put apart," "drive apart," "come apart," etc.:
Nos separa tu temor
Your fear tears us apart
Caption 5, Ha*Ash - Lo que yo sé de ti
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Or even verbs like deshacer (to undo):
Evidentemente, al cocer,
Evidently, upon cooking,
se va a deshacer, se va a desmenuzar.
it is going to come apart, it's going to crumble.
Caption 20, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli - Part 6
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Instead of the dramatic "tear apart" Spanish would use the prosaic abrir (to open):
Nos abrimos el pecho
We tear our chest apart
Caption 15, San Pascualito Rey - Hoy no es mi día
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This lesson explores some expressions that exist both in English and Spanish. By comparing their resemblances and differences you can make them leave a distinctive mark on your memory and eventually brag about them with your friends as new acquisitions in your Spanish lexicon.
Talking about leaving a mark on the memory, Spanish also uses the expression dejar una marca en la memoria (to leave a mark in the memory). There are, however, other alternatives. You can use the word recuerdo (remembrance), for example: dejaste una marca en mi recuerdo (you left a mark on my memory).
Spanish makes a clear distinction between the words memoria and recuerdo, even when sometimes it uses them indistinctly. La memoria (the memory) refers to the brain's ability to retain information, while el recuerdo (the remembrance), is used to talk about a more complex type of memory, one that usually involves feelings. The following example is self-explanatory. Our English translation avoids the use of "remembrance," uncommon in everyday speech, and uses the plural form of "memory" instead:
Siempre quedará en mi recuerdo y en mi memoria.
Will always remain in my memories and in my mind.
Caption 24, David Bisbal - Haciendo Premonición Live
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Ten en mente (keep in mind) that it's also very common to use the verbs escribir (to write), grabar (to engrave), tatuar (to tattoo), or even imprimir (to print), instead of marcar (to mark). In Spanish, a common trope in love declarations, poems, and songs is: te llevo grabado en mi recuerdo (I have you engraved in my memory). The verb grabar (to engrave) also combines very well with the words piel (skin), or mente (mind). So you can say te llevo grabado (or tatuado) en la piel, meaning "I have you engraved (or tattooed) on my skin," a phrase that's usually figurative, but that could be made literal... we guess. Otherwise, maybe you'd rather say: llevo tu recuerdo grabado en la piel (I carry the memory of you engraved on my skin) to leave no room for a literal interpretation.
Surely some purists would advise to dejar al corazón para las cosas del corazón (leave the heart for the matters of the heart):
Leería mi nombre marcado para siempre en tu corazón.
She would read my name written over your heart forever.
And since we just bumped into the expression "leaving no room for interpretation," know that no dejar lugar a interpretaciones also exists in Spanish. No dejar lugar a dudas (leave no room for doubt), however, is much more common.
Another expression. In our new video about Otavalo, a city in Ecuador, Natalia says:
...han logrado llevar sus productos y sus expresiones artísticas
...have managed to bring their products and their artistic expressions
a otros rincones del planeta.
to other corners of the planet.
Captions 21-22, Otavalo - El mercado de artesanías de Otavalo
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Spanish has two words for "corner:" rincón and esquina. The word rincón is used to denote the idea of a remote location, or even a small special place in a given location:
Mi rincón favorito de Madrid es el templo de Debod.
My favorite nook in Madrid is the Debod Temple.
Caption 42, Álvaro - Arquitecto Español en Londres
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Rincón can also can mean a hideout or a hidden place, even if you speak just figuratively. You can use it in expressions such as en un rincón de mi cabeza (in the back of my mind) or en un rincón de tu corazón (in a corner of your heart). Or you can use the verb arrinconar (to corner) in expressions such as me siento arrinconado (I feel cornered) or me tienes arrinconado (you have me cornered).
The word esquina, on the other hand, is more specific. You use it to talk about the intersection of two walls, or,—a classic example—two streets. In the following example, take note of the figurative use of the Spanish verb doblar (to fold):
Me dijo dobla en la esquina, iremos hasta mi casa.
She told me turn at the corner, we'll go to my place.
Nice, don't you think? Of course, you can easily use the verb voltear (to turn) as well: voltea en la esquina (turn at the corner). Or just say da vuelta en la esquina (make a turn at the corner). Going back to esquina, we recommend that you learn the participle esquinado (cornered). It could be used as an adjective to describe the position or direction of something, for example: pon la mesa de forma esquinada (place the table right next to the corner), or even, the RAE tells us, the prickly temperament of a person (someone with many angles or "corners"). Another keeper is the word esquinero (corner shelf), which is used as an adjective too: mesa esquinera (corner table), farol esquinero (corner lamppost), etc.
To wrap it up... there is an impolite expression that is used exactly the same way in both languages: vete a tu esquina (go to your corner). Try not to use if too often, if possible. There are, anyway, more productive ways to use this word. Take for example the evocative lyrics of the famous Tinta roja (Red Ink) tango song, which Gardel (a character in our series Yago Pasión Morena) quotes when he feels lost upon arriving in his Buenos Aires arrabal:
¿Dónde estará mi arrabal?
Where would my neighborhood be?
Con un borrón, pintó la esquina.
With a blot, it painted the corner.
Captions 42-43, Yago - 6 Mentiras
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Here you can read the entire lyrics of Tinta roja and a translation.
Let's go back to the subjunctive just a little. Did you know that one characteristic that sets apart the subjunctive mood from the indicative, conditional, and the imperative is the fact that the subjunctive is found primarily in dependent clauses? (Of course, the other moods can occur there as well.) Let's illustrate this with an example from one of our videos:
¿Que estás queriendo que se muera más rápido?
What are you wanting for him to die faster?
Caption 12, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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This is a classic example of subjunctive, right? It's being used to talk about a wish, a hypothetical situation. We have highlighted the subjunctive muera in bold and underlined the indicative queriendo to clearly show you the way the subjunctive is used as part of compound sentences: the indicative queriendo plays the main role as the independent clause (the action of wanting), while the subjunctive muera refers to the action that depends on it (the action of dying). This is the way the subjunctive is used most of the time.
But the subjunctive is sometimes used in independent clauses. One of the most interesting cases is when the imperfect subjunctive is used to replace the conditional forms of the verbs poder (to be able), querer (to want), and deber (must) as part of what in Spanish is called el subjuntivo de cortesía (the courtesy subjunctive). As its name indicates, this construction is used to make a request or a suggestion in a more gentle, polite, or deferential way. This type of subjunctive is very, very common, so it's a good idea to memorize the corresponding conjugation for each verb. you can find full conjugations of these verbs on this page.
You might also want to explore the following examples. Note that the use of this subjunctive is usually combined with another verb in infinitive:
Quisiera saber si los perros tienen cosquillas.
I would like to know if dogs are ticklish.
