Lección 59: Spanish Cognates

A cognate is a word that is the same (or similar) in two languages, such that a speaker of the first language can easily determine its meaning in the second language. It is the fastest way to increase your Spanish vocabulary. For example: la opera, el patio.  Check out this website that is totally dedicated to Spanish cognates: http://spanishcognates.org

Cognates are broken down into two groups: those whose spelling are the same in both languages, and those that are very similar. For this second group, certain rules apply that enable you to easily translate between the two.

Same Spelling Cognates

Here are some additional examples that enjoy the same spelling, although the pronunciation may be different:  e.g.

la lava	la visa	sociable	funeral
el metro	el hospital	la idea (ee-DEH-a)	el escape (es-SKA-peh)
el funeral	el cereal	horrible (oh-RREE-bleh	terrible (te-RREE-bleh
inevitable	normal	digital	vital
temporal	rural	actual	principal

Cognates that Add -ir. or -ar

These generally are verbs with a stem similar in English, so you just add the -ir or -ar ending.

adoptar	calmar	controlar
limitar	invertir	insistir

Cognates that change -tion to -ción

This is often used to form noun versions of verbs. All of these nouns are feminine. The -ción is pronounced like a single syllable with an accent: SEE-OHN.

nation / nación	action / acción	celebration / celebración	condition / condición
rotation / rotación	fiction / ficción	institution / institución	abolition / abolición

Cognates that Add an -o

This cognate is so common that you one is tempted to add an -o to any English word in the hope that it works.

domestic/doméstico

academic/académico

alcoholic/alcohólico

panic/pánico

Cognates that Change -ist to -ista

Although the Spanish word ends in -a. the gender can be either masculine (el pianista) or feminine (la pianista), depending on the person being described.

pianist/pianista

artist/artista

communist/comunista

socialist/socialista

Cognates that Change -ty to -idad

There are many. All are feminine.

university/universidad

society/sociedad

eternity/eternidad

personality/personalidad

Cognates that Change -ous to -oso

curious/curioso

amorous/amoroso

virtuous/virtuoso

Cognates that Change -ance to -ancia or -ence to -encia

Examples: ambulance/la ambulancia, permanence/permanencia, existence/la existencia,

ambulance/ambulancia

permanence/permanencia

existence/existencia

science/ciencia

Cognates that Change -ly to -mente

intensely intensamente

normally normalmente

simply simplemente

occasionally ocasionalmente

Be cBe careful with this one…as not every Spanish adverb ending with -mente has an equivalent English cognate. For example:  easy/facilmente, unfortunately/ desgraciadamente, happily/alegremente.

BEWARE OF FALSE COGNATES

These will trip you. For example: el pie/the foot (not the pie), embarazada/pregnant (not embarrassed), egoista/selfish (not egotist),  ocurrencia/idea (not occurrence), el argumento/the plot (not the argument)  

Discución: Capítulo 3 de “Un Poquito Tuyo”

Ahora vamos a discutir el argumento del tercer capítulo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzI9EGD9JKQ

Key Events:

1.     Catalina confronts Julieta at the store, faints and goes to the hospital

2.     Javi goes to another protest with his love interest

3.     Eduardo meets prospective tenants

4.     Viviana catches the American guest go skinny dipping in the pool

Key phrases

Es tu culpa.                                                      It’s your fault.

¡Ándale!                                                          Mexican version of “go” (“ve” or “vete”)

                                                                       

Lección 58: Repaso del Pasado (Preterito) y Conversación con el jardinero (Conversation with the gardener)

Today we continue review of the preterite. It enables you to discuss activities that occurred in the past. It translate to phrases like I ate, I walked, I did, I slept. You get the idea.

