Learn how to say what you like and don't like using Mexican Spanish
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hello everyone! I’m Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, soy Fernando. Hi everyone, I’m Fernando. |
| Alisha: Expressing Preferences in Mexican Spanish! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say what you like using casual Spanish. In other words, how to make your preferences heard and how to ask someone about what they like and dislike. |
| Fernando: This conversation takes place during a car ride in Mexico City. |
| Alisha: And it is between Spanish language exchange student Ashley, and her friend Jorge. |
| Fernando: The speakers are friends, so they will be using casual Spanish. |
| Alisha: Lets listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Jorge: ¿Te gusta la Ciudad de México? |
| Ashley: Sí, me gusta mucho. |
| Jorge: ¿Por qué? |
| Ashley: Me gusta la arquitectura. |
| Jorge: A mí me gusta la gente. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jorge: ¿Te gusta la Ciudad de México? |
| Ashley: Sí, me gusta mucho. |
| Jorge: ¿Por qué? |
| Ashley: Me gusta la arquitectura. |
| Jorge: A mí me gusta la gente. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Jorge: ¿Te gusta la Ciudad de México? |
| Alisha: Do you like Mexico City? |
| Ashley: Sí, me gusta mucho. |
| Alisha: Yes, I like it a lot. |
| Jorge: ¿Por qué? |
| Alisha: Why? |
| Ashley: Me gusta la arquitectura. |
| Alisha: I like the architecture. |
| Jorge: A mí me gusta la gente. |
| Alisha: I like the people. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: Hey Fernando! In the dialogue, Ashley and