A brief overview of the concept and structure of conjugating verbs in Spanish.

Verbs: Basic Present Tense Conjugations

Se&ntilde;or Norton has taught Spanish at the college and high school level. These audio podcast episodes are typically 10-15 minutes long and will give a brief tutorial of some of the grammar points discussed in his classes (Spanish 1 and 2). These episodes are not designed for full instruction but as a refresher or clarifier to supplement what you have learned in the classroom.
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Learning Spanish takes some work! Many students use flashcards to help them learn Spanish (or other things). But who wants to take the time preparing to study instead of actually studying?! In this episode, Señor Norton discusses his use of Quizlet.com for digital flashcards. He has already prepared flashcards for you so you can just go online, or use a portable device, and get learning! To find the flashcards that he has already prepared, visit http://www.quizlet.com/senornorton 
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This podcast uses the following sound file from The Freesound Project:Remix 3 of Freesound 116385__cunningGnome__20_Tang_II_Base.flac from Owdeo; licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.
 

Quizlet... What is it? (¿Qué es?)

Show notes: 
“To be or not to be: that is the question.”
In this podcast we will be discussing the two different verbs for “to be”. In Spanish we say either ser or estar when we want to convey the meaning “to be”.
 
Every year, I ask my Spanish two students if they can tell me the difference between ser and estar. They usually regurgitate the easy-to-teach responses that they heard from they’re first year teachers: Ser is permanent and Estar is temporary. Others will fumble over an acronym or list of occasions that a teacher made them memorize. Neither of those techniques worked for me when I was learning Spanish – the first seemed to have too many exceptions and the second was entirely too cumbersome to use if I were in a conversation with somebody and having to stop mid-sentence in order to drill through a memorized list of situations just to be able to use the correct verb in the sentence that was stopped. Instead, I will give you a less concrete example of when the light bulb went on for me to understand the difference…
...and it continues through the episode. Here are the acronyms discussed in this podcast:
Estar: P.L.A.C.E. - Position Location Action Condition Emotion
Ser: T.O.P. - Time/Trait Occupation/Origin Possession/Profession
Examples:
 
USES OF SER
 
- To express characteristic, a description, or an identification. 
(a) Characteristics
La sopa es buena The soup is good
El profesor es estricto the teacher is strict
(b) Description
Martha es alta Martha a tall
El señor Salas es rico Mr. Salas is rich
(c) Identification
¿Quién es? Who is it?
Soy yo. It’s me
-To express occupation or nationality
(a) occupation 
Mi primo es abogado. My cousin is a lawyer.
Ellos son contadores. They are accountants.
(b) Nationality
Ellos son espñoles. They are Spanish.
Ella es peruana. She is Peruvian. 
- To express time and dates
(a) Time
Son las dos. It’s two o’clock.
Es medianoche. It’s midnight.
(b) Dates
Es el tres de mayo. It’s May 3.
Es el primero de abril. It’s April 1.
- With de, to express origin, possession, or material.
(a) Origin
Ella es de México. She is from Mexico.
Las naranjas son de Valencia. The oranges are from Valencia. 
(b) Possession 
Ese reloj es de Carmen. It’s Carmen’s watch. 
La casa es de mi tío. It’s my uncle’s house.
(c) Material 
La blusa es de seda. The blouse is silk.
Las joyas son de oro.  The jewelry is gold. 
 
