Lesson XIV

It has been some time since I posted here. Nevertheless we should continue with the same sequence.

As a review I will begin mentioning and connecting the contents of the older posts.

It seems that the blog shows only the posts year by year, therefore if you want to review the 2014 posts you will have to click on the "2014" to the left of the screen.

Lesson XII. More about "me duele", "me gusta", "me interesa"...

There is a good number of verbs that follow the structure "A mí me gusta la pizza".

Here we have a short list of them:

Me interesa (it´s interesting to me)
Me parece que... (it seems to me that...)
Me encanta (I love it, it´s charming for me)
Me importa (it matters to me)
Me cae bien (I like a person´s way of being)
Me cae mal (I don´t like a person´s way of being)
Me aburre (it´s boring to me)
Me divierte (I find it amusing)
Me da gusto (I feel happy about something)
Me da tristeza (I feel sad about something, I find something pitiful)
Me da asco (something is disgusting, loathsome to me).

Remember that "me" in Spanish sounds "meh", like in "mesh", "medicine", or "mess".

If you want to say the opposite of any of these expressions, just add "no" before "me":

No me gusta (I don´t like it),
No me interesa (I´m not interested),
No me parece que... (It doesn´t seems to me that...),
No me duele (It doesn´t hurt).

Sometimes you need to emphasize or clarify, so you can use the complete phrase (using "a mí"):

A mí me interesa (it´s interesting to me)
A mí me parece que... (it seems to me that...)
A mí me aburre (something is boring to me)

A mí no me gusta (I don´t like)
A mí no me importa (I don´t care, I don´t mind, or it doesn´t matter to me)

"A mí",
"a ti",
"a él",
"a ella",
"a nosotros",
"a ustedes",
"a vosotros" and
"a ellos"

are answers to the question: This is appealing to whom?

¿A quién le gusta la pizza? (Who likes pizza?)

A Juan le gusta la pizza.

A María le gustan las hamburguesas.

Lesson XI. Expressions with "me duele", "me gusta", "me interesa"...

In Spanish there are some expressions that have a particular structure: expressing pain, appealing, preference, interest, and so on.

The structure is like the one we used talking about pain: First the "prepositional phrase", then the "indirect complement"... ok, don't be scared yet. Let see the chart and a little explanation afterwards.

Frase preposicional	Complemento indirecto	Verbo	Sujeto
A mí	me	gusta, gustan
A ti	te	gusta, gustan
A él, a ella, a Usted	le	gusta, gustan
A nosotros	nos	gusta, gustan
A vosotros	os	gusta, gustan
A ustedes	les	gusta, gustan
A ellos, a ellas	les	gusta, gustan

In Spanish, when you say "I like something", instead of me liking the thing, you have to express that this particular object is appealing to you. That is why we begin these phrases or sentences with "To me" (a mí) and then say "me gusta" (it's appealing) and then the object of my liking.

When you say "a mí me gusta el fútbol", what you are saying is that Soccer is appealing to you.

Or "a mí me duele el estómago", what you are saying is that the stomach is causing pain to you.

Now, if you have to ask someone about his or her pains or preferences, you would say:

¿A ti te gusta el fútbol? (Is Soccer appealing to you?).

¿A ti te duele el estómago? (Is your stomach hurting?).

Notice that when I am talking about myself I begin the sentence with "A mí me...", but when I am talking to you (the second person), I begin the sentence with "A ti te..."

If we go further and talk about the third person (he or she), we will begin the sentence with "A él le..." or "A ella le..."

A ella le gusta ver la televisión. (She likes watching TV).

A él le duele la cabeza. (His head is hurting).

"A nosotros" means "to us",
"A vosotros" means "to you" (talking to a group of people) (this is used only in Spain, in the classical literature and in the Bible).
"A ustedes" means "to you" (talking to a group of people. Used in Latin America).
"A ellos" means "to them" (all male or mixed male and female).
"A ellas" means "to them (all female).

After this part, you have to use the Indirect Complement:

me (for me) (Remember that the Spanish "me" is pronounced "meh")
te (for you)
le (for him or her)
nos (for us)
os (for "you all", in Spain)
les (for "you all", in Latin America)
les (for them).

Do we have to use both? Generally not. You can say "A mí me gusta la pizza", or only "me gusta la pizza", and it will be clear enough. Sometimes you need to clarify, and then is when you use both.

Then we have the verb. In this case is easy, because it´s only either singular or plural.

"Me gusta", if the object of my appealing is only one: "la pizza".
"Me gustan,  if the object of my appealing is more than one: "las hamburguesas".

Lesson X. El Dolor (Pain)

¿Qué te duele? (What is hurting?)

 

Two ways to talk about pain in Spanish:

 

     1. "Tengo dolor de..."

 

      2. "Me duele ..."

 

Tengo dolor de cabeza. (I have a head ache).

 

Me duele la cabeza. (My head is hurting).

 

Tengo dolor de estómago. (I have a stomach ache).

 

Me duele el estómago. (My stomach is hurting).

 

Tengo dolor de dientes. (I have a teeth ache).

 

Me duelen los dientes. (My teeth are hurting).

 

(I am emphasizing than "n", because since "dientes" is plural, the verb has to agree and be in plural too).

Lesson IX. Las partes del cuerpo humano

The objective of this chapter is to review the vocabulary related to the human body.

We have two Power Point presentations. One of them is set up in a "portrait" layout and the other one is set up in a "landscape" layout.

The one that is in the "portrait" layout doesn't show completely, but you can roll down a little to see the bottom of some of the pages or slides.

The other down side that I am noticing now is that once the show is complete, the window keep showing other presentations where I have no control on the content.

Preguntas: (Questions):

1.   ¿Para qué sirven las manos? (What are the hands for?)

Respuesta: Las manos sirven para tomar y mover algunos objetos, para sostener cosas en su lugar, para sostenerse a sí mismo,  para agarrar las herramientas, para ayudar a los demás, para demostrar nuestro afecto, para saludar, para sellar un trato o dar la bienvenida a alguien, para escribir, para trabajar.

Answer:   The hands are good for:

Taking and moving some objects  (tomar y mover algunos objetos),

Holding some things in place (sostener cosas en su lugar),

Holding one self (sostenerse a sí mismo),

Grabing the tools (agarrar las herramientas),

Helping others (ayudar a los demás),

Showing our affection (demostrar nuestro afecto),

Saying hello (saludar),

Sealing an agreement (sellar un trato),

Welcoming someone (dar la bienvenida a alguien),

Writing (escribir),

Working (trabajar).

Lesson VIII. Conjugation of the Verbs Tengo, Necesito, Puedo, Debo

The previous reading showed different forms of the verb "tener":  No tengo zapatos (I don't have shoes); No tienes zapatos? (don't you have any shoes?) ; Mi mamá tiene muchos zapatos. (My mom has a lot of shoes). The reason we change the form of the verb is in order to make it fit the person. The person could be "yo" (myself), or "tú" (you), or "él" or "ella" (he or she).

The same as in English, we have to change the form of the verb to make it fit the person, like in the case of the verb "to be": I am, you are, he / she is, we are...