TELEPHONE AND HOTEL WORDS AND PHRASES
This, of course, is strict memorization of the vocabulary items.
Here is a little review from Spanish for Professionals:
©1999 Spanish for Professionals ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Different ways to answer the phone (you get to pick which you prefer!)
¡Hola! - not as common as you might think, but still very acceptable non-business greeting
¡Bueno! - used extensively in Mexico and in US
¡Oiga! - common in South America and Central America
¡Aló! - a common, sounds like English greeting
¡Diga! or ¡Dígame! - the thing to say in Spain
¡Buenos días! or ¡Buenas tardes! ...Habla...(insert your name) -- a typical business greeting, also used with the company name given
First Statements : Making Inquiries
¿Con quién hablo, por favor? = With whom am I speaking, please?
¿Puedo comunicarme con ...(insert name of person) ? = Can I speak with ...?
¿Está el Sr./la Sra. ...(name)..? = Is ......in ?
¿Puedo dejarle un recado ? = Can I leave a message for him/her?
Un mensaje = a message (this is frequently heard now in the Americas although technically it's an incorrect usage - an Anglicism - but it's very common !
¿Puede decirme cuándo regresa ? = Can you tell me when he/she 's coming back?
Dígale que .....insert message.... = Tell him/her that......
Gracias por todo = Thanks for everything!
Answering Inquiries
Muy bien, le digo que = Well, I'll tell him/her that...
Regresa a las (insert time) = He/She 's returning at ...
No sé exactamente. = I don't know exactly
¿Quiere dejarle un recado/mensaje? = Do you want to leave him/her a message?
Bueno, le doy el recado/mensaje = Well, I'll give him/her the message.
IRREGULAR STEM-CHANGERS IN THE PRETERITE TENSE
Preterite: Part III
-ar and -er verbs that change their stem iin the present tense do not change in the preterite. They are conjugated just like other regular preterite verbs.
Present
entender
entiendo
entiendes
entiende
entendemos
entendéis
entienden Preterite
entender
entendí
entendiste
entendió
entendimos
entendisteis
entendieron
Present
cerrar
cierro
cierras
cierra
cerramos
cerráis
cierran
Preterite
cerrar
cerré
cerraste
cerró
cerramos
cerrasteis
cerraron
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-ir verbs that change their stem in the prresent tense do change in the preterite, but in a different way. They change e:i and o:u in the third person, singular and plural.
Present
preferir
prefiero
prefieres
prefiere
preferimos
preferís
prefieren
Preterite
preferir
preferí
preferiste
prefirió
preferimos
preferisteis
prefirieron
Present
dormir
duermo
duermes
duerme
dormimos
dormís
duermen
Preterite
dormir
dormí
dormiste
durmió
dormimos
dormisteis
durmieron
Preterite: Part IV
In order to preserve the sound of the infinitive, a number of verbs change orthographically (spelling) in the preterite tense. The following changes occur in the yo form only:
Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu
Verbs that end in -car change c to qu
Verbs that end in -zar change z to c
Here are three examples:
yo jugué (jugar)
yo busqué (buscar)
yo almorcé (almorzar)
Some common orthographic changing verbs for the preterite tense in these categories are:
-gar
-car
-zar
cegar
aparcar
almorzar
colgar
buscar
autorizar
jugar
clarificar
cazar
llegar
clasificar
comenzar
pagar
destacar
cruzar
plegar
empacar
empezar
regar
justificar
forzar
rogar
practicar
organizar
tragar
sacar
simbolizar
vagar
tocar
tropezarse
For verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer, the él,/ella/usted form uses the ending yó (rather than ió) and the third person plural uses the ending yeron (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter i.
creer
creí
creíste
creyó
creímos
creísteis
creyeron
Other verbs like creer include:
caer
leer
oír
poseer
proveer
roer
Exceptions to this rule include:
traer
atraer
distraer
Verbs that end in -uir change in the same way, but the written accent over the letter i only occurs in the yo form.
