Subjuntivo

Uy, subjuntivo finalmente. En realidad, recuero eso cuando escuché Mihalis en Language Transfer. Mihalis llamó el "mood" tense. Mi maestro Gerald me trató de usar subjuntivo durante una conversación pero estoy seguro sobre muchos temas, jajaja. No fue fácil. Pero por fin ahora, estoy trabajando en Capitulo 20. Aunque no terminé Capitulos 15, 16, 17, 18 o 19. Tal vez vaya a terminado algun día.

En realidad, hay muchos ejercicios en el libro para practicar, pero la explicación sobre como conjugar no es bueno. He tenido mirar este video dos veces ahora. Es muy bueno.

La Niña

He estado escuchar los lecciones de Language Transfer otra vez. Y este vez, estoy aprendo cosas diferentes. Por ejemplo en la leccion 52:

• I was eating 
• Estoy comía.
• Era comiendo.

Otras cosas para que recordar. Está es una lista de serias nuevas en Netflix para practicar comprehensión de escuchar.

• La Casa de Papel
• La Niña

Y una recomendación de la tia de mi esposo. Ella es de Nicaragua y me recomiendó La Esclava Blanca. Es una seria de Columbia cuando había esclavas.

Sigo a él

Track #75 continued

necesitar - to need

Cuando necesites - Whenever you need (informal)

elegir - to choose

eligo - I choose

eliges - you choose (informal)

seguir - to follow, to continue, to carry on

sigo - I follow

sige - he follows

siges - you follow (informal)

sigen - they follow

seguimos - we follow ('e' is not stressed so doesn't change to an 'i')

conseguir - to get, to manage to

consigo - I get

perseguir - to chase

persigo - I get

I will follow you wherever you go. - Te sigo a donde vayas. Which brings me to my clip which is from the movie The Sister Act, which I've watched, but the music clips I've watched many times. A line from this clip is 'I will follow him. Follow him wherever he may go. ' or Te sigo a él. Sigo a él a donde vaya. Did you spot the actress who plays Professor McGonagall? 

Hazlo Por Ella

Review of Track #75 of Language Transfer Mihalis begins with the verb hacer, which means to make or to do. Normally to turn that into an informal positive command you would start with the present tense of informal you, haces, drop the 's' to get hace. But it's irregular so it's actually haz. So 'Do it' is Hazlo.

He then moves to another use of the mood tense, which is to turn words like where into wherever. 

• Where you want- Donde quieres
• Wherever you want- Donde quieres
• Do it wherever you want- Hazlo donde quieras 

Other examples with how and prefer

• You like it- Te gusta
• Do it how you like it- Hazlo como te gusta
• Do it however you like- Hazlo como te guste
• Do what you prefer- Haz lo que prefieres
• Do whatever you prefer- haz lo que prefieras 
• Eat whatever you prefer- Come lo que prefieras (informal)
• Coma lo que prefiera (formal)
• Coman lo que prefieran (more than one person)

The clip for today is 'Hazlo Por Ella', the Simpsons in Spanish, it boggles my mind. 

Pa' qué

Continuing with Track #74

Another need for the mood tense is after para que, which means so that. For example,

• We have cooked so that (in order that) they eat. - Hemos cocinado para que coman.

Volver means to go back or to return (related to revolve). 

• I return - vuelvo
• You return (informal) - vuelves
• So that you return - para que vuelvas (using the mood tense)

If you want to say I have done it so that you return. The version of hacer after haber is hecho (which als means fact).

• I have done it so that you return - Lo he hecho para que vuelvas
• They have done it so that we come back - Lo han hecho para que volvamos

Sometimes you will hear para que abbreviated to pa' que

Finally, Mihalis reminds us that the word for so is tan. The word for also is tambien, which includes tan, though the 'n' changed to an 'm'. Literally tambien is so well, or as well. Which will help me remember tan, because I don't have a problem remembering tambien. Likely because I use it a lot in conversation.

• so that you also return - para que vuelvas tu tambien or para que tambien vuelvas

This video I include so I can remember the song my friend Karen told me about. She suggested it after I told her about how cute the video was for La Melodía and the story about the childhood friends meeting up again as adults. This video is literally the story of childhood friends falling in love and growing old together. It's very sweet. 

Encontrar vs Encontrarse

Track #74 of Language Transfer Review. Mihalis introduces us to the verb elegir which means to choose (related to election). I choose is eligo, and if you notice, instead of splitting when it's stressed the 'e' changes to an 'i'.

• We choose - elegimos (not stressed, so the 'e' stays as an 'e')
• You choose (informal) - eliges

So if we were to say - I don't want you to choose for me. or I don't want you to choose on behalf of me. We would use the mood tense - No quiero que eligas por mi.

Romper means to break (related to rupture, corrupt, disrupt). Romperse means it breaks or it breaks itself. 

