Learn how to use the irregular Spanish verb that means "to make" or "to do"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola a todos. Habla Dylan, ¿cómo están? |
| Carlos: What’s going on, pod101 world? My name is Carlos. In this lesson, you will learn about the verb “hacer”. |
| Carlos: The conversation takes place on the bus. |
| Dylan: The conversation is between Jorge, the bus driver and a woman. |
| Carlos: The speakers are strangers so they’ll be speaking formally. |
| Carlos: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| CHOFER: ¡A ver, a ver!, ¿se monta o no? |
| JORGE: Sí señor, disculpe, ¿cuánto vale? |
| CHOFER: Pase, pase, las barras electrónicas están contando. |
| JORGE: ¿Barras electrónicas? Señora disculpe, tengo una hora de estar en el autobús, ¿el centro está muy lejos? |
| SEÑORA EN EL AUTO BUS: ¿El centro?, no señor este bus va el centro turístico, que está en la playa. |
| JORGE: ¿La playa? ¿qué hago? |
| Chofer: Come on, come on! You getting on or not? |
| Jorge: Yes sir, I'm sorry…how much is it? |
| Chofer: Get in, get in. The electronic bars are counting. |
| Jorge: Electronic bars? Ma'am, excuse me…I’ve been on this bus for an hour…is downtown very far? |
| Señora en el auto bus: Downtown? No, sir, this bus goes to the tourism center, which is at the beach. |
| Jorge: The beach? What do I do? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Oh my God! Poor Jorge. |
| Carlos: You know I’ve been in this situation before, it’s kind of like what do you do when you are suddenly trapped on a bus going hours and hours away from your destination? |
| Dylan: What do you do, Carlos? |
| Carlos: You grab a ______ (0:01:00) he’s going to the beach it’s not like he’s going to…you know. |
| Dylan: That’s true. Yeah it could be worse, it could be going to like a bad neighborhood or something. |
| Carlos: Or if he doesn’t have any money, that’s the problem. He could go to the beach and take the next bus back. |
| Dylan: Or he could hang out at the beach and then take the next bus back. |
| Carlos: You could also do that, but it depends on what kind of a free spirit Jorge is. |
| Dylan: Yes. |
| Carlos: Well, let’s find out. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Ver”. |
| Carlos: “To see.” |
| Dylan: “Ver”, “ver”. |
| Dylan: “Montarse”. |
| Carlos: “To get on”, “to get in”, “to mount.” |
| Dylan: “Mon-tar-se”, “montarse”. |
| Dylan: “¿Cuánto vale?” |
| Carlos: “How much does it cost?” “How much is it worth?” |
| Dylan: “¿Cuán-to va-le?”, “¿cuánto vale?” |
| Dylan: “Barras”. |
| Carlos: “Bars.” |
| Dylan: “Ba-rras”, “barras”. |
| Dylan: “Lejos”. |
| Carlos: “Far.” |
| Dylan: “Le-jos”, “lejos”. |
| Dylan: “Hacer”. |
| Carlos: “To make”, “to do.” |
| Dylan: “Ha-cer”, “hacer”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay, let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “ver”. |
| Carlos: “Ver”, “to see.” You know a very deceptively simple verb. |
| Dylan: You wouldn’t think that would you? |
| Carlos: Well, I find that usually the shorter verbs are the most difficult to conjugate in other tenses that is. |
| Dylan: Or moods. I know the subjunctive isn’t easy. |
| Carlos: Nor the preterit. |
| Dylan: But at least we have a pretty straight forward situation in today’s conversation. “¡A ver, a ver!” |
| Carlos: “Come on, come on.” Wait, that’s not to see in any way. |
| Dylan: Well, “¡A ver, a ver!” is a set expression. It’s also like saying “vamos a empezar de nuevo”. |
| Carlos: “Let’s begin again.” |
| Dylan: Check out the sample sentence. “¡A ver, a ver! Déjeme ver si entendí” |
| Carlos: Something like, “let me see if I understand”? |
| Dylan: Yes, “let me see, let me see if I understood.” |
| Carlos: Okay, what’s next? |
| Dylan: Next on the plate, “montar”. |
| Carlos: To... |
| Dylan: “Hold on.” “Montarse”, “to get on” and “to get in”, “to mount.” You didn’t let me finish, it’s a reflective verb. |
| Carlos: Reflexive. |
| Dylan: It’s a reflexive verb. |
| Carlos: Sorry about that. |
| Dylan: No problem. I know that you get excited. |
| Carlos: Okay. So tell me something about “montarse”. |
| Dylan: Well, I could tell you that we already heard the example. |
| Carlos: Right, our first line. “¿Se monta o no?” |
| Dylan: “You getting on or not?” Man, that’s a rude chauffeur. |
| Carlos: Well, in my experience that is the extent of the majority of customer service in Latin America. |
| Dylan: That is one thing I truly miss about the States. |
| Carlos: What? The unnatural unending politeness? |
| Dylan: Well, you know what, unnatural or not, it’s better than the alternative. |
| Carlos: True. You know what I miss about the States? |
| Dylan: What? |
| Carlos: Well, specifically New York. The train, “cuando estaba allá me monté en el tren”. |
| Dylan: “When you were in New York you got on the train.” |
| Carlos: Like how I edged that in there huh. |
| Dylan: You are very skillful. |
| Carlos: So now that I inserted the sample sentence, how about some related words. |
| Dylan: “Subirse”. |
| Carlos: “To climb up”, like a tree, “to climb onto”, like a table, or “to come up” or “to go”, “come up to” like the fork. |
| Dylan: And how about “montado, montada”? |
| Carlos: Well, that would be the adjective wouldn’t it? As in like mounting a horse. |
| Dylan: Right, now next up is a fairly useful question. Although it is not the most commonly taught version. |
| Carlos: Okay ,which? Because knowing these questions are important. |
| Dylan: “¿Cuánto vale?” |