huir
huí
huiste
huyó
huimos
huisteis
huyeron
Other verbs like huir include:
construir
contribuir
destruir
fluir
incluir
influir
The preterite has quite a few irregular verbs, so flashcards can really help you to master them:
Verb Flashcards
-
preterite: creer, caer, leer, oír
creí
creíste
creyó
creímos
creísteis
creyeron
-
preterite: huir, construir, contribuir, incluir
huí
huiste
huyó
huimos
huisteis
huyeron
Preterite: Part V
The following verbs are irregular in the preterite and must be memorized:
decir
dije
dijiste
dijo
dijimos
dijisteis
dijeron
traer
traje
trajiste
trajo
trajimos
trajisteis
trajeron
ver
vi
viste
vio
vimos
visteis
vieron
Also like traer:
atraer
detraer
distraer
extraer
maltraer
retraer
sustraer
Verbs that end in -ucir are irregular and conjugated as follows:
producir
produje
produjiste
produjo
produjimos
produjisteis
produjeron
Other verbs in this category include:
aducir
conducir
coproducir
deducir
inducir
introducir
reducir
traducir
That's right! More flashcards for the irregular preterites:
Verb Flashcards
-
preterite: decir, traer
dije
traje
dijiste
trajiste
dijo
trajo
dijimos
trajimos
dijisteis
trajisteis
dijeron
trajeron
-
preterite: ver
vi
viste
vio
vimos
visteis
vieron
- preterite: -ucir (producir, conducir, traducir)
produje
produjiste
produjo
produjimos
produjisteis
produjeron
Preterite: Part VI
A number of verbs that are irregular in the preterite follow a particular pattern. While their stems change, they all take the following endings:
-e
-iste
-o
-imos
-isteis
-ieron
Here are the verbs, along with their corresponding stem changes:
Infinitive
andar
estar
tener
caber
haber
poder
poner
saber
hacer
querer
venir
Stem Change
anduv-
estuv-
tuv-
cup-
hub-
pud-
pus-
sup-
hic-
quis-
vin-
Here are two examples of how this pattern is applied:
estar (estuv-)
estuve
estuviste
estuvo
estuvimos
estuvisteis
estuvieron
saber (sup-)
supe
supiste
supo
supimos
supisteis
supieron
Note: The one exception is the third person singular of hacer. As you learned in a previous lesson, the c changes to z to form "hizo."
Another card for this pattern of irregular preterites:
Verb Flashcards
-
irregular preterite pattern: andar, estar, tener, caber, haber, poder, poner, saber, hacer, querer, venir
Infinitive
Stem
Change
Endings
andar
anduv-
-e
estar
estuv-
-iste
tener
tuv-
-o
caber
cup-
-imos
haber
hub-
-isteis
poder
pud-
-ieron
poner
pus-
saber
sup-
hacer
hic-
querer
quis-
venir
vin-
(courtesy: www.studyspanish.com)
CONOCER and SABER in the PRETERITE TENSE
Why a separate section for this?
Because SABER and CONOCER have somewhat expanded meanings when they're used in the Preterite:
SABER = To know
Present tense: (know)
Sé Sabemos
Sabes Sabéis
Sabe Saben
Preterite tense: (found out)
Supe Supimos
Supiste Supisteis
Supo Supieron
Sé = I know (a fact, information, how to do something)
SUPE = I found out (something)
Sabes = You know (a fact, information, how to do something)
SUPISTE = You found out (something)
And so on...
CONOCER = To know (be acquainted with a person, place, etc.,
also: to meet someone for the first time)
Present tense: (know)
Conozco Conocemos
Conoces Conocéis
Conoce Conocen
Preterite tense: (met someone for the first time)
Conocí Conocimos
Conociste Conocisteis
Conoció Conocieron
In other words, you can't say "I knew someone" by using the preterite of conocer...
If you say "Le conocí", you're really saying "I met him"
"Me conociste ayer" is really saying "You met me yesterday"
and so on...
HACE + QUE + TIME EXPRESSION + VERB
This is almost like strict memorization of a vocabulary item:
Hace + time expression + que + verb in the preterit
This is what we use to say how long ago something took place...
ex: Hace tres días que leí la lección. (I read the lesson three days ago.)
ex: Hace dos semanas que regresé de México. (Two weeks ago I returned from Mexico.)
But here's a change to the idea:
To tell that something began a certain amount of time AGO, and is STILL GOING ON, we use...
Hace + time expression + que + present tense
ex: Hace tres meses que vivo aquí. (I've lived here for three months.)
ex: Hace dos semanas que practico béisbol. (I've been practicing baseball for two weeks.)
USING DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
Direct Object Pronouns: Part I
The object that directly receives the action of the verb is called the direct object.
Bill hit the ball.
"Ball" receives the action of the verb "hit."
Sherry reads the book.
"Book" receives the action of the verb "reads."
The direct object can also be a person.
Sherry hit Bill. (DO=Bill)
The direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?" with regard to what the subject of the sentence is doing.
Bill hit the ball.
Bill hit what?
Bill hit the ball.
Sherry hit Bill.
Sherry hit whom?
Sherry hit Bill.