Caption 102, Animales en familia - Señales de calma y cosquillas en los perros
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¿Pudieras pasarme la leche?
Could you pass me the milk?
Angélica debiera bajar a comer.
Angelica should come down to eat.
Caption 15, Muñeca Brava - 36 La pesquisa
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All these expressions would still be correct if you used the conditional forms (querría instead of quisiera, podrías instead of pudieras, debería instead of debiera); the use of subjunctive just makes them more polite, refined. It's a subtle difference, really. Think of it this way: using the conditional podrías pasarme la leche could mean, in theory, that the speaker is actually doubting whether the other person is able to pass the milk or not, instead of just asking for a favor. The use of the subjunctive leaves no room for doubts that you are making a polite request.
We can't stress enough how common this substitution of conditional with subjunctive is. But make no mistake, this is no conditional, and it only uses these three verbs. You may bump into similar constructions that are just incomplete compound sentences, for example incomplete si (if) clauses:
Si yo supiera...
If I only knew...
Caption 72, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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The subjunctive is not used as an independent clause here. Grammatically speaking, this expression is just missing its main clause, in this case a conditional. If we add it, for example: si yo supiera te lo diría (if I only knew I would tell you), we have a classic case of conditional plus subjunctive, as seen in one of our previous lessons on the subject.
The same happens with the following example. It's a tricky one, because even though it uses the verb poder (to be able), this is not a case of courtesy subjunctive. To prove it, we have completed the sentence with a conditional in brackets:
Si pudiera bajarte una estrella del cielo [me amarías]
If I could lower down to you a star from the sky [you would love me]
Caption 5, Enrique Iglesias - Cuando me enamoro
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Another interesting use of the subjunctive used as an independent sentence happens when it's used with words that mean “perhaps,” like tal vez and quizá.
Tal vez cure el tiempo las heridas.
Perhaps time may heal the wounds.
Caption 20, Reik - No desaparecerá
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Of course, it's also possible to simply use the indicative here and say: tal vez cura el tiempo las heridas (perhaps time heals the wounds). The use of subjunctive just stresses the idea that the action is improbable or doubtful, it's also more poetic. However—and this is just an exercise of the mind—another way of understanding these type of expressions is to recall that the words tal vez and quizá mean es posible (it's possible) and thus play the role of the main clause in a classic example of indicative plus subjunctive, where the subjunctive que cure... is the subordinate clause. Just saying.
Es posible que cure el tiempo las heridas.
It's possible that time will heal the wounds.
This is our third lesson in the series on the Spanish subjunctive. We invite you to read our lessons on Subjunctive and Indicative and Subjunctive and Imperative. Our site is featuring new social media widgets, so feel free to share the lessons with all your friends!
Let's now study how to combine subjunctive with conditional. Don't forget all our examples use bold to highlight the subjunctive and underlining for the other moods.
The Spanish subjunctive can be used with both forms of the conditional. The most common one is the simple conditional. Remember that to conjugate regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in the conditional, you add the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive form of the verb. You may want to refresh your knowledge of the Spanish conditional and keep your conjugation charts handy for this lesson.
The simple conditional is usually combined with the pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo (imperfect subjunctive). It is one of the most common ways to express wishes in Spanish. Incidentally, this is one of the few cases in which you can use subjunctive as the main or independent clause of a compound sentence in Spanish:
Quisiera que el coche tuviera GPS.
I would want [I wish] the car had GPS.
Compare this to the use of simple present indicative with present subjunctive, which we learned in our first lesson:
Quiero que el coche tenga GPS.
I want the car to have GPS.
Which is very different from not using subjunctive at all:
Quiero que el coche tiene GPS.
I want the car has GPS.
ERROR! You can't say this in Spanish. You must use subjunctive as in the first two examples. English can't get away with it either, at least not using present indicative, as shown in the equally wrong translation. The infinitive is acceptable in English ("yes, I want the car to have GPS"), but not Spanish: saying sí, quiero que el coche tener GPS is even worse! Don't do it.
Let's go back to simple conditional and subjunctive. You can also use the simple conditional with the pretérito pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo (pluperfect subjunctive). Since this is a compound tense that's kind of fancy, is not very common to combine it with simple conditional. But it happens. Let's use the same example with the verb querer (to want):
Querría que el coche hubiera tenido GPS.
I would want [I wish] the car had had GPS.
And it gets fancier than that. Spanish has two forms of conditional, a simple one and a compound form that uses the verb haber (to have) plus participio (-ado, -ido, -to, -so, -cho endings): the conditional perfect. You can use it with pluperfect subjunctive. These expressions are not common since you can always use a more simple construction. But here are two examples:
With the imperfect subjunctive (seen above):
Habría querido que el coche tuviera GPS.
I would have wanted the car had GPS.
With the pluperfect subjunctive is even less common:
Habría querido que el coche hubiera tenido GPS.
I would have wanted the car had had GPS.
To end this lesson we want to share with you some cases in which Spanish uses subjunctive in simple sentences, short expressions that are very commonly uses in everyday life. Spanish is not precisely well known for having short expressions, but one of our readers helped us realized how beautiful these are:
¡Que descanses!
¡Que te vaya bien!
¡Que llueva!
¡Que todo se solucione!
¡Que salga el sol!
In fact, if you look closely, these short expressions are just using implicitly the verb desear ( "to wish" or "to hope"):
¡[Deseo] que descanses! I hope you have some rest.
¡[Deseo] que te vaya bien! I hope you do well.
¡[Deseo] que llueva! I hope it rains.
¡[Deseo] que todo se solucione! I hope everything gets solved.
¡[Deseo] que salga el sol! I hope the sun comes out.
Which makes them a classic case of present indicative combined with present subjunctive.
Can you give orders or express requests using the subjunctive? In this lesson, we are going to answer that question. Let's analyze some model sentences to learn how to combine the subjunctive with other moods and tenses. You can read our previous lesson on subjunctive and indicative here.
You can combine the imperative (which is only conjugated in the present tense) with two different tenses of the subjunctive. The easiest and the most common case is when you use the imperative with the present subjunctive. Here are two examples (remember we're using bold for the subjunctive):
Tú haz lo que quieras y yo también.
You do whatever you want and so do I.
Caption 74, Jugando a la Brisca - En la calle
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Y decile a tu amigo que deje de llamarme Vicky.
And tell your friend to quit calling me Vicky.
Caption 19, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto - Part 4
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Keep in mind that decí (tell) is typically Argentinian. In other countries, you would hear di (tell): dile a tu amigo (tell your friend).
But going back to the subjunctive, let's analyze the meaning of the expression in the last example. Spanish uses the subjunctive here because what has been said is in the realm of possibilities (in this case, it is the expression of a desire) not in the realm of facts. So you can't say dile que me deja de llamarme Vicky—this is incorrect because the indicative deja (he quits) is reserved to state facts, as in tu amigo deja de llamarme Vicky (your friend quits calling me Vicky).
