inglese
tedesco
italiano
franceseYabla Spagnolo
When native English speakers hear "tres tiempos" for the first time, they might think it means "three times." But Spanish uses a different word to describe "time," as in, "an occurrence." That word is "vez."
It just so happens that Orishas' music video featured "vez" three times ("tres veces"). Let's listen:
Una vez más yo te demuestro que no es facilito
Once again I show you that it's not as easy
Como el puré que preparaba tu vecino Lino. "Yo"
Like the mashed potatoes that your neighbor Lino used to make. "Yo"
Captions 38-39, Orishas - ¿Qué Pasá?
Play Caption
OK. OK. So our translation doesn't rhyme like the rap it's aiming to explain... But you get the idea. Here's one more, without rhyme:
Una vez más tu vecino aquí me va a escuchar
One more time your neighbor will listen to me here
Caption 42, Orishas - ¿Qué Pasá?
Play Caption
And then:
Pido una vez más su comprensión y aceptación
I ask once more for your comprehension and acceptance
Caption 66, Orishas - ¿Qué Pasá?
Play Caption
As you might have figured out by now, "once, twice, three times..." is most faithfully translated as una vez, dos veces, tres veces... and so on. So, maybe you should read this email three times to make sure you have the "times" -- i.e., vez and tiempo straight.
It's time to learn a little bit more about tiempo -- which is one way to express time in Spanish.
So, tiempo means "time" -- as in "a system used to place one event in relation to another (such as past vs. present, yesterday vs. today)" -- it also means, less abstractly, "period" -- as in "a span of time" (which could be minutes, hours, days, weeks...). For example, soccer fans getting online updates should note that a match consists of primer tiempo, entretiempo and segundo tiempo, often abbreviated as 1T, ET and 2T, respectively. Meanwhile, in English, we might speak of first period (or, more common in soccer, first half), half time and then the second half.
OK. Now let's spend a little time with the latest videos on Yabla Spanish. In one, we hear restaurant manager José Luis Calixto Escobar of Mexico speak of tiempos in the following sentence:
La comida sale económicamente porque contiene lo que son tres tiempos.
The food is cheap because it has what are three courses.
Caption 38, Fonda Mi Lupita - Encargado
Play Caption
Outside of México, it may be more common to hear talk of una comida con tres platos (literally: "a meal with three plates") to describe "a three-course meal." Una comida en [o, de] tres tiempos describes the same idea. To illustrate, José goes on to describe a soup course, then a rice or pasta and then a meat plate. Yum. This menú -- another word used to describe a meal of many parts -- even comes with water. Completamente (That's José's oft-repeated verbal tic. Think: "totally" in English.)
Incidentally, flip comida de tres tiempos around, and you have los tres tiempos de comida -- that is, breakfast, lunch and dinner, or the three meals/mealtimes of the day. Note that comida not only means "food," but that it also can describe the time spent eating food -- i.e., a meal.
Moving right along, with Natalia's proud papa, we come across this line:
Lo que más me emociona... es lo que te dije anteriormente.
What moves me the most... it's what I told you previously.
Captions 79-80, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro - Part 8
Play Caption
You see, emocionarse is a reflexive verb meaning "to be moved [by]." Like the verbs gustar or encantar (which we wrote about in this space before), emocionar agrees with the object of the sentence -- i.e., whatever it is that is moving -- instead of the speaker.
To see emocionarse at work, we are featuring a touching interview with the Mexican musical group Belanova this week. Here are the examples we gleaned from their interview:
...es porque les emociona nuestro proyecto.
...it's because they are moved by our project. (Or: ...it's because our project moves them.)
Caption 28, Belanova - Entrevista - Part 3
Play Caption
Que nos emociona mucho hacerlo, que es lo más importante...
That really moves us when doing it, which is the most important...
Caption 39, Belanova - Entrevista - Part 3
Play Caption
...que a toda la gente que ve a Belanova se emociona.
...which moves all the people who see Belanova.
