español for Gringos
As you noted, we say "el alma". Just as we say "el agua". BUT plural, it is "las almas" and "las aguas" as in "las almas perdidas" (the lost souls) and "las aguas cristalinas" (the crystalline waters).
You may also hear expressions such as
ama de casa = housewife
almas gemelas = soul mates (literally, twin souls)
What about other iterations of 'ama'?
El ama? Or... la ama?
Un ama? Or... una ama?
It's el amo, but la ama. So it's also un amo, but una ama.
Please don't ask me to try to explain all the exceptions. Por favor...
Just accept them and remember that as far as exceptions and pronunciation goes, English is much worse...
Update: A colombiana friend corrected me. It is el ama, and un ama.
Four numbers with fours.
Can you spell out in Spanish
the following four numbers...
4, 14, 40, 400
.
.
.
.
cuatro, catorce (rah-TAWR-say),
cuarenta, cuatrocientos
What a Gringo thinks it means.
Today's word is advertir.
What a Gringo thinks it means: to advertise.
What advertir really means in Spanish: to warn.
Words meaning 'to advertise' include:
anunciar, publicitar y hacer publicidad
Translating from English 'advertiser': anunciante.
Fluency with special words.
The FluentU website has a post about some
unusual if commonly used Spanish terms.
Do you know what madrugar means?
.
.
.
madrugar = to wake up early in the morning.
La madrugada is a noun, andrefers to
the overnight hours.
---
Who or what is a dominguero?
.
.
.
dominguero = a city dweller who goes out
from the city to spend the weekend
in the countryside.
It comes from the Spanish word for Sunday:
domingo.
---
For more special words, visit fluentu.com
Several dichos utilizing forms of madrugar:
El que madruga, Dios le ayuda.
God helps the early riser.
But...
No por tanto madrugar amanece más temprano.
For all your early rising, the dawn comes no earlier.
Do you know these common 'verbos'?
The following four words are on the list
of the 45 most commonly used verbs
in the Spanish language.
Do you know these 'verbos' or has there
been a hole in your knowledge?
oír
.
.
.
to hear
sentir
.
.
.
to feel
intentar
.
.
.
to try or attempt
ahorrar
.
.
.
to save (money)
----
List of common Spanish verbs courtesy of
Confusing word pairs.
Change a letter of a word in Spanish
or English .. and you can completely
change the meaning.
Here are five examples in español...
pulpo, octopus .. and pulpa, pulp
caro, expensive .. and carro, car
cabello, hair .. and caballo, horse
mayor, old/older .. and mejor, better
cocer, to cook .. and coser, to sew
From:
"Most confusing Spanish word pairs
of all time," c/o FluentU
Know your nouns.
What's the difference between
tasa, taza y tos?
.
.
.
tasa = fee, tax or rate
.
.
.
taza = cup or mug
.
.
.
tos = cough
Though it ends with an 's',
'una tos' = a cough.
Feminine noun.
'Ataque de tos' = coughing fit
'tos seca' = dry cough
Know more nouns.
What's the difference between
pila, piña y picas?
.
.
.
pila = battery; can also mean 'sink'
.
.
.
piña = pineapple
.
.
.
picas = (playing cards suit) spades
'as de picas' =- ace of spades
What gets me are the verbs: llegar; llenar; llevar, especially when some can have different meanings.
Know your 'verbos'.
Thanks for the set-up, Mr. Cox.
llegar = to arrive
llenar = to fill
llevar = to carry, or take as in take with you
What a Gringo thinks.
A Gringo thinks una racista is a racist,
and un bigote is the same thing.
In Spanish, the word racista does mean
a racist.
However, un bigote has nothing to do
with racism. It means mustache.
(bee GOH tay)
Know your 'verbos.'
What's the difference between
cantar, callar y calmarse...
.
.
.
cantar means 'to sing.
callar means to be quiet or shut up.
calmarse means to calm down.
¨Calmate, vaquera, vamos a llegar en dos minutos.¨
Calm down, little cowgirl, we're going to arrive
in two minutes.