Another way to phrase the same request could be dile a tu amigo que no me llame Vicky (tell your friend not to call me Vicky). Note that instead of using the verb dejar (to quit) we use a negation plus the verb llamar (to call) in present subjunctive (llame). Again, you could not possibly use the indicative mood here and say dile a tu amigo que no me llama Vicky. This is incorrect— well, at least if what you want to express is a desire or a request.
For the pure pleasure of curiosity, consider an expression in which this last construction could happen, for example: dile a tu amigo que no me llama Vicky que venga a mi fiesta (tell your friend who doesn't call me Vicky to come to my party). See? We use the indicative llama (he calls) to express that it's a fact that he doesn't call Victoria "Vicky," and then we use the subjunctive venga (to come) because it states Victoria's desire for him to come to her party.
But let's not torture ourselves with games and let's see the second case of imperative combined with subjunctive, this time the pretérito perfecto (equivalent to present perfect subjunctive) which is a compound tense that uses the auxiliary verb haber (to have):
Haz lo que te hayan dicho los doctores.
Do whatever the doctors have told you.
Dame lo que hayas cocinado.
Give me whatever you have cooked.
Dime lo que María te haya contado.
Tell me whatever Maria has told you.
This is not exactly an easy tense, right? Compare these sentences with the following ones that use the imperative with the present subjunctive (reviewed first in this lesson):
Haz lo que te digan los doctores.
Do whatever the doctors tell you.
Dame algo de lo que cocines mañana.
Give me some of what you cook tomorrow.
Dime lo que María quiera.
Tell me whatever Maria wants.
The good news is that you can find ways to get away without using the pretérito perfecto del subjuntivo. For example, you can just use the simple past indicative. It's much less... let's say sophisticated, because the subtle meaning of indeterminacy that the subjunctive gives to the expression (which in English is expressed using the word "whatever") gets lost. Still, the past indicative gets the job done:
Haz lo que te dijeron los doctores.
Do what the doctors told you.
Dame lo que cocinaste.
Give me what you cooked.
Dime lo que María te contó.
Tell me what Maria told you.
That's it for today. We hope you liked this lesson and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
¡Hasta la próxima!
The Spanish subjunctive is one of the most challenging concepts for English speakers to master. Even though English does actually have a subjunctive mood (already challenging by itself), its use is more associated with formal and written speech. By contrast, Spanish uses the subjunctive in everyday situations far more often. And it gets even more challenging if you consider the many ways in which the subjunctive can be combined with other moods in Spanish. So let's try to tackle this prickly subject. But instead of talking about rules and grammar, let's try to take a more practical approach by learning and analyzing model sentences.
A brief intro. It's very likely that you have already read a lot about the subjunctive. You know that it is not a tense but a mood. That it doesn't refer to the time when an action takes place (past, present, future, etc.), but rather that it reflects how the speaker feels about it. Therefore, that it's radically different from the most commonly used indicative mood, which expresses factual information, certainty, and objectivity. Very much like an evil twin, the subjunctive is used to express the opposite: things like doubt, uncertainty, subjectivity, etc. We have explored the basic use of the subjunctive before in previous lessons, and you are welcome to explore them again. Some are:
Using Que [That] + Subjunctive to Express Good Wishes
Como Si Fuese: Learning to Use the Subjunctive
Haya: For Possibilities and Doubts
We also have a couple of videos on the subjunctive:
El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos - Subjuntivo y condicional
Escuela Don Quijote - En el aula - Part 1
In this lesson we will focus on the use of the subjunctive combined with the indicative mood by studying model sentences. Take note: we will always use bold to highlight the subjunctive and underlining for the indicative. Also, we recommend that you use https://conjuguemos.com if you need to check out the Spanish verb conjugation charts.
The Spanish present subjunctive is notoriously used combined with the indicative present in sentences for which English uses only the indicative. There is a memorable sentence you can use as a model to remember this:
Quiero que me quieras
I want you to want me
Caption 1, Gael García Bernal - Quiero Que Me Quieras
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So never say quiero que me quieres, ok? That makes the same sense in Spanish that "I want that you would want me" makes in English. Get it? Another example: don't say no deseo que sufres, instead say no deseo que sufras (I don't want you to suffer).
Present subjunctive can be combined with indicative future:
Desearé que tengas un buen viaje
I'll wish that you have a good journey
Captions 40-41, Kany Garcia - Hoy Ya Me Voy
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Now, you can also combine the past indicative with the past subjunctive. The easiest and most common case is when you combine the pretérito del indicativo (simple past indicative) with pretérito imperfecto subjuntivo (past imperfect subjunctive). Call it the Simple Past Mash-up:
Siempre quise que fueras feliz.
I always wanted you to be happy.
Caption 16, Yago - 3 La foto
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Then you can also combine the pretérito imperfecto del indicativo (imperfect past indicative) with the same pretérito imperfecto subjuntivo (past imperfect subjunctive). As you may know, the imperfect is used to refer to past habitual actions or to set the scene in the past. So if this is of any help to you, you could call this the Habitual Past Mash-up. Here's a model sentence using the same verb querer (to want):
Ella quería que yo leyera.
She wanted me to read.
Caption 17, Carli Muñoz - Niñez
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So, in Spanish you have these two options that translate the same way in English. Feel comfortable using either of them; the difference is quite subtle:
Ella no quizo que yo leyera / Ella no quería que yo leyera.
She didn't want me to read / She (habitually) didn't want me to read.
Note: there are other options to combine the past indicative with the past subjunctive, but we'll skip them since they use compound forms of the verb and are not used that often in common speech. Instead, let's analyze and learn some interesting combinations of present indicative with past subjunctive next.
Spanish speakers use present indicative with past subjunctive and vice versa. This happens with the past perfect tense (either in the subjunctive or in the indicative moods) because of its proximity to the present tense.
When it's present indicative with past subjunctive, it's with the pretérito perfecto subjuntivo, a compound tense in the subjunctive mood that uses the verb haber (to have) plus a participio (the -ado, -ido, -to, -so, -cho ending):
No creo que hayas venido nada más que para decirme algo que yo ya sé.
I don't think that you've come just to tell me something that I already know.
Caption 12, Muñeca Brava - 3 Nueva Casa
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We suggest you to practice this model sentence with other persons and forms of this subjunctive (using different participios as well):
No creo que hayan tomado mucha cerveza / I don't think that they've drunk a lot of beer.
No creo que él haya salido de ahí / I don't think that he has come out of there.
No creo que hayamos impreso eso / I don't think that we've printed that.
No creo que hayas dicho eso / I don't think that you've said that out.
Note also that here no creo (I don't think) is expressing doubt, and that's why the sentence needs the use of subjunctive. If we were to say the opposite, yo creo (I think), we could also combine it with a past tense but in the indicative mood. For the first example: Creo que han tomado mucha cerveza (I think they have drunk a lot of beer).
