101language.com » Spanish Language

Car problems, en español

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:22:32 +0000

¡Hola! ¿Cómo les va todo?

We’re having great and warm weather here in Bebedouro (Brazil) and, as it’s summetime, it rains a lot. I was driving around town on Sunday evening when it started to rain and I saw this car in the middle of the street. It had surely broken down and its owner was kind of desperate trying to fix it (who wouldn’t be, right?). I offered help but he told me his brother was coming to rescue him.

That motivated me to write this post with a little dialog about a guy, Pedro, whose car won’t start. The mechanic, Juan, arrives and takes a look at it. Check it out!

Pedro: ¿Cuál es el problema? [What's the matter?]
Martín: No tengo la más mínima idea. No arranca. [I have no idea. It won't start.]
Pedro: ¿Quieres que le eche un vistazo? [Do you want me to take a look at it?]
Juan: Sí, por favor. [Yes, please.]
Martín: Me parece que es un fallo en la inyección. ¿No habías tenido problemas antes? [It looks like a flaw in the fuel injection. Did you have any problems before?]
Juan: Que yo sepa, no. Todo funcionó bien hasta ahora. [Not that I'm aware of. Everything was working fine so far.]
Martín: Bueno, vamos a llevarlo al taller. [Well, let's take it to the shop.]

OK, let’s take a look at some vocabulary points here.

Arrancar
Arrancar means to tear, pull, rip something out. Here it’s used when the car starts (or doesn’t). Here are some more examples with arrancar:

Hubo un forcejeo y le arrancó la pistola. [There was a struggle and he wrenched the pistol away from her.]
Le arrancó el bolso. [He snatched her bag.]
No hay quien le arranque una palabra. [No one can get a word out of him.]
Consiguió arrancarle una sonrisa. [She managed to get a smile out of him.]
Esta tradición arranca en el siglo XIV. [This tradition dates from the 14th century.]
De allí arrancan todas sus desgracias. [That's where all his misfortunes stem from.]

Echar un vistazo
Echar un vistazo means to take a look. Echar is a very common Spanish verb and has many expressions like echar de menos (to miss), echar a perder (to ruin), echar la culpa (to blame), echar la bronca a uno (to tell someone off), echarse un trago (to have a drink) among others. In the dialog, it’s used in the subjunctive form, eche, because it follows the conjunction que after a verb of desire.

Here are some other useful sentences when your car breaks down!

Se me pinchó un neumático. [I've had a flat tire.]
Tráeme el gato, así levantamos el auto. [Bring the jack so we can lift the car.]
Tráeme el neumático de repuesto / la goma de auxilio. [Bring me the spare tire.]
El coche se rompió / se ha roto. [The car broke down.]
Llama un remolque. [Call a tow truck.]
Hay que remolcar el auto. [The car needs to be towed away.]
El motor se para. [The engine's dying.]
El auto se calienta. [The car's heating up.]
Hay que recargar la batería. [The battery needs to be recharged.]
Está perdiendo aceite. [It's leaking oil.]

Well, I hope you don’t have any car problems soon. Nos vemos prontito.

Spanish Lesson Beginner 29 Indefinite pronouns and adjectives in Spanish

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:21:48 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hola ¿Cómo estáis?

In this Beginner Level Spanish lesson we will learn all about Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives. These are words such as some, any, something, and anything in English.

As with English, the Spanish indefinite pronoun or adjective you use depends on whether the sentence is negative, positive or a question. In English we say “some trees”, for example, when we have a positive affirmation that there are some trees, “no trees” for a negative statement that there aren’t any trees and “any trees” for a question about whether there are any trees. In Spanish you will also have to remember various combinations of indefinite pronoun and adjective and we also have a masculine and feminine version and a singular and plural version.

Please repeat each after me and then practice as much as you can after the lesson by writing example sentences in Spanish using all of the different combinations:

• Algún/a: Some/Any (in positive sentences and questions)
• Alguno/alguna: Some/Any (in positive sentence and questions)
• Algunos/algunas: Some/Any (in positive sentence and questions)
• Ningún/ninguna: Any/No (in negative sentences)
• Ningúno/ninguna: Any/None (in negative sentences)
• Algo: Something/Anything (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nada: Nothing/Anything (in negative sentences)
• Alguien: Someone/Anyone (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nadie: No one/Anyone (in negative sentences)
• Algo de: Some/Any (part of something) (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nada de: None/Any (part of something) (in negative sentences)
• Nunca: Never

Let´s see now some examples of Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives in use:

