Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Érase que se era- Préterito Imperfecto


Hi, my dear readers. In today´s post I would like to take you to a small trip through the past imperfect ( pretérito imperfecto), I know, I know... You are thinking that you have watched many videos in Youtube that explain how to use the pasts and I bet you have read many other posts or blogs and maybe you still don´t understand when to say era or fue, vivía or viví, but if you start analyzing carefully how natives talk, probably your understanding of the past in Spanish will improve. Reading rules and isolated examples are not enough, you need to put everything in context and what better context that to listen and analyzing lyrics from Spanish songs? 

 

Cartagena de Indias- SSClasespañol

 

In May you have the opportunity to read a post also related to pretérito imperfecto. In that post we studied the imperfect to talk about description in past with the song Insoportablemente bella. Today I have another song, a classic sung by a particularly important singer called Silvio Rodríguez. With Silvio´s song you will notice how to use imperfect for descriptions but also used as a routine past. 

Let´s look 

Érase que se era

Eramos una vez un grupo de nueve o diez
Que coincidía cada noche
Una suerte de sueños que hacían cuadrilla
Unos buenos muchachos riendo juntos
Érase que se era una vez

Por esa época se amaba tanto, qué sé yo
¡Qué época tanta de amores!
Desfilábamos juntos, se hacían poemas
Y las calles que buenos gustos tenían
Érase que se era una vez

De uno en fondo pasábamos
Por la misma canción
Era uno, eran dos, eran tantos qué sé yo
Pero era bonito mirarnos, vernos sufrir
Érase que se era una vez

Era imposible pasar un sólo día sin morir
Sin gritar, sin reír, sin comprender, sin amar
Qué desastre de gente que no podía estar en paz
Érase que se era una vez

Yo no sé si fue el tiempo que lo vuela todo
O si fuimos nosotros detonando el tiempo
Pero nos fragmentamos como una granada
Érase que se era una vez

Yo no sé si ha llovido una lluvia que moje
Cada esquirla en el sitio en que haya caído
Si hay guardada una tarde común en el tiempo
Érase que se era una vez

Yo no sé si ha servido de algo o de nada
Que haya habido pasado y que quede recuerdo
Yo no sé si mañana pensaré lo que hoy vivo
Érase que se era una vez

In English when you start reading fairy tales to a child, those stories usually start with the phrase " Once upon a time there was/were ..." In Spanish the equivalent is " Erase una vez..." and that is the title of  this song. This expression will lead us to the author´s memories. Precious memories  with his group of  friends. He said " Eramos una vez un 

 grupo de nueve o diez".  and  he starts telling his story, what they used to do, think or feel. We can read  " Desfilábamos juntos, se hacían poemas Y las calles que buenos gustos tenían" or "De uno en fondo pasábamos Por la misma canción Era uno, eran dos, eran tantos qué sé yo".

 Also pay attention time expressions like: cada noche ( Que coincidía cada noche ) or por esa época ( Por esa época se amaba tanto, qué sé yo) They are all indicadors that he is refering to a repetitive action, something that used to happen regulary and maybe it is different in the present. Those are the moment native Spanish speaker use the past imperfect and how about you? what memories do you have from your teen time friendship? or maybe during the collage? what did you guys used to do? how did you used to have fun?

Contesta:

¿ Qué bonito recuerdo tienes de tu época de adolescente? ¿ Qué hacían tú y tus amigos/as para divertirse? ¿ Qué hay de los amigos cuando estabas en la universidad? Qué hacían en los ratos libres?  

You can answer in the comment box. 

 ¡Hasta la próxima!


NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon


 

Friday, September 18, 2020

Te propongo- Subjuntivo presente

 

Did you know Colombian people celebrate "San Valentine Day " In September? But we call it different, it´s known as  " Día del amor y la amistad " ( Love and Friendship Day).

 For this reason, I brought today this post with this love salsa song called " Te propongo"

We celebrate love and practice   subjunctive at the same time ... Yes, Subjunctive!  a big headache for many Spanish learners. 

