español for Gringos

Know your 'verbos'.

What's the difference between

constar, costar y acostar?

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constar    =      to consist of

El examen consta de dos partes.

The exam consists of two parts

costar     =        to cost

Los mangos cuestan veinticinco

     centavos cada uno.

The mangos cost 25 centavos each.

acostar     =       to lie down or put to bed

Know your nouns.

What's the difference between

maldito, bendito y bandido?

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el maldito           =   the wicked, the damned,

                                      the cursed

el bendito           =   the sacred or the blessed

el bandido          =   the bandit, outlaw, hoodlum

maldito y bendito  are also used as adjectives.

Aerial maneuvers -- take off and landing.

There is a common Spanish verb

despegar that means to remove, detach

or unstick.

The same verb is used with reference to

a plane or a rocket ship taking off from Earth.

El avión no despegó debido a adversas

condiciones meteorológicas.

The plane didn't take off due to

adverse weather conditions.

When that plane touches down, the

verb commonly uses is aterrizar,

to land.  Note the similarity to the

noun 'tierra,' which means soil, ground

or earth.

This verb is not to be confused with

aterrorizar, which means 'to terrify'.

Makin' stuff.

Many Spanish verbs can be utilized that are

in the 'make' something class.

Verbs that mean 'to make':

hacer

producir

fabricar              to manufacture

crear                   to create

realizar

duplicar

formar

efectuar              to make a payment or trip,

                                 or carry out a project

elaborar              (often used with food preparation)

In sports, the word anotar means to score

or make .. a goal, points or (baseball) a run.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

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the good               =   el bueno

the bad                 =   el malo

the ugly                 =   el feo  (FAY-oh)

How did you learn Spanish.  Did you go to school or learn it on your own while living in Ecuador?

I thin I will do better when I am in a Spanish speaking country. I can speak well enough but I do not understand when spoken tol

But cc, I appreciate your entries.  I read and learn from someone who is there.

"I thin I will do better when I am in a Spanish speaking country."

    --Sestone

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Vaya!  You're speaking English ("thin") like the

fictional Cuban band leader Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) from

"I Love Lucy."

---

I studied Spanish for two years in high school (Montrose, NY).

I visited Mexico for a week or so several times, especially

when I was living in San Diego, CA, about 15 years ago.

For my first two years living in Ecuador (2013-15),

I made it a daily practice to study Spanish at home.

My method was to record TV programs and movies

with Spanish subtitles, then play them back with

liberal use of a DVR pause button, a bilingual dictionary

and Wordreference.com ... I spent an hour or two daily

in real time on the project.   Naturally, I had plentiful

opportunities in the Ecuadorian capital to use

the español that I was learning.

cccmedia in Quito, Ecuador

The art of 'el arte'.

You may remember from high school Spanish

that all nouns in español are designated as

either masculine or feminine.

However, this is not always the case.

According to Wordreference.com, the noun

el arte is 'ambos' (both) masculine and/or

feminine.

When 'arte' is feminine, 'el arte' is still correct

to say .. because of the rule that when an

A-word feminine noun's accent is on the first

syllable, then el -- meaning 'the' -- is used

instead of la.

El arte en este museo es magnífica.

The art in this museum is magnificent.

El arte en este museo es magnífico.

The art in this museum is magnificent.

What a Gringo thinks.

A Gringo may think that you stick the

letter 'O' at the back of an English noun

and you would then know the

Spanish equivalent.

That's not always so, although

'canino' is the Spanish word for

a dog or canine.

gusto

What a Gringo thinks it means...

a gust of wind. 

What it really means...

pleasure or enthusiasm.

Asked to do something, many

Spanish speakers will respond:

Con gusto.

The Spanish word ráfaga

can be used for 'gust of wind'.

---

mano

What a Gringo thinks it means... man.

What it really means... hand.

(It's a feminine word -- la mano.)

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olivo

What a Gringo thinks it means... olive.

