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.

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!

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.)

For example, estar aburrido vs. ser aburrido is the difference between being bored or being boring!

The very general rule of thumb is that we use SER + an adjective is for permanent, intrinsic characteristics while ESTAR is for temporary changes or changes that have come as the result of some kind of process. However, there are circumstances where it’s not 100% clear to non-native Spanish speakers how the meaning of some adjectives change when paired with SER or ESTAR.

For example, estar muerto vs. ser muerto. Muerto means “dead” and often English speakers have the tendency to want to use the verb ser with this adjective. However, when referring to the physical state of being dead, of being six feet under, you must use the verb estar. Ser (un) muerto means to be a bore, a dud.  Same deal with estar vivo (to be physically alive, as in living and breathing) vs. ser vivo (to be very clever, mentally bright, etc.)

There are some Spanish adjectives that can be paired with SER and ESTAR and not change meaning. Interestingly enough, they are adjectives that have to do with one’s relationship status. Adjectives such as casado (married), soltero (single) and viudo (widowed).  So regardless of whether somebody  “está casado” or “es casado,” they both mean the same thing – that the person is married.

There are a ton of these kinds of adjectives. That’s why I’ve put together a list of 33 of these Spanish adjectives, along with their different meanings, in one handy printout. You can get your copy of “Spanish Shapeshifters” by signing up for my email list in the righthand column of this blog. Don’t worry, it’s gratis.

Need a little help using these adjectives correctly? Check out the ReVerb Spanish page on Twitter  for examples of sentences using these different adjectives.

That may lead some English speakers who are studying Spanish to say things like  “Miro la tele” or “Me gusta mirar películas” in Spanish. This is incorrect. In Spanish, use VER when referring to the act of watching TV, movies or sports.

VER

A Juan le encanta ver los dibujos animados. Juan loves to watch cartoons.

Me gusta ver el tenís. I like to watch tennis.

Of course, VER is also used in the general sense of seeing:

¡Nos vemos pronto! See you soon! (Literally: We see each other soon.)

Anoche el niño vio una fantasma. Last night the boy saw a ghost.

MIRAR

…can also can be translated as “to watch” but more in the context of looking at someone or something with intention. Personally, I prefer the translation “to look at,” that way you avoid any confusion with VER.

Este café es un buen lugar para mirar a la gente. This café is a great place to people watch/to look at people.

¡Oye! ¿Qué miras? ¡¿Tengo monos en la cara?! Hey! What are you looking at?!

No, tranquila. Estoy mirando la araña que trepa por tu hombro. No, calm down. I’m looking at (I’m watching) the spider climbing your shoulder.

“Tener monos en la cara” is a very funny expression used in Spain. Literally, it means “Do I have monkeys on my face?” and it is a testy way of  asking somebody what the heck they are looking at when they are staring at you.

Anyway, regarding MIRAR, it is a bit more literary than VER since it a verb that means to observe or to contemplate. For example, there is a difference in meaning between  “ves las estrellas” and “miras las estrellas.” The first phrase (ves las estrellas) references the general act of seeing the stars. You have eyes so you can see the stars. The second phrase (miras las estrellas) suggests viewing with intention or focus or with great interest. You look at the stars….leading you to contemplate the vastness of the universe….

Visit the ReVerb Spanish page on Twitter for more phrases containing VER or MIRAR. Check the June 15 entries.

To tell you the truth, there is a lot I want to share with you about Spanish verbs but some of it really doesn’t warrant a 400+ word blog entry.

That’s where Twitter comes in. Twitter is a web site where people can post very short messages on all sorts of topics. It’s like a blog but with entries that are extremely brief.  There is a 140-character limit per entry, and that includes punctuation marks and spaces!

Twitter is a great platform for ReVerb Spanish because you can get more helpful tips about different Spanish verbs without having to wade through lengthy explanations. In fact, it’s an efficient way for me to address some verbs that are interesting but maybe don’t have enough meat to devote an entire podcast to them.

Wondering what kinds of things I’m putting on Twitter? Here’s a sampling of a few verbs that were the focus in some recent “tweets.” (You’ll have to visit the ReVerb Spanish Twitter page to get the answers to these riddles.)

Armarse un lío vs. Hacerse un lío: They both mean trouble but in different ways.

Estar a cargo de vs. Hacerse cargo de: Who’s the boss between those two phrases?