 Let´s leave behind the grammar rules for a moment and enjoy this beautiful salsa song (click on the title to watch the video)  

Te Propongo

Hector Rey

 

Palomino- SSClasespañol

Ay, ay, ay, cuanto te quiero
Te propongo que regreses
Sin preguntas, ni reproches*
No me importa si el amor fue tu equipaje
No me importa tu pasado, solo quiero tu presente

Te propongo simplemente que seas mi manantial
O mi pase de la suerte
Te propongo simplemente escaparnos para siempre a otro mundo diferente

Te propongo simplemente que seas mi terruño*
Mi buena suerte
Te propongo simplemente que seas mi estrella
Que guía mi camino
Te propongo simplemente que vivas conmigo
Que seas mi mujer para siempre

Ay, ay, ay ay ay cuanto te extraño
Ay, a-a-ay, lo reconozco me haces falta
Ay, ay, quisiera amarte hasta el cansancio
A-a-ay, ay, si tú no vienes, iré a buscarte
A-a-ay, ay, al fin del mundo, si es necesario para verte

Te propongo simplemente que vivas conmigo
Que…

Source:  Musixmatch


Beautiful lyrics and song, right? Now the learning part. 

My dear learners and readers notice that every line in black bold is the sentence with the subjunctive:

Te progongo que + subjunctive 

But there is one in blue that starts with the same phrase "Te propongo" but it´s not followed with subjunctive:

Te propongo + infinitive. 

Let´s take a close look below: 


With the same pattern we find other sentences with other verbs. The first part we express suggestions, advices, petitions, requests etc.  The second part is placed the idea in subjunctive. The two sentences united by the connector "que".

Look at the chart below and compare the two columns:



The second part uses the same introductory verbs but any of the sentences make any emphasis whom the advice, suggestion or request goes to. Basically, that is the idea. You want to address your request or suggestion to someone more specific? well, use subjunctive in the second part. if not, just uses a simple sentence with infinitive. 

 

That is what the singer does in song above. Every time when he wants to address his proposal to his lover. He uses subjunctive: " te propongo que vivas comingo" (I propose you to live with me ) but when the idea address both of them he just express it in one sentences " te propongo escaparnos juntos " ( I propose to run away together)  Makes sense for you? 


Last but not least, note all these verbs : proponer, recomendar, sugerir, pedir, prohibir, aconsejar,  they need indirect pronouns : me, te, le, nos, les.


What do you propose to your lover to do this love and friendship day? surprise me with some examples in the comment box. 

Until next time. 



NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon

Friday, August 28, 2020

Colombianismos parte 2

Do you know what "sapo " means? If you look up in the dictionary probably the first meaning that you will find is " toad or frog" but this word or this animal has a totally different connotation in Spanish, specially the Spanish spoken in Colombia.  Even in Colombia "sapo" can be a verb "sapear". 

Below you will find the three most common uses.






This word become even more popular when some drug dealer decided to betray their partners to get some reduction in their sentences. You can see an example in the  2008  Colombia  TV series called "El Cartel de los Sapos". It is also a book writen by Andrés López López.

I hope you have enjoyed this short lesson.

What do you think of these meaning you learnt today? is it weird? funny?logical?Leave your comment


NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Colombianismos Parte 1

 ¿ Would you like to sound more Colombian? There are many words and expression you won´t be able to learn in a Spanish class or with an app because this language has so many varieties like speakers. There are some expression you will be able to get familiar only if you talk with locals. 

That´s why in this post I have selected some basic vocabulary you maybe can hear from a Colombian person. If you like the Spanish spoken in Colombia, I invite you to practice and to start using this words. More than one will be surprised how you have advance.









Are you not sure about the pronunciation of these words? Don´t worry. Link below to listen the pronunciation:

#colombianismos #learningspanishincolombia #spanishvocabulary #spanishforbeginners #spanishlanguage. 

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon


Monday, August 10, 2020

Expresiones coloquiales con comida.

You have not gotten an advance level in a language until you start using some coloquial expressions. They are many and maybe not easy to master them but you can start memorizing the most commom. 
Food like music is very important in Colombian people life that might be a reason many colloquial expressions used in Colombia involve food . 
Below you will learn few of them. 


#expresionesenespañol #spanishslangs  #learnspanish #spanishblogs  #spanishlessons #spanishincolombia

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon


Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Ser o Estar : Esa es la cuestión

Hi, My readers. 