(The first syllable in 'calmate' should be accented,
and is not because of a technical issue with
the poster's keyboard.)
At the hotel.
For first-time visitors to South America, one of
the first challenges is to let staff at the visitors'
hotel know how they want things done.
How many of these words and phrases can
you translate to Spanish...
Please tell the chief housekeeper to change
the sheets every three days.
Favor de pedir a la ama de llaves
a cambiar las sabanas (o ropa de cama)
cada tres diás.
Between what hours is
breakfast available...
Entre cuales horas está disponible
el desayuno....
The water in the swimming pool seems
too hot for me. Please have it climatized
correctly.
El agua en la piscina me parece
demasiada caliente. Favor de
climatizarla correctamente.
The safe in the guest room is
stuck in the open position.
Have the engineer close it,
please.
La caja fuerte en la habitación
esta atascada en la posición
abierta. Mande al ingeniero
para cerrarla, por favor.
We need to go to the airport
immediately. What forms of
transportation are available....
Se requiere ir de inmediato
al aeropuerto. Cuales formas
de transporte están disponibles....
Dealing with food needs at the hotel.
Room service, this is Mr. Media calling
from 625. Please send up two plates
of pasta with mushrooms.
Room service, Mr. Media llamando
de seis veinticinco. Favor de mandar
dos platos de pasta con hongos.
What juices do you offer...
Cuales jugos ofrecen...
It's important to serve the sandwiches
on whole wheat bread.
Es importante a servir los sandwiches
en pan integral.
The plates and glasses from yesterday
are still in 625. Please send someone
to clear them this afternoon.
La vajilla de ayer se queda en 625.
Favor de mandar a alguien para
despejarla hoy por la tarde.
@cccmedia Shouldn't sabanas be sábanas?
Yes, and 'sándwiches' should have had an accent
on the first syllable, too, as here.
My keyboard has been causing me problems with
the accent marks .. and I was wondering when it
would become obvious .. and who would spot it
first if it did.
You, Mr. Cox, take the prize -- which, of course,
is a virtual honor, as the rules of Expat.com don't
allow for cash 'premios'.
In any event, congratulations, sir.
I have been able to finesse some of the accents,
but obviously, not all of them. I hope to have
the laptop keyboard checked out in a few days
when my new computer battery arrives at
the Hunter Biden laptop repair shop
near Parque Kennedy in a few days.
cccmedia in Lima, Peru
Know your (plural) nouns.
What is the difference between
maneras, mentiras y mascotas...
.
.
.
maneras are methods or ways
mentiras are lies or falsehoods
mascotas are pets -- can also mean mascots
Know your (singular) nouns.
What's the difference between
vainita, vainilla y ventaja...
.
.
.
una vainita is a green bean or string bean
vainilla is vanilla
una ventaja is an advantage
What's the difference? (more nouns)
What's the difference between
cosa, costo y costa?
.
.
.
una cosa is a thing
costo means cost as in cost of a thing
la costa is the coast
capilla = chapel (sometimes hood)
casilla = box
costilla = rib
cosquilla = tickle
Know your Spanish 'verbos'.
What's the difference between extrañar
and estrenar?
extrañar means to miss as in miss someone's
presence. Another verb or phrase to say this is
echar de menos.
Extraño a mis amigos en Inglaterra.
I miss my friends in England.
estrenar means to premier or to present
for the first time. Can refer, for instance,
to the first showing of a film or a play.
Know your nouns.
What's the difference between
ganadero, ganador y ganancias?
.
.
.
ganadero means rancher or livestock
un ganador is a winner
ganacias are profits or winnings
@cccmedia
and ganar = to win
CALMATE?
I used the above word
(KAHL-mah-tay, meaning 'calm down')
in a normal speaking voice when a woman
tried to hurry me up while we were in
the process of deplaning off a
Lima-to-Quito flight. I was
attempting to tie one of my shoes
before wheeling my 'maleta' to the
exit.
This one-word utterance triggered the
man accompanying her .. and he
attempted to confront me with
¨What's your problem?!¨, spoken in
English with a middling Spanish accent
as he walked past me.
I didn't respond and the situation did
not escalate.
However, in the week since then,
I gave it some thought, and, a la larga,
it came to me -- a softer word of español
to employ if someone is trying
to rush you to do something
or get out of their way.
That word is paciencia.
-- cccmedia in Quito
Pronouncer.... pah-see-EHN-see-yah
Cálmate is the imperative, and further is in the tu mode which a stranger may not appreciate - it could be interpreted as if you were speaking to a child, scolding him.
Paciencia is a good alternative. You might also say tranquila (to her) or tranquilo (in general or to a male) which you will hear a lot - reminding one another in various situations, to just take it easy.
Know your Spanish nouns.
What's the difference between
moto, mono y moño?
.
.
.
moto means motorcycle
mono means monkey
(female monkey is mona)
moño is a hairbun
Know your Spanish 'verbos'.
What's the difference between
callar, calar, y calarse?
.
.
.
callar means to be quiet or silent,
calar means to seep through or soak through.
calarse means to get wet or get drenched.
Los tres amigos se calaron durante la tormenta.
The three friends got drenched during the storm.
Know your Spanish nouns.
What's the difference between
buho, buja y bruja?
.
.
buho means owl.
Note that the 'h' is silent .. BOO-oh.
There should be an accent mark over
the 'u'. It is omitted in this post due to
a technical problem.
According to wordreference.com,
una buja is a seller of trinkets such
as inexpensive jewelry. BOO-hah.
Una bruja is a witch.
Known more nouns.
What's the difference between
lata, lana y ladina?
.
.
.
una lata can mean a can or
may mean tin (the metal)
lana is wool
una ladina is a sly fox (female)
un ladino is the male sly fox
Another word for fox is zorro.
Know your 'verbos'.
What's the difference between
elijir, exigir y emitir?
.
.
.
elijir means 'to choose'.
exigir means to demand or require.
La empresa exige que sus empleados
mantengan corto su pelo.
The company requires its workers
keep their hair short.
emitir means to emit or broadcast.
Correction.
Tbe irregular verb meaning 'to choose' is
correctly spelled elegir.
First person singular, present tense, is
elijo. (I choose).
Second person, informal, meaning
'You choose' is eliges.
Google conjugate Spanish word
elegir if you want to go deeper with this
most irregular of Spanish irregular verbs.
It is possible that some of these tenses
or forms can be spelled correctly
more than one way.
Know your Spanish nouns.
What's the difference between
mes, mesa y mesero?
.
.
.
el mes means 'the month'.
la mesa is 'the table'. It can also mean 'the plateau'.
mesero means waiter, as in a restaurant worker.
Masculine noun.
More Spanish nouns.
What's the difference between seno, cena y
señora?
seno = breast (anatomy)
A chicken breast is pechuga.
cena = dinner
señora = madam
Singularity -- exceptions to the rule.
High school Spanish teachers make sure
their students know the rule that nouns
in the plural are preceded by las or los
and end with 's'...
los libros (the books)
las casas (the houses)
However, there are exceptions. We're
talking here about singular nouns that
end in an 's'.
Here are several examples...
el paraguas (the umbrella)
la tiroides (the thyroid, anatomical term)
el as (the ace, as in card games)
(As is a masculine noun.)
Know your Spanish verbs.
What's the difference between secar, sacar y socar?
.
.
.
.
secar = to dry
sacar = to take out, remove or extract
socar or zocar = to squeeze, compress or tighten
Más verbos.
What's the difference between rogar, rezar
y retar?
.
.
.
.
rogar = to beg
rezar = to pray
retar (a) = to challenge
Él retó a su jefe.
He challenged his boss.
Spanish nouns.
What's the difference between físico, fiscal
y psicótica?
.
.
.
.
físico = physicist
fiscal = prosecutor or district attorney
psicótica = psycho
Though it ends with 'a', psicótica can be male
or female.
Remember these are nouns. The adjectives
of similar spellings may vary in meaning.
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