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Spanish grammar

Pasado del Subjuntivo – Ejercicio 3

March 12, 2010

Spanish Past Subjunctive
This is the third exercise on the Spanish past subjunctive.  It parallels Exercise 3 of the Spanish present subjunctive, so that you can continue applying the equation set out in Pasado del Subjuntivo – Lección 1.  By now you should know many of the Spanish keywords and understand the structure, so it’s a [...]

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Spanish sentence structure equals flexibility

February 27, 2010

The surprising flexibility of Spanish sentences
English sentence structure is not completely set in stone, but it’s far more rigid than that of Spanish.
English speakers say “I go to the movie theater,” and in more poetic fashion may come up with something like “To the movie theater I go.”  The latter is far less common, however, [...]

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Palabra del Día – mesquino, na

February 21, 2010

mezquino, na – stingy, scanty, petty, small-minded, miserable
mayss-KEE-noe; adjetivo
Ejemplo:
El avaro tiene una manera mezquina de ver el mundo.
The miser has a small-mindedway of seeing the world.
 
 
Developing your Spanish-language skills requires building your Spanish vocabulary. Analyzing the example sentences carefully will also help move your Spanish-language usage forward. With time, you will find yourself able [...]

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Palabra del Día – zumbido

February 19, 2010

zumbido – buzzing sound, humming sound
soom-BEE-doe; sustantivo masculino
Ejemplo:
El detective oyó un zumbido detrás de la puerta.
The detective heard a buzzing sound behind the door.
 
Some Spanish words seem more efficient than their English equivalents.  Although in English, a noun “buzzing” may exist in some sense, it seems awkward to say “heard a buzzing” without adding the [...]

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Palabra del Día – velar

January 1, 2010

velar – to stay awake, to keep vigil, to watch over
vay-LAHR; verbo
Ejemplo:
La vieja tenía fe que el santo velaría por ella.
The old woman had faith that the saint would watch over her.

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Sólo vs solo

December 23, 2009

The word “solo” without a written accent mark is an adjective, and “sólo” with a written accent mark is an adverb.
1.  As an adjective, “solo” (or “sola“) means alone, lonely, only, sole, single, or just one and does not have a written accent mark (acento ortográfico):
Prefiero hacerlo solo.
I prefer to do it alone.
Nuestra sola preocupación [...]

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Spanish verbs that are not followed by prepositions for situations in which they are required in English

December 8, 2009

¡Hola amigos!  Espero que hayan pasado un buen fin de semana y que estén avanzando bien con la compra de regalos de Navidad, el envío de tarjetas, etc. Yo he hecho algunas compras, pero ni había pensado en las tarjetas hasta ahora que acabo de escribir esto.  Siempre espero con mucha anticipación esta temporada navideña [...]

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Syllabication (silabeo) – Lesson 1

October 26, 2009

This is the first of two lessons on how to divide Spanish words into syllables.  Knowing how the words are divided will help you apply the accent rules and improve your pronunciation.
We shall begin with five definitions:
1.  OPEN SYLLABLE – This is a syllable that ends in a vowel.  The letter “y” can be considered [...]

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Using hacer to express time

October 12, 2009

The verb hacer is used in a variety of ways, one of which is to express the amount of time that something has been going on.
The formula is: hace + time + que + present-tense verb. It may seem convoluted at first, but if you’ll work through some exercises, it will soon [...]

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