• No quiero que rompa - you're waiting to hear what you don't want broken
• No quiero que lo rompa - I don't want him to break it.
• No quiero que se rompa - I don't want it to break.

Encontrar means to find, whereas encontrarse means to meet up. Which is a word I need to try to use more often, since I'm always trying to use conocer. During conversation it still doesn't come to mind to use the reflexive form of this verb. If we want to say:

• We have met up in order to speak. - Nos hemos encontrado para hablar.

Finally, I include this video of the song I sang for the homework last Saturday. La Melodía by Joey Montana

Vaya Con Dios

El segundo parte de Track #73 tambien sobre el tiempo mood. Mihalis says we use the mood tense after cuando when you are refering to the future. 

• When we speak (generally) - Cuando hablamos
• When we speak (later on) - Cuando hablemos

The use of the mood tense highlights a superstition about referring to something in the future as a fact. 

• When we eat together, we speak (generally) - Cuando comemos juntos, hablamos.
• When we eat together, we speak (in the future) - Cuando comamos juntos, hablamos.

We still use hablamos, since we are using the mood tense earlier in the sentence.

Voy - I go or I am going

Vaya is the root of the mood tense

• We see her, when we go (generally) - La vemos, cuando vamos.
• We see her, when we go (in the future) - La vemos, cuando vayamos.

Which brings me to the multi-media portion of today's posting. I grew up listening to my dad singing this song. It was one of his favorites.

No Te Preocupes

Track #73 de Language Transfer, continuamos con el tiempo subjuntivo. Otra vez:

• esperar - to wait
• esperas - you wait (informal)
• espera - wait (informal you command)
• esperemos - let's wait (command using mood tense)
• esperamos - shall we wait (sounds less like an order, not using mood tense)

Sin embargo, si quieres dar un imperativo a el, ella o ellos usa que + el presente subjuntivo. Por ejemplo:

• If someone tells you that David is waiting for you.
• Puedes responder: Que espere - That he waits - Let him wait.
• If you're ready for the program to finish.
• Puedes responder: Que termine - Let it finish
• O: Que termine ya - Let it finish already - Enough already.

Otros ejemplos:

• Que pase usted una Navidad estupenda! - Have a wonderful Christmas!
• Que disfruten la comida. - Enjoy your meal!
• Que seas feliz. - Be happy!

Asi que esta el video para hoy: Don't Worry, Be Happy. Pero este video es para el grupo Playing for Change. Y los niños me hacen sonrir.

Vin Diesel has ten weapons, eh!

So I went back to listen to Track #72 again, since I was having trouble with Affirmative Informal Tú Commands. Pienso que entiendo ahora. I found these two slides to illustrate.

So according to Mihalis we use the mood tense to make commands with one exception: Positive Informal Tú Commands. You take the informal you conjugation of the present tense, drop the -s and you end up with the affirmative command. This also happens to be the same as the he/she/you formal version, but shouldn't cause confusion because of the tone of the voice and the small words that will come after like lo and me. Remember we still use the mood tense for the negative command.

For the irregular verbs I found this slide to help remember the Affirmative Tú Command shortcuts.

Este es un video de Vin Diesel hablando Español.

Vende! Vende! Vende!

Track #72. We use the mood tense to make commands with one exception: positive informal commands. When we are speaking informally and we are telling someone to do something, rather than telling them not to do something. According to Mihalis the reason why we don't use the mood tense here is because these commands are the most used they needed a short cut. (because all day people are telling people informally to 'wait here', 'buy this', 'call me later' etc.) It's such common speech and it seemed 'heavy' to use the mood tense. 

So to build it you start with the informal tú version in the present tense and drop the 's'. It ends up looking like the he/she/you formal but it won't be ambiguous from the context.

• You buy - compras (informal)
• Buy - compra (informal)
• Buy it - compralo
• Buy me it - compramelo; but
• Don't buy it - no lo compres (using the mood tense)

In my business you also need to know:

• You sell - vendes
• Sell - vende
• Sell it - vendelo; but
• Don't sell it - no lo vendas (using the mood tense)

I Command You

Track #72 Language Transfer: Giving orders informally using the mood tense.

• Don't speak - You don't speak - No hables
• Don't stay - You don't stay - No te quedas
• Don't give - You don't give - No des
• Don't eat - You don't eat - No comas

If you're giving the command to more than one person:

• Eat - Coman
• Wait - Esperen

Against the normal rule, for positive or affirmative commands, the small words (me, lo etc.) can follow the changed verb. For example.