Here are the endings for  regular -ar verbs:  -é / -aste / -ó  / -amos / -aron
Here are the endings for regular -er and -ir verbs:  -í / -iste / -ió  / -imos / -ieron
Examples:
hablé / hablaste / habló / hablamos / hablaron
comí / comiste / comió / comimos / comieron
viví / viviste / vivió / vivimos / vivieron

Keep in Mind:

1. of all the past tenses, the preterite is the most used. The yo and él/ella/Usted forms have an accent on the last syllable. This feature distinguishes the preterite frion most other tenses.
2. the -o ending moves from 1st person singular (Yo) in the present tense (hablo, I speak) to 3rd person singular in the preterite (plus the accent; él/ella/Usted), eg. habló (he/she/you formal spoke)
3. The first person plural (Nosotros form) past tense is exactly the same as the present tense for -ar and -ir verbs    e.g.  hablamos  (we speak or we spoke)  and vivimos (we live or we lived). The true meaning is determined via context.   -er verbs do change slightly (comemos - we eat; comimos (we ate) Just a simple vowel change.

Optional: Diálogo / Dialogue

See if you can figure out this exchange I had the other day with the gardener, all via SMS texts.

Me: Hola Sotero. Es Armando Oliva. ¿Tienes tiempo este fín de semana para limpiar las palmas? Son tres, ya que la palma real se puso demasiado grande y la cortamos.

Gardener:  Hola. Puedo ir el domingo después de medio día.

Me:  ¡Gracias! Nos vemos el domingo entonces. La basura se la llevan el lunes.

--------------------------
Translation:

Me: Hi Sotero. It's Armando Oliva. Do you have time this weekend to clean (i.e. trim) the palms? They are three, since the royal palm became too big and we cut it down.

Gardener: Hi I can come Sunday after mid-day (noon).

Me: Thank you. We see each other then. The trash (i.e. clippings) are taken away (hauled away, removed) on Monday.

--------------------------
This mini-dialogue taking place no more than a minute is so full of learning points:

Notice there are no Subject pronouns (Yo, tú, ella), since the verb endings give that away.

Present tense:   tienes (do you have); puedo venir (I can come); nos vemos (we see one another), llevan (they take away, remove)

Past tense (preterite):  se puso (from ponerse, to become) it became; la cortamos (we cut it down)

Reflexive / Passive:  se puso (it became): se la llevan (they take it away)

Regarding the use of the expression "ya que" (since): The word "since" in English has two uses....it can be used to describe a time interval of an action (He's been hanging around since yesterday) and also used to describe a reason for something (He ate his food very quickly since he hadn't eaten all day).  Surprise:  Spanish use two different words to separate out these two meanings. The first meaning, we use "desde"  (él está por aquí desde ayer)  and the second meaning is "ya que" (El se comió la comida bien rapido ya que no habia comido el día entero; He ate his food very quickly, since he hadn't eaten all day)

Regarding the use of the word "demasiado (too much)" When describing quantities of something, there is a simple scale:

nada/ poquito/poco / suficiente / mucho / bastante / demasiado
nothing/ a little bit/a bit / enough /a lot / more than enough / too much

Time permitting, we'll discuss the 2nd episode of our telenovela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7xaSjfO1LU&t=958s 

Tip of the day: Pronouncing B and V in Spanish

It is surprising to many that the letters B and V sound the same in Spanish. The sound is somewhere in between a B and V in English. In the English B, the two lips come together and actually touch, but with the English V it is the top teeth that touch the bottom lip.

The Spanish B/V is formed by bringing the two lips together until they barely touch at or maybe don't touch at all. We can demonstrate and practice in class. But do note that before a consonant, the B does sound close to an English B:  as in abril, hombre

Since the two sounds are basically identical, it is customary when spelling a word in Spanish to use the qualifiers B-grande (big B) and B-chiquita (little B, or V). Or you can say "B de burro" or "V de vaca"

Please keep in mind there is no fatal error if you use the English "V" sound. You'll still be understood, and that's all that matters.

Here are some additional reading on this:

Spanishdict.com
Thoughtco.com

and here some videos

Butterfly Spanish "The Letters B and V in Spanish"
Pronunciation of the B and V in Spanish

Tip of the Day: Watching a Telenovela like "Un Poquito Tuyo"

How do you get the most out of watching a Telenovela (Sopa Opera)?

Un Poquito Tuyo is your typical Latin Telenovela. It is full of emotional characters with super dramatic consequences. One can almost follow the plot just by watching the drama unfold. The Spanish spoken is typical every day Spanish. Since it is filmed in México, it's one of the best examples of Latin American Spanish in the hemisphere. Great articulation and pronunciation. But, it is spoken very fast. Here are tips to get the most of the experience.

