Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Some common Spanish Conjunctions and how to use them (Part II)


So here we are in the second part of our topic Spanish conjunctions and how to use them!


The next conjunction is "EN CUANTO" which means "as soon as".

Ex.
     *En cuanto terminen, entreguen sus papeles de examen.
      (As soon as you're finished, hand in your exam papers.)
     *Se lo diré en cuanto lo vea.
      (I'll tell him as soon as I see him.)

"HASTA QUE" means "until"

Ex.
     *Los alumnos quedaban en silencio hasta que la maestra los despidió.
      (The pupils remained silent until the teacher dismissed them.)
     * No podemos tocar esa computadora hasta que el jefe no dé el permiso.
      (We can't touch that computer until the boss gives the permission to do so.)

"MIENTRAS" means "while"

Ex.
     *Yo toco el piano mientras mi marido lee un libro.
      (I play the piano while my husband reads a book.)
     *Mientras hace sol, vamos a nadar en la playa.
      (While it's sunny, let's swim in the sea.)

"NI...  NI..."  means "neither... nor..."

Ex.
     *No puedes ni tocar instrumento ni leer partituras.
      (You can neither play an instrument nor read sheetmusic.)
     *Mi sueldo no fue ni bajado ni subido. Permanece lo mismo!
      (My salary was  neither lowered nor raised. It remains the same!)


"O"  means "or". This is probably the easiest conjunction to learn :)

Ex.
     *Tú puedes quedarte en casa o venir con nosotros.
     (You can stay at home or come with us.)
     *El jefe podrá subir tu salario o darte beneficios de forma otro que salario.
     (The boss can give you a salary raise or other forms of benefits.)

"PARA QUE" means "so that, in order that". This is synonymous with "a fin de que".

Ex.
     * Necesitas llevar las gafas para que las cosas alrededor queden más nítidas.
      (You need to wear eyeglasses so that the things around you become clearer.)
     *Para que nadie tropiece, recojan los juguetes del piso.
      (In order that no one stumbles, keep the toys away from the floor.)

"PERO"  means "but"

Ex. 
     * Ella canta bien pero es demasiado tímida.
      (She sings well but she's too shy.)
     *Él tiene el cuerpo grande pero no consigue bien levantar cajas pesadas.
      (His body is big but he hardly can lift heavy boxes.)

"PORQUE" means "because"

Ex.
     *El niño no lo puede comprar porque no tiene dinero.
     (The boy can't buy it because he has no money)
     *El jefe lo echó porque tuvo muchas ausencias.
     (The boss fired him because he had a lot of absences.)

"SI" means "if", "whether"

Ex.
     *Yo no sé si o no ellos quieren venir conmigo a la fiesta de mi amiga.
      (I don't know whether they wanna come with me to my friend's party or not)
     * El jefe pregunta si todos ya llegaron a la oficina.
      (The boss asks if everyone has already arrive at the office.)

"SIEMPRE QUE" can mean "everytime" or "as long as"

Ex. .
     *Recuerdos del pasado me llenan la mente siempre que entro en esta tienda.
      (Memories of the past fills my mind everytime I enter this store.)
     *Siempre que los empleados tenga pocas ausencias, el jefe no los echará.
      (As long as the employees have few absences, the boss won't fire them.)

"SIN EMBARGO" means "nevertheless", "however"

Ex.
     *Yo quiero ir a la heladería, sin embargo está lloviendo a cántaros.
     (I wanna go to the ice cream parlor, however it's raining very hard.)
     *Ya hay la decisión de echar a esos dos empleados, sin embargo ellos no quieren irse de la empresa.
      (A decision has already been  made to fire those two employees, nevertheless they don't want to leave the company.)

"SIN QUE"  means "without"

Ex.
     *Conseguí salir de la casa sin que mis padres me vieran.
      (I was able to go out of the house without my parents seeing me.)
     *Sometió el documento lleno de errores sin que el jefe percibiera.
      (He submitted the document that's full of errors without the boss knowing it.)


"SINO"  means "but rather"

Ex.
     *La visita no metió azùcar en su café sino sal. ¡Qué horror!
      (The visitor didn't put sugar in her coffee, but rather salt. Goodness!)
     *El jefe no pidió una copia del calendario sino de la carta.
      (The boss didn't ask for a copy of the calendar, but rather the letter.)

"UNA VEZ QUE" means "once"

Ex.
     *Una vez que aterricemos, te mandaré un mensaje de texto.
      (Once we've landed, I'll send you a text message.)
     *Le telefonaré una vez que el director haya llegado.
      (I'll phone you once the director has arrived.)


And the one-letter conjunction "Y" , which means "and".

Ex.
     *Yo barro el piso y tú limpias los muebles.
     (I sweep the floor and you wipe the furniture.)
     *El jefe tiene reunión hoy y sale a viajar a otro país mañana.
      (The boss has a meeting today and goes for a trip to another country tomorrow.)

"YA QUE" means "since", "seeing that"

Ex.
     *Ya que estás aquí, podrás ayudarme.
      (Since you're here, you'll be able to help me.)
     *La empresa no celebrará la fiesta de Navidad ya que le falta presupuesto para ello.
      (The company won't celebrate Christmas Party seeing that it lacks budget for that.)


S O   T H A T ' S   A L L!
I hope you enjoyed the two posts , and have learned something about the Spanish conjunctions.😀
 Use them in your speech and you'll be more fluent than before! ¡Yo lo prometo!









































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