Monday, October 29, 2018

Spanish Vocabulary: Parts of the Body

Hi!
I wrote this post to introduce you to the parts of the human body in español! Just a simple post, for your reference :) Espero que you enjoy it! 😊

So here's the list of the Spanish names for the Parts of the body found on the image above:

SPANISH -> ENGLISH
las cejas -> the eyebrows
el cabello -> the hair  (also "el pelo" esp. in Spain)
la cabeza -> the head
los ojos -> the eyes
la nariz -> the nose
las orejas -> the ears
el cuello -> the neck
la boca -> the mouth
los hombros -> the shoulders
los brazos -> the arms
el codo -> the elbow
los dedos -> the fingers
las manos -> the hands
las piernas -> the legs
las rodillas -> the knees
los tobillos -> the ankles
los pies -> the feet

Example:
Tengo las cejas gruesas - I have thick eyebrows
Tengo el cabello negro y largo - I have long black hair
Tengo los ojos grandes - I have big eyes



Other examples:
Ella tiene las cejas gruesas así como el chico arriba - She has thick eyebrows like the guy above.
Tiene el pelo negro y corto - She has short black hair.
Tiene los dientes feos - She has ugly teeth.





Just a note:
You can use the verb "TENER" + the body part + adjective to describe yourself or somoeone else, just like the examples above!!

(Remember the conjugation of the verb TENER: yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella/usted tiene, nosotr@s tenemos, vosotr@s tenéis, ell@s/ustedes tienen)

Now, can you describe yourself briefly in the comments below ??

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

What are you doing? = ¿Qué estás haciendo? The Spanish Gerund

Sometimes we need to expresar what we are doing at this very momento in time. In English, we use the -ING form of the verbo (technically aka the GERUND). We use "eating" when we're eating right now, "reading" when we're reading something, "watching" when we're watching the noticias in the TV right now.

So, in español, there's an equivalent form for this -ING form of the verb. Today you're going to know the gerund of some common verbs and learn how to form the gerund of any other Spanish verbs!! (...and use them in sentences) 😉

The gerunds of the following common verbs are shown as bold letters!

dar (to give): dando
estar (to be): estando
decir (to say, tell): diciendo
hacer (to do, make): haciendo
ver (to see, watch): viendo
tener (to have): teniendo
ser (to : siendo

Ex.  Ella está dando las llaves al botones del hotel. ---> She's giving the keys to the hotel's bellhop.
       ¡Tú estás diciendo disparates!  ---> You are talking nonsense!
        Yo estoy haciendo la colada en este momento. ---> I'm doing the laundry at this moment.
        Miguel y Isabel están viendo un video sobre México. ---> Michael and Isabella are watching a video on Mexico.


How to form the gerundio from the verb?

It's easy! You gonna need to learn the endings for the gerund. They are ANDO and IENDO.
If you have an -AR verb (one that ends in AR) you use the ending ANDO. However to do this, you first have to remove the AR from the verb, and then attach ANDO to what remains of the verb!

To illustrate, let's take the verb we already saw above, "dar". It's an AR verb because it ends in AR.
First, remove the AR.
So then, we are left with only: d-
Next, we add the ANDO to the "d" and we have formed the gerund of "dar": dando!!

I told you it's easy, right? 😄

Now! What about if the verb you have ends in ER or IR (they're called -ER and -IR verbs, respectively)??? The same method as the AR verbs, only you'll need to attach IENDO instead (of course, after removing the ER/ IR ending! 😠).

So, for the verb "comer" (to eat), remove the ER and then add IENDO. What do you got? Yes, you're right... you got the gerund of "comer": comiendo!!! 
(You can imagine the transformation from verb to gerund with this formula: comer - er = com +iendo = comiendo! Haha!)

And..... for the -IR verb "escribir" (to write):
escribir - ir = escrib
escrib + iendo = escribiendo!

ESCRIBIENDO! , which in English means "writing".

Yo estoy escribiendo una carta. = I'm writing a letter.
Tú estás escribiendo el número de teléfono. = You're writing the telephone number.




Do you understand the gerund in Spanish now?


If so, I want you to write in the comments box below ↓ the gerunds of the following list of verbs! OK? Ready??

Here they are:

1. tomar (to drink, take)

2. correr (to run)

3. cumplir (to comply)

4. romper (to break, tear)

5. cocinar (to cook)


GOOD LUCK!! 💪🍀
If you liked this lesson, kindly share the article. Remember "Sharing is love"! :) 💓


Thursday, October 4, 2018

Aesop's Story with Morals

Hi. I´m back with translating fables 😊I know this one here is quite short, but I like its moral lesson. 

I think the moral of this story has something to do with one of my favorite mottos 🌹Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🌹, that's why I am sharing.. I guess you'll like it! :)
(Source of the story is http://www.storyit.com/Classics/Stories/roosterjewel.htm)


The Rooster and the Jewel
an Aesop Fable

       A very hungry rooster was scratching and digging in the dirt looking for food. He scratched and dug and finally found a beautiful jewel. He was amazed at how the gem shone glittered.
rooster and jewel

       "This is a very fine and beautiful thing," he thought, "but I would rather have one tasty kernel of corn instead."
____________________________________

MORAL :What is a treasure to one may be worthless to another.




**********************************

Here's my translation  
of the very short fable to Spanish!

El Gallo y La Joya
un fábula de Aesop

Un gallo hambriento arañaba la tierra cavándola a fin de encontrar su comida. Arañaba y cavaba hasta que por fin encontró una joya muy bonita. ¡Le era asombroso cómo la piedra preciosa brillaba! 

-- Esta es una cosa tan preciosa y fina -- pensó -- sin embargo, preferiría más bien un grano de maíz delicioso.

La moraleja: Lo que es un tesoro a uno puede serle una cosa sin valor al otro.


So there you go! I hope you enjoyed the story! 😇😉