ReVerb Spanish

TENER: Audio Verb Drill

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This podcast is the audio verb drill for the simple past tense of the verb TENER and gives you an idea of what the ReVerb Spanish audio drills are like. The complete package of audio is roughly 3o minutes and includes the following tenses: present, preterite, imperfect, subjunctive and imperfect subjunctive. A PDF file containing all the TENER conjugations is also included.

If you’d like  to purchase the entire set of verb drills for TENER, please leave a comment below.

If you’d like to purchase the audio verb drills for ESTAR and SER they are available on the ReVerb Spanish Audio Drills page. The price is $7.99.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:58 — 3.7MB)

Verbs like GUSTAR

I originally wrote this for my other blog, Voices en Español.

Gustar is one of the first verbs you learn when you start studying Spanish. But it’s the type of verb that frequently trips up English speakers because of the way it is conjugated. With gustar, the person that would be the subject in English becomes the indirect object in Spanish. So, I like chocolate in English becomes me gusta chocolate (literally, “chocolate is pleasing to me”) in Spanish.

Everyone who takes a beginner’s Spanish course learns this verb and how it works. But what about all the other Spanish verbs that operate exactly the same way? There are quite a few. You may already know several of these verbs but were you aware that they operated like gustar?

Here’s a list of verbs like gustar:

agradar (to like)

caer bien (to make a good impression)

caer mal (to make a bad impression)

convenir (to suit, to be suitable)

costar trabajo (to be difficult)

dar asco (to disgust)

disgustar (to upset)

doler (to hurt)

encantar (to love, to adore)

enfadar (to get angry)

extrañar (to surprise)

faltar (to lack, to be missing)

fascinar (to fascinate)

hacer falta (to need)

importar (to matter)

impresionar (to impress)

interesar (to interest)

molestar (to bother

parecer (to seem, to appear)

preocupar (to worry)

quedar (to have left)

sobrar (to have in excess)

sorprender (to surprise)

Rule to remember: What would be considered the subject in English turns into the indirect object (me, te, le, nos, os, les) in Spanish. Therefore, the verb in Spanish must agree with the subject of the sentence, not the indirect object.

For example:

John is fascinated by cars. A Juan, le fascinan los coches.

He likes Spaniards. Le caen bien los españoles.

The verbs fascinar and caer are conjugated in the plural because they are connected to the subject of the sentence, which are “coches” and “españoles.”

SABER has 2 different meanings

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Did you know that the Spanish verb SABER has two different definitions?

The first meaning, you probably already know. Yes, saber means “to know.” But there is another meaning to the verb that you may not have learned yet.  Saber also means “to taste. ”

So how do you distinguish between SABER when it means “to know” and SABER when it means “to taste”?

You can usually tell from the context. If the subject is food, then it’s likely that the meaning is “to taste.” But to avoid any confusion, you use a preposition to distinguish the different meanings.

SABER DE = to know about, to know of

When you want to express the meaning “to know about, to know of,” use SABER plus the preposition DE.

¿Sabes de un buen lugar para estudiar español? Sí, yo sé de un lugar fántastico en Argentina. (Do you know of a great place to study Spanish? Yes, I know of a fantastic place in Argentina.)

There are additional nuances to the verb SABER which I’ve previously discussed here. Check out the episode entitled  CONOCER vs. SABER for more insight into the meaning and usage of saber.

SABER A = to taste of, to taste like

When saber means “to taste,” you use the preposition a. That means “to taste of, or to taste like.”

Esta galleta sabe a coco y a mí no mi gusta ese sabor. (This cookie tastes like coconut and I don’t like that flavor.)

La sopa sabe a ajo. Es un poco fuerte. (The soup tastes of garlic. It’s a little strong.)

So to sum up, the verb SABER means “to know” or “to taste.” To distinguish between the two meanings, pay attention to the context and remember that at times you’ll have to use the Spanish prepositions A or DE to be grammatically correct.

Extra tip:

The nouns SABOR (flavor) and OLOR (smell) sometimes require the use of the preposition A. Here’s what you need to know:

When you are referring to a specific smell or flavor: sabor / olor + a + noun.

But you don’t need the preposition “a”  if you follow  the noun with an adjective: sabor / olor + adjective.

sabor a chocolate (chocolate flavored) but sabor dulce (sweet taste)

sabor a cebolla (onion flavored) but sabor ácido (sour taste, acidic taste)

olor a humo (smells of smoke, smells smokey) but olor terrible (horrible smell)

olor a canela (smells like cinnamon) but olor increíble (incredible smell)

The Spanish preposition A is also paired with the verb OLER (to smell). For example: Tu pelo huele a tabaco. (Your hair smells smokey, your hair smells of cigarette smoke.)

A funny way to say that something smells awful in Spanish is to say that it “huele a tigre” (smells like a tiger).

OLER is an irregular verb that undergoes a spelling change to the letter “h” in the present tense: huelo (I smell) hueles (you smell), huele (he smells), etc.

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Be sure to follow ReVerb Spanish on Facebook and Twitter for more frequent Spanish grammar and verb tips.

Thank you for checking out ReVerb Spanish and until the next time…Happy ReVerberating!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:49 — 1.8MB)

Soler

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Soler is a unique verb in Spanish because it can’t be used in all verb tenses. In linguistics, it’s what is called a defective verb. That means it can’t be conjugated and used in all verb tenses. In the case of soler, its defect is is that it can’t be used in the preterite, future, conditional or imperative tenses.

Another unique aspect of soler is that it has no direct English equivalent. There is no one-word verb in English which has the exact meaning that soler has in Spanish. If you look in an English-Spanish dictionary, you will see “to be in the habit of” or “used to” or  given as definitions of soler in English.

Here’s all you need to know about soler. It’s a verb that you use in Spanish to indicate that an action is routine or an activity is habitual. In English we would resort to using the adverbs “usually” or “generally”  to convey the same meaning.

In the present tense, soler is used to refer to current actions which are routine or habitual.
In the past tense, soler is used to refer to past habitual or routine actions.

Also, soler is always, always, always followed by the infinitive of another verb which represents the routine action. (The formula is: SOLER + INFINITIVE of another verb = habitual action)

Here are some examples:

Cuando Daniel era pequeño, solía comer pasteles de barro. Creía que eran chocolate. When Daniel was little, he would eat (was in the habit of eating) mud pies. He thought they were chocolate.

¿A qué hora sueles acostarte? What time do you usually go to bed?

Solía acostarme temprano pero ahora suelo dormir menos de cinco horas cada noche. (I used to go to bed early but now I usually sleep less than five hours every night.)

Suelo ir al gimnasio tres veces a la semana y suelo dar un paseo en el parque con mi perro todos los días. (I usually go to the gym 3x a week and I usually take a walk in the park with my dog every day.)

Soler can also be used  in the subjunctive just like any other normal Spanish verb.

For example:

Espero que el tren suela llegar a tiempo porque tengo prisa. (I hope the train usually arrives on time because I’m in a hurry.)

Me sorprende que Antonio suela salir con chicas tan bobas porque es un hombre muy culto. (It surprises me that Antonio usually goes out with such bimbos because he’s a very cultured, well-educated man.)

No creo que los famosos de Hollywood suelan cenar en este restaurante tan cutre y sucio. (I don’t believe that Hollywood celebs generally dine in this tacky, dirty restaurant.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:25 — 6.8MB)

Spanish prepositions: EN vs. SOBRE

I got a special request from Mike Daye, aka @EvilPundit, one of my people on Twitter, for an explanation of the Spanish prepositions EN and SOBRE, so here goes.

“EN” is a frequently-used preposition. It can be translated with various meanings in English such as in, by, at, or on, depending on the context.

Here’s a break down on when to use EN in Spanish. Obviously, there may be exceptions but this will give you some basic guidelines.

To indicate location

Vivo en una ciudad. (I live in a city.)

Busca en ese cajón. (Look in that drawer.)

Hoy me quedo en casa porque no me encuentro bien. (Today I’m staying at home because I don’t feel well.)

To place something in a time frame or time period

Ernest Hemingway nació en el siglo XIX. (Hemingway was born in the 19th-century.)

Acabaré en una hora. (I’ll finish in an hour.)

With movement verbs and modes of transportation

Vine en taxi. (I came by taxi.) Me encanta viajar en tren. (I love traveling by train.)

To indicate what a topic or subject is about

Pienso en ti. (I’m thinking about you.) Luis es experto en artes marciales. (Luis is an expert in martial arts.)

“EN” is also used in fixed expressions like “en voz alta” (in a loud voice), “en vez de” (instead of), “en medio de” (in the middle of), etc.

The only possible overlap in meaning between EN and SOBRE is with location. However, sobre is used to indicate a more precise location, a position that is above something else, while en is used with a more general meaning of location.

Think of “sobre” as the equivalent of “encima de” (on top of).

“Deja las llaves sobre la mesilla.” [ Leave the keys on the nightstand (on top of the nightstand).]

Chicos, por favor, no pongáis los pies sobre la mesa. [Guys, please, don’t put your feet on the table (on top of the table).]

Las cajas están colocadas unas sobre otras. (The boxes are stacked on top of one another.)

Eduardo está muy agobiado. Son demasaidas las responsabilides que recaen sobre él. [Eduardo is very stressed out. He’s got too many obligations weighing him down. (Literal  translation: “…that are falling on top of him.”)]

Sobre also has the meaning of “about” in Spanish. The preposition “acerca de” has the same meaning.

Tenemos que hablar sobre lo que pasó ayer.  Tenemos que hablar acerca de lo que pasó ayer. (We have to talk about what happened yesterday.)

¿Qué sabes tú sobre este asunto? What do you know about this topic?

Sobre can also be used to give an approximation, what we’d translate in English as “around” or “around about.”

Ayer llamé a tu casa sobre las seis de la tarde. ¿Dónde estabas? (I called you around 6 p.m. yesterday. Where were you?)

Sobre is a bit of a weird preposition because in addition to being a preposition, it is also a noun (which means “envelope”), but it’s always obvious, from the context, when it is being used as a noun. Necesito comprar un sobre para enviar esa carta. (I need to buy an envelope in order to send that letter.)

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How to find the definitions of Spanish idioms and expressions

How many times have you heard or read a Spanish expression and then consulted a dictionary for its meaning and turned up empty? Maybe you found the answer right away. But perhaps there have been a few occasions where it took a little bit of digging to find the definition.

There is an easy way to uncover the meanings of Spanish idioms and expressions and you can do it by using a monolingual (Spanish-only) dictionary. Here’s how:

Always look up the meaning of an expression by checking the dictionary entry for the first noun mentioned in the expression. The reason? A Spanish verb is more likely than a Spanish noun to be used in multiple expressions. For example, the verbs dar, estar, ir, tener, are used in plenty of Spanish phrases and expressions. An excellent Spanish dictionary will list expressions that contain those verbs, but if there are numerous expressions, most dictionaries usually only list the most commonly-used ones. That’s why you’re better off looking for the definition of a Spanish expression by first checking the entry for the main noun mentioned.

Spanish expressions (frases hechas) are combinations of words whose meaning adds up to something very different from their individual parts.

Take, for example, an expression like “ir al grano.” The verb ir means “to go” while the noun grano can be a seed, a grain of sand or a pimple on somebody’s face. But when ir is added to grano (ir al grano) the meaning changes from a literal translation to a figurative one.

When I checked the dictionary under “IR” there was no definition for the expression. But when I checked “GRANO”, there was the expression with its meaning. Ir al grano means “to get to the point.”

So, to recap, here’s a step-by-step process you can use to find the definition of a Spanish expression.

Step 1: First, look up the primary NOUN

Step 2: If there is no noun, look up the VERB.

Step 3: If there is no verb, look up the ADJECTIVE.

Step 4:  If there is no adjective, look up the PRONOUN.

Most of the time, you won’t have to go down that entire scale. You will usually find your definition by first looking up the noun or the verb. Usually the first two steps (checking the noun or the verb listed in the expression) is enough.

By the way, I strongly believe that once you reach an intermediate-level of Spanish, you should start using a Spanish-only dictionary. Why? A monolingual dictionary usually gives a more comprehensive definition. A good monolingual dictionary will also give you examples as well as multiple definitions. The average bilingual dictionary, because it contains two different languages, generally does not have the space, if it is in book form, to offer the same level of detail.

Of course, there are some electronic or online bilingual dictionaries which are excellent, but another advantage to using a monolingual dictionary is that it forces you to think in Spanish. That means less translating in your head, which is a good thing.

Check out: “How to use a Spanish-English Dictionary”