Often, it is desirable to replace the name of the direct object with a pronoun.
Example 1
Paul bought the flowers. He took the flowers home and gave the flowers to his wife.
Example 2
Paul bought the flowers. He took them home and gave them to his wife.
When the pronoun replaces the name of the direct object, use the following pronouns:
me (me)
te (you-familiar)
lo, la (him, her, it, you-formal)
nos (us)
os (you-all-familiar)
los, las (them, you-all-formal)
In an affirmative statement with one verb, the direct object pronoun comes immediately before the conjugated verb.
Tengo = I have
Tengo la pluma. = I have the pen.
La tengo. = I have it.
The pronoun (la) comes immediately before the verb (tengo).
Notice that if the subject of the sentence changes, this does not affect the direct object pronoun.
Juan la tiene.
Juan tiene = John has
Juan tiene la pluma. = John has the pen.
Juan la tiene. = John has it.
and
María la tiene.
María tiene = Mary has
María tiene la pluma. = Mary has the pen.
María la tiene. = Mary has it.
However, if the direct object of the sentence changes to a masculine noun, the masculine pronoun must be used.
Juan lo tiene.
Juan tiene = John has
Juan tiene el libro. = John has the book.
Juan lo tiene. = John has it.
but
Juan la tiene.
Juan tiene = John has
Juan tiene la pluma. = John has the pen.
Juan la tiene. = John has it.
Likewise, if the direct object of the sentence changes from singular to plural, the plural pronoun must be used.
Juan lo tiene.
Juan tiene = John has
Juan tiene el libro. = John has the book.
Juan lo tiene. = John has it.
but
María los tiene.
María tiene = Mary has
María tiene los libros. = Mary has the books.
María los tiene. = Mary has them.
Look at how Spanish and English are different.
"Lo tengo" and "La tengo" BOTH mean "I have it."
Differences:
- "It" has two forms in Spanish: lo, la
- "Tengo" one word in Spanish = two words in English (I have)
- The word order is different. In Spanish, the pronoun (lo, la) comes before the verb; in English, the pronoun (it) comes after the verb.
When you try to translate literally from English to Spanish, sometimes it works very well:
John eats the soup.
John = Juan
John eats = Juan come
John eats the = Juan come la
John eats the soup = Juan come la sopa.
Other times, direct translation doesn't work so well:
I eat the soup.
I = Yo
I eat = Yo como
I eat the = Yo como la
I eat the soup = Yo como la sopa.
Because "como" means "I eat," the word "yo" is redundant. A better translation might be:
I eat the soup.
Como la sopa.
Sometimes, when you try to translate literally, you run into much bigger problems:
I eat it. (the soup - la sopa)
I = Yo
I eat = Yo como
I eat it. = Yo como la.
This is completely incorrect!
The correct translation would be:
I eat it. (the soup)
La como.
As you can see, directly translating sentences with direct object pronouns doesn't work, so ... don't do it! There is a better, easier way.
Learn to translate groups of words, rather than individual words. The first step is to learn to view two Spanish words as a single phrase.
Try to think of each line as a single phrase, not two separate words:
la como
lo como
la leo
lo leo
la veo
lo veo
la tengo
lo tengo
la compro
lo compro
Read each line again. Before you do, glance at the translation beneath it. Then, read each line thinking of it as a phrase that has the same meaning as the English phrase below it.
la como
I eat it (feminine DO - la sopa, la comida, etc.)
lo como
I eat it (masculine DO - el pollo, el arroz, etc.)
la leo
I read it
lo leo
I read it
la veo
I see it
lo veo
I see it
la tengo
I have it
lo tengo
I have it
la compro
I buy it
lo compro
I buy it
In the previous examples, it is clear that the subject of the sentence is "I" because the verbs are all conjugated in the "yo" form. With other verb forms, it is often desirable to add a word to clarify the subject.
Juan la come. (la comida)
Juan eats it.
María lo tiene. (el libro)
María has it.
El chico la compra. (la pluma)
The boy buys it.
La chica lo ve. (el edificio)
The girl sees it.
Ustedes lo leen. (el periódico)
You-all read it.
Now, some examples of plural direct objects.
Juan come dos sándwiches.
Los come. or Juan los come.
María tiene tres libros.
Los tiene. or María los tiene.
El chico compra dos revistas.
Las compra. or El chico las compra.
La chica ve dos coches.
Los ve. or La chica los ve.
Ella compra dos televisiones.
Las compra. or Ella las compra.
Tenemos dos mesas.
Las tenemos. or Nosotros las tenemos.
Now, some examples where the direct object is a person.
I know you.
Te conozco.
She loves him.
Ella lo ama.
She loves me.
Ella me ama.
Juan sees her.
Juan la ve.
They call us.
Ellos nos llaman.
We call them.
Los llamamos.
Just as no one has ever learned to ride a bicycle by reading about it, neither will you learn to use direct object pronouns simply by reading this lesson. The key to success, as always, is to practice, practice, practice.
Direct Object Pronouns: Part II
Remember, a direct object receives the action of the verb.
Bill hit the ball.
"Ball" receives the action of the verb "hit."
Sherry reads the book.
"Book" receives the action of the verb "reads."
And, the direct object can also be a person.
Sherry hit Bill. (DO=Bill)
Also, the direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?" with regard to what the subject of the sentence is doing.
Bill hit the ball.
Bill hit what? The ball.
Sherry hit Bill.
Sherry hit whom? Bill.
Often, it is desirable to replace the name of the direct object with a pronoun.
Example 1
Paul bought the flowers. He took the flowers home and gave the flowers to his wife.
Example 2
Paul bought the flowers. He took them home and gave them to his wife.
When the pronoun replaces the name of the direct object, use the following pronouns:
me (me)
te (you-familiar)
lo, la (him, her, it, you-formal)
nos (us)
os (you-all-familiar)
los, las (them, you-all-formal)
In a negative sentence with one verb, the direct object pronoun is placed between the negative word and the conjugated verb.
Affirmative Sentence
I buy the books.
Compro los libros.
Los compro. (I buy them.)
Negative Sentence
I don't buy the books.
No compro los libros.
No los compro. (I don't buy them.)
Compare the following affirmative statements with their negative counterparts.
Los compras.
No los compras.
Guadalupe siempre lo estudia.
Guadalupe nunca lo estudia.
Ellos nos conocen.
Ellos no nos conocen.
Remember, don't try to translate word-for-word. Instead, think in terms of phrases, or concepts. For example, the sentence "No los compras" contains two concepts:
1. los compras (you buy them)
2. no (makes the whole sentence negative)
Direct Object Pronouns: Part III
Remember, a direct object receives the action of the verb.
Bill hit the ball.
"Ball" receives the action of the verb "hit."
Sherry reads the book.
"Book" receives the action of the verb "reads."
And, the direct object can also be a person.
Sherry hit Bill. (DO=Bill)
Also, remember that the direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?" with regard to what the subject of the sentence is doing.
Bill hit the ball.
Bill hit what? The ball.
Sherry hit Bill.
Sherry hit whom? Bill.
Often, it is desirable to replace the name of the direct object with a pronoun.
Example 1
Paul bought the flowers. He took the flowers home and gave the flowers to his wife.
Example 2
Paul bought the flowers. He took them home and gave them to his wife.
When the pronoun replaces the name of the direct object, use the following pronouns:
me (me)
te (you-familiar)
lo, la (him, her, it, you-formal)
nos (us)
os (you-all-familiar)
los, las (them, you-all-formal)
When a sentence has two verbs, the first verb is conjugated and the second verb remains in the infinitive form.
poder
to be able
pagar
to pay
Puedo pagar diez pesos.
I am able to pay 10 pesos.
preferir
to prefer
hablar
to speak
Elena prefiere hablar español.
Elena prefers to speak Spanish.
In sentences with two verbs, there are two options regarding the placement of the direct object pronoun.
1. Place it immediately before the conjugated verb
2. Attach it directly to the infinitive
Here are examples of the direct object pronoun placed before the conjugated verb:
Lo quiero ver.
I want to see it.
Lo debemos comprar.
We should buy it.
María nos debe visitar.
Mary should visit us.
Juan lo necesita lavar.
John needs to wash it.
Here are examples of the direct object pronoun attached directly to the infinitive:
Quiero verlo.
I want to see it.
Debemos comprarlo.
We should buy it.
María debe visitarnos.
Mary should visit us.
Juan necesita lavarlo.
John needs to wash it.
Here are the two methods side by side. Neither method is "better" than the other.
Lo quiero ver.
Quiero verlo.
I want to see it.
Lo debemos comprar.
Debemos comprarlo.
We should buy it.
María nos debe visitar.
María debe visitarnos.
Mary should visit us.
Juan lo necesita lavar.
Juan necesita lavarlo.
John needs to wash it.
These same rules apply for questions and negative statements.
¿Lo debemos comprar?
¿Debemos comprarlo?
Should we buy it?
Juan no lo necesita lavar.
Juan no necesita lavarlo.
John doesn't need to wash it.