Finally, the other way around, Spanish speakers can use past indicative with present subjunctive. When this happens it's with the pretérito perfecto indicativo, a compound tense in the indicative mood that uses the verb haber (to have) plus aparticipio (the -ado, -ido, -to, -so, -cho ending):
Él no ha querido que yo diga nada.
He hasn't wanted me to say anything.
And that's it for now. Who said this lesson wouldn't be loaded with grammar? Anyway, we suggest that you learn the model sentences and try to build new ones making substitutions. We will continue next week analyzing sentences that combine subjunctive with other two moods: the conditional and the imperative.
Articles are used before nouns to indicate a subject's number or gender. Sometimes, however, the use of an article before a noun is not required. This happens with both indefinite and definite articles, in Spanish, in English and in many other languages as well. In fact, generally speaking, articles are used the same way in Spanish and English. There are many cases in which the same rules apply for both languages. For example, you don't use definite articles before days of the week or months following the verb ser (to be):
Hoy es viernes. Son las siete de la tarde.
Today is Friday. It's seven in the evening.
Caption 4, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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or following the preposition de (from):
Trabajo de lunes a sábado.
I work from Monday to Saturday.
Caption 28, Fonda Mi Lupita - Encargado
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It's not very common, and even unnecessary, but you could use indefinite articles in both cases. The meaning is slightly different and this happens both in Spanish and English:
Hoy es un miércoles / Hoy es miércoles.
Today is a Wednesday / Today is Wednesday.
Es la misma rutina de un lunes a un viernes / Es la misma rutina de lunes a viernes.
It's the same routine from a Monday to a Friday / It's the same routine from Monday to Friday.
However, there are a few cases in which we wouldn't use "a" or "an" in English, but we would in Spanish and vice versa. For example, in Spanish you can use a definite article before days and say Los lunes no trabajo (I don't work on Mondays) or Estoy esperando desde el lunes (I've been waiting since Monday). These you need to learn, so let's explore some examples.
In Spanish, you can drop indefinite articles when the noun is preceded by words like tal[es] (such), otro/a (other), and qué (what). Compare with the English translation in the following examples:
Qué lástima que no llegaste al partido; estuvo joya.
What a pity that you didn't come to the game; it was awesome.
Caption 36, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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...de cierta manera... con ciertos defectos, ¿no?
...in a certain way... with certain defects, right?
Caption 35, Nortec Collective - Bostich+Fussible
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In the previous example English drops the article when using the plural only, while Spanish drops it in both singular and plural. And yet, saying de una cierta manera in Spanish is also correct.
Spanish doesn't use definite articles before numerals that express titles of rulers:
El edificio data del siglo dieciocho,
The building dates from the eighteenth century,
en tiempos de Felipe Quinto.
during the time period of Philip the Fifth.
Caption 22, Madrid - Un recorrido por la capital de España
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In Spanish you usually drop definite and indefinite articles before nouns in apposition (when a noun explains another). But you don't necessary want to do it every single time. For example, in Spanish you can say Ankara, capital de Turquía, es una bella ciudad (Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is a beautiful city.) However, it's still correct to say Ankara, la capital del Turquía, es una bella ciudad. Obviously, in this case you can't use the definite article. You can't say Ankara, una capital de Turquía—that doesn't make sense either in Spanish or English since cities have, by definition, only one capital.
But check out this example: Juanita, una tía de Raquel, vino de visita (Juanita, one of Raquel's aunts, came to visit). Saying Juanita, tía de Raquel, vino de visita (Juanita, Raquel's aunt, came to visit) is also correct. And Juanita, la tía de Raquel, vino de visita is correct too. The translation in English is the same: Juanita, Raquel's aunt, came to visit. The only difference is that the definite article la (the) confers some sense of specificity to the expression. Maybe it means that Juanita is the only aunt Raquel has, or that she is particularly close or somehow special, she is not just any aunt but la tía (the aunt).
In Spanish you usually drop indefinite articles before unmodified nouns when stating nationality, profession, and religious or political affiliation. You can't always do the same in English. For example:
El Señor Chong es mexicano. Es burócrata. Es Secretario de Gobernación. Es católico. Es priísta.
Mr. Chong is Mexican. He is a bureaucrat. He is Secretary of State. He is a Catholic. He's an affiliate of the PRI party.
Here is another example from our catalog:
Y ¿tu marido es agricultor o algo?
And your husband is a farmer or something?
Caption 55, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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That doesn't mean that saying mi marido es un agricultor (my husband is a farmer) is wrong. It's just not the way you usually state professions. On the other hand, when the noun is modified (usually by an adjective or a subordinate clause), you have to use an article. For example, you must say: mi marido es el agricultor famoso (my husband is the famous farmer) or mi marido es un agricultor que se preocupa por el medio ambiente (my husband is a farmer who cares about the environment).
What is really incorrect is not using articles before the names of languages. When talking about languages, English usually drops the articles, but Spanish doesn't:
El español es un idioma muy bonito.
Spanish is a very nice language.
Caption 57, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Crista Pérez
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There's an exception. You can drop the article when the language is used directly after a verb as its complement:
Como... como yo hablo árabe.
Since... since I speak Arabic.
Caption 8, Taimur - Taimur habla
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Finally, don't drop the article when telling the time in Spanish. You will always use the feminine definite article la or its plural las, since it refers to la hora (the hour) or las horas (the hours).
Salí a las siete y media... y voy llegando a la una.
I went out at seven thirty... and I'm arriving at one.
Captions 77-78, Calle 13 - La Perla
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We have been exploring interesting forms of negation in Spanish. This lesson will be focusing on the use of the expressions en absoluto, de ninguna manera, and del todo.
The Spanish expression en absoluto (not at all) is similar to the English negation "absolutely not" but it's not used the same way. Perhaps the most notable difference is that in Spanish you don't necessarily need the word no (not) for the expression to be considered a negation. Here's an example:
Aldo, ¿a vos te molesta? -En absoluto.
Aldo, does it bother you? -Not at all.
Captions 4-5, Yago - 6 Mentiras - Part 9
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If you want to add the negative word no (not) you usually include it before the expression en absoluto followed by a comma:
No, en absoluto. ¿Alguna indicación más para el viaje?
No, absolutely not. Any other instruction for the trip?
Captions 76-77, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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Of course, if you don't add the preposition en (in) before it, the word absoluto is just an adjective:
Quiero tener el control absoluto de la empresa.
I want to have absolute control of the company.
Caption 14, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
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Spanish also uses the adverb absolutamente (absolutely). You need a negative word such as no (not) or nada (nothing) to use it as part of a negation:
Manillas tampoco, absolutamente nada.
No bracelets either, absolutely nothing.
