It has been quite a while that I attended school and I am sure that many things have changed since then but others might still remain the same. For example, some years ago the overall school years differed from Bundesland (federal state) to Bundesland. In some Bundesländer students had to attend school for 13 years – when intending to take the Abitur (high school diploma) – and in other Bundeländer they “only” had to attend school for 12 years – because the period of school years is based on the cultural sovereignty and federal state law of the single federal states of Germany. Meanwhile, the single states of Germany have agreed on introducing a 12-years period, that is, in states where students had to attend school for 13 years (when passing the Abitur), there, they now do also “only” have to attend school for only 12 years.

Former 12-years’ students even used to make fun of students who went to school for 13 years and said that they would not do any school-related things in their 13^th year but instead some kind of acting lessons because they wondered why others had one year more to manage the same amount of subject matter. Their slogan was:

“Zwölf Jahre Schule und ein Jahr Schauspielunttericht.” (Twelve years of schooling and one year drama classes.)

Anyway, let’s come to the point of this post, I would like to share my school experience with you.

Actually, I cannot say that there is something like a typical German school day because how a day is structured is different from school to school. For example, one common thing in German school is the Hofpause (“yard break”), which is usually around noon. By this, it is guaranteed that students take some fresh air and have time to eat their lunch. At my Gymnasium we had those Hofpausen after every second lesson, so at least, three a day. In other schools there was only one Hofpause per day.

A further major difference between German schools and, primarily, US American ones is that classes are always held in/with the same groups. For example, when there are about 100 students in a particular year, they are divided into four major groups, named A, B, C, and D. These groups have constantly lessons together and are never separated. Only in Sekundarstufe II (secondary education II), which is from class 11 onwards, the students of the four (or sometimes more) classes are mixed and have lessons in so-called Kursen (curses).

A third difference between German and American schools is that schools do not have a canteen where the students could have lunch. Usually, students in Germany have to bring their own food, e.g. sandwiches. Nevertheless, some schools have small shops where students can buy soft drinks and, unfortunately, fast food.

Well, that’s all what comes to my mind. When you have any further questions regarding school life in Germany do not hesitate to ask or share with me how a school day looks like in your country, so that I can recognize what differences are there as well.

My former school

Advanced level Spanish video lesson explaining how to use the Spanish future and conditional tenses to express probability.

Hola ¿Cómo estáis?

Hoy vamos a ver cómo expresar probabilidad con el tiempo futuro y el tiempo condicional.

Como ya hemos visto, hay diferentes formas de expresar probabilidad. Por ejemplo, puedes usar expresiones como “Tal vez” o “quizás” y después poner el verbo en subjuntivo (por ejemplo “¿Dónde está María? Quizás esté en el bar”) o las expresiones “Igual” o “a lo mejor” con el verbo en indicativo (Por ejemplo, ““¿Dónde está María? Igual está en el bar”). También palabras como “posiblemente”, “probablemente” o “es posible que”, “es probable que” “puede que”… siempre con subjuntivo detrás.

Bueno, pues hoy vamos a ver que también podemos expresar probabilidad usando el tiempo futuro y el tiempo condicional.

Usamos el tiempo futuro simple para expresar probabilidad en el presente o en el futuro:

Por ejemplo:

“¿Dónde está María? Estará en el bar”
“¿Cuándo va tu hermano al gimnasio? Irá los lunes, no estoy segura”.

Aquí “estará” no tiene función de futuro, sino de presente probable.

También puedes usar el futuro como futuro probable:

Por ejemplo:

“¿Dónde vas a comer mañana? No sé, comeré en el bar ”.
¿Qué va a hacer Ana este fin de semana? Irá al cine con su novio”.

El futuro perfecto lo usamos cuando queremos usar el Pretérito Perfecto y expresar probabilidad al mismo tiempo:

Por ejemplo:

“¿Dónde ha estado María? Habrá estado en el bar”
“¿Cuándo han venido Silvia y Juan? Habrán venido esta mañana”

El Condicional simple se usa si queremos expresar probabilidad en el pasado. Aquí, el condicional sustituye al los tiempos Pretérito Imperfecto y Pretérito Indefinido:

Por ejemplo:

“¿Dónde estaba María? Estaría en el bar”
“¿Cuándo vinieron Silvia y Juan? Vendrían ayer”

Y el Condicional Compuesto se usa para expresar probabilidad en un pasado anterior a otro pasado, es decir, sustituye al Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto pero expresando probabilidad al mismo tiempo:

Por ejemplo:

“¿Dónde había estado María antes de la fiesta de ayer? No sé, habría estado en el bar.”
“¿Qué había comido Antonio antes de venir? No estoy seguro, habría comido una paella”

Bueno, pues esto es todo por hoy. Os recomiendo que intentéis practicar frases usando estos tiempos con un valor de probabilidad, ya que los hispanohablantes lo usamos muchísimo y seguro que si lo practicais lo suficiente, os ayudará a entender y comunicaros mejor en español.

Que paseis una buena semana y hasta pronto.

I hope you are enjoying my weekly Spanish lessons. Follow this link for many more great resources to help you learn Spanish.

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It’s All Relative originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 15:00:39.

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