Alumbrar vs. Deslumbrar: Shine some light on two similar verbs

Callarse la boca vs Cerrarle la boca: It’s the difference between keeping one’s mouth shut or causing someone to shut theirs!

As you can see, it’s a little bit of everything. But the focus is solely on explaining to you the nuances of Spanish verbs and verb phrases that are not only useful for you to know but also a lot of fun to use!

I post items over there more frequently than I do on this blog, so if you ever miss me (si me echas de menos) and wonder what I’ve been up to, you can find me twittering away at Twitter.com/ReVerbSpanish.  If you feel like it, sign up for your own Twitter account and we can also communicate with one another that way.

¡Hasta luego!

As a bonus, you’ll also get audio practice sentences where you can listen to sentences where the verb is missing and then you have to come up with the correct answer. A PDF file containing all the ESTAR conjugations is also included.

Click here to get the ESTAR audio verb drills pack.

Purchase

A common expression in Spanish is ¿Qué tal andamos? or ¿Cómo andamos?

In English that is translated as “How are we doing?” or “What’s new?”

“¿Cómo andamos?” is just another way of asking “¿Cómo estás?”

But ¿Cómo andamos? es muy informal. That means it’s a very casual phrase you would typically use with people you know, like friends and family. It’s not an expression that you would use in a formal setting, for example, on a job interview. You wouldn’t greet the job interviewer with the line ¿Cómo andamos? but rather ¿Cómo está usted?

So, how do you know when it’s OK to use ANDAR as a substitute for ESTAR? Fortunately, there are some specific rules to this.

ANDAR + a gerund

Click here for an explanation of what a gerund is.

Normally, a Spanish gerund is paired with the verb ESTAR. In English, we say, “I am working” and, in Spanish that would be “Estoy trabajando.”

If we change “estoy trabajando” to “ando trabajando,” we’re giving an additional piece of information. Why? Because the formula “ANDAR + a gerund” is a way to talk about a habitual action. A repeated action. Or you can think of it as an action that has become a custom or something that happens with regularity.

Consider the following examples:

Estoy muy cansada. En las últimas semanas, ando durmiendo menos de seis horas. (I am so tired. In the last few weeks, I’ve been sleeping less than six hours.)

¡Qué cómic tan chulo! Voy a comprarlo para mi sobrino que anda coleccionándolos desde hace meses. (Wow! What a cool comic book! I’m going to buy it for my nephew who has been collecting them for a few months now.)

ANDAR + past participle

Another situation in which ANDAR can be used as a subsitute for ESTAR is when you want to indicate a situation or a state of being that has being going on for a while.

¡Mamá! ¿Qué le pasa a Papá? ¿Por qué está tan triste?

Bueno, hija, es que anda muy preocupado por la crisis economíca. Cree que va a perder su trabajo.

As you can see with this example, the speaker could also have said “está muy preocupado. The dfference here is that using ANDAR adds another layer of meaning to that state of being worried. The verb andar, in this case, conveys the idea that the person who is worried, la persona que anda preocupada, has been worried for a while.

ANDAR + adjective

Mira! Desde que le tocó la lotería, Javier anda muy contento.

[Wow, would you look at that! Since he won the lottery, Javier is very happy (has been very happy).]

Again, you could’ve said, Javier está muy contento, in this situation and that would’ve been 100% correct. But saying Javier anda muy contento, conveys the idea that his state of happiness has become a frequent state of being for Javier. In other words, a habit.

Ok, well, I think that’s about it for ANDAR vs ESTAR. There are some other cool ways to use ANDAR.

Anda, ¡Anda ya!

Anda, an imperative form of the verb, is used frequently in Castilian Spanish as a way of expressing disbelief, surprise, fear, sarcasm or disgust. It can also be used to encourage somebody.  ¡Anda! or ¡Anda ya! have fluid meanings that depend on the tone of voice and the situation. The translation in English can mean “come on” or “yeah, right” or “gosh” or “gimme a break”, etc.

Tranquila, ¡anda, no llores más! (Calm down, come on, don’t cry any more!)

¡Anda ya! ¡No digas tonterías! (Come on! Get off it! Don’t say stupid things!)

Other examples con ¡anda!

¡Anda que no he tenido que trabajar tanto en la vida! (Gosh, I’ve never had to work so hard in my life!)