Caption 59, Misión Chef - 2 - Pruebas
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If you want to use this word in short negative answers, you just need to add a negative word directly after it, or before it followed by a comma. Here are some examples:
¿Te duele algo? -Nada, absolutamente / Absolutamente nada.
Is anything hurting you? -Nothing, absolutely not / Absolutely nothing.
¿Vino alguien a la fiesta? -Nadie, absolutamente / Absolutamente nadie.
Someone came to the party? -Nobody, absolutely not / Absolutely nobody.
¿Tienes hambre? -No, absolutamente / Absolutamente no.
Are you hungry? -No, absolutely not / Absolutely not.
The expression de ninguna manera means "no way." It can be used as part of long negative statements like de ninguna manera voy a hacer eso (there's no way I will do that). You could also invert the order of the words, but in this case you need to add the negative word no before the verb, for example: no voy a hacer eso de ninguna manera (I won't do that, no way).
You can also use de ninguna manera as a short negative answer, with or without the use of the negative word no:
¿Usted también me va a dar la espalda? -¡De ninguna manera!
You're turning your back on me too? -No way!
Caption 41, Yago - 8 Descubrimiento - Part 7
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No... no, no. No, de ninguna manera.
No... no, no. No, no way.
Captions 44-45, Muñeca Brava - 18 - La Apuesta
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Finally, another Spanish expression that is commonly used in negative phrases is del todo (at all, totally, completely). In fact, to be part of a negation this expression needs to be preceded by a negative word, such as no (not) or nunca (never), and a conjugated verb. Here is an interesting example:
Se titula "Nunca se convence del todo a nadie de nada".
It's entitled "You Never Convince Anyone Completely of Anything."
Caption 8, Bunbury - Entrevista Con Enrique Bunbury
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You can also use del todo as part of a short negative answer: you have to keep the negative word proceeding it (in this case you should not use a comma) but you can omit the conjugated verb because it's implied in context. For example:
¿Te gustó la película? -No del todo.
Did you like the movie? -Not completely.
¿Fuiste feliz en tu primer matrimonio? -Nunca del todo.
Were you happy in your first marriage? -Never completely.
Spanish has some interesting forms of negation. This lesson explores one of them.
In a new installment of the always-passionate series Yago, Pasión Morena (yes, that's its original title), we hear the expression para nada (at all, literally "for nothing"), which can be added to any given negative expression to add more emphasis to it. The construction is simple: you add the expression para nada to any standard negation formed with the word no and a conjugated verb. Consequently, no es (it's not) becomes no es para nada (it's not at all), no salgo (I don't go out) becomes no salgo para nada (I don't go out at all), and so on. Here's an example:
Pienso que no es para nada adecuado el casamiento.
I think that the wedding is not appropriate at all.
Caption 32, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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Pretty straightforward, right? On the other hand, Spanish also allows for a different (but less common) option. You can actually get rid of the word no and place the verb after para nada. So, in the previous example, the expression could also be: Pienso que para nada es adecuado el casamiento (I think that the weeding isn't appropriate at all). Here's a similar example from our catalog:
Pero para nada es así.
But it isn't that way at all.
Caption 11, Club de las ideas - Pasión por el golf
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In Spanish you can also use this expression as a sort of short negative answer. You can either say no, para nada, or simply para nada:
¿Te molesta que lo haya hecho sin consultarte?
Does it bother you that I have done it without consulting you?
-¡No, para nada!
-No, not at all!
Captions 51-52, Muñeca Brava - 3 Nueva Casa
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Now, pay attention to the following example, because no... para nada can also simply mean "not... for anything:"
Esto fuera, que no lo usamos para nada.
This one out, as we don't use it for anything.
Caption 67, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli
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Las ayudas pueden hacer muchas escuelas,
The aid can make many schools,
pero sin profesores no sirven para nada.
but without teachers they're not good for anything.
Caption 35, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje
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Conversely, para nada alone (without using the word no) can also mean "for nothing." This usage is not very common in Spanish, but you can find it in expressions such as tú eres un bueno para nada (you are a good-for-nothing).
By the way, you should know that it's possible to combine para nada (whether it means "for nothing" or "at all") with other negative words besides no, for example: nunca or jamas (never), tampoco (either), nadie (nobody), etc. Check out the following examples:
Las segundas partes nunca sirven para nada / Second parts are never good for anything.
Este licuado tampoco me gusta para nada / I don't like this smoothie at all either.
Sal de aquí, nadie te necesita aquí para nada / Get out of here, nobody needs you here at all.
(Depending on context, this last one may also be translated as "nobody needs you here for anything").
Speaking of nada (nothing), in previous lessons we have discussed the expression nada que ver (to have nothing to do with, literally "nothing to see"). It's generally used as part of a longer statement such as Yo no tengo nada que ver contigo (I have nothing to do with you). However, it's also possible to use nada que ver as a short, emphatic negative answer similar to para nada that is somewhat equivalent to "not at all," "nothing like that," or even "of course not," depending on the tone and context. Strictly speaking, it's really just a shortened version of the expression no, eso no tiene nada que ver (no, that has nothing to do with it). Here is an example:
No, nada que ver... Mejor no me cuentes nada. -Bueno.
No, nothing like that... On second thought, don't tell me anything. -OK.
So, how would you translate or, even more important, use the expression that makes up the title of this lesson? Can you imagine a context in which you could use it? Here's one:
Entonces estás enamorado de Sofía. -¡Para nada, nada que ver!
So you are in love with Sofia. -Not at all, of course not!
Have you ever wondered how que and de que are different, since both are frequently translated as "that"? Well, grammatically speaking, the distinction between que and de que is quite simple: que is used as a relative pronoun and de que as a conjunction. But that doesn't really solve the problem of learning how to use them for most of us, right? Let's see an example:
Una de las cosas que sé que tengo que hacer es ser...
One of the things that I know I have to do is to be...
Caption 65, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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How do you know that you can't use de que instead of que here? The answer is because que is being used as a pronoun, that is, to introduce a clause that provides more information about a noun, las cosas (the things). So by adding que the person talking is expanding the meaning of the noun cosas (things): it's not just the things, but the things (that) she has to do.
Now check out this example:
Tenía, como, el presentimiento de que me iba a pasar algo.
I had, like, the premonition that something was going to happen to me.
Caption 3, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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The use of de que after a noun is that of a conjunction: it's simply used to connect words or groups of words, in this case a sentence with its subordinate. But how can you know this for sure? Here is a tip: try changing "that" to "which" in the English translation. If the sentence still makes sense, then you know "that" is being used as a relative pronoun and you should use que. Otherwise, use de que, as a conjunction. So, in the previous example you must use de que, because saying "the premonition which something..." just makes no sense in English. On the contrary, in the first example above, saying "one of the things which I know..." may not be common in American English, but it's still correct, and that's how you know that you must use the relative pronoun que. Keep in mind that this rule only works for sentences that use que or de que after a noun.