1. Remind yourself the goal is to understand the plot. Forget about understanding every word spoken. Even I can't do that, given there are regional differences in what they call things, and a fair amount of local slang. Try to get a gist of what they're saying.
2. By all means turn on the English captions. It's essential for not getting lost.
3. At the same time, try to pick out words or short phrases that are familiar to you. Write them down. it'll help you remember them the next time you hear them, and when you hear them said in context, you'll remember them better.
4. Also write down words/phrases that you don't understand but that you keep hearing over and over again. You can look up the meaning later or we can do it as an exercise in class. 
5. If you have time, watch the episode again. Not only will you understand more, you'll hear more words than before. Remember that learning a language is 80% repetition. You will be surprised how much more you pick up a 2nd time (or a 3rd time)
6. Don't get frustrated. The goal is to understand the plot, and you can do that just by reading the English subtitles and nothing else, so you will achieve the goal. That's cake. Picking out a few Spanish words here and there is the icing on the cake.  

I'll also be jotting down words/phrases  (especially those we have covered in class) and I will try to share them in advance so you know what's coming.

It appears that YouTube carries an abridged version of every episode, averaging about 20 minutes each. But I think the actual episodes each last about an hour. You can view the full episodes on www.dailymotion.com. Here is the link to Chapter 2 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x737oyp. YouTube definitely offers English subtitles. Daily Motion does not appear to come with English subtitles (let me know if you can find them) so I suggest always watch the YouTube version first.

Enjoy the drama that quickly unfolds in the 2nd episode (el capítulo, or chapter) when Julieta leaves her groom at the altar, storms out of the church, and meets Antonio

Lección 57: el Preterito (Repaso) y Un Poquito Tuyo (A Little Bit Yours) Telenovela

Lección 57: El Preterito (Repaso) {The Preterite}

The most commonly used past tense in Spanish

Pretérito                                                   I ate

Present Perfect                                         I have eaten

Imperfect                                                  I was eating, I used to eat

Today we will focus on the. Yo form (1^st person singular) and Él, Ella, Uds. form

hablar                        yo hablo (I speak)                                       Yo hablé. (I spoke). 

                                   él habla (He speaks)                                   él habló   (He spoke)

Note the change oàe / aào and an accent on the last vowel

comer                        yo como (I eat)                                           yo comí (I ate)

                                   ella come (She eats )                                   ella comió (she ate)

Note the change o à í /. e à Ió and an accent on the last vowel

Listen for the Accent on the Last Vowel

Fill in the Blanks.

1        To te amo. (I love you)                    Yo te ____.  (I loved you).

2.       Él canta una canción. (He sings a song)                               El ______ una canción (He sang a song)

Yo te amo	I love you	Yo te ___.	I loved you
Él canta una canción	He sings a song	él _____ una canción	He sang a son
Ella vive en Madrid	She lives in Madrid	ella _____ en Madrid	She lived in Madrid
Yo me caso en Junio	I marry in June	Yo me ____ en Junio	I married in June.
He should study more	Él debe estudiar más.	él _____ estudiar más	He should have studied more
She cooks very well	Ella cocina muy bien	Ella _____ muy bien	She cooked very well
She cries because her mother died	<llorar>	She cried because her mother died.	<llorar>
I eat at 6.	<comer>	I ate at 6	<comer>
I call my sister today	<llamar>	I called my sister yesterday	<llamar>
I prepare the meal	<preparar>	I prepare the meal	<preparar>
she works very hard	<trabajar>	She worked very hard	<trabajar>
I open the door for him	<abrir>	I opened the door for him	<abrir>
He writes you a letter	<escribir>	He wrote you a letter	<excribir>

There are 6. irregular verbs you should memorize:

ser, estar, and the four common helping verbs:   haber, querer, poder, deber.

ser (to be)	Yo soy	Yo fui	Ella es	ella fue
estar (to be)	Yo estoy	Yo estuve	Ells está	ella estuvo
querer (to want)	Yo quiero	Yo quise	ella quire	ella quiso
poder (to be able to)	Yo puedo	Yo pude	él puede	él pudo
deber (to ought to)	Yo debo	Yo dube	él debe	él dubo
haber (to have)	yo he	yo hube	ella ha	ella hubo

Un Poquito Tuyo                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAxgR93R_8

Music by Carlos Vives / Diego Torres.                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_poquito_tuyo                              

                                                                                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL4x2zG_6Yo             

             

Today we explore a telenovela (soap opera) called Un Poquito Tuyo, which translates as

A Little BIt Yours. It was on Telemundo Feb-June 2019. Today we’ll discuss the opening episode.

Main characters: In order of introduction (

1. Antonio Solano	Father (Padre)	2. Catalina	Wife (Esposa)
3. Eduardo	Oldest Son (Hijo mayor)	4. Viviana	Daughter (Hija)
5. Javi (Javier)	Youngest Son (Hijo menor)	6. Leticia	Sister (Hija)
7. Mrs. Lupita	Mother In Law (Suegra)

	Episodios	Episodes
1	Un poquito tuyo	A little bit yours (Almost Yours)	25 February 2019
2	¿Crees en el destino?	Do You Believe in Destiny	26 February 2019
3	Esto es la guerra	This is War	27 February 2019
4	La verdad	The Truth	28 February 2019
5	Hasta otra vida	Until the next life	1 March 2019
6	Cansada de ser pobre	Tired of being poor	4 March 2019
7	Solo amigos	Only Friends	5 March 2019
8	El límite de Cata	Cata’s limit	6 March 2019
9	El amor tiene su ciclo	Love has a cycle	7 March 2019
10	El amor te puede hacer caer	Love can make you fall (be your downfall)	8 March 2019
11	Un peligro evitado	An avoided danger	11 March 2019
12	Rivales en negocio	Rivals in Business	12 March 2019
13	Quédate con tu esposa	Stay with your wife	13 March 2019
14	Al rescate del hogar	Home rescue	14 March 2019
15	Mujeres resentidas	Resentful women	15 March 2019
16	Terapia fallida	Failed Therapy	18 March 2019
17	Adios a casa	Goodbye to the house (home)	19 March 2019
18	En defensa propia	In my osn defense	20 March 2019
19	Sin mentiras no es amor	Without Lies it’s not Love	21 March 2019
20	La estafa maestra	The master swindle	22 March 2019
21	Desleal competencia	Illegal Competency	25 March 2019
22	Peor es nada	Worse is nothing	26 March 2019
23	La última cena	The Last Supper	27 March 2019
24	Destinos cruzados	Crossed Destiny	28 March 2019
25	Sin armas para dar batalla	Without arms for battle	29 March 2019
26	Hasta los golpes de ser necesario	Even the battering is necessary	1 April 2019
	Divide y vencerás	Divide and you will Conquer	2 April 2019
28	Yo amo a Elvis	I love Elvis	3 April 2019
29	Amor consumado	Love consumed	4 April 2019
30	Un perdón termina todo	A pardon ends everything	5 April 2019
31	Juicio a papá	Trial for father	8 April 2019
32	Aprendiendo a ser papá	Learning to be father	9 April 2019
33	Nadie elige de quien enamorarse	Nobody selects with whom to fall in love	10 April 2019
34	Accidente inducido	Induced accident	11 April 2019
35	Persona 'non grata'	Persona ‘non grata’	12 April 2019
36	Daño permanente	Permanent Injury	15 April 2019
37	Un milagro para Javi	A miracle for Javi	16 April 2019
38	La luz al final del túnel	The light at the end of the tunnel	17 April 2019
39	Termina la reeducación	The reeducation ends.	22 April 2019
40	Mi lugar es contigo	My place is with you	23 April 2019
41	Destruiste a nuestra familia	You destroyed our family	24 April 2019
42	Nos quieren separar	They want to separate us.	25 April 2019
43	Tú eres mi corazón	You are my heart	26 April 2019
44	La cachetada	The slap on the face	29 April 2019
45	Don Paco en el hospital	Don Paco in the hospital	30 April 2019
46	Corazones rotos	Broken Hearts	1 May 2019
47	Javi mueve la mano	Javi moves the hand	2 May 2019
48	Él es mi hijo	He is my son	3 May 2019
49	¿Ya no me deseas?	You don’t want me anymore? (desire)	6 May 2019
50	El otro papá	The other father	7 May 2019
51	Una visita inesperada	An inseparable visit	8 May 2019
52	Cada quien en su papel	Each to his own role.	9 May 2019
53	Me voy de la casa	I’m leaving the house	10 May 2019
54	Mataron a Beto	They killed Beto	13 May 2019
55	El beso	The Kiss	14 May 2019
56	¿Quieres tener hijos conmigo?	Do you want to have children with me?	15 May 2019
57	Sol en casa	Sunshine in the house.	16 May 2019
58	¿No volverá a caminar?	You won’t walk again?	17 May 2019
59	No estoy enamorada de ti	I’m not in love with you.	20 May 2019
60	Quédate con mi hermana	Stay with my sister	21 May 2019
61	Tenemos que decirle la verdad	We have to tell him the truth	22 May 2019
62	La peor noticia	The worst news	23 May 2019
63	El reencuentro matrimonial	The matrimonial re-encounter	24 May 2019
64	Siempre serás el amor de mi vida	You’ll always be the love of my life	27 May 2019
65	¿Quieres volver a ser mi esposa?	Do you want to be my wife again?	28 May 2019
66	Están despedidos	You are fired	29 May 2019
67	Nos besamos	We kiss each other	30 May 2019
68	Bienvenidos a la joyería	Welcome to the jewelry store	31 May 2019
69	La primera noche juntos	The first night together	3 June 2019
70	Viviana confiesa	Viviana confesses	4 June 2019
71	¿Quieres casarte conmigo?	Do you want to marry me?	5 June 2019
72	Una nueva oportunidad	A new opportunity	6 June 2019
73	A corazón abierto	An open heart	7 June 2019
74	¿Lo amas?	Do you love him?	10 June 2019
75	¿Quieres ser mi esposa?	Do you want to be my wife?	11 June 2019
76	Tenemos a su hija	We have your daughter	12 June 2019
77	Vamos por Viviana	Let’s go for Viviana	13 June 2019
78	El rescate fallido	The failed rescue	14 June 2019
79	Episodio final	Final Episode	15 June 2019