What it really means... olive tree.

A common word for 'olive' is

aceituna.  Also: oliva.

Famous line from The Wizard of Oz.

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

lions                 leones, leonas

tigers               tigres, tigresas

bears               osos, osas

oh my!            O!

Movie title.

We invite you to translate this title:

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.

(1966 farce set in Ancient Rome starring Zero Mostel,

Phil Silvers and Buster Keaton.)

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One possible translation...

Algo Divertido Ocurrió  en Camino a El Foro.

@MByerly You can download alternate (virtual) keyboards that suit your particular needs.  I had one on a prior system but never really had the patience to learn to use it.

Do you know what he meant?

This entry contains a snippet of music history

and then includes an opportunity to translate

the most famous line of the lead song of

the Beatles' first album.

That line, as some may have guessed, is:

She was just 17, if you know what I mean

And the way she looked

                      was way beyond compare.

Paul McCartney was having a hard time with

completing the line about 'the way she looked',

it was later revealed.

The Beatles went with the '17' phrase, which

generated some controversy although the

age of consent in the U.K. in the 1960s

was 16.

According to the BBC, USA comedy icon

Jerry Seinfeld once asked Paul McCartney,

"Just Seventeen, if you know what I mean?

I'm not sure we do know what you mean."

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Please translate to Spanish the

following...

She was just seventeen,

   if you know what I mean.

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Ella tuvo solamente diecisiete años,

   si sabes lo que quiero decir.

(Doesn't seem to have the

same iconic ring, does it?)

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The song title, by the way, was

"I Saw Her Standing There."

  -- cccmedia

Famous sayings in Spanish.

Let's do a translation.  Here is today's saying...

Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.

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Tell me with whom you go and I'll tell you

who you are.

Credit... Fluentu.com

Know your Spanish 'verbos'.

What's the difference between creer,

crear y criar/criarse?

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creer         =    to believe

crear         =    to create

criar          =     to raise or bring up (crops, kids)

Me criaron judío.

I was raised Jewish.

Know your 'verbos'.

What's the difference between rasgar,

rascar y rastrear?

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rasgar      =    to tear or rip

rascar       =   to scratch or scrape

rastrear    =   to trail, as in tracking an animal

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The noun rasgo can mean a 'characteristic'.

What a Gringo thinks.

1. éxito.   What a Gringo thinks it means:  the exit.  What it really means:  success.  Salida is a Spanish noun meaning 'exit'.

1. defraudar.  What a Gringo thinks it means:  defraud.  While the word can mean cheat or defraud, a common meaning is 'to disappoint'.

Tu actuación me defraudó.

Your behavior disappointed me.

Conversation heard this evening between

a Gringo and Quito police at García Moreno

y Mejía, where police put up one of

many barricades in anti.    cipation of the

latest protests near the government-buildings

section of El Centro.

Gringo:  Quiero visitar el restaurante allí.

I want to visit the restaurant over there.

Policía:  No puede pasar.

You may not pass.

Gringo:  Por qué no?

Why not?

Policía:  Manifestaciones.

Protests.

Gringo:  Es la tercera vez dentro de

una semana.

(Policía nod in agreement.)

Gringo:  La gente no está feliz.

The people are not happy.

Five numbers.

Stick around a minute and you can take

a quiz.

We'll pick five numbers.

See if you can say them in Spanish.

Answers below.

Here are the five....

12  ...  50  ...  500  ...  3,008  ...  1947

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12                doce     (DUH-say)

50                cincuenta

500              quinientos     (keen-YEN-tose)

3,008           tres mil ocho

1947            mil novecientos cuarenta y siete

E-mail addresses.

Don't get thrown by the intricacies

of Spanish-language email addresses.

Here are some details you should know

when giving out or receiving an email

address...

@ is called 'arroba'.

.com is said as punto-com

Underscore ( _ ) is called 'guión bajo'.

'Guión' means script, 'bajo' means low.

ccc_media@expatmail.com

ccc guión bajo media arroba expatmail punto com

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The above email-style address is not a real

address and is submitted here only as

an instructional example.

Checkout line at the supermarket:

how to get a little help from your 'friends'.

Do you ever do a major shopping trip to

a 'supermercado' .. only to find yourself

exhausted by the time you reach the

checkout line.

Below is a sentence you may want to remember

in such an instance. For some, it may be especially

useful at the 'preferencia' line that is

reserved for pregnant persons, 65-plus seniors

and 'discapacitados'.

Debido a una falta de energía, me convendría

si personal de MegaMaxi pueda descargar

las mercancías.

Due to a lack of energy, it would suit me

if MegaMaxi staff could unload the merchandise.

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At this point, expect that the cashier or a 'mozo'

will unload your purchases onto the

cashier station conveyor belt.  Your next move

may be to pull out your store card, your ID

and your cash or payment plastic.

Mañana.

By now you may know that ayer means

yesterday .. and, at least technically,

mañana  means tomorrow.

La mañana  means the morning.

So:  mañana por la mañana  =

             tomorrow morning

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Culturally, mañana  can mean

tomorrow .. or it can mean any day

after tomorrow.  It's a challenge for

Gringos to determine or confirm

which day is being referenced.

And don't forget  anteayer  - the day before yesterday,

and pasado mañana - the day after tomorrow.

Even a Gringo.

Even a Gringo should be able to scope out

some Spanish words.

What is the Spanish word for ...

omit or leave out ...            omitir

admit or accept ...               admitir

emit or send out ...             emitir

Know your nouns.

What's the difference between

mosca, moza y mostaza?

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una mosca    =                     a fly

un mozo, una moza    =      a youth or single person

mostaza      =                         mustard

Clean your kitchen floor.

Please translate the English words on the left.

Spanish is on the right side.

mop                                                  mopa, fregona

broom                                               escoba

dustpan                                            pala

All the above Spanish words are feminine,

e.g., la pala.

Brother Archer, would you say

'la escoba' or 'el escoba'?

Brother Archer, would you say
'la escoba' or 'el escoba'?

La escoba is correct, it follows the rule of feminine nouns ending in "a" (even though there are exceptions like "el agua" and "la mano").

@cccmedia

How to Change Your Keyboard Language on Windows

Click on the Windows icon on the bottom left corner of your screen.

Click on "Settings".

Click on "Time & language".

Click on "Region and language".

Choose Spanish.

Click on "Options".

Click on "Add a keyboard".

Select a Spanish keyboard.

Select a Spanish keyboard.

No need to select a Spanish keyboard.  Select English International.  Then you simply first type ' and then a, e, i, o or u to get á, é, í, ó or ú, and the same for upper case.  For the ü type first " then u.  For ñ first type ~ then the n.  Right Alt ! gives you ¡ and Right Alt ? gives you ¿

What do you know about this word?

What do you know about the word el hacha?

There are some oddities.

First, what does the word mean?

In English, it means 'the axe'.

Next, is this word masculine or feminine?

Answer:  el hacha is feminine, despite the

fact that it takes the article 'el', which is

normally associated with masculine words.

Because the 'h' in hacha is silent, it follows

the formula for words that begin with an 'a'

in which the first syllable is stressed.

For example, 'el área', a feminine word meaning

'the area'.

Pronouncer ... AH-chah

Know your Spanish nouns.

What's the difference between ala, alma y ama?

ala  =   wing

alma =   soul

amo/ama. =   owner or master (m.), owner or mistress (f.)

ama de llaves (at hotel)  =  housekeeper (mistress of keys)

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These three words starting and ending in 'a' are feminine.

Following the rule about nouns starting with 'a' with

the stress on the first syllable, the associated article is 'el'. 

el ala, el alma

Do we say 'el ama' or 'la ama', Osage?