So, how do you say "I have the hope..." in Spanish? Do you say tengo la esperanza de que or tengo la esperanza que...? Cuban singer Alexis Valdes gives us the answer in his song "Canción de la semana" (Song of the Week):
Conservo la esperanza de que al final vendrás
I keep the hope that in the end, you will come
Caption 22, Alexis Valdés - Canción de la semana
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Now, you must know something. Don't get confused if you hear someone saying conservo la esperanza que al final vendrás or something similar. As in any other language, Spanish speakers commonly disregard grammar rules in everyday speech. In fact, using de que instead of que and vice versa are mistakes so common that they even have a name in Spanish: dequeísmo is using de que instead of que, while queísmo is using que instead of de que. By the way, these mistakes occur not only when de que and que are preceded by nouns, but also by verbs.
If you pay close attention, you will find many cases of dequeísmo and queísmo in our videos. For example, in the expression darse cuenta de que (to realize that) the preposition de (that) shouldn't be omitted but it usually does:
Tampoco sé si ella se dio cuenta que yo vi la bolsa de plástico.
I don't even know if she realized that I saw the plastic bag.
Caption 25, Dos Mundos - Escenas en Contexto
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This is a classic case of queísmo. As you can see, the sentence doesn't pass our little test: you can't say "she realized which I saw the plastic bag," which means the word "that" is not used as a relative pronoun but as a conjunction. So to be grammatically correct you must necessarily use de que and not que in Spanish. And still, Spanish speakers say darse cuenta que, all the time! This teaches us language learners an additional lesson that is perhaps more valuable than all the grammar in the world, and that is: don't let grammar rules stop you from practicing your conversational skills. Native speakers speak real language (which linguists call el habla in Spanish), which isn't always grammatically correct.
Talking about overdoing things... Did you know that dequeísmo is usually the result of a hypercorrection in the attempt to avoid queísmo? Though dequeísmo usually only happens before verbs and not nouns. You can see this mistake in the following example:
Pero en la vida aprendí de que no se trata de "pobrecito"...
But in life I learned that it's not about "poor thing"...
Caption 2, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje
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You must now be wondering: How can I know this is incorrect since our little "which-that" rule only works when de que / que comes after a noun? Simple: because you can never use de que after a transitive verb such as aprender (to learn). Never, ever. You must say: creo que entiendo (I think [that] I understand it), not creo de que entiendo; temo que dolerá (I'm afraid [that] it will hurt), not temo de que dolerá... etc.
La Primavera (springtime) is in the air (or at least it should be). So let's learn a few Spanish words related to Persephone's season.
Flores means "flowers" and florecer means "to flower" or "to bloom." But there are also other words such as the verb aflorar (to bloom), which is also used figuratively meaning "to pop up," "to emerge" or "to appear." You can even use it say something as un-spring-like as: Su instinto asesino afloró de pronto (His killing instinct suddenly emerged).
Spanish also has the poetic adjective florido (full of flowers, flowery):
Luz y sonido, grande y florido
Light and sound, big and flowery
Caption 1, Aterciopelados - Al parque
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And the participle adjective florecido, also "full of flowers:"
Por la senda florecida que atraviesa la llanura
Along the flowered path that crosses the plain
Caption 9, Acercándonos a la Literatura - José Asunción Silva - "Nocturno III"
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There is also the verb florear (literally, "to adorn with flowers" or "to make look like a flower") with many, many different uses. For example, florear means "to compliment" or "to say beautiful things." From that come the expressions echar flores, decir flores, tirar flores (literally, to throw or say flowers):
Gracias, te agradezco mucho las flores que me estás tirando.
Thanks, I thank you very much for your compliments [literally "the flowers that you are throwing me"].
Caption 18, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto
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Enough of flores. The verb aparear (to mate or reproduce, literally "to pair") is a pertinent choice:
Las ballenas vienen a Gorgona a aparearse y tener sus crías.
The whales come to Gorgona to mate and to have their offspring.
Caption 52, Instinto de conservación - Gorgona
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Anidar means "to nest," and by extension "to shelter." You can use it figuratively as in: En su corazón anida la amargura (His heart harbors bitterness). The corresponding noun is nido (nest), a word that you can learn, along with many other palabras primaverales (spring words), by watching the trippy song Jardín (Garden) by Liquits:
De pronto una cigüeña me lleva de paquete bebé al nido
Suddenly a stork takes me as a baby package to the nest
Captions 14-15, Liquits - Jardín
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Now, Spanish doesn't have words as short and cute as rainy, sunny, windy, etc. to describe the weather. Instead, Spanish speakers may describe a sunny day as soleado and a rainy day as lluvioso. These adjectives must be used altogether with the verbs ser /estar (to be). To describe the way the weather is in a place, you use ser (because that's the way the weather typically is most of the time):
Es su clima muy... muy húmedo, muy lluvioso también.
Its climate is very... very humid, very rainy too.
Caption 19, Vender Plantas - Juan
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To describe the way the weather is at a certain moment, you use estar (because that's the way the weather is at that particular time in that particular context):
¡Qué lindo que está afuera! ¿No? El clima está divino.
How nice it is outside! No? The weather is divine.
Caption 15, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto
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Don't get confused, however, if you hear a Spanish speaker using the verb estar to describe a general condition of the weather. It's correct to use estar if you're also giving and indicator that you are talking in a broad sense. In the following case, for example, Clara indicates so by using the verb soler (to tend to):
Así que llueve un poco, pero los días suelen estar soleados.
So it rains a bit, but the days tend to be sunny.
Captions 19-20, Clara explica - El tiempo - Part 1
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On the other hand, Spanish also combines verbs and nouns to describe the weather. Some expressions use the verb hacer (to make), as in hace sol/frío/calor/viento (literally, "it's making sun/cold/heat/wind"):
Hace mucho frío, hace mucho viento.
It's very cold, it's very windy.
Captions 5-6, Clara explica - El tiempo - Part 1
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Some others use hay, the impersonal form of the verb haber (to have), as in hay sol/nieve/viento/lluvia
(there's sun/snow/wind/rain). And, of course, you can use the verb caer (to fall) for lluvia (rain), nieve (snow), granizo (hail) as in: ayer cayó granizo (yesterday hail fell). Or you can use the verbs llover (to rain), nevar (to snow), and granizar (to hail), which are conjugated in the third person only:
En invierno, nieva algunas veces,
In winter, it sometimes snows,
aunque en España, no nieva mucho.
although in Spain, it doesn't snow much.