USES OF ESTAR
 
- To express location or position.
 Madrid está es España. Madrid is in Spanish. 
Mi tío está en Mexico. My uncle is in Mexico.
El libro está es la mesa. The book is on the table.
¿Dónde están los niños? Where are the children?
- To express a condition or state (emotions, health) 
La sopa está caliente. The soup is hot.
María está sentada. Maria is seated. 
El señor Salas está triste. Mr. Salas is sad.
¿Cómo está usted? Estoy muy bien. How are you? I am very well. 
La ventana está abierta. The window is open.
- To express action in progress
Ellos están estudiando. They are studying. 
Estoy escribiendo. I am writing. 
This podcast uses the following audio from freesound.org:

Reggaeton.wav beat from freesound.org Artist: djpuppy's breaksfile: duppyReaagetomSoca01-114.wav
Trumpet loops from freesound.org Artist: Trumpet Loops 'n' Hitsfile: TrumpetLoop02.aif

Verbs: Ser and Estar

In this episode, Sr. Norton talks with Michelle about her school day. Classes, transportation, clubs and friends are discussed during the short dialogue.
The dialogue is played two times. The first has short pauses inserted between sentences to give the listener time to process. The second time plays straight through.
Extra credit: After the dialogue, there is a humorous interview between Michelle and her father.
Credits:
Reggaeton.wav beat from freesound.org Artist: djpuppy's breaksfile: duppyReaagetomSoca01-114.wav
Trumpet loops from freesound.org Artist: Trumpet Loops 'n' Hitsfile: TrumpetLoop02.aif

Conversaciones: The School Day

In this episode we discuss the verb GUSTAR as well as a brief overview of indirect object pronouns (IOP).
To say you like something is done differently in Spanish than in English. Talking about our likes and dislikes requires a slightly different perspective than what you may be used to. As you learned in Spanish 1, we typically use the verb gustar to discuss our likes and dislikes. Many people will say that gustar means “to like” as in “I like apples.” More accurate, however, would be to say that gustar, actually means “to be pleasing”. So in Spanish we don’t really say “I like apples.” Instead what we really say is “Apples are pleasing to me.” That’s why we say that it requires a slightly different perspective. In English we are accustomed to declare what we like, not to think, say, or even believe that it is not us that is doing the action rather that noun that is liked or disliked is actually the noun performing the action. Clear as mud? Don’t worry, by the end of this lesson you should be completely comfortable with how this workd. In order to say this, though, we need to learn a few words called “indirect object pronouns”.  You probably discussed indirect object pronouns briefly in Spanish 1.
 
As the name insinuates, an indirect object receives the action of the verb indirectly. What that means is that the indirect object in the sentence indicates the to or for whom the action is completed. In the sentence “Matt gives the book to Jon”, Matt is the subject – he is the one performing the action of the verb – to read. The book is the direct object: it is directly receiving the action of the verb. Matt gives, but what does he give? What is being given? The book. The book is being given so the book is directly receiving the action of the verb to give. Jon, though, is the indirect object because he indirectly receives the action of the verb (the book is given, but given to Jon).  Jon is a noun, so in this sentence above Jon is the indirect object noun. When we replace to Jon with to him the indirect object noun becomes an indirect object pronoun. (Remember: a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun.)
 
You’ll notice that in English we use two words to identify the indirect object. In the example above, those two words were to him. In Spanish, both words are wrapped up into one little indirect object pronoun. To say to him we would simply use the word  le. Below you will see a list of all the indirect object pronouns in Spanish:
 
Indirect Object Pronouns
to/for me = me
to/for you (informal)= te
to/for him, her or you (formal) = le
to/for us = nos
to/for you-all (informal/Spain) = os
to/for them or you-all = les
 
Where we put the object pronouns in relation to the verb is pretty important. These indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les) usually go:
 

Before a conjugated verb, or
Connected to an infinitive verb

 
Let’s look at a few examples:
 
ENGLISH                      ENGLISH W/SPANISH STRUCTURE       SPANISH
I like apples. >               To me - are pleasing – the apples. >       Me gustan las manzanas.
You like to eat. >           To you - is pleasing - to eat. >               Te gusta comer.
We like the book. >        To us – is pleasing – the book. >           Nos gusta el libro.
I like your car. > To me – is pleasing – your car. >                       Me gusta tu coche.
I like your eyes. >          To me – are pleasing – your eyes. >       Me gustan tus ojos.
He likes your car. >        To him – is pleasing – your car. >           Le gusta tu coche.
She likes your car.>       To her – is pleasing – your car. >           Le gusta tu coche.
 
There are 3 things we want you to observe in the examples above.

The indirect object pronoun (IOP for short) in these examples is always before the conjugated form of the Spanish verb gustar.
When it is only one thing that is pleasing we conjugate the verb as gusta but when there is more than one item that is pleasing we conjugate the verb as gustan.  Some Spanish teachers have a rough time helping students to understand why this happens so we’re going to take a minute to clarify what’s happening here: When we want to say “He speaks” we say “Él habla”. And when we want to say “They speak” we say “Ellos hablan”. That is basic conjugating from Spanish 1 and that model is exactly what we follow with the verb gustar. Now since we clarified that gustar means to be pleasing, it should be easier to understand now why we conjugate gustar the way we do. Observe: The apples are pleasing > Gustan las manzanas. The apple is pleasing > Gusta la manzana. Of course, the sentence Gusta la manzana doesn’t make much sense, because if the apple is pleasing it has to be pleasing to somebody. So, we complete the sentence with the IOP Me. Me gusta la manzana.
The third thing we hope you observe in the examples above is that the sentence “He likes your car” and the sentence “She likes your car” look the very same in Spanish: Le gusta tu coche. That’s because the IOP for to him is le and the IOP for to her is also le. So we may want to clarify whom we are talking about with those IOPs. Here is how we do it.

 
Le gusta tu coche. (Le is supposed to mean to him)  A él le gusta tu coche.
Le gusta tu coche. (Le is supposed to mean to her) A ella le gusta tu coche.
            
            So all we are doing is adding a él to clarify or add emphasis that is it pleasing to him.
            We used a ella in the second example to clarify that it is pleasing to her.
 
We can add emphasis or clarify all of the examples above if we want to:
 
A mí me gustan las manzanas.
A ti te gusta comer.
A nosotros nos gusta el libro.
A mí me gusta tu coche.
A mí me gustan tus ojos.
A él le gusta tu coche.
A ella le gusta tu coche.
 
There are other words that we will be using and studying later on this semester that operate the same way. One of those is encantar which means to be enchanting or, as we would say in English, really like or love. ¡Me encanta el español! (Spanish is enchanting to me! or I love Spanish!)  We’ll do more with encantar later, but we just want to plant the seed in your mind now of what’s to come later.
 
 

Verbs: Gustar (Me gusta..) and some IOP

 
There are a couple of ways to say have in Spanish. The only one that we have used so far is the one that we are going to be reviewing today: tener. Now many people say that tener looks nothing like any English words, but let’s think about this for a minute… When a verb ends in –er in Spanish then it is in its infinitive form, which is like the to before an infinitive verb in English. Let’s look at tener without its –er ending: ten-. This, by the way, is called the stem of the verb. So ten- is the stem for to have. Are there any words in English that have the ten (or –tain) sound and has something to do with to have? Brainstorm for a minute about English words with –tain and then read the next paragraph.
 
There are many, many English words with –tain in them and many of those words have some sort of connection to to have. Though we don’t talk about them having have in them, they are related. Here are a few with definitions that are slightly altered to make the point:
 
Con-tain            To have within
Ob-tain              To acquire possession (have)
Re-tain              To maintain possession (have)
Main-tain           To have in a particular state or condition
Sus-tain            To have in a way to prevent from falling (support)
Abs-tain            To have not or withhold
 
Hopefully this little exercise has helped you to see the connection between the Spanish verb tener and its existence in English. If you are interested in this evolution of language and the history of words, then etymology is a word that you should look up. We also hope that this little exercise with –tain will help you to remember always the meaning of today’s word of the day: Tener.
 
 
Tener (to have) was one of the first irregular verbs you learned in Spanish 1. The reason we call it an irregular verb is because it does not conjugate according to the regular pattern used for most verbs. Two strange things happen to it. First, it is a –go verb, meaning that the yo form doesn’t just add an ­–o but rather a –go. Second, it is a stem-changing verb. What that means is that the stem, Ten-, has a spelling change from e to ie in several of the forms. Observe:
 
VERB: TENER – To have




Yo


TENGO


Nosotros


TENEMOS




Tú


TIENES


Vosotros


TENÉIS




Él


TIENE


Ellos


TIENEN




Ella


TIENE


Ellas


TIENEN




Usted (Ud.)


TIENE


Ustedes (Uds.)


TIENEN




 
  
TENER FOR POSESSION
The verb tener, as we discussed, is used when we are telling somebody that we have possession of something. 
 
Yo tengo dos bicicletas.                         Nosotros tenemos todos los libros. 
I have two bicycles.                                We have all the books.
 
The verb tener is also used in other situations that may not sound right if we were to translate them directly to English. When was the last time, for example, that somebody said to you, “I have hunger.” You would know what that person means, but it’s simply not how we use to have in English.
 
  
TENER QUE – TO HAVE TO
There are several other uses of tener that may not seem normal for English speakers. Perhaps the most common of these is the tener que structure. This is very similar to have to in English. If you were to translate it directly into English, it may sound odd. Remember, though, that for a Spanish speaker to translate have to into Spanish it may sound equally odd to them. Let’s look at a few examples:
 
Sandra tiene que hablar con el director de la escuela.                                          Yo tengo que ir a la casa de mis primos.
Sandra has that to speak (has to speak) with the principal of the school.               I have that to go (I have to go) to the house of my cousins.
 
 
 TENER + NOUN
Besides being used to declare possession of something (physically having it) and besides using tener with que to talk about have to there is a third set of occasions that tener is the verb of choice. In these instances we are combining tener with certain nouns that would normally go with to be in English. There aren’t too many instances of this and we will review the main ones here:

Tener calor – To have hot or to be hot. Ella tiene calor y quiere nadar en la piscina. (She is hot and wants to swim in the pool.)
Tener frío – To have cold or to be cold. Yo tengo frío. Necesito un suéter. (I am cold. I need a sweater.)
Tener hambre – To have hunger or to be hungry. Mi amigo va a comer porque tiene hambre. (My friend is going to ear because he is hungry.)
Tener sed – To have thirst or to be thirsty. Hace calor hoy y tengo mucha sed. (It’s hot today and I have much thirst/I am very thirsty.)
Tener sueño – To have sleepiness or to be tired. El bebé tiene sueño. (The baby is tired.)
Tener miedo – To have fear or to be scared.

Tener miedo de when with a verb: Steven tiene miedo de hablar el español. (Steven is afraid of speaking Spanish.)
Tener miedo a when with a noun: Silvia y Marta tienen miedo a los perros. (Silvia and Marta are afraid of dogs.)



 PRACTICE WITH TENER
Read the following sentences out loud one time in Spanish. Then listen to the sentence one time by clicking the link next to it. Continue reading the sentence aloud until you can read it comfortably (no jerky hesitations). Once you are comfortable with reading it, go through the sentence in English and make sure that you understand what you are saying. Once you are sure of the meaning, read it one more time in Spanish. This will help your mind to make the connection between the Spanish words and the actual meaning of the sentence.
 

Yo tengo cuatro hermanas y también tengo un perro. 
Nosotros tenemos una piñata y muchos globos para la fiesta. 
Mariana tiene la cámara para sacar fotos de los monos y los pájaros en el parque nacional. 
Los jóvenes tienen hambre y quieren ir a un restaurante. 
Ellos no duermen mucho y ahora tienen sueño. 
Yo tengo miedo a los serpientes (serpents/snakes).
¿Tienen ustedes mucho frío? Yo tengo calor. 
Hace calor y nosotros tenemos sed. Queremos agua. 
José no puede ir al cine. Él tiene que trabajar esta noche. 
Guadalupe y su hermana tienen que visitar a su abuelo en el hospital. 

 
 

Verbs: Basic Present Tense Conjugations

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