Spanish Grammar Review

Do you know how to say Happy Holidays in Spanish? In this lesson, we practice saying Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and more in Spanish.

Watch the video version of this lesson on YouTube.

Sign up for our member lessons and get 25% off your subscription through New Year’s Day 2024. 

• All Access Subscription (All our Medical Spanish + Spanish Grammar lessons) 
• Premium Medical Subscription
• Premium Grammar Subscription 

LEVEL – BEGINNER

¡Felices Fiestas!

¡Felices Vacaciones!

¡Feliz Navidad!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 

Te deseo un próspero año nuevo.

Les deseo un próspero año nuevo. 

¡Feliz 2024!

If you like this podcast, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! Así podemos llegar a más gente. ¡Gracias!

I am back with Rory Foster for an interactive lesson focused on discussing injuries in Spanish. This lesson builds upon one of Rory's lessons at Common Ground International. In this lesson, we practice talking about bruises, cuts, ruptures, breaks, tears, and sprains. We will first present a verb, a noun, and an adjective that all share the same root. Then, we will use this vocabulary in phrases as we discuss these different types of injuries. 

A big shout out to La Comunidad's teachers, Nelly from Colombia, Gloria from Mexico, and Daniela from Mexico, for reviewing the phrases in this lesson. 

All Access or Premium Medical Members: Access full show notes, download PDF, and take the quiz within the Spanish for Emergencies Course.
Premium Grammar Members: Download PDF.

LEVEL - INTERMEDIATE 

• Moretones 3:54
• Quemaduras 6:21
• Cortadas 8:45
• Desgarros / Desgarres 10:25
• Roturas 13:22
• Torceduras 14:55
• Cierre 16:20

Before you go, don't forget to check out Common Ground International's Spanish Immersion Trips to Latin America!
 
Rory and I will continue our review of injuries in a member lesson on scrapes, dislocations, swelling, bites, stings, and more. Become a member, and get this lesson via our Premium Medical Spanish Podcast feed this weekend. 

¡Gracias por escuchar! 

In today's episode, I interview Rory Foster of Common Ground International about their Medical Spanish Courses and Medical Spanish Immersion Trips to Latin America. 

Common Ground International is an excellent resource for learning medical Spanish. They offer courses from beginner to advanced and Medical Spanish Immersion Trips to Ecuador and Costa Rica. Their Spanish Immersion Programs are for all levels and include: 

• Spanish immersion classes 
• Volunteer programs in the community
• Homestays with local families
• Weekend excursions 

They just returned from their winter program in Costa Rica in February. On June 16, they travel to Ecuador to begin a 2-week program. On July 1st, they head to Costa Rica, where they offer a 6-week program. You can adjust the duration of your trip to your schedule. Learn more in the interview. 

Join their informational session on Monday, March 20th @ 7 PM MT.

Gracias por escucharnos y volveremos pronto con una lección interactiva que hemos creado juntos. 

Un abrazo, 

Doc Molly 

In this lesson, we explore verbs with the body and learn when to use the pronominal (reflexive) vs the non-pronominal form of the verb. 

While working on our latest series covering common orthopedic injuries in Spanish, I noticed how the verb to say, "I injured my knee," is pronominal: "Me lesioné la rodilla." Whereas the verb to say, "I bent my knee," is not: "Doblé la rodilla." So why is that? We learn this and more in this audio lesson. It’s a tricky subject, so I will try to make it clear through lots of examples.

Member? Access full show notes, download PDF, and take the quiz within the Spanish for Emergencies Course. 

Le doy las gracias a Gloria Becerril por ayudarme con el español de esta lección. Click here to take classes with Gloria!

• Unintentional Actions 1:34
• Reflexive Actions with a Part of the Body 3:09
• Deliberate Actions with Part of the Body 5:19
• Deliberate Actions with the Whole Body
  • Mover(se) 7:29
  • Hacerse y Ponerse 9:21
  • Ponerse 10:52

• Verbs with the Body in Spanish – Intro
• Movement Module of our Physical Therapy Course
• Verbs with the Body - History and Exam Course (Member Lesson)
• Reflexive Verbs in Spanish (Member Module) 

It's been a while since I published the last lesson in the Spanish Grammar Review podcast. However, that’s not because I haven’t been podcasting about Spanish grammar. I just decided to dedicate the time I have outside of the hospital to my Medical Spanish Podcast and in the Medical Spanish Podcast, we cover a ton of advanced grammar within the context of clinical dialogues. Today’s podcast is an excerpt from our latest Medical Spanish podcast on the Covid vaccines. In this excerpt, we practice making a hypothetical if-then statement using the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional. 

For this Spanish Grammar Review podcast, I have added a couple of examples where we then practice how to make and if-then statement that is not hypothetical, but reflects a real possibility.

la vacuna
vaccine

el núcleo
nucleus

el ADN
DNA

Además, la vacuna nunca entra en el núcleo donde se encuentra el ADN y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.

aun si
even if

Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
And even if it did enter the nucleus, it would have no way to change your DNA.

• This is a CONDITIONAL (IF-THEN) STATEMENT, where we use the IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE to present the HYPOTHETICAL condition (“y aun si entrara en el núcleo”) and we use the CONDITIONAL to present the result of that condition (“no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN”).

• When making a conditional statement using AUN SI it acts just like SI, where we can use either the IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE (hypothetical possibility) or the INDICATIVE (likely possibility). It canNOT be followed by the PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
  • Practice conditional statements in Spanish. Quiz #5 – The Subjunctive in Conditional Statements and More (Free lesson). Spanish Grammar members see: Subj15 Conditional Statements and Subj16 Conditional Statements

•  You may recall that you can use AUNQUE + PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE to say, “even if.”
  • Discussion of AUN SI and AUNQUE in Word Reference
  • In this premium lesson we explain AUNQUE + SUBJUNTIVO = “even if”: Quiz # 4 – The Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses (Free lesson). Spanish Grammar members see: Subj14 How and Where. AUNQUE, unlike AUN SI, it can be used with either the imperfect or the present subjunctive. 

Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
And even if it did enter the nucleus, it would have no way to change your DNA.

Aunque la vacuna entre en el núcleo, no tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.
Even if the vaccine enters the nucleus, it will not have a way to change your DNA.

Aun si la vacuna entra en el núcleo no tiene manera de cambiar su ADN.
Even if the vaccine enters the nucleus, it does not have a way to change your DNA. 

AUN SI / SI + IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE > CONDITIONAL

Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.

AUN SI / SI + PRESENT INDICATIVE > PRESENT / FUTURE INDICATIVE 

Aun si la vacuna entra en el núcleo no tiene / tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.

AUNQUE + PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE > PRESENT / FUTURE INDICATIVE

Aunque la vacuna entre en el núcleo, no tiene / tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.

• Note: There are other possible combinations (e.g. Si + present indicative > conditional), but these represent the most common ones.

• How the Covid Vaccines Work in Spanish (Free) and How the Covid Vaccines Work in Spanish – Premium
• Quiz #5 – The Subjunctive in Conditional Statements and More (free) 
• Discussion of AUN SI and AUNQUE in Word Reference
• Quiz # 4 – The Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses (Free lesson with Aunque) 
• Subj14 How and Where (Member lesson) 
• Subj15 Conditional Statements (Member lesson) 
• Subj16 Conditional Statements (Member lesson) 

Special thanks to Elizabeth Cortéz, my Spanish teacher at the San Pedro Spanish School in Guatemala who provided most of the Spanish for this lesson.

The lessons offered at docmolly.com are a fun way to practice medical Spanish. They are not intended to teach medicine or provide medical advice. These lessons are intended to improve communication with Spanish-speaking patients, but they are not intended to substitute for a qualified medical interpreter.

In this lesson, we practice using DAR as a reverse construction verb to express getting a symptom in Spanish. 

Member? Access this lesson, including a Quizlet set and PDF, in our courses

LEVEL - INTERMEDIATE

LEVEL – INTERMEDIATE

In the module covering Spanish for the Evaluation of Vertigo, we reviewed the following question by the physical therapist:

¿Recuerda qué estaba haciendo cuando le dieron mareos las otras veces?
(Do you remember what you were doing when you got dizzy the other times?)

I am guessing that some of you struggled with the following phrase:

cuando le dieron mareos
(when you experienced dizziness -o- when you got dizzy)

Here, we use LE to refer to “you” (used), and the verb DAR acts like the verb GUSTAR, where the subject of the verb in English corresponds to the object of the verb in Spanish.

You got dizzy. >>> Le dieron mareos.

In English, “you” is the subject of the verb. In Spanish, you (usted) is the object of the verb and is expressed by the pronoun “le.”

Let’s look at another example.

I get chills. >>> Me dan escalofríos.

In English, “I” is the subject of the verb. When we interpret this in Spanish, I become the object of the verb, which is expressed by the pronoun “me.”

¿Te dieron escalofríos?
Did you get chills? 

Me da dolor de estómago después de comer.
I get a stomach ache after eating.

¿Cuándo le da dolor en el pecho?
When do you get pain in your chest? (addressing the patient as usted)

Me dan calambres en las piernas por la noche.
I get leg cramps at night.

¿Recuerda qué estaba haciendo cuando le dieron mareos las otras veces?
Do you remember what you were doing when you got dizzy the other times?

• Join our membership and unlock access to over 400 interactive lessons across all our courses. Learn Medical Spanish by listening and responding in real-life scenarios, which will help you build confidence and fluency quickly.

• Member? Access our modules on Verbs

Special thanks to Elizabeth Cortez, my Spanish teacher from Español Sin Límite in Guatemala.

Hola! Me alegra mucho estar de vuelta. I am very happy to be back podcasting about Spanish grammar! My last grammar podcasts were in June, when we covered Spanish verbs with prepositions. In this lesson, we are going to learn why the adjective sometimes goes before the noun in Spanish.

I also host the Medical Spanish Podcast and with the help of my Spanish teacher from the San Pedro Spanish School, Elizabeth Cortez and my friend and interpreter, Sonja Um-Siri, I have been busy making audio lessons that cover Spanish for prenatal care. We cover a lot of grammar in the medical Spanish lessons and they are made to help us communicate with our patients. Therefore, even non-medical providers understand them and find them useful for learning conversational Spanish.

I just took part in an incredible course called Deliberate Spanish offered by a guy named Nacho from Spain. He also has a  fantastic YouTube channel: NachoTime Spanish.  As the name implies, the Deliberate Spanish course taught me to be more deliberate when I practice Spanish. For example, instead of just watching Casa de Flores, I often make it into a study session. When I hear a new word or phrase, I write it down to study later.  Then I organize what I learn into mi cuaderno de dudas, and mi cuaderno de dudas has now become the inspiration for the Spanish Grammar Podcast!

2:25

Now let’s talk about adjectives and the where and why of adjective placement. When you are first learning Spanish, you learn that the you must place the adjective after the noun. However, as you advance in your Spanish-speaking ability, you start to notice that the adjective often goes before the noun.  You may even find yourself instinctively placing an adjective before a noun, but when you stop to wonder why, you can’t say. Well, in this lesson, we are going to learn why the adjective sometimes goes before the noun through interactive examples. I hope you find it helpful. Onward!

3:03

Usually adjectives follow the nouns they describe, but when an adjective describes an inherent or assumed quality it is usually placed before the noun.

The city is covered in WHITE snow.
La ciudad está cubierta de BLANCA nieve.

OJO: Note the use of the preposition DE in this phrase: “cubierta de nieve.”

I want to see the TALL building of New York.
Quiero ver los ALTOS edificios de Nueva York.

Be careful in the STRONG mountain winds.
Ten cuidado con el FUERTE viento de las montañas.

OJO: Note the use of the preposition CON in this phrase: “ten cuidado con….”

We must take advantage of this PRECIOUS life.
Hay que aprovechar esta PRECIOSA vida.

OJO: Note the absence a preposition after APROVECHAR: “aprovechar esta vida”

In all the above examples, the adjective adds unnecessary information. O sea… If you omit the adjective, the meaning of the sentence would not change.

5:20

Adjectives may also precede the nouns they describe when they reflect a subjective characteristic or opinion about something.

I love these BEAUTIFUL gardens.
Me encantan estos hermosos jardines.

I’m enjoying a WONDERFUL day.
Estoy disfrutando de un MARAVILLOSO día.

It left me with this LONG scar.
Me dejó con esta LARGA cicatriz.

They always have GOOD parties.
Los Hernandez siempre tienen BUENAS fiestas.

I have GOOD news.
Tengo BUENAS noticias.

It’s the WORST movie of 2008.
Es la PEOR película del 2008.

It’s the BEST coffee in town.
Es el MEJOR café de la ciudad.

7:20

Often we give our opinion about something in an exclamation preceded by the word “qué.” In this case, the adjective falls before the noun.

What a beautiful country.
¡Qué hermoso país!

What a cute puppy!
¡Qué lindo cachorro!

However, when you throw in an adverb, such as más or tan, the adjective then follows the noun.

What a cute puppy! (más)
¡Qué cachorro más lindo!

What a boring lesson! (tan)
¡Qué lección tan aburrida!

8:36

When we use adjectives to describe the quantity of something we place them before the nouns.

We have SOME books.
Tenemos ALGUNOS libros.

The snow covers the ENTIRE city.
La nieve cubre TODA la ciudad.

You have a LOT of patience.
Tienes MUCHA paciencia.

I don’t have ENOUGH time.
No tengo SUFICIENTE tiempo.

As in many of the examples in the earlier sections, you could also place SUFICIENTE after the noun here.

I have LITTLE energy today.
Tengo POCA energía hoy.

I’m looking for ANOTHER opportunity.
(Busco o) Estoy buscando OTRA oportunidad.

Turn right at the FIRST stoplight.
Gire / Doble a la derecha en el PRIMER semáforo.

I’m carrying TOO MANY books.
Llevo DEMASIADOS libros.

I have SEVERAL ideas.
Tengo VARIAS ideas.

Gracias por escuchar y Hasta la próxima.

Si tienes alguna pregunta, no dudes en dejar un comentario.