Un Poquito

Carlos Vives, Diego Torres

No está de moda enamorarse  Ya nadie quiere ser sincero  Pero en ti yo encuentro todo, todo Todo lo que quiero  De Febrero hasta Febrero  Medellín o Buenos Aires  Cierro los ojos y pensarte  Se me ha vuelto inevitable  No quiero ser todo en tu vida  Tampoco lastimar tu orgullo  Y tengo alguna que otra deuda  Por hacerme un poco  Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque digan que no soy tu tipo  Este amor yo lo acredito ante un juez  Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque pienses que yo estoy rayado  Solo estoy enamorado y no lo ves  Y no me ves  Que en la noche ando yo buscando  Y tú pensando en otra cosa  Y no me ves Y aunque digan que lo nuestro es un fracaso  Prefiero comprobarlo yo en tus brazos  Qué fácil es decir porque no saben  Que nadie del amor tiene la clave  Hay gente que le gusta hablar de afuera  Y para quererte no hay escuela  Si tengo que aprender que sea contigo  Y si quieres hablar que sea conmigo No quiero ser todo en tu vida  Tampoco lastimar tu orgullo  Y tengo alguna que otra deuda  Por hacerme un poco Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque digan que no soy tu tipo  Este amor yo lo acredito ante un juez Tuyo, un poquito tuyo No le des más vueltas a la vida  No nos queda otra salida y no lo ves  Ay no me ves Que en la noche ando yo buscando  Y tú pensando en otra cosa  Y no me ves No he escrito la historia  De amor más bonito  Poquito a poquito me lo voy comiendo todito Quiero ser el héroe de tu cuento favorito  Aunque venga un oso, yo lo asusto en un ratito  Yo por ti me cruzo hasta el desierto de Sahara  Haces que yo sea el hombre más rico aunque no tenga nada Rompí todas mis medias por seguir tus pasos  Cargarte las maletas es mi mayor orgullo  Yo corro, canto, salto, soy actor y monto en globo  Yo soy capaz de todo por hacerme un poco tuyo Tuyo (un poquito tuyo) un poquito tuyo Un poquito mía  Para que tú sepas por qué esta vida  Es la más bonita Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Yo un poquito tuyo  Tú un porquito mía  Un poquito