• Eat it - Comanlo
• Wait for me - Wait me - Esperenme
• Wait for him - Wait him - Esperenlo
• Wait for them - Wait them - Esperenlos

This isn't the case for negative commands, they must still follow the rule and go before the changed verb. For example:

• Don't wait for them - No los esperen
• Don't eat it - No lo coman

The Personal A

Continuar con el Track #71 de Language Transfer. Sobre la preposición 'a' con los verbos subjunctivos. Por ejemplo:

• I hope that you understand David.
• Espero que comprendas a David

Necesita la preposición para mostrar la acción es a David. Si no usa 'a' la significado cambia.

• I hope that David understands. 
• Espero que comprendas David. o Espero que David comprendas.

Porque la posición de 'David' es flexíble.

Un otro ejemplo: hombre, el hombre, a el hombre = al hombre

• I want him to see the man.
• I want that he sees the man.
• Quiero que vea al hombre.

Si no usa 'al'

• I want that the man sees.
• Quero que vea el hombre. o Quiero que el hombre vea.

Uno mas

• I like that the teacher visits.
• Me gusta que visite la profesora

Y con 'a'

• I like that she visits the teacher
• Me gusta que visite a la profesora

Una ultima nota, solo usa 'a' con una persona especifica.

• a la profesora
• a una profesora

I include this video about 'a'. At first I found him a little abrupt and off putting, but he grew on me when he made me laugh.

Cuenta Conmigo

Well now that we've finished Language Transfer once all the way through my reviews of the tracks the second time through have slowed down. But I'm giving myself a break, because it isn't a race! 

Asi que hoy empezó la revisión de Track #71 y el verbo contar. El significado es to tell or to count. El sustantivo es cuento, el significado es story. On a side note, the word for story in Tagalog is 'kuwento' (thank you to Cheriz for confirming) which is basically the same word when you take into account the differences in the alphabets. But the verb to count in Tagalog is not at all related to any of those words, it's bilangin. 

So if I'm channeling my inner Mihalis, I guess storytelling has been around for a lot longer than counting. I can picture generations of storytelling and language sharing happening around the fire, but maybe not so much with the counting. Otras ideas? Otros cuentos?

Well I've already digressed, too late to keep 'on Track' 😁 See what I did there?  LOL 😆 Continuing on with the subjunctive tense.

• I want you to tell me - Quiero que me cuentes
• I want you to count on me - Quiero que cuentes conmigo  (notice it's 'with me' not 'on me')
• I hope that you can count on me - Espero que cuentes conmigo

And to finish off, a Spanish cover of Bruno Mars song - Count on Me, Cuenta Conmigo.

No Me Falta o Falta?

Second time through Track #70 and Mihalis begins by explaining that the word for 'what' if it's a question is 'que' but 'what' when not used as a question is 'lo que'. I had watched videos before about 'lo que' but this is a much simpler way to think about it. 

Back to the mood tense, it's used with verbs that imply subjectivity like 'quiero' and 'necesito' together with the 'que' that translates to 'that '.

• I need you to prepare it. 
• I need that you prepare it. 
• Necesito que lo preparé 

The verb 'faltar ' means 'to be missing' or 'to be short of'. 

• I need you to prepare what's missing. 
• Necesito que prepare lo que falta

The noun is 'falta' which means 'lack'.

• lack of consideration - falta de consideración
• it makes lack/it's necessary - hace falta
• lack of respect - falta de respeto

Using the mood tense:

• It's necessary that we eat soon
• Hace falta que comamos pronto

It was harder to choose which videos to include versus finding them today. You can choose, the one is No Me Falta

Or this one is Falta Amor

Mood Tense

Here we go, I've finished all the tracks one time through. But my reviews are only at Track #69 of Language Transfer and the introduction of the subjunctive or mood tense. Mihalis says we have this tense in English, but it's not used nearly as much as it is used in Spanish. To find the conjugation, we look to the present tense endings of the -AR verbs, switch them with the endings of -ER and -IR verbs and vice versa.

This video actually demonstrates what the tense is used for and the switching of the verb endings quite clearly. Tengo que decir, no me recuerdo aprender el tiempo subjuntivo en escuela, pero lo parece es muy util en español!

Also, I attended a Duolingo event today, the language exchange with Marcela and Sergio. I had a great time and got a lot of practice speaking. In the first round I was in a group with 2 guys from Mexico and the fourth person was from Brazil. I talked a lot about my recent trip to Mexico. I learned the word for border is 'frontera'. The second round I was in a group with Marcela and Sergio's mom Sandra. She is so fun and great to speak with. We talked about the two meanings of extraño. And she asked us about the word milk being both a noun and a verb. LOL

Tan Enamorados

Today's homework will complete the 90th and final Track of the Language Transfer series, whew! But I'm only on Track #68 for my reviews and blogs. This one wasn't too complicated. He mentioned the different words for 'this'

• este hombre - this man
• esta mujer - this woman
• no creo esto - I don't believe this

Mihalis refers to 'esto' as the neuter version.

He also introduces the word 'tan' which means 'so' as in 'estaba tan cansada' which is 'I am so tired'. Not to be confused with 'asi que' which also means 'so'. But I believe that's used more as a connector?? rather than a modifier.  I know those aren't the correct grammatical terms, but it makes sense in my head!

Finally he reminds us that 'cuando' means 'when' and 'cuanto' means 'how many' so another use for 'vez' or 'veces' is 'cuantos veces' which is 'how many times'.

Asi que, el video hoy es Tan Enamoradas de CNCO. Sí, esta es un bande de niños. No estoy avergonzada. 😁

Accentos

Track #66 was a short one, but there were a couple little tidbits which I offer here. The first was that in Spanish we wouldn't say 'my leg hurts'. Instead we would say 'it hurts me the leg' - 'me duele la pierna' from the verb doler = to hurt.

The noun is 'dolor' = pain. So similarly 'I have a headache' would be 'I have pain of head' or 'Tengo dolor de cabeza'. You could also say 'it hurts me the head' - 'me duele la cabeza'. The second sounds more natural to me.

Track #67 fue muy interesante, sobre del accentos. Basicamente hay dos reglas:

1. Si la palabra terminé en 'n', 's' o un vocál, el estres esta en la penúltima sílaba
2. Si la palabra no terminé en 'n', 's' o un vocál, el estres esta en la última sílaba

Si la palabra no sigue las reglas, la silaba necesita un accento. Encontró este video sobre los mismos reglas. 

1. She says that most of the words that don't follow the rules came to Spanish a different way other than Latin
2. There is only one accent type (unlike French)
3. The accent only indicates stress of the syllable, it doesn't change the sound.

On a side note, at the suggestion of our professor, Ismar, I'm going to stop reading Webtoons for now. It's too advanced for me at the moment. And unlike Harry Potter where I know the story, the pictures aren't enough for me to fill in the blanks.

Vez

Track #65 of Language Transfer discusses the words 'más' and 'vez'.  For example:

• nada - nothing
• nadie - noone or nobody
• más - more, else
• nada más - nothing else
• nadie más - nobody else

Mihalis explains and gives examples of the word vez in these Spanish phrases:

• una vez - once
• una vez más - one more time
• otra vez - again
• a la vez - at the same time, while

I found these ones also:

• de vez en cuando - occasionally, once in a while
• a veces - sometimes, at times
• tal vez - maybe
• en vez - instead of
• de una vez - once and for all
• rara vez - rarely, seldom 
• cada vez - every time, each time 
• habia una vez - once upon a time

And finally my video for today, the first song of the medley is 'Amaneci Otra Vez'. I love the string section and he can sing too!

Hablaste

Today I hosted the Potter Book Club. It was a LOT of work, not only did I have to read the chapter, which was extra long this week, I had to come up with something to do. Summy and Anouska gave me a pass to read together in the meeting, but I took the challenge and created some hangman games using phrases from the chapter. I can't take credit for the idea, since I stole it from another event, but I did find a site that made it easy to create the games. It was fun!

Also today we are at two months of our three month challenge! I am thankful to our instructor, to my coach Joyce and my fellow students for helping me through. I've come a long way in just two months and I'm motivated to keep it up! Shakira produced our story for today and w/ Nigel's help performed it for us. It was a gory story about a man who murdered women on behalf of his wife. It went super fast for me, so there were parts that I didn't quite catch, but it was really entertaining and I understood the basic story. So yay! And well done Shakira and Nigel.

Finally, I reviewed Language Transfer Track #64. On this one Mihalis explains the final two 'Point in the Past' tenses: you (formal) and they. So back to our 'hook' verbs (hablar and comer).

• hablaste - you spoke
• hablaron - they spoke
• comiste - you ate
• comieron - they ate

He also makes note of the 'i' being important in this tense for the -ER and -IR verbs as compared to -AR verbs.

• hablé - comí
• habló - comió
• hablamos - comimos
• hablaste - comiste
• hablaron - comieron

And here's my musical hook for today.

Cepeda

Hoy es dia de LyricsTraining! Y mi canción por esta juego hoy es Por El Resto de Mi Vida por Andres Cepeda. Es un juez en la programa La Voz - Niños de Columbia.

Este video es muy artistica. Solamente ver los zapatos, ningun persona excepto en la revista. Me gustó.

Which coincidentally was discussed in Track 63 of Language Transfer which I reviewed today. 

• Me gustó - I liked it
• Le gustó a ella - She liked it

Mihalis also introduced us to the word accordar, which means to remember. 

• Me acuerdo - I remember 
• No me acuerdo - I don't remember 
• No nos acordamos - We don't remember 

We're pretty close to finishing Language Transfer the first time through. After today we only have 5 left. Which at the rate we've been going we'll be finished on Tuesday. Then what?!