Hariko Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) Elegarth was tossing around the idea of a forum thread where he could help improve the skills of TWP's Spanish students. He intended to do it a while ago, but the real life that we all love so much forced him to put it off until later when he wasn't as busy...(#BanIRL). Because of that, I figured I might as well start it for him and do my best to help people until he can join the thread. So, introduce yourselves! Oh, and enabling a Spanish keyboard on your computer or phone would be a good idea, trust me, I did it, and I have all of this to type with: Currently, I'm in the class Spanish III IV, although I have to say I need improvement with conversations and informal language; my class in school is more test oriented than the classes I hear they have in Europe. Tengo dieciséis diecisiete años, soy estadounidense, y inglés es mi idioma principal. ¿Y ustedes? Edited January 6, 2016 by Hariko Elegarth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
URAP Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Oh god, Spanish. I only remember the MOST BASIC stuff. ¡Hola! ¿Qué es tu nombre? Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Oh god, Spanish. I only remember the MOST BASIC stuff. ¡Hola! ¿Qué es tu nombre? Hola, me llamo Hari. What do you want to start with? Basic conversations? Or do we need to go back to square one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Oh god, Spanish. I only remember the MOST BASIC stuff. ¡Hola! ¿Qué es tu nombre? The question particle "what" in this case should translate to "cual" instead of "que" So: What is your name? = ¿cuál es tu nombre? I'm glad you made this Hariko! Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 The question particle "what" in this case should translate to "cual" instead of "que" So: What is your name? = ¿cuál es tu nombre? I'm glad you made this Hariko! Hariko, professional brown noser. XD *likes own post for comedic effect* Hariko and URAP 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 So I know that there are two distinct flavours of Spanish, each with their own dialects and accents, those being Latin American Spanish and European Spanish. My problem is that my school decided it would be a great idea to teach us Latin American Spanish, but throw in a medley of Iberian words just to trip us up. So, my question is which of these words are the preferred word for Latin American Spanish, ignoring words specific to one area of Central or South America. Some of these might not even be from different dialects, which just shows how confused I am. ¿Camarero o mesero? ¿Judías o frijoles? ¿Computadora o ordenador? ¿Banana o plátano? Side note: What is the difference between «querer» and «desear»? Also, country names in Spanish. And how to pronounce «ll» and «ce». ¡Gracias, Elegarth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A fish in the sea Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 yo - I tú - you (informal) él, ella, usted (ud.) - he, she, you (formal) nosotros - we vosotros (only in European Spanish) - you all ellos, ellas, ustedes (uds.) - they (male), they (female), they (formal) You usally start a sentence with one of these, but they don't have to be in there because they can be implied. Tener means "to have". The tener set: yo tengo tú tienes él, ella, ud. tiene nosotros tenemos vosotros tenéis ellos, ellas, uds. tienen Ser means "to be". The ser set: yo soy tú eres él, ella, ud. es nosotros somos vosotros sois ellos, ellas, uds. son Most of the verbs en español are ____ar (example: trabajar - to work), hence the name -ar verbs, but when you put them in a sentence, you replace the ar this way: yo ____o tú ____as él, ella, ud. ____a nosotros ____amos vosotros ____áis ellos, ellas, uds. ____an There are a few exemtions, like estar (to be (temporary)), dar (to give), and ir (to go(in a sentence, it's practically var)), which are a bit different. First of all, they all change the yo form to -oy instead of -o. The latter two take off the accent on the vosotros form, and estar... well... yo estoy tú estás él, ella, ud. está nosotros estamos vosotros estáis ellos, ellas, uds. están That's my part of the español lesson, and it's a biggie, so remember it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 I'll reply to all this tomorrow probably Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkdaddy Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 I've taken 6 years of spanish in high school and college. My written spanish sucks, my conversation spanish is just a little better, but I read spanish decently well. I'm very interested in this topic. Me llamo PD y soy de Nuevo Jersey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 In Spanish, cities are females, hence Nueva instead of Nuevo I'll try to reply later. Been out with the wife all day URAP and Hariko 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Okay, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I had a rough Sunday, spent half my day at the ER with my mom-in-law... So yeah... So I know that there are two distinct flavours of Spanish, each with their own dialects and accents, those being Latin American Spanish and European Spanish. My problem is that my school decided it would be a great idea to teach