• Algún: ¿Conoces a algún médico?: Do you know a doctor?
• Algún: Sí, conozco a algún médico. Yes, I know a doctor

• Alguno: Sí, conozco alguno: Yes, I know some
• Algunos: Sí, conozco a algunos médicos: Yes, I know some doctors

• Ningún: No, no conozco a ningún médico: No, I don´t know a doctor
• Ninguno: No, no conozco a ninguno: No, I don´t know any

• Algo: ¿Quieres algo?: Do you want anything?
• Nada: No quiero nada: I don´t want anything

• Alguien: ¿Conoces a alguien en esta ciudad?: Do you know anybody in this city?
• Nadie: No conozco a nadie: I don´t know anybody

• Algo de: ¿Sabes algo de inglés?: Do you know any English?
• Nada de: No sé nada de inglés: I don´t know any English

We will see now how to make negative sentences in Spanish using indefinite pronouns. You will need to use a “no” before the verb when the indefinite pronoun follows the verb, but you don´t use a “no” if it precedes the verb. Let´s see some examples:

• No viene nadie a mi casa: Nobody comes to my house
• Nadie viene a mi casa: Nobody comes to my house

• No dices nada correcto: You don´t say anything correct
• Nada de lo que dices es correcto: Nothing of what you say is correct

• No está nunca en casa: He is never at home
• Nunca está en casa: He is never at home

The key to remembering and using Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives well is to practice with them a lot. Work first on trying to remember off-by-heart all of the different Spanish equivalents for words such as Some, Any, None, Anything, etc, and then try to remember all of the different combinations so that you know exactly when to use one or the other.

Once you have all of the words more or less clear in your head you can start using them in your conversation and writing. This is, of course, the fun part. This is when you put all your hard work into practice and really start to understand how the words work. Once you have used them a few times you will find them so much easier to remember. Also, don’t forget to listen and look out for them when you listen to native speakers or read texts.

Good luck with all of this and enjoy your Spanish!

What’s Your Job?

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:21:47 +0000

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

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

How to read numbers in Spanish

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:21:42 +0000

Believe it or not, numbers give Spanish students a real hard time, so today let’s go over how to say telephone numbers, dates, prices, percentages, math operations, temperature, weight and measurements in Spanish.

Telephone numbers – The most common way of reading them is:

2-75-49-02 = dos, setenta y cinco, cuarenta y nueve, cero dos
36-54-11 = treinta y seis, cincuenta y cuatro, once

You can also hear:

275-49-02 = dos siete cinco, cuatro nueve, cero dos
36-54-11 = tres seis, cinco cuatro, uno uno

Dates – We use the definite article el (the – masculine) when reading the date.

Nací el 23.09.58. = veintitrés de septiembre de mil novecientos cincuenta y ocho or veintitrés del nueve del cincuenta y ocho.
Hoy es el 1 de enero. = primero de enero or uno de enero.

In Spanish we don’t say the years like in English. The year 1975 is mil novecientos setenta y cinco (one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five). Months are also referred to in the order they appear so September will be month nueve (nine).

Prices – In Spanish we only use the word centavos or céntimos (cents) when the amount expressed is only in cents. Before cents we only use the word con (with).

50,57 € = cincuenta euros con cincuenta y seis
US$ 399,77 = trescientos noventa y nueve dólares con setenta y siete
La ficha del teléfono cuesta 0,80. = ochenta centavos

Math operations

1 + 6 = 7 [uno más seis es igual a siete]
8 – 5 = 3 [ocho menos cinco es igual a tres]
2 x 2 = 4 [dos por dos es igual a cuatro]
9 : 3 = 3 [nueve dividido por tres es igual a tres]

Temperature

20°C – Estamos a veinte grados.
-8°C – Estamos a ocho grados bajo cero.
+5°C – Estamos a cinco grados (sobre / por encima de cero).
28,5°C – Estamos a veintiocho grados y cinco décimas (sobre cero).

Weight and Measurements

Juan pesa 80kg [ochenta kilos].
Esta sala mide 3,00 x 1,70m [tres metros de largo por uno setenta de ancho].
Mi altura es 1,68 [uno sesenta y ocho].
Anduvimos más de 900 km [novecientos kilómetros].
Esta tela tiene 1,40m [uno cuarenta] de ancho.
Ese reservatorio tiene capacidad para 300m³ [trescientos metros cúbicos].
El área total de la casa es 250m² [doscientos cincuenta metros cuadrados].

Por hoy es todo. Nos vemos prontito.