Suiza foto de SSClasespañol

In today´s post you will learn some basic expressions with ser and estar. These two verbs can be used with some adjectives and according to the verb you select, ser o estar, the meaning can change. Stop thinking about temporal or permanent. Remember the key is to learn by context

#seroestar #seryestarconadjetivos #spanishlessons #spanishincolombia

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon


Sunday, July 19, 2020

Combinaciones con el verbo SALIR

Belize foto de SSClasespañol

Hi my dear readers, In todays post I would like to share some frequent combination that hispanic people use with the verb "Salir ". Learning vocabulary is as much important as talking or learning grammar. How are you goint to keep a conversation if you don´t have the words ? How are you going to practice the grammar if you don´t have the vocabulary to do it? But many time language students and teachers think that memorizing long list of isolated words is enough. Sorry to say that is not the case. To memorize sucessfully a new vocabulary 
you need it to learn it in context, make groups or like in this post, learn the different and more frequent combinations with that new word. 

Below you will find 5 common combination with the verb "salir" because this verb doesn´t only mean to leave






#spanishlesson #vocabulario #verbosalir #spanishisfun "spanish4foreigners.


NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Reflexivo o directo- Me llaman calle


Have you ever been confused about when to use a reflexive pronoun or  an direct  object pronoun ? Yes, I understand it can be frustrated.These pronouns are so similiar, they are only different in third singular or plural person ( se, lo/la/ ) it´s soooo confusing, right? .

In this post I am going to  help you to make the difference when it´s a reflexive pronoun and object pronoun.  

Manu Chao is here again to please us with another great song called "Me llaman calle". 

First, let´s take a look to the lyrics. 


ME LLAMAN CALLE de Manu Chau 
Centro-Cartagena de Indias. Foto: SSClasespañol


Me llaman calle, pisando baldosa
La revoltosa y tan perdida
Me llaman calle, calle de noche, calle de día
Me llaman calle, hoy tan cansada, hoy tan vacía
Como maquinita por la gran ciudad

Me llaman calle, me subo a tu coche
Me llaman calle de malegría
*, calle dolida
Calle cansada de tanto amar
Voy calle abajo, voy calle arriba
No me rebajo ni por la vida
Me llaman calle y ése es mi orgullo
Yo sé que un día llegará, yo sé que un día vendrá mi suerte
Un día me vendrá a buscar, a la salida un hombre bueno
Pa toa* la vida y sin pagar, mi corazón no es de alquilar

Me llaman calle, me llaman calle
Calle sufrida, calle tristeza de tanto amar
Me llaman calle, calle más calle

Me llaman calle la sin futuro
Me llaman calle la sin salida
Me llaman calle, calle más calle
La que mujeres de la vida
Suben pa
* bajo, bajan para arriba
Como maquinita por la gran ciudad

I love the lyric and the rythm of this song.  As you already may notice  when the singer say : " me llaman calle " He is using the verb "llamar" ( to call ) not the verb "llamarse " ( ones name is ) . The first version is not reflexive but the second does. 
To evoid confusing what you need to do is to  identify a reflexive verb from one  that needs object pronouns. Look the following slides:






As you can notice in the slides above , many reflexive verbs has a transitive option but every time the verb is reflexive its pronouns never change and  always mach with the subject and the conjugation of the main verb. A different thing happens with the transitive verbs. You can try to do examples with the other verbs as well. 
EG:
  •  Luisa se levanta tarde los domingos vs mamá, ¿ Me levantas mañana a las 6 ? 
  • Luisa wakes up late on Sundays        vs mom ¿ Can you wake me up at 6 ? 
Now, Can you answer:

  •  ¿ Cómo te llamas ? (what´s your name)  
  •  ¿ Cómo te llaman tus amigos? (how do your friends call you?) 
Please write in the  comment section. 

Can you try more examples like mine?. If you have more questions or needs more examples don´t hasitate to leave your comment. 
#spanishlessons #privatetutoring #spanish4foreigners #spanishincolombia #colombianas #spanishlanguage #lovespanish

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0CC iconby iconnc icon