Captions 1-2, Clara explica - El tiempo - Part 2
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To finish this lesson, let's learn a figurative use of the word primavera (spring). Reyli gives us an example in his song Qué nos pasó (What happened to us), where the word primavera, as "springtime" in English, is used to denote the earliest, usually the most attractive, period of the existence of something. In Spanish, by extension, the word is used as a common synonym of "youth," or even "years" in expressions such as hoy ella cumple sus veinte primaveras (she is celebrating her twentieth anniversary). Here's the example from Reyli's song:
¿Quién te llenó de primaveras esos ojos
Who filled with springtimes those eyes of yours
que no me saben mentir?
which don't know how to lie to me?
Captions 12-13, Reyli - Qué nos pasó
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Let's see a few examples to learn the proper use of the Spanish word falta, a false friend of the English word fault.
First of all, falta does mean "fault" in the context of sports:
El árbitro no vio la falta
The umpire didn't see the fault
The word falta in Spanish is also used in legal contexts. Una falta means "an offense" (the word ofensa also exists):
Que una misma persona cometiera distintas faltas de hurto.
That one person committed different robbery offenses.
Caption 49, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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Also, in academic or laboral contexts, una falta means "an absence." If you don't go to school tu maestro te pone falta (your teacher marks you absent). Generally speaking una falta means "a lack" or "a shortage" and the verb faltar means "to lack," "to need" or "to be absent." Study the following examples:
Me hace falta un aguacate que voy a hacer una ensalada, eh.
I need one avocado and I'll make a salad, uh.
Caption 43, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Hoy estamos protestando por la falta de agua.
Today we are protesting because of the water shortage.
Caption 49, Kikirikí - Agua - Part 2
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It's interesting the way Spanish uses the word falta in expressions of time:
¿Qué será? Que falta un mes para la boda, ¿eh?
What would it be? That there is a month until the wedding, huh?
Caption 27, Yago - 8 Descubrimiento
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You can also use the word falta with a pinch of sarcasm:
Lo único que me falta es que a los diez meses empiece a caminar...
The only thing I need now is that at ten months old she starts walking...
Caption 44, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro
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In fact, the expression lo único que me falta (or lo único que me faltaba) alone, also exists, and it's commonly used sarcastically:
¡Lo único que me falta!
Just what I needed!
Caption 5, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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Check out the following use of falta combined with the verb hacer and negation. It's a very common way to express that something is not needed or necessary:
¡No hace falta un abogado!
A lawyer is not necessary!
Caption 81, Adícora - Venezuela - Darío y el Kitesurfing
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And, of course, you can use falta + hacer without negation:
Eres Lo que a mi vida le hace falta si no vienes
You are what my life lacks if you don't come
Captions 6-7, Café Tacuba - Eres
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Finally, a useful tip. How do you say in Spanish "It's your fault?" Unless you are playing soccer with your friends, you shouldn't say "es tu falta." For that, Spanish uses the word culpa (guilt, blame). It may sound really extreme and weird to say "it's your guilt" in English, but es tu culpa is common in Spanish:
Soy el hombre al que iban a enterrar vivo por tu culpa.
I am the man who they were going to bury alive because of you.
Caption 35, El Ausente - Acto 4
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You can use es tu culpa in the most trivial situations:
Por tu culpa perdimos el avión, querido.
It's your fault we missed the plane, dear.
Caption 16, Yago - 4 El secreto
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Finally, another use of the word falta is in the expression faltas de ortografía (orthographic mistakes). You can combine it with the verb tener (to have) as in el ensayo tiene muchas faltas de ortografía (the essay has many orthographic mistakes), or with the verb cometer (to commit, to make) as in tú cometes muchas faltas de ortografía (you make a lot of ortographic mistakes). Thank you for reading!
The Spanish verb dar (to give) is very useful, especially to ask and receive good things in life. It can be used in a very literal way to express the idea of giving all sort of things, concrete or abstract, and it's also used in many idiomatic expressions. Let's analyze a few examples:
Let's start with the basic meaning of dar. The imperative mode is a big favorite:
Señorita, la foto es suya. -¡Dame, dame la foto!
Miss, the picture is yours. -Give me, give me the photo!
Caption 56, Yago - 3 La foto
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Remember that the actual conjugated form of the verb here is only da (you give). However, in the imperative form it is very common to attach object pronouns to the verb forms, in effect using them as suffixes. In this case the pronoun me (to me) functions as the indirect object of the verb. It's also very common to also attach more than one pronoun, for example to substitute the direct object as well. In this case the direct object is la foto, a feminine noun. So Morena could have also simply said dámela (give it to me). If there were many fotos it would be dámelas (give them to me), and if we were talking about, let's say, zapatos (shoes), then it would be dámelos (give them to me). You know, it's just an important thing to learn. There is a saying in Spanish that goes, al que no habla, Dios no lo oye (he who doesn't speak, God won't hear).
The verb dar is also used to deal with abstract ideas of giving. For example, just as in English we can say something like "you give me a headache," a Spanish speakers would say me das dolor de cabeza. Spanish extends the use of dar even more, though, to express ideas for which English instead uses verbs such as "to produce," "to yield," or "to bear."
Mil seiscientos cincuenta da el kilo y nos pesamos.
The kilo yields one thousand six hundred fifty and we weigh it.
Caption 8, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Digamos en la costa, también da buenas frutas.
Let's say in the coast, it also produces good fruit.
Caption 18, Rafael T. - Guatemala Hermosa
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In fact, the list of uses of dar is quite extensive. You can learn many here and maybe try to find examples in our videos. We'll focus now on the use of dar in idiomatic expressions, where the meaning of dar (to give) is completely transformed into something very different. For example, dar is used to express that something happens:
No sé, se dio así.
I don't know, it happened that way.
Caption 24, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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There is also the expression darse cuenta (to realize):
Mirala bien y te das cuenta que es una minita.
Look at her closely and you'll realize that it's a chick.
Caption 10, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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The expression se me da por is used to express the idea of getting into the habit or liking of doing something. For example:
Papá, mira la casualidad,
Dad, look what a coincidence,
ahora que se me da por caminar te encuentro siempre.
now that I got into the habit of walking, I always run into you.
Captions 56-57, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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On the other hand, when someone says that something se le da, it means that something comes natural to the person, that it is a natural talent he or she has:
Que se me dan bastante bien los idiomas.
That I'm pretty good at learning languages.
Caption 4, Club de las ideas - Pasión por el golf
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Or not...
A mí no se me da eso de andar en reversa
I'm not good at driving in reverse
Caption 5, Gloria Trevi - Cinco minutos
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One last example. From the expression darse por vencido (to give up, literally "to give oneself as defeated") comes the useful question-and-answer pair, ¿Te das? - Me doy. You must learn both if you like adivinanzas (riddles). This is how you use them:
-Oro parece, plata no es. ¿Qué fruta es? / -It looks like gold, it's not silver. What fruit it is?
-No sé. Me doy. / -I don't know. I give up.
-¿Te das? / -Do you give up?
-¡Sí, me doy! / -Yes, I give up!