Caption 41, Belanova - Entrevista - Part 3
Play Caption
In the examples above, note that emociona (the third personal singular, present form of emocionar) agrees with the project, action or sight that is considered moving. Meanwhile, the object pronouns les (for "them"), nos (for "us") and se (for "everyone" -- i.e., toda la gente) let us know who is being moved by the subject in each of the examples above.
A Ana y María les emocionan las películas de amor antiguas.
Ana and Maria are moved by old love films.
Estas historias nos emocionan mucho.
These stories really move us.
Our four new video clips deliver more than fifteen minutes of spoken Spanish -- subtitled and translated -- to your computer. To learn all you can from the rapid-fire banter, check out Yabla's "slow play" feature. (To activate, simply click SLOW on the Yabla Player). By taking the pace down a notch, you might notice some nuances that could otherwise elude you.
One subtlety we noted in the eighth installment of our chat with actress Natalia Oreiro was that she and her father use the phrase "de repente" in different ways. First, let's listen to Natalia describe seeing herself on TV in her first starring role:
Y mirando Canal Nueve... el estreno y de repente aparezco yo... tah, tah...
And watching Channel Nine... the premiere and suddenly I appear... tah, tah...
Captions 64-65, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro - Part 8
Play Caption
The word "repente" on its own means "fit" or "burst." But in everyday spoken Spanish, it's often heard in the idiom "de repente" which primarily means "all of a sudden" or "suddenly." That's how Natalia uses it here, when she was surprised to see her own image on the TV screen.
But just a few lines later, we hear from Natalia's dad. He's obviously not a professional actor and he, well, hesitates on camera more than his daughter, explaining:
...pierdo la continuidad de... de... de... de repente de escucharla.
...I lose the habit of... of... of... maybe of listening to her.
Caption 77, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro - Part 8
Play Caption
In the Oreiro family's native Uruguay (as well as in Venezuela), de repente can also mean "maybe," according to the Diccionario de la lengua española from the Real Academia Española. Another translation of de repente (although it doesn't fit here) is "spontaneously," i.e., without premeditation. Who would have guessed?
Cuando lo vi con esa mujer me dio un repente de furia.
When I saw him with that woman, I went into a fit of rage.
If you want to engage in everyday conversation in Spanish, knowing how to talk about the weather is essential. Whether you're making small talk with locals, discussing your day, or planning activities, weather vocabulary will prove indispensable. In this practical guide, we'll explore the most common and useful expressions to discuss weather conditions in Spanish.
In Spanish, there are two main terms used to refer to "weather":
El tiempo and el clima both refer to weather, but with subtle differences:
El tiempo generally refers to the current atmospheric conditions
El clima typically describes the weather patterns of a region over time
incluso, cuando el tiempo es bueno, se puede ver Gibraltar y África.
including, when the weather is good, one can see Gibraltar and Africa.
Caption 9, Mijas perla dell'Andalucia
Play Caption
El clima es fantástico y la comida, aún mejor.
The weather is fantastic and the food, even better.
Caption 46, Feria de Vinos Españoles en Londres Bodegas Castell D'Age
Play Caption
The weather forecast is called el pronóstico del tiempo. You might say "Según el pronóstico del tiempo, mañana va a llover" (According to the weather forecast, it's going to rain tomorrow).
les informo que el pronóstico del tiempo dice que las lluvias llegarán pronto.
I inform you that the weather forecast says that the rains will come soon.
Captions 25-26, Kikirikí Agua - Part 8
Play Caption
In Spanish, we use specific structures to talk about temperature. Let's explore the most common expressions you'll need for everyday conversations:
The most common structure for describing weather is "hace + [adjective]":
Hace calor. (It's hot.)
Hace frío. (It's cold.)
Hace fresco. (It's cool.)
Hace buen tiempo. (It's good weather.)
Hace mal tiempo. (It's bad weather.)
Hace viento. (It's windy.)
Los países donde hace calor.
Countries where it's hot.
Caption 81, Clase Aula Azul El verbo gustar - Part 5
Play Caption
Another important structure uses "está + [condition]":
Está nublado. (It's cloudy.)
Está despejado. (It's clear.)
Está soleado. (It's sunny.)
Está lloviendo. (It's raining.)
Está nevando. (It's snowing.)
Está lloviendo muy fuerte hoy. Voy a ponerme mis botas de agua.
It's raining really hard today. I'm going to put on my rain boots.
Captions 48-49, Clara explica El tiempo - Part 1
Play Caption
To express how you personally feel regarding temperature:
Tengo frío. (I'm cold.)
Tengo calor. (I'm hot.)
Estoy congelado/a. (I'm freezing.)
Estoy sudando. (I'm sweating.)
Remember, in Spanish we say "tengo frío/calor" (literally "I have cold/heat") rather than "estoy frío/calor" (literally "I am cold/hot"). This is an important distinction to make as a Spanish learner, since it's different from how we express this feeling in English.
¡Ay, tengo calor! -Vale.
Oh, I'm hot! -OK.
Caption 106, El Aula Azul Ester y Paula
Play Caption
Rain vocabulary is essential in Spanish, especially for countries with rainy seasons:
Llueve - It's raining
Está lloviendo - It's raining
Llovizna - It's drizzling
Chispea - It's sprinkling
Llueve mucho - It's raining a lot
Ha dejado de llover - It has stopped raining
Va a llover - It's going to rain
"Creo que más tarde va a llover".
"I think that it's going to rain later."
Caption 34, Carlos explica Cómo expresar opiniones en español - Part 1
Play Caption
Here's how to describe sunny and clear weather:
Hace sol - It's sunny
Hay sol - There's sun
Está soleado - It's sunny
Está despejado - It's clear
El cielo está despejado - The sky is clear
Hay mucho sol - There's a lot of sun
El sol está fuerte - The sun is strong
El día está precioso. El cielo está superdespejado.
The day is beautiful. The sky is totally clear.
Captions 42-43, Eduardo y Luciana de Argentina Historia del Rio
Play Caption
For cloudy and foggy conditions:
Está nublado - It's cloudy
Hay nubes - There are clouds
El cielo está nublado - The sky is cloudy
Está parcialmente nublado - It's partly cloudy
Hay niebla - There's fog
Está brumoso - It's foggy
Mi amiga Amaya os habló de este lugar maravilloso que hoy está un poco nublado, pero una temperatura ideal.
My friend Amaya talked to you about this wonderful place, which today, is a bit cloudy but an ideal temperature.
Captions 7-9, Montserrat El burrito Luz
Play Caption
Hace viento - It's windy
Hay viento - There's wind
El viento está fuerte - The wind is strong
No hay viento - There's no wind
Hay brisa - There's a breeze
Hoy hace tanto viento que casi me deja caer.
Today it is so windy that it almost makes me fall [over].
Caption 22, Clara explica El tiempo - Part 2
Play Caption
Hay tormenta - There's a storm
Está tronando - It's thundering
Hay relámpagos - There's lightning
Hay truenos - There's thunder
Está granizando - It's hailing
Hay granizo - There's hail
Knowing how to talk about the seasons in Spanish is important for discussing weather patterns:
La primavera - Spring
El verano - Summer
El otoño - Fall/Autumn
El invierno - Winter
You might say:
En primavera, hace más calor y llueve menos. (In spring, it's warmer and it rains less.)
En verano, hace mucho calor y está muy soleado. (In summer, it's very hot and sunny.)
En otoño, hace fresco y el clima es variable. (In fall, it's cool and the weather is variable.)
En invierno, hace frío y a veces nieva. (In winter, it's cold and it sometimes snows.)
y después vamos por todos los pueblos de Málaga, en primavera y en otoño, haciendo mercado todos los sábados y domingos.
and then we go through all the towns of Málaga, in spring and in autumn, doing a market every Saturday and Sunday.
Captions 12-14, Casabermeja Gastronomía - Part 1
Play Caption
Here are the most common ways to ask about weather in Spanish:
¿Qué tiempo hace? (What's the weather like?)
¿Cómo está el tiempo? (How's the weather?)
¿Qué tal hace afuera? (How is it outside?)
¿Llueve? (Is it raining?)
¿Hace frío? (Is it cold?)
¿Hace calor? (Is it hot?)
¿Y cómo es el tiempo en el sur? Pues, el tiempo en el sur es muy bueno en general.
And how is the weather in the south? Well, the weather in the south is very good in general.
Captions 27-28, Clara y Cristina Hablan de actividades
Play Caption
Hace buen tiempo. (The weather is good.)
Hace mal tiempo. (The weather is bad.)
Sí, está lloviendo. (Yes, it's raining.)
No, no hace frío. (No, it's not cold.)
Está nublado pero no llueve. (It's cloudy but it's not raining.)
Hace mucho calor hoy. (It's very hot today.)
Here are some example conversations about the weather:
Conversation 1:
¡Buenos días! ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
Good morning! What's the weather like today?
Hace frío y está nublado. Creo que va a llover más tarde.
It's cold and cloudy. I think it's going to rain later.
¿Necesito un paraguas?
Do I need an umbrella?
Sí, llévalo por si acaso.
Yes, take it just in case.
Conversation 2:
¿Hace calor afuera?
Is it hot outside?
Sí, hace mucho calor y está muy soleado. Ponte protector solar.
Yes, it's very hot and sunny. Put on sunscreen.
Gracias por el consejo. Tengo mucho calor.
Thanks for the advice. I'm very hot.
Conversation 3:
¿Qué tiempo hace en tu ciudad?
What's the weather like in your city?
En general, en verano hace calor y en invierno hace frío, pero no nieva.
In general, in summer it's hot and in winter it's cold, but it doesn't snow.
¿Llueve mucho?
Does it rain a lot?
Sí, especialmente en primavera.
Yes, especially in spring.
Weather often determines what activities we can do. Here are some useful phrases:
Si hace buen tiempo mañana, podemos ir al parque. (If the weather is good tomorrow, we can go to the park.)
Como está lloviendo, mejor quedémonos en casa. (Since it's raining, let's better stay home.)
Hace demasiado calor para caminar. Tomemos el autobús. (It's too hot to walk. Let's take the bus.)
¿Hace frío afuera? Necesito saber si llevo un abrigo. (Is it cold outside? I need to know if I should bring a coat.)
Yo creo que después del video nos vamos a ir tú y yo a tomar algo, ¿no? -Sí, Adriana, mañana, si hace buen tiempo, tenemos que ir a la playa, que {todavía}... -¿Buen tiempo? Seguro. -Sí, aquí el tiempo está garantizado.
I think that after the video, we're going to go, you and I, to have a drink, right? -Yes, Adriana, tomorrow, if the weather is good, we have to go to the beach, as still... -Good weather? For sure. -Yes, here the weather is guaranteed.
Captions 102-105, Adriana y Laura Mijas
Play Caption
That's it for our practical guide to talking about the weather in Spanish! With these expressions, you'll be able to discuss weather conditions confidently in your everyday conversations. Remember to practice these phrases regularly.
¿Qué tiempo hace donde vives? (What's the weather like where you live?) Let us know, and don't forget to send us your questions and suggestions!
¡Hasta la próxima!
So, how does La Secta's refrain go? (¿Cómo dice el estribillo de La Secta?) Here it is:
Llora mi corazón
My heart cries
Rogando tu perdón
Begging for your forgiveness
Captions 7-8, La Secta - Llora mi corazón
Play Caption
In this lyric's translation, we noted that perdón means -- and sounds like -- "pardon" in English. But it also means "forgiveness." Because "begging your pardon" sounds too stilted and too close to the question "Beg your pardon?," we chose "forgiveness" here.
Aquí estoy, ya me ves, suplicándote perdón.
Here I am, as you can see, imploring your forgiveness.
Caption 67, Biografía - Enrique Iglesias
Play Caption
(Incidently, "Beg your pardon?" -- as in, "What did you just say?" -- is usually ¿Cómo? in Spanish.)
Coming soon on Yabla Spanish, we'll provide consejos para la calle ("advice for the street") to teach you when to use perdón (pardon), permiso and disculpe (excuse me). Tune in then to learn the best way to clear a path and beg forgiveness when you knock someone down.
One final note on our chat with Arturo Vega. While he's talking about his realizations, he says:
Pero a mí... yo me di cuenta que no era nada más... cuestión de que yo estaba absorbiendo o que me gustaba...
But for me... I realized that it was not just... [a] question of me capturing or of me liking...
Captions 19-20, Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 2
Play Caption
Here is an additional example from some mushroom hunters in Aracena, Spain:
Yo afición. Yo soy profesor de cocina, y... y no es sólo cuestión de cocinar alimentos, sino ver origen.
Me, [as a] hobby. I am a cooking teacher, and... and it's not only a question of cooking food, but to see the origin.
Captions 77-78, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 11
Play Caption
Early in your Spanish careers, you probably learned that a question to your Spanish teacher was "una pregunta." Meanwhile, the related, sound-alike word, "una cuestión," is better defined as "a matter, issue or question to be debated or resolved." So, "a question" or "matter" -- as in "a question/matter of taste" -- is translated as una cuestión when it's referring to an issue at stake. Meanwhile, "a question" that takes a question mark (?) is "una pregunta."
Any other questions? ¿Hay más preguntas?
In the second installment of the documentary Tierra Envenenada -- "The Poisoned Land" -- we open with instructions given to children. The instructions are meant to teach them to look out for signs of danger. Do you know the internationally recognized icon of danger?
¿Qué figura es esa?
What figure is that?
Una calavera, una calavera, una calavera...
It's a skull, a skull, a skull...
Captions 8-9, Tierra Envenenada - Desminando - Part 2
Play Caption
The spooky image of the skull, spoken by the young boy in the documentary is repeated above for effect. Aside from being an icon of danger, many of us also know the skull as a ubiquitous symbol of Mexico's Día de los Muertos, as well as rock & rollers everywhere.
If you want to be medically technical, you might use cráneo to say "skull" in Spanish, but that's more like saying "cranium" in English. Yes, it's the bone structure of the head, but it's not as symbolically evocative.
Slang lovers will note that calavera can also mean "daredevil" or "madcap" -- as in "un hombre calavera." However, that is far from the lesson this serious documentary about the danger of land mines seeks to impart.
The lyrics to Javier García's song Tranquila describe climbing up a mountain... and then climbing back down. Meanwhile, the video depicts passengers on a bus. But, guess what?: In Spanish, "to climb up or down a mountain" and "to get on or off a bus" use the same two verbs: subir y bajar.
Let's take a closer look at the lyrics:
Súbete a una montaña
Climb up a mountain
Quédate un ratito
Stay for a while
Y después te bajas
And then you get down
Captions 6-8, Javier García - Tranquila
Play Caption
The lyrics here would still make linguistic sense if García sang about a bus ride:
Súbete a un autobús
Quédate un ratito
Y después te bajas
In Spanish, you also use subir and bajar to describe getting in and out of a car, climbing up or down stairs, taking an escalator up or down, getting on or off a train or subway or horse.... In other words, subir and bajar are an essential pair of verbs to know to get around town.
(As an aside: Whether or not you use the reflexive form of subir and/or bajar in this context is a matter of emphasis and formality. Note that it's less formal -- and less technically correct, according to the Real Academía Española -- to use the "te" pronouns in this song. Saying súbete... above is somewhat akin to saying, say, "get yourself..." in English. Call it creative license.)
Here's a haunting description of what it's like to be out in a field, wounded by a land mine:
Y bueno, yo aguanté hasta cierta parte, y de ahí ya no pude, el dolor me dominó.
And well, I could take it until a certain point, and from there on I couldn't anymore, the pain dominated me.
Captions 83-84, Tierra Envenenada - Desminando
Play Caption
The verb aguantar is a synonym for soportar in this context. It means "to be able to endure," "to stand" or "to bear." You'll often see aguantar followed by hasta ("until") to set a limit for how much can be stood or endured. For example:
Hay que aguantar hasta mañana.
You [in an impersonal sense] have to put up with it until tomorrow.
You'll probably hear the verb aguantar used by students with heavy work loads and tough teachers, but the verb can describe truly horrific pain as well.
If you go back into the archives, you'll hear this verb used in the Disputas theme song, Me llamas, by José Luis Perales.
Me llamas... para decirme que te marchas que ya no aguantas más... que ya estás harta...
You call me... to tell me that you're leaving that you can't take it anymore... that you're fed up...
Captions 15-18, Disputas - La Extraña Dama
Play Caption
This week, we've uploaded and subtitled the first installment of "Tierra Envenenada" ("Poisoned Land") -- a documentary describing the horrors of land mines in Central America.
Check out this short exchange between an unseen interviewer and a pedestrian (known in the business as an MOS, for "man on the street"):
Cuénteme, ¿usted sabe lo que es una mina?
Tell me, do you know what a mine is?
No, no sé... ¿Quién es?
No, I don't know... who is it?
Captions 30-31, Tierra Envenenada - Desminando
Play Caption
"¿Quién es?" ("Who is it?")...
That off-the-cuff reply is kind of funny if you note that in some Latin American countries una mina is slang for "a girl" or "a woman," often with negative connotations. Regular subscribers to this service may remember that we wrote about the slang meaning of minas in Argentina back in this newsletter.
According to la Real Academia Española, the definitive Spanish-language authority, mina has many definitions. For one thing, it is a mine, as in a site where minerals are excavated. In a more military sense, it's a mine, as in an encased explosive set to detonate when disturbed. (The latter is the subject of our documentary today.) And the dictionary also acknowledges that mina is an informal synonym for una mujer in Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. Some explosively bad puns could be made with this minefield of a word. (Sorry.)
But keep in mind that this video is introducing the very serious topic of minas antipersonales ("antipersonnel mines") and the process of desminando ("removing the mines") -- that la Organización de los Estados Americanos ("the Organization of American States") is undertaking. Listen and learn.
Say you're going to a Christmas party -- that is, una fiesta de Navidad. What are you going to bring? (¿Que vas a llevar?) Well, your host might suggest:
Tráiganos una botella de vino, nada más.
Bring us a bottle of wine, that's all.
And then you might respond:
Bueno. Voy a llevar vino tinto.
Ok. I'll bring red wine.
Did you notice we switched verbs there? Both llevar and traer can mean "to bring," but with a crucial difference in perspective. If you're the one doing the bringing to someone else, you use 'llevar' -which also means "to carry." If you're the one asking someone to bring something to you, you use 'traer.' Got that?
There are many definitions of the common verb 'llevar,' which is why we keep returning to it again and again in our weekly missives.
In this week's videos, you'll hear llevar used in a couple of different contexts -- in a song and in a classroom. First, let's look at the heartstring-tugging lyrics sung by Axel Fernando:
Muchas veces me pregunto por qué pasa todo esto,
Many times I wonder why all this happens
por qué tus mil "Te quiero" siempre se los lleva el viento
why your thousand "I love yous" are always carried away by the wind
Captions 1-2, Axel Fernando - ¿Qué estás buscando?
Play Caption
Here, the reflexive llevarse means "to carry away" or "to take away." The online dictionary site, WordReference.com provides some examples along the same lines:
¡Llévatelo de aquí!
Take it away [from here]!
Se lo llevó la corriente
The current carried it away
Remember: At a restaurant, they might ask you '¿Para llevar?' ("To take out [with you]?"). In our next video -- in Spanish school room -- we get a handy lesson in verb forms to use to offer advice. At the same time, we see our featured verb take on another shade of its meaning. Sit in the back of the classroom and listen:
"Te aconsejo que lleves una chaqueta".
"I recommend that you bring a jacket."
Caption 28, Escuela Don Quijote - En el aula
Play Caption
Llevaría una chaqueta. -Muy bien. Yo, que tú.
I would bring a jacket. -Very good. If I were you.
Caption 31, Escuela Don Quijote - En el aula
Play Caption
Note that llevar could also mean "to wear," and that the phrases above could possibly be talking about the "wearing" of a jacket as well. One must distinguish the proper meaning from the greater context.
Bernardo, traeme otra caja de pastillas. ¿Bernardo?
Bernardo, bring me another box of pills. Bernardo?
Caption 57, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
Play Caption
Hazme un favor: Tráeme mi chaqueta.
Do me a favor: Bring me my jacket.
¿Para qué?
Why?
Quiero llevarla a la fiesta de Navidad.
I want to wear it [or possibly: to bring it] to the Christmas party.
Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico, yet a large portion of the population knows English, so bilingual puns play to a wide audience. Case in point, the lyrics to this cynical song by the band Polbo:
Yo era el as de las nenas Cuando tenía dinero
I was the ace of the girls When I had money
Ahora sigo siendo el as/ass En otro idioma, tú sabrás
Now I'm still the ace/ass [bilingual pun] In another language, you know
Captions 13-16, Polbo - Yo era tan cool
Play Caption
Like its English equivalent "ace," the Spanish as is both a good poker card and "a whiz" at something. The pun on as / ass works in this song because the two words are pronounced essentially the same way, with a soft "s" (unlike the word "as" in English, which is pronounced "az").
One more note regarding the bilingual audience for Yo era tan cool. The word "cool" is obviously borrowed from English. But one could argue that cool is going the way of "OK" / "okay" or "ciao" / "chau" / "chao" as a word that crosses linguistic barriers. We googled "es cool" (in Spanish) and more than 1,000,000 web pages came up. Cool, ¿no?
Cheating! Bitter tears! Broken hearts!... There's a lot of action in this week's featured song by Jeremías -Uno y uno igual a tres ("One and One, the Same As Three") -- which is why the singer uses a lot of verbs (except in the song title).
By and large, the verbs sprinkled throughout these lyrics are standards found in classic reference texts, like 501 Spanish Verbs and The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs. But they may not follow the first definitions found on the top of the page. Let's take a closer look at some lyrics.
Pero ya las lágrimas se echaban a correr
But the tears were starting to fall
Caption 8, Jeremías - Uno y uno igual a tres
Play Caption
The first definition students usually learn for echar is usually "to throw" -as in, ¡Echa la pelota! ("Throw the ball!"). But in this construction -echarse a + infinitive- the more faithful translation is "to begin to [do something]." For example:
De repente, se echó a reír
Suddenly, he began to laugh
Or...
Suddenly, he burst out laughing
So, in the song lyric cited above, a student of Spanish who only knew the first definition of echar might try to translate the sentence as "But the tears had already thrown themselves to running." Well, almost... familiarity with the construction echarse a + infinitive will help you quickly realize that the tears had started to run (or, in English, it's more common to say tears "fall").
Joselo's song titled Sobriedad ("sobriety") is dripping with references to booze. We counted seven kinds of alcoholic beverages in the lyrics: pisco sour, champaña, vino blanco, whiskey, vodka, gin and tonic, and vino tinto. Most of these drinks need no translation to English speakers, but we have a few tips for reading bar menus.
Ok. Now whiskey, vodka and gin and tonic are just what you think they are. Incidentally, "whiskey" (pronounced 'wee-skee') is often what you say when someone takes your photo, in order to smile as wide in Spanish as you do in English when you say "cheese."
¡Oye! ("Hey!") -from the verb oír ("to hear")- and ¡Escúchame! ("Listen to me!") -from the verb escuchar ("to listen")- mean approximately the same thing. Kind of like the modern "Listen up!"and the old fashioned "Hear ye! Hear ye!" in English. And now that we've got your attention, let's look more closely at the two auditory verbs.
Escuchar generally means "to listen" in the sense of paying attention to what's heard. In contrast, oír means "to hear" in the sense of using your ears. Escuchar is a deliberate act, while oír can be passive. So, note that escuchar música usually means "to listen to music" while oír música is "to hear music." In other words, you might hear a band's latest album without really listening to the lyrics. Got that?
So, have you heard or listened to Antes que ver el sol by Coti? The refrain goes like this:
Antes que ver el sol... prefiero escuchar tu voz
Before seeing the sun... I prefer to listen to your voice
Caption 9, Coti - Antes que ver el sol
Play Caption
In our video's subtitles, we translate escuchar the traditional way, as "listen to". But because the lyrics in this song are a little, um, opaque -as rock lyrics so often are- one could also argue that escuchar could be translated as "hear" here. You see, in popular usage, the dictionary definitions of escuchar and oír can be blurred, especially in various Latin American countries.
Case in point: In our video clip, Coti urges his vocal audience to sing louder by saying:
¡No se escucha!
I can't hear you!
Caption 24, Coti - Antes que ver el sol
Play Caption
So are escuchar and oír losing their distinctive definitions? Native Spanish speakers and observant English speakers argue the point on various message boards. See, for example:
WordReference.com > Escuchar / Oír
Tomísimo.org > Oír vs. Escuchar
But the authoritative Real Academia Española upholds the difference in its Diccionario de la Lengua Española and we think Spanish students should listen to that.
As a final note, the instrument that does all of our listening and hearing can also be confusing for non-native speakers of Spanish. You see, "ear" is translated into Spanish as oído, which specifically means "the inner ear," -i.e., the part used for hearing. Meanwhile, "the outer ear" -i.e., the body part Vincent Van Gogh famously chopped off- is translated as oreja.
Remember The Smurfs? Los Pitufos -as they are known in Spanish- are referenced among the trippy Liquits lyrics in this featured music video now on Yabla Spanish:
Pastel de pitufresa mezclado con peyote natural y mora
Smurfberry pie mixed with natural peyote and blackberry
Caption 10, Liquits - Jardín
Play Caption
Huh?, you might ask. What's a pitufresa? Well, fresa translates as "strawberry." Adding the made-up prefix pitu[f]- in front of the word for this sweet, red fruit is akin to manipulating the English word "strawberry" to create the fictional food "smurfberry." (Remember this red-fruited cereal spun off from the cartoon?)
Like "Smurf," Pitufo is a made-up word in Spanish. But in both English and Spanish, the Smurf world -that is, Pitufolandia- follows some basic language rules that can be illuminating for students to note. For example:
"Smurf" + the suffix "-ette" = "Smurfette"
Pitufo + the suffix -ina = Pitufina
In both cases, the made-up root word is paired with a real-world suffix to name the cute, female character in the cartoon.
So, the Liquits' loopy reference to fictional pitufresas can help shed light on other pop culture references. Bonus points for anyone who can figure out how to say "Smurftastic!" en español....
For more, see:
Wikipedia > The Smurfs in other languages
How do you say "love" in Spanish? Let us count the ways...
Did you note in our examples above that the verb encantar (like gustar) agrees with the object of affection (la cuidad / los pantalones), instead of the speaker? The construction, if expressed in English, might be "Those pants enchant me."
In the newest video content currently featured on Yabla Spanish, we interview Jesús Baz, the director of studies at the don Quijote Spanish-language school in Salamanca.
Be assured, long-time teacher Jesús knows his Spanish -- and he loves his hometown of Salamanca, Spain. Here's how he expresses his affection:
Yo soy salmantino, y me encanta mi ciudad porque me parece una de las ciudades más bonitas del mundo.
I am from Salamanca, and I love my city because I think it's one of the nicest cities in the world.
Captions 42-45, Escuela Don Quijote - Jesús Baz
Play Caption
So, feel confident about following Jesús's example and describing the love you feel for your own favorite place in the world with the verb encantar.
For further discussions on "love," see:
ThoughtCo. > Te quiero vs. te amo
WordReference.com > Encantar / amar
WordReference.com > Querer / amar
English
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano 
Português