us Latin American Spanish, but throw in a medley of Iberian words just to trip us up. So, my question is which of these words are the preferred word for Latin American Spanish, ignoring words specific to one area of Central or South America. Some of these might not even be from different dialects, which just shows how confused I am. Technically, there are SEVERAL more flavors, as both the Spaniard Spanish and the Latin American Spanish change from region to region so much that is easy for a person in Spain not to understand another Spaniard from a different place, and the same with Latin Americans, country to country. The amount of variations is unbelievable at times. And the boundaries are not as set in stone as your comment seems to indicate you were thought. ¿Camarero o mesero? ¿Judías o frijoles? ¿Computadora o ordenador? ¿Banana o plátano? All of them will depend on the country you are at, and in big countries like Spain, the region. Camarero and mesero are understood almost everywhere, so they are almostequally useful. Judias and frijoles, are not. In many places, one or the other will NOT be understood by most people; in Costa Rica, frijoles is used for black/brown/read/white beans, while judias is used for a different kind of bean. To make it worse, there is also the South American word "porotos" which means the same in about 3 countries! Computadora is mostly used in Latin America, ordenador mostly used on Spain and in international neutral-language shows or news. Banana is used here and there, with Banano (male version) used the most in Central America. Curiously enough, Platano is also used, but it refers to a different slightly larger fruit that is rarely eat raw and is instead cooked or fried. I think is called "plantain" in English. Side note: What is the difference between «querer» and «desear»? Also, country names in Spanish. And how to pronounce «ll» and «ce». ¡Gracias, Elegarth! The easier way to explain, is by saying that QUERER should be equated with the English "TO WANT" and "DESEAR" with the English "TO DESIRE", and all the regular implications you'll find between those two in English apply Hariko and URAP 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 yo - I tú - you (informal) él, ella, usted (ud.) - he, she, you (formal) nosotros - we vosotros (only in European Spanish) - you all ellos, ellas, ustedes (uds.) - they (male), they (female), they (formal) That's pretty accurate, but a couple comments. TU and USTED, the two actual second person ones, differ from country to country on their formality or informality, and there is a third version, "VOS" that is used only in a few countries... Like Costa Rica. So, to be more precise: I = Yo You = Usted / Vos / Tu (regional and formality differences) He / She = El / Ella We = Nosotros You (plural) = Ustedes / Vosotros (regional and formality differences) They = Ellos / Ellas Tener means "to have". The tener set: yo tengo tú tienes él, ella, ud. tiene nosotros tenemos vosotros tenéis ellos, ellas, uds. tienen Correct! Ser means "to be". The ser set: yo soy tú eres él, ella, ud. es nosotros somos vosotros sois ellos, ellas, uds. son A little bit more complex than that, the verb TO BE in English actually translate to a whole collection of verbs in Spanish, all of them with irregularities and special usage. The two most commons are SER and ESTAR: I AM A LAWYER = YO SOY ABOGADO (TO BE = SER) I AM SAD = YO ESTOY TRISTE (TO BE = ESTAR) And their conjugations in simple present tense: I AM = Yo soy / Yo estoy YOU ARE = Tu eres / Tu estas ~ Vos sos / Vos estas ~ Usted es / Usted esta HE/SHE IS = El/Ella es / El/Ella esta WE ARE = Nosotros somos / Nosotros estamos YOU ARE = Ustedes son / Ustedes estan ~ Vosotros sois / Vosotros estais THEY ARE = Ellos/ellas son / Ellos/Ellas estan Most of the verbs en español are ____ar (example: trabajar - to work), hence the name -ar verbs, but when you put them in a sentence, you replace the ar this way: yo ____o tú ____as él, ella, ud. ____a nosotros ____amos vosotros ____áis ellos, ellas, uds. ____an Atually, there is an equal amount of verbs ending in ER (querer, tener, poseer, ver) and IR (dormir, ir, vivir, sentir) and conjugations more or less follow that rules, but there are SEVERAL grammatical and spelling exceptions, plus a HUGE load of irregular verbs, including the ones you mention below: There are a few exemtions, like estar (to be (temporary)), dar (to give), and ir (to go(in a sentence, it's practically var)), which are a bit different. First of all, they all change the yo form to -oy instead of -o. The latter two take off the accent on the vosotros form, and estar... well... yo estoy tú estás él, ella, ud. está nosotros estamos vosotros estáis ellos, ellas, uds. están Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 What are the rules for subject-verb inversion? I know that in general, Spanish has a Subject-Verb-Object sentence order, but when to change it to Verb-Subject-Object still confuses me. From what I know about Germanic languages, Verb-Subject-Object is used for yes or no questions, V2 verb order is usually used in Germanic languages other than English, and English uses a strict Subject-Verb-Object sentence order. VSO: Are bananas a type of food? SVO: Bananas are a type of food. V2: Een banaan is een groente niet. [«Un banano no es un vegetal.» The first verb in a V2 sentence goes between the subject and object, while a secondary verb goes at the end of the sentence, and an auxillary verb goes after the main verb.] Would you be able to explain that for me? ¡Gracias! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Lo es gracioso, ¿no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 What are the rules for subject-verb inversion? I know that in general, Spanish has a Subject-Verb-Object sentence order, but when to change it to Verb-Subject-Object still confuses me. From what I know about Germanic languages, Verb-Subject-Object is used for yes or no questions, V2 verb order is usually used in Germanic languages other than English, and English uses a strict Subject-Verb-Object sentence order. VSO: Are bananas a type of food? SVO: Bananas are a type of food. V2: Een banaan is een groente niet. [«Un banano no es un vegetal.» The first verb in a V2 sentence goes between the subject and object, while a secondary verb goes at the end of the sentence, and an auxillary verb goes after the main verb.] Would you be able to explain that for me? ¡Gracias! Another bad day at work. Will try to tackle this one tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Another bad day at work. Will try to tackle this one tomorrow Sure! Good night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 *performs CPR on thread* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hahahaha! ON IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 What are the rules for subject-verb inversion? I know that in general, Spanish has a Subject-Verb-Object sentence order, but when to change it to Verb-Subject-Object still confuses me. From what I know about Germanic languages, Verb-Subject-Object is used for yes or no questions, V2 verb order is usually used in Germanic languages other than English, and English uses a strict Subject-Verb-Object sentence order. VSO: Are bananas a type of food? SVO: Bananas are a type of food. V2: Een banaan is een groente niet. [«Un banano no es un vegetal.» The first verb in a V2 sentence goes between the subject and object, while a secondary verb goes at the end of the sentence, and an auxillary verb goes after the main verb.] Would you be able to explain that for me? ¡Gracias! That is a bit of a complex question, but in general, it can be summarized like this: Spanish supports both the VSO and the SVO constructions in general. In your example, but in Spanish: ¿Son (V) las bananas (S) un tipo de comida (O)? ¿Las bananas (S) son (V) un tipo de comida (O)? It actually support other orders WITHOUT making the speech incorrect in any way. For example, all these variants from "Is the card red?" ¿Es (V) rojo (O) el carro (S)? ¿El carro (S) es (V) rojo (O)? ¿Es (V) el carro (S) rojo (o)? However, the must common and spread form would be the SVO - is also easier to construct. When answering to a question, you can also use it on any form, as it is NOT incorrect, but it SOUNDS akward, and the inversions or changes are more used in poetry or creative writing, instead of normal speech, with the normal construction being SVO (plus the negation or affirmation added): La banana es una fruta (SVO) Si, el carro es rojo (SVO) La banana no es un vegetal (SVO) No, el carro es azul (SVO) In general, the most standard construction used in day to day speaking is SVO both when asking or speaking. Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Called the Vlagh Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 This makes my brain hurt. Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 De nada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 This month's unit in Spanish III is covering the hotel, and I had a couple of vocab questions. What are the subtle differences between «cuarto» and «habitación»? Does «cuarto sencillo» have a different feel than «habitación»? Would you use the words in different contexts? You know how in English, there are registers of vocabulary that indicate different levels of formality; are the two words just synonyms, or does one sound more proper, like «ordenador»? For those of you who don't know what register is, it's the different types of words that you use to be polite, formal, or casual. Register is why you don't mind a child to go retire for the night or tell the queen you have to take a s***. Well, I mean besides Nox, but yeah. Hariko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegarth Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 They are basically indistinct and whatever one is used will more depend either upon the level of education or the region. Usually, cuarto is more broadly use by the everyday man, and habitacion by people with more... snoob education. Likewise, certain countries and areas use HABITACION more than CUARTO, in SPAIN for example it would be cleared to say HABITACION. But you can use any and most of the time most of the people will understand. HABITACION is more neutral. Avallond 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hariko Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Oooh, okay. Snobby, lol. Should I have a Castilian lisp while saying habitación, too? Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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