| Carlos: Which in the conversation was translated as “how much is it?” |
| Dylan: But you are really asking how much is it’s value. |
| Carlos: Tomato, tomato. |
| Dylan: Carlos, why don’t you ask about something else? |
| Carlos: “¿Cuánto vale una noche en este hotel?” |
| Dylan: “How much is it for one night in this hotel?” For all you future tourists out there, this is an important one. |
| Carlos: And the more commonly asked question that some might already know |
| Dylan: “¿Cuánto cuesta?” |
| Carlos: “How much does it cost?” |
| Dylan: Now with our next word, this is something very common with bus drivers. |
| Carlos: Yes, they are very impatient at times. |
| Dylan: I know, if you stopped to ask a question before you get on, they would tell you to move and keep moving. |
| Carlos: And when you are a tourist, that’s kind of truly nerve-wracking. |
| Dylan: “Pase, pase, las barras electrónicas están contando”. |
| Carlos: “Get in, get in the electronic bars are counting.” With that kind of pressure, even if you were on the wrong bus, you will get in. |
| Dylan: And we do find out that Jorge, Alas is on the wrong bus. |
| Carlos: But I learned the word “barras” when I moved here. |
| Dylan: I know what you are getting at. Porque “todas las casas tienen barras en las ventanas y en las puertas”. |
| Carlos: “All the houses have bars in the windows and doors.” Costa Rica is a country that is bent on security. |
| Dylan: Has to be done. |
| Carlos: You don’t have to tell me, I’ve already been robbed unfortunately. |
| Dylan: It was bound to happen sometime. |
| Carlos: Next up... |
| Dylan: An adverb, “lejos”. |
| Carlos: “Far.” Once again, directional verbs are basic but important. |
| Dylan: Right and this one is no different. Although Jorge has given it in one of the worst contexts. |
| Carlos: Right. He innocently asks , “¿el centro está muy lejos?” |
| Dylan: “Is downtown very far?” And that’s when the hammer comes down and he finds out that... |
| Carlos: He is going to the beach. |
| Dylan: And no matter where you are in San José, “la playa está muy lejos”. |
| Carlos: Which is a popular misconception actually. |
| Dylan: Along with thinking that our country is an island. |
| Carlos: Also true. |
| Dylan: Now do you know the related adjective? |
| Carlos: I think so. “Lejano, lejana” also “far.” |
| Dylan: More like distance. |
| Carlos: And finally. |
| Dylan: And last but not least... We have “hacer”. |
| Carlos: “Hacer”. A very important verb used a lot in everyday speech. Which we have covered “to make”, “to build”, “to do.” |
| Dylan: Well, we can call it irregular in the present tense. The conjugation does not follow the normal pattern of second conjugation “er” verb. |
| Carlos: Right, we hear Jorge ask a question, “¿qué hago?” |
| Dylan: “What do I do?” |
| Carlos: I ask that question all the time. |
| Dylan: Now how about an example sentence using this conjugation. |
| Carlos: “¿Qué hago para aprender español?” |
| Dylan: “What do I do to learn Spanish?” You know, “hacer” is such an important verb that I think we are going to focus on it for our grammar topic. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: You are the boss, Dylan. |
| Dylan: In Spanish, the verb “hacer” encompasses both “to do” and “to make.” It’s an irregular “er” verb. Although it forms in the present indicative, are not as irregular as it’s forms in other tenses. |
| Carlos: Again, we use this verb very very often in Spanish, especially in numerous verbal phrases. So you can see right from the start that it’s an important one to know. Look at “hacer” in the singular. |
| Dylan: “Hacer”, “to do”, “to make.” “Yo hago”. |
| Carlos: “I do”, “I make.” |
| Dylan: “Tú haces”. |
| Carlos: “You do”, “you make (informal).” |
| Dylan: “Él hace”. |
| Carlos: “He does” or “he makes.” “Ella hace”. |
| Dylan: “She does” or “she makes”. “Usted hace”. |
| Carlos: “You do” or “you make (formal).” Now Dylan, let’s check out some sample sentences using the singular. |
| Dylan: Sure. “Ella hace la cama en la mañana”. |
| Carlos: “She makes the bed in the morning.” |
| Dylan: “Yo hago el trabajo”. |
| Carlos: “I do the work.” |
| Dylan: “Tú haces los jugos”. |
| Carlos: “You make the juices.” |
| Dylan: “Martín hace lo que puede”. |
| Carlos: “Martín does what he can.” |
| Dylan: “Isabela hace el almuerzo”. |
| Carlos: “Isabella makes lunch.” |
| Dylan: “Usted hace todo perfectamente“. |
| Carlos: “You sir, do everything perfectly.” |
| Dylan: Notice in the first person singular there is “yo” form, the irregular form “hago” because this does not fit into the rest of the conjugations in a regular way, for example, it doesn’t follow the pattern the rest of the conjugations do. You must memorize it on it’s own. |
| Carlos: But trust us, as you continue with your studies and learn more verbs, we’ll find that irregular verbs tend to have commonalities as well. |
| Dylan: We use the third person singular form” hace” in many weather expressions. |
| Carlos: For example “hace calor”, “it’s hot out.” “Hace frío”, “it’s cold out”. “Hace sol”, “it’s sunny out” and thelike. |
| Dylan: In these cases, we are to understand the usage of this verb as idiomatic. Which means that we can interpret the phrase word for word in order to get the meaning. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Okay guys you know what? That just about does it for today. |
| Dylan: ¡Hasta luego! |
| Carlos: Nos vemos, ¡chao! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide