18810945 Complete Spanish the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

8/14/2019 18810945 Complete Spanish the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

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C O M P L E T E

SPANISHT H E B A S I C S

Written by

Marisa Cid, Ph.D.

Edited by

Christopher A. Warnasch


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Copyright 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

Living Language is a member of the Random House Information Group

Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

www.livinglanguage.com

Editor: Christopher Warnasch

Production Editor: Carolyn Roth

Production Manager: Tom Marshall

Interior Design: Sophie Chin

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-4000-2423-0

This book is available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or

premiums. Special editions, including personalized covers, excerpts of existing books,

and corporate imprints, can be created in large quantities for special needs. For more

information, write to Special Markets/Premium Sales, 1745 Broadway, MD 6-2, New York,

New York 10019 or e-mail [email protected].

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.LivingLanguage.com


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The Basics

Complete Spanish:

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iv Complete Spanish: The Basics

C O U R S E O U T L I N E

How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Language learning tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

Spanish spelling and pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv

UNIT 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions . . . . . . 1

Lesson 1 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The numbers 010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Lesson 2 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Subject pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The numbers 1120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Lesson 3 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ser (to be) in the singular . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Ser (to be) in the plural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Lesson 4 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Countries and nationalities . . . . . . . . . . . 15Greetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Lesson 5 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Indefinite articles and plurals . . . . . . . . . 22Definite articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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Course outline v

Lesson 6 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Estar (to be) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27The numbers 20100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29


Using ser and estar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Using estar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Lesson 8 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Tener (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Hay (there is/there are) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

UNIT 3: Everyday life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Numbers above 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Lesson 10 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Adjective agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

More on adjective agreement . . . . . . . . . 57


Question words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61More question words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Lesson 12 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Yes/no questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Saying what you like to do . . . . . . . . . . . 72



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vi Complete Spanish: The Basics

UNIT 4: Health and the human body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Lesson 13 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Possessive adjectives (singular) . . . . . . . . 80Possessive adjectives (plural) . . . . . . . . . . 82

Lesson 14 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Possession with de + pronoun . . . . . . . . 85More possession with de . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87


Possessive pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Conjugation of-ar verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Lesson 16 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Conjugation of -er verbs andver (to see) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Conjugation of -ir verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

UNIT 5: Using the telephone and making appointments . . . . . 109

Lesson 17 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Demonstrative adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . 109Demonstrative pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Lesson 18 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Indefinite pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117



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Course outline vii

Lesson 19 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Irregular verbs: Hacer (to make, to do),poner (to put), traer (to bring), andcaer (to fall) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Irregular verbs: salir (to go out) anddecir (to say) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Lesson 20 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Ir (to go) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Querer (to want, to love) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

UNIT 6: Getting around town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Lesson 21 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Saber and conocer (to know) . . . . . . . . 136Poder (can), deber (must), andtener que (to have to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Lesson 22 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Ver (to see), venir (to come), anddar (to give) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

The present progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Lesson 23 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Common prepositions of location . . . . 149Common prepositions of time . . . . . . . 152


The imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Para and por (for) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163



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viii Complete Spanish: The Basics

UNIT 7: Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Lesson 25 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Stem-changing verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167More stem-changing verbs . . . . . . . . . . 171

Lesson 26 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Comparatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Equal comparisons and superlatives . . . 177


Direct object pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180The future with ir a (going to) . . . . . . . . 184


Reflexive verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Colors, patterns, and fabrics . . . . . . . . . 194

UNIT 8: Lets eat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Lesson 29 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Indirect object pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . 199Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Lesson 30 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

More on adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207The preterite of -ar verbs and estar . . . 209



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Course outline ix

Lesson 31 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

The preterite of -er and -ir verbs . . . . . . 213The preterite ofser, ir, tener,and hacer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Lesson 32 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Spelling changes in the preterite . . . . . . 220Irregular verbs in the preterite . . . . . . . . 224

UNIT 9: School and work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

More irregular verbs in the preterite . . . 230Double object pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Lesson 34 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Expressing past actions with haceand acabar de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Expressing obligation or necessity . . . . 237


The imperfect of -ar verbs . . . . . . . . . . . 239The imperfect of -er and -ir verbs . . . . . 240

Lesson 36 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Ir, ser, and ver in the imperfect . . . . . . 244Using the preterite and the imperfect . . 247



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x Complete Spanish: The Basics

UNIT 10: Sports and hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Lesson 37 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

The conditional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253Impersonal se . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Lesson 38 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

The subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Using the subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262


Irregular verbs in the subjunctive . . . . . 265Verbs followed by the subjunctive . . . . 267


The subjunctive vs. the indicative . . . . . 272Relative pronouns and clauses . . . . . . . 276

Spanish in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Supplemental vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Internet resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Summary of Spanish grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311



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Lesson 1 1

Unit 1Talking about yourself and making introductions

Hola! In Unit 1, youll learn how to introduce yourself andothers, how to say where youre from, and how to ask other

people for basic information. Naturally, youll learn greet-

ings and other essential courtesy expressions. Youll also be

introduced to key structures so that you can begin to speak

right away. Are you ready?

Lesson 1 (words)

WORD LI ST 1

Each unit begins with a lesson that focuses on words. The wordswill be used throughout the unit, so familiarize yourself withthem. For advice on learning new vocabulary, consult the Lan-guage learning tips section at the beginning of this program.

tarjeta card

premio prize

esta this

tambin also

nombre namenacionalidad nationality

profesin profession

su your

cafetera coffeemaker

abogado (m.) lawyer

abogada(f.) lawyerEspaa Spain

Alemania Germany



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2 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

Note

The following abbreviations will be used in this course: (m.) =masculine, (f.) = feminine, (sg.) = singular, (pl.) = plural, (fml.) =formal/polite, (infml.) = informal.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

The numbers 010

Lets look at the numbers zero through ten in Spanish.

cero zero

uno one

dos two

tres three

cuatro four

cinco fiveseis six

siete seven

ocho eight

nueve nine

diez ten

PRACTICE 1

Can you read the following telephone numbers out loud?

1. 958 9522 4. 780 12112. 662 7890 5. 670 7633

3. 440 7612



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Lesson 1 3

WORD LI ST 2

disfrute enjoy

espaol (m.) Spanish

espaola (f.) Spanish

casado/a (m./f.) married

soltero/a (m./f.) single

provisional temporary

cdigo code

cul which

obtener to get

necesito I needalgunos some

dnde where

alemn (m.) German

alemana (f.) German

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Gender

Did you know that in Spanish all nouns and adjectives indicategender, either masculine or feminine? For nouns with naturalgender, this is easy: hombre (man), muchacho (boy), and abo-

gado (male lawyer) are all masculine, while mujer (woman),muchacha (girl), and abogada (female lawyer) are all feminine. Incases where there is no natural gender, masculine nouns and ad-

jectives usually end in -o, and feminine in -a.

masculine feminine

libro (book) tarjeta (card)

bolgrafo (pen) carta (letter)

Unfortunately, to every rule there is always an exception. Dontpanic; there arent too many exceptions, and theyre easy to



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learn. As a general rule, nouns ending in -dad or-cin are femi-nine, and most nouns that end in -e are masculine. You can readmore about gender in the grammar summary if youd like. Fornow, the best thing to do is simply memorize the gender of each

new word you learn. Lets look at the genders of some of thenouns and adjectives youve learned so far.

masculine feminine

premio (prize) tarjeta (card)

espaol (Spanish) espaola (Spanish)alemn (German) alemana (German)

casado (married) casada (married)

soltero (single) soltera (single)

cdigo (code) cafetera (coffeemaker)

nombre (name) nacionalidad (nationality)

cheque (check) profesin (profession)

PRACTICE 2

Are these words feminine or masculine?

1. soltero 5. profesin

2. alemn 6. casada

3. cheque 7. premio

4. bolgrafo 8. nacionalidad



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Lesson 2 5

Tip!There are different ways to memorize new vocabulary, so its a

good idea to try a few out to see what works for you. Simply read-

ing a word in a list isnt going to make you remember it, though.

Write down your new vocabulary in a notebook, and then try writ-

ten or spoken repetition to make it sink in. (You can use the

recordings for that, too.) You could also make flash cards, with the

Spanish on one side and the English on the other. Start by going

from Spanish into English, and once youve mastered that, go from

English into Spanish, which will be harder. You could also label

things in your home or office. Experiment and explore, and check

out the Language learning tips section in the introduction formore ideas. Whatever you do, try to make vocabulary learning as

active as possible!

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. nueve, cinco, ocho, nueve, cinco, dos dos;

2. seis, seis, dos, siete, ocho, nueve, cero; 3. cuatro, cuatro, cero,siete, seis, uno, dos; 4. siete, ocho, cero, uno, dos, uno, uno;5. seis, siete, cero, siete, seis, tres, tres.

PRACTICE 2: 1. masculine;2. masculine; 3. masculine;4. masculine; 5. feminine; 6. feminine; 7. masculine;8. feminine.

Lesson 2 (phrases)

PHRASE LIST 1

The second lesson of each unit moves from words to phrases. Thefollowing is a list of phrases commonly used when greeting some-one or saying goodbye.

Buenos das. Good morning.

Buenas tardes. Good afternoon.

Buenas noches. Good evening./Good night.



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Cmo est? (fml.) How are you?

Cmo ests? (infml.) How are you?

Bien, gracias, y usted? (fml.) Fine, thank you, and you?

Bien, gracias, y t? (infml.) Fine, thank you, and you?

Adis. Good-bye.

Hasta luego. Till later.

Hasta pronto. Till later.

Hasta maana. Till tomorrow.

Mucho gusto. Nice to meet you.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Subject pronouns

Notice that there are two ways of asking how are you?in Spanish.One is a formal form, which youd use with strangers and anyoneto whom you want to show respect, and the other is an informalform, which youd use with family, friends, and people who youknow better and are more familiar with. Spanish actually even

has different forms of the pronoun you to show this distinction.Lets take a look at subject pronouns that refer to only one per-son in Spanish.

yo I

t (infml.) you

l he

ella she

usted (fml.) you

As you can see, there are two forms ofyou in the table above. Thet form is the familiar or informal form. Its used to address peo-ple of the same age as you or younger, as well as family andfriends. The formal form, usted, is used when talking to people



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Lesson 2 7

who are older than you or not familiar to you. Now lets look atthe personal pronouns that refer to more than one person.

nosotros we

nosotras (f.) we

vosotros (infml.) you, all of you

vosotras (infml. f.) you, all of you

ellos theyellas (f.) they

ustedes (fml.) you, all of you

Notice that nosotros, vosotros, and ellos also have feminine

forms. The feminine forms (nosotras, vosotras, ellas) are usedexclusively for women, while the masculine forms are used formen or for groups including both men and women.

PRACTICE 1

Which Spanish pronoun would you use in each of the followingsituations?

1. Talking to your best friend Roberto

2. Asking directions from an older stranger you see on the street

3. Talking about your brother

4. Talking about yourself

5. Talking about your boss, Seora Ramrez6. Talking to you sister and your mother

7. Talking about your father and your uncle



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8. Talking to your classmates (of both genders)

9. Talking about yourself and your friends (of both genders)

PHRASE LIST 2

Here are some more phrases well be using later on in this unit.

datos personales personal information

felicitaciones congratulations

mucha suerte lots of luck

prximo sorteo next raffle, drawing

muy bien very well

nmero de telfono telephone number

No hay de qu. Youre welcome.

gerente de ventas sales manager

muy contenta very happy

Aqu tiene. Here you are.

Firme aqu. Sign here.por favor please

Gracias. Thank you.

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The numbers 1120

Now lets look at the numbers eleven through twenty in Spanish.

once eleven

doce twelve

trece thirteen

catorce fourteen

quince fifteen



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Lesson 2 9

diecisis sixteen

diecisiete seventeen

dieciocho eighteendiecinueve nineteen

veinte twenty

PRACTICE 2

Can you write the following series of numbers?

1. 012318 4. 141207

2. 154192 5. 813166

3. 911175

Tip!Maybe youre wondering why Spanish has a weird upside down

question mark or exclamation point at the beginning of a question

or an exclamation. Well, it was not always like that. In 1754, the Real

Academia Espaola, the institution responsible for regulating the

Spanish language, decided to adopt these symbols because in

Spanish, in many cases, the reader has almost no way to determine

at what moment a sentence in progress is a question or an excla-mation. Its actually very practical and useful. As we go on, you will

see why.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. t;2. usted; 3. l; 4. yo; 5. ella; 6. ustedes orvosotras; 7. ellos; 8. ustedes or vosotros; 9. nosotros.

PRACTICE 2: 1. cero, doce, tres, dieciocho;2. quince, cuatro,diecinueve, dos; 3. nueve, once, diciesiete, cinco; 4. catorce,uno, veinte, siete; 5. ocho, trece, diecisis, seis.



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Lesson 3 (sentences)

SENTENCE LIST 1

The third lesson of each unit moves on to sentences.

Cul es su nombre? Whats your name?

Mi nombre es Juan. My name is Juan.

Cul es su nacionalidad? Whats your nationality?

Soy francs. Im French. (male)

Soy francesa. Im French. (female)

Soy de Venezuela. Im from Venezuela.Cul es su nmero de Whats your phone number?telfono?

Soy casada. Im married. (female)

Soy soltero. Im single. (male)

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Ser (TO BE) in the singularNow lets look at one of the most important verbs in Spanish, ser(to be). The form ser is called the infinitive, which is like the En-glish to form. When you change the forms of a verb to match dif-ferent subjects, as in the English I speakbut she speaks, its called aconjugation. Heres the singular conjugation ofser (to be).

yo soy I am

t eres (infml.) you are

l es he is

ella es she is

usted es (fml.) you are



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Lesson 3 11

In Spanish, its very common to drop the pronoun, because theconjugated form of the verb makes it clear who or what youretalking about.

Yo soy estadounidense/Soy estadounidense.Im an American.

Eres mi amigo.

Youre my friend.

Es Marta de Madrid o de Barcelona?

Is Marta from Marid or from Barcelona?

PRACTICE 1

What pronoun has the speaker of each of these sentencesdropped?

1. Eres casado. 4. Soy soltera.

2. Soy francs. 5. Es colombiana.

3. Es argentino. 6. Eres abogada.

SENTENCE LIST 2

Es usted tambin espaol? Are you also from Spain?

Su premio es la cafetera para Your prize is the cappuccino machine.capuccino.

Cul es su profesin? Whats your profession?Soy abogada. Im a female lawyer.

Sois de Argentina? Are you (pl.) from Argentina?

No, somos colombianos. No, were Colombian.

Ustedes son artistas. Youre artists.

Cul es su nmero de fax? Whats your fax number?

Cul es su direccin de Whats your email address?correo electrnico?

Nosotros no somos de Brasil. Were not from Brazil.



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NUTS & BOLTS 2

Ser(TO BE) in the pluralNow lets look at the plural conjugation ofser (to be).

nosotros/as somos we are

vosotros/as sois (infml.) (all of) you are

ellos/as son they are

ustedes son (all of) you are

Somos de Guadalajara.

Were from Guadalajara.

Son muy inteligentes.

Theyre/All of you are very intelligent.

Son espaolas.

Theyre/All of you are Spanish.

PRACTICE 2

Fill in the blanks with the correct form ofser.

1. Mi nombre _____ Marliz Camargo.

2. Yo _____ Ana Benavidez. _____ la secretaria de la universidad.

3. Cul _____ su nmero de telfono, por favor?

4. Nosotros _____ abogados y ustedes?

5. Vosotros _____ de Bolivia y ellas _____ de Espaa.

6. T _____ profesora de ingls.

7. l _____ soltero, y ella _____ casada.

8. Ellos _____ venezolanos.



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Lesson 4 13

9. _____ usted casado o soltero?

10. Ustedes _____ muy inteligentes.

Culture noteAs we saw earlier, Spanish has a formal and an informal way of ad-

dressing people. The pronouns usted and ustedes are used when

addressing strangers or people older than you; t and vosotros/as

are used for family and friends. However, youll find that in most of

Latin America, people do not use vosotros/as. They simply use

usted/ustedes for both formal and informal situations. This is one

of the main differences between European (also called Castilian orPeninsular) Spanish and Latin American Spanish. In fact, if youre

learning Spanish specifically for use in Latin America, you can ig-

nore the vosotros/as forms in this course. This program focuses on

Latin American Spanish, but the vosotros/as forms are used every

now and then because you may encounter them in written lan-

guage, in media from Spain, and so on.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. t;2. yo; 3. l or usted; 4. yo; 5. ella or usted;6. t.

PRACTICE 2: 1. es;2. soy/Soy; 3. es; 4. somos; 5. sois/son;6. eres; 7. es/es; 8. son; 9. Es; 10. son.

Lesson 4 (conversations)

CONVERSATION 1

The fourth lesson of each unit covers conversations in the formof two different dialogues. Catalina has been shopping all morn-

ing at the very famous department store Galeras 93. She is at theregister and has just been offered an application for the storescard and rewards program, an offer she cant refuse.



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Vendedora: Para obtener la tarjeta de Galeras 93, necesitoalgunos datos personales. Cul es su nombrecompleto, por favor?

Catalina: Mi nombre es Mara Catalina Esguerra Uribe.

Vendedora: Cul es su nacionalidad?Catalina: Soy argentina.Vendedora: Cul es su nmero de telfono?

Catalina: Es el nueve, cinco, ocho, tres, cuatro, dos, uno.Vendedora: Cul es su profesin?

Catalina: Soy abogada.Vendedora: Es usted soltera o casada?

Catalina: Soy soltera.Vendedora: Muy bien. Esta es su tarjeta provisional con sucdigo personal, que es el tres, seis, tres, ocho.

Catalina: Muchas gracias!Vendedora: No hay de qu! Mucha suerte en el prximo

sorteo!

Saleswoman: In order to apply for the Galeras 93 card, I need somepersonal information. Whats your full name, please?

Catalina: My name is Mara Catalina Esguerra Uribe.Saleswoman: Whats your nationality?

Catalina: Im Argentinian.Saleswoman: Whats your telephone number?

Catalina: Its nine, five, eight, three, four, two, one.Saleswoman: Whats your profession?

Catalina: Im a lawyer.Saleswoman: Are you single or married?

Catalina: Im single.Saleswoman: All right. This is your temporary card with your

personal code, which is three, six, three, eight.Catalina: Thank you!

Saleswoman: Youre welcome! Good luck in the next raffle!

Notes

Did you know that people in Spanish-speaking countries havelast names that come from both the father and the mother? It



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Lesson 4 15

might seem confusing at first, but thats mostly because its differ-ent. The basic rule is that a person born into a Spanish-speakingfamily is given a first name followed by two last names, the firstbeing the fathers family name and the second, the mothers fam-

ily name.

So, lets say that the woman in our conversation, Mara CatalinaEsguerra Uribe, got married to Pablo Ocampo Hoyos. If they hada son, he could be called Pablito Ocampo Esguerra.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Countries and nationalitiesHeres a list of a few nationalities and countries.

Pas (country) Nacionalidad (nationality)

Argentina argentino/a

Bolivia boliviano/aBrasil brasilero/a

Canad canadiense

Chile chileno/a

Colombia colombiano/a

Ecuador ecuatoriano/a

Espaa espaol/a

Estados Unidos estadounidense

Inglaterra ingls/inglesa

Mxico mexicano/a

Per peruano/a



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Pas (country) Nacionalidad (nationality)

Uruguay uruguayo/a

Venezuela venezolano/a

PRACTICE 1

Complete the following dialogue with words and/or phrasesyouve learned in this unit:

Pedro: Buenos 1 _____. Mi 2 _____ es Pedro Snchez.Ramn: Mucho 3 _____.

Pedro: Necesito unos 4 _____. Cul es su 5 _____?Ramn: Es el tres, seis, nueve, nueve, dos, uno, tres.

Pedro: Cul es su 6 _____?Ramn: 7 _____ abogado.

Pedro: Es usted 8 _____ o casado?

CONVERSATION 2

After a few months, Catalina wins a state-of-the-art capuccinomachine at Galeras 93. Mr. Scholl, the store manager, meets withher to give her the prize.

Seor Scholl: Buenas tardes, seora Esguerra. Soy MarcosScholl, gerente de ventas de Galeras 93.

Catalina: Mucho gusto! Es un placer.Seor Scholl: El placer es mo. Cmo est usted?

Catalina: Pues, muy contenta, claro!Seor Scholl: Su premio es la cafetera para capuccino.

Necesito su cdigo personal y su tarjeta deGaleras 93.

Catalina: Aqu tiene.

Seor Scholl: Ah, usted es argentina! De dnde esexactamente?Catalina: Soy de Buenos Aires. Es usted espaol?



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Lesson 4 17

Seor Scholl: No, soy alemn. Soy de Colonia . . . Bueno,eso es todo. Por favor firme aqu.

Catalina: Muchas gracias. Hasta luego, Sr. Scholl.Seor Scholl: Felicitaciones! Disfrute la nueva cafetera.

Adis, Sra. Esguerra.

Mr. Scholl: Good afternoon, Ms. Esguerra. Im Marcos Scholl,sales manager of Galeras 93.

Catalina: Its a pleasure meeting you!Mr. Scholl: The pleasure is mine. How are you?Catalina: Well, Im very happy, of course!

Mr. Scholl: Your prize is the capuccino machine. I need yourpersonal code and the Galeras 93 card.Catalina: Here you are.

Mr. Scholl: Oh, so youre Argentinian! Where are you from,exactly?

Catalina: Im from Buenos Aires. Are you Spanish?Mr. Scholl: No, Im German. Im from Cologne . . . Well, thats

all. Please sign here.Catalina: Thank you very much. Good-bye, Mr. Scholl.

Mr. Scholl: Congratulations! Enjoy your new cappuccino maker.Good-bye, Ms. Esguerra.

Notes

So, if Spanish has a formal form and an informal form, how doyou go about using them? Well, the general rule is that when you

first meet someone, you should use the formal form. However,many times when the person you have just met is close to you inage or younger than you, youll see that the informal form is usedrather quickly and youll be on a first name basis almost from thebeginning.

There are circumstances in which, due to the nature of the situa-

tion, youll be almost obliged to use the formal form regardless ofage. The distinction is also useful when you, for whatever reason,want to place a distance between yourself and your audience. To



29/32


be on the safe side, dont use the t form when you first meetsomeone. This is particularly important in many parts of LatinAmerica. If the person is older or has a higher rank than you, itcould be interpreted as being disrespectful.

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Greetings

In this unit weve seen some expressions used to greet people andsay good-bye. Now lets take a closer look at some more expres-sions. Here are some formal expressions.

Cmo est usted? How are you?

Muy bien, gracias. Very well, thank you.

Encantado (de conocerle). Nice to meet you.

Mucho gusto (en conocerle). Very pleased to meet you.

Igualmente. Likewise.

Here are some informal expressions.

Cmo ests? How are you?

Qu tal? Whats going on? Hows it going?

Qu hay? Whats up?

Qu pasa? Whats up?

Hola! Hello!

Hasta maana. See you tomorrow.

Nos vemos. See you.



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Lesson 4 19

PRACTICE 2

Decide whether the following sentences are formal or informal:

1. Hola! Cmo ests? 4. Mucho gusto. Cmo est?

2. Eres venezolano? 5. Qu tal?

3. Es usted soltero o casado? 6. Usted es ecuatoriana.

Tip!When listening to the recorded conversations, you might not un-

derstand all of whats said at first. Dont get frustrated! Its normal

not to understand every word of a language youre starting to

learn. Focus on the few words you do understand and try to use

your imagination to figure out the rest. Listen to the conversations

two or three times, but dont play them over and over in an at-

tempt to finally get it right. Youll only get frustrated! Be patient

with yourself. Learning another language takes time. For great tips

on how to get the most out of the conversations in this book, take

a look at the Language learning tips section.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1: das;2. nombre; 3. gusto; 4. datos personales;5. nmero de telfono; 6. profesin; 7. Soy; 8. soltero.

PRACTICE 2: 1. informal;2. informal; 3. formal; 4. formal;

5. informal; 6. formal.

UNIT 1 ESSENTIALS

At the end of each unit, youll find a list of essential phrases. Thegrammar and vocabulary used should be familiar to you.

Cmo est? Bien, gracias, y usted?

How are you? Fine, thanks, and you?

Cmo ests? Bien, gracias, y t?

How are you? Fine, thanks, and you?



31/32


Cul es su nombre?

Whats your name?

Cul es su nacionalidad?

Whats your nationality?Cul es su nmero de telfono?

Whats your phone number?

Cul es su profesin?

Whats your profession?

(Yo) soy francs.

Im French.

(T) eres abogada.

Youre a lawyer.

(l/Ella) es argrentino/a.

He/She is Argentinian.

(Usted) es boliviano.Youre Bolivian.

(Nosotros/as) somos artistas.

Were artists.

(Vosotros/as) sois profesionales.

Youre professionals.

(Ellos/as) son colombianos/as.

Theyre Colombian.

(Ustedes) son mexicanos/as.

Youre Mexican.



32/32

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