It is not fashionable to fall in love  No one wants to be honest anymore  But in you I find everything, everything  All that I want From February to February  Medellín or Buenos Aires  I close my eyes and think about you  It has become inevitable I don't want to be everything in your life  Nor hurt your pride  And I have the odd debt  For making me a little Yours, a little bit of yours  Although they say I'm not your type  This love I credit before a judge Yours, a little bit of yours  Even though you think I'm scratched  I'm just in love and you don't see it  And you don't see me That at night I am looking for  And you thinking of something else  And you don't see me And although they say that ours is a failure I'd rather check it out in your arms  How easy it is to say because they don't know   That nobody of love has the key There are people who like to talk from the outside  And to love you there is no school  If I have to learn it will be with you  And if you want to talk, let it be with me I don't want to be everything in your life  Nor hurt your pride  And I have the odd debt  For making me a little Yours, a little bit of yours  Although they say I'm not your type  This love I credit before a judge Yours, a little bit of yours  Don't give life any more spin  We have no other way out and you don't see it Oh you don't see me That at night I am looking for  And you thinking of something else  And you don't see me I have not written history  Of prettiest love  Little by little I'm eating it all I want to be the hero of your favorite story    Even if a bear comes, I scare him in a little while  I cross you to the Sahara desert    You make me the richest man even if I have nothing  I broke all my stockings to follow your steps  Carrying your suitcases is my greatest pride  I run, sing, jump, am an actor and ride a balloon  I am capable of everything by making myself a little bit of yours Yours (a little bit of yours) a little bit of yours  A little bit of mine  So you know why this life  It is the most beautiful Yours, a little bit of yours  I a little bit of yours  You a little bit of mine  A little bit

No está de moda enamorarse  Ya nadie quiere ser sincero  Pero en ti yo encuentro todo, todo Todo lo que quiero  De Febrero hasta Febrero  Medellín o Buenos Aires  Cierro los ojos y pensarte  Se me ha vuelto inevitable  No quiero ser todo en tu vida  Tampoco lastimar tu orgullo  Y tengo alguna que otra deuda  Por hacerme un poco  Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque digan que no soy tu tipo  Este amor yo lo acredito ante un juez  Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque pienses que yo estoy rayado  Solo estoy enamorado y no lo ves  Y no me ves  Que en la noche ando yo buscando  Y tú pensando en otra cosa  Y no me ves Y aunque digan que lo nuestro es un fracaso  Prefiero comprobarlo yo en tus brazos  Qué fácil es decir porque no saben  Que nadie del amor tiene la clave  Hay gente que le gusta hablar de afuera  Y para quererte no hay escuela  Si tengo que aprender que sea contigo  Y si quieres hablar que sea conmigo No quiero ser todo en tu vida  Tampoco lastimar tu orgullo  Y tengo alguna que otra deuda  Por hacerme un poco Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Aunque digan que no soy tu tipo  Este amor yo lo acredito ante un juez Tuyo, un poquito tuyo No le des más vueltas a la vida  No nos queda otra salida y no lo ves  Ay no me ves Que en la noche ando yo buscando  Y tú pensando en otra cosa  Y no me ves No he escrito la historia  De amor más bonito  Poquito a poquito me lo voy comiendo todito Quiero ser el héroe de tu cuento favorito  Aunque venga un oso, yo lo asusto en un ratito  Yo por ti me cruzo hasta el desierto de Sahara  Haces que yo sea el hombre más rico aunque no tenga nada Rompí todas mis medias por seguir tus pasos  Cargarte las maletas es mi mayor orgullo  Yo corro, canto, salto, soy actor y monto en globo  Yo soy capaz de todo por hacerme un poco tuyo Tuyo (un poquito tuyo) un poquito tuyo Un poquito mía  Para que tú sepas por qué esta vida  Es la más bonita Tuyo, un poquito tuyo  Yo un poquito tuyo  Tú un porquito mía  Un poquito