- Fácil. Es el pláta-no. / Easy. It's the banana.
While watching one of our new videos we came across an interesting and common expression:
¿Y eso qué tiene que ver?
And what does that have to do with anything?
Yo también fui al velorio del obrero.
I also went to the worker's wake.
Caption 26, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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As always, our video captions contain a translation that is as literal as possible. We translated tiene que ver as "have to do" because the expression tener que ver (literally "to have to see") actually means "to have to do" or "to relate to" in Spanish. For example:
Creemos que el espíritu de las canciones
We believe that the spirit of the songs
tiene que ver con esos personajes.
has to do with those characters.
Captions 66-67, Bersuit Vergarabat - EPK
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The expression is also used in the negative form by adding the words no and nada (nothing):
¡No me interesa!
I don't care!
Me voy.
I'm leaving.
Tú y yo no tenemos nada que ver, ¿OK?
You and I don't have anything to do with each other, OK?
Captions 77-79, Yago - 8 Descubrimiento
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This last example is also interesting because it shows how the expression tener que ver doesn't always need a complement such as el uno con el otro (with each other), which is something you absolutely need in English. But in Spanish, leaving the expression as it is implies that tener que ver by itself means "to have to do with each other". However, we could add a different complement to the same expression, changing the meaning of what we are saying. We could say, for example: Tú y yo no tenemos nada que ver con el robo (You and I have nothing to do with the robbery). Here is another example:
Volvemos con la Sub30 y este tema que
We're back with the Sub30 and this topic that
no tiene nada que ver con tribus urbanas.
has nothing to do with urban tribes.
Caption 1, La Sub30 - Familias
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By the way, this also explains why, in the first example of this lesson, we can't translate ¿y eso qué tiene que ver? simply as "and what does that have to do?" since this is an incomplete phrase in English.
Now, by extension, no tener que ver also means no importar (to not matter). However, since the use of the expression no importa (it doesn't matter) prevails in Spanish, people don't really use no tener que ver to express the same idea. What people do use is the rhetorical question ¿qué tiene que ver? to express that something doesn't matter. Yes, just as English uses the rhetorical question "what does it matter?" to mean "it doesn't matter," Spanish uses the question ¿Qué tiene que ver? to mean no tiene (nada) que ver (= no importa).
So, going back to our first example, another valid, shorter, and perhaps more common way to translate the caption is:
¿Y eso qué tiene que ver? Yo también fui al velorio del obrero.
And what does does it matter? I also went to the worker's wake.
Caption 26, Muñeca Brava - 33 El partido
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To finish this lesson we want to share two more expressions that are used in Spanish to express that something doesn't matter (or rather, that it's beside the point). The first one is no venir al caso, (literally "it doesn't come to the case"). Here's an example:
¿Por qué crees que el amor justifica tus actos? Eso no viene al caso.
Why do you think love justifies your actions? That is irrelevant.
The other expression is no venir al cuento, which is very similar to no venir al caso but substitutes caso (case) with cuento (story, tale). If it's true that "literature is life, and life is literature" it makes a lot of sense, don't you think? Here is an example:
Ya no viene al cuento recordar el pasado.
It's beside the point to remember the past.
Over the last few weeks you have seen a few video lessons about adjectives as part of our series Lecciones con Carolina. So you probably know by now that one of the most challenging aspects of Spanish adjectives is that they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Having this in mind, we have prepared for you a brief review on how adjectives are built in Spanish.
In Spanish, adjectives that end in -o have four forms. We have singular masculine adjectives ending in -o, and singular feminine ending in -a:
Es un gasto económico muy alto para la fundación.
Is a very high economic expense for the foundation.
Caption 28, Animales en familia - Adopta a Pino
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¡Qué casa más bonita tienen tus abuelos! ¿eh?
What a beautiful house your grandparents have! huh?
Caption 47, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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The corresponding plural adjectives end in -os, for the masculine:
En el bulevar de los sueños rotos
On the boulevard of broken dreams
Caption 1, Joaquin Sabina - Por el Boulevar de los Sueños Rotos
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and in -as, for the feminine:
Es una tonta ésa,
She's a dumb, that one,
como todas las tontas que se meten con Ivo.
like all the dumb ones who get involved with Ivo.
Captions 38-39, Muñeca Brava - 45 El secreto
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We also have Spanish adjectives that end in -e. They only have two forms, -e for singular and -es for plural. Here is an example of an adjective ending in -e in the singular form that is used to modify the feminine noun fuerza (strength):
...anatómicamente y tienen fuerza física suficiente.
...anatomically when they already have enough physical strength.
Caption 42, Centro de Recuperación de la Fauna Salvaje - Veterinario Jesús López
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And here is an example of an adjective ending in -e in the plural form that is used to modify the masculine nouns vinos (nouns) and paisajes (landscapes), but also the feminine noun cervezas (beers):
En España tenemos de todos. Grandes vinos...
In Spain, we have them all. Great wines...
grandes cervezas y grandes paisajes.
great beers, and great landscapes.
Captions 41-42, Casa Pancho - vinos y pinchos
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On the other hand, some Spanish adjectives end in a consonant, like popular (popular),voraz (voracious), and fácil (easy). These are similar to the ones ending in -e: they only have two forms. The singular form is invariable for feminine and masculine nouns:
La tarea fácil / The easy homework.
El curso fácil / The easy course.
El actor popular / The popular actor.
La actriz popular / The popular actress.
El lobo voraz / The voracious (male) wolf.
La loba voraz / The voracious (female) wolf.
And the plural form uses -es for both feminine and masculine nouns. Notice how you may learn to substitute z for c in some cases:
Las tareas fáciles / The easy homeworks.
Los curso fáciles / The easy courses.
Los actores populares / The popular actors.
Las actrices populares / The popular actresses.
Los lobos voraces / The voracious (male) wolves.
Las lobas voraces / The voracious (female) wolves.
Finally, there is a group of adjectives in Spanish that end in a consonant but don't follow the previous rule exactly. These are adjectives ending in -án, -ón, and -or. For these, the feminine adds -a for the singular, and -as for the plural. The masculine uses -es for the plural form. The good news is there are not many adjectives in this group. Some examples are:
El hombre haragán / The lazy man.
La mujer haragana / The lazy woman.
El maestro fanfarrón / The boastful (male) teacher.
La maestra fanfarrona / The boastful (female) teacher.
El policía abusador / The abusive policeman.
La policía abusadora / The abusive policewoman.
Can you figure out the corresponding plural forms? They are as follows:
Los hombres haraganes / The lazy men.
Las mujeres haraganas / The lazy women.
Los maestros fanfarrones / The braggart (male) teachers.
La maestra fanfarrona / The braggart (female) teachers.
Los policías abusadores / The abusive policemen.
Las policías abusadoras / The abusive policewomen.
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