¡Anda, que como se entere mi padre! (Oh boy, wait until my dad finds out!)

As you can see, the verb ANDAR is very versatile. There’s one other usage of ANDAR but use it very carefully. Andáte con cuidado means “be careful” but it is generally considered a warning or a threat. So don’t use this as your closing remark in an email! When you want to be friendly and thoughtful the equivalent of  “take care” or “be careful”  in Spanish is “ten cuidado” (tú)  or “tenga cuidado” (usted).

This podcast is the audio verb drill for the imperfect past tense of SER. Purchase the complete set of audio verb drills for SER on this page. The price is $7.99.

As always, I’m open to receiving your suggestions and feedback. You can contact me directly through this blog’s contact page.

Conocer is intangible knowledge in the sense of to be familiar with someone or something. Use this verb with people, places and things.
Example: ¿Usted conoce Madrid? Do you know Madridl? ¿Conoces a Felipe? Do you know Phillip? Are you acquainted with Phillip? ¿Conoce usted ese café? Do you know that café? Are you familiar with that cafe?

Saber, meanwhile, means to know a fact, to have specific knowledge about something.

Examples:

¿Sabes a qué hora empieza la película? Do you know what time the movie starts? ¿Sabes el título de la película? ¿Sabe María mi nombre? Do you know the title of the movie? Does Mary know my name?

You can get additional mileage out of saber by adding an infinitive to it. An infinitive is an unconjugated verb. Here is the formula for saying “to know how” to do something in Spanish. Saber + infinitve = to know how (in English)

Here are some examples:

¿Sabe cocinar tu compañero de piso? (Does your roommate know how to cook?

Sí, él sabe cocinar. (Yes, he knows how to cook.)

Notice that this construction in Spanish doesn’t require the adverb “cómo” (how).

So, to summarize, conocer and saber both mean “to know” but with distinct usages.
Use CONOCER when referring to people, places or things that you know or are familiar with. Use SABER when referring to facts, information, specific know-how.

2. Once you’ve listened to the audio drill at least once or twice, then look at the written form of the conjugated verb so that you can see and memorize the spelling. Do the audio drill again, this time reading and repeating the conjugated verb. A good online Spanish verb conjugator is available at Word Reference.com. Just type in the verb you need in the search box and once you land on that verb’s  page, click on “CONJUGATOR” to see a full table of conjugations for that specific verb.

Remember, you have to practice using these verbs for them to stick in your memory. Each audio verb drill is five minutes or less, so it doesn’t take much time for you to sneak in a little Spanish verb practice every single day. ¡Suerte! and Happy Re-Verberating!

Have you ever used a Spanish-English dictionary to look up a word only to discover later on that the meaning you found wasn’t quite accurate for the situation? In fact, it’s quite common for Spanish-English dictionaries to lead many language learners astray with definitions that are imprecise or misleading.

The classic example are the verbs SER and ESTAR. Both mean “to be” in Spanish but with a difference. Using these two verbs interchangeably can change the meaning of a sentence even though the standard dictionary says that both verbs are the Spanish equivalent of “to be” in English.

While SER and ESTAR are obvious examples, there are several other Spanish verbs which create similar problems, albeit on a smaller scale, for Spanish learners. For example, the verbs hacerse, ponerse, quedarse and volverse all mean “to become” in Spanish but they cannot be used interchangeably in Spanish. That’s because each one of these verbs has an additional layer of meaning that doesn’t always get explained properly in a typical dictionary.

So, that’s what the ReVerb Spanish blog and podcast are going to focus on – the nuances, the variations in meaning for verbs that appear to synonyms.

Neither the blog nor the podcast will teach you Spanish grammar. That’s not the point of this program. Instead it will be a supplement to your Spanish language studies.

In addition to the blog entries, there are also audio Spanish verb drills available. Listening to these audio exercises are a good way to practice your Spanish verb conjugations. If you’ve ever second guessed yourself or gotten tongue tied when trying to remember the correct form of some basic verbs, listening to these audio drills might help.  I’m only making a few basic verbs available initially. But if I get feedback indicating that there is strong demand for more audio verb drills, I will add more audio verb drills to the current collection.

Would you like to make a suggestion or give feedback? Send me a message.  Tell me what you think so that I can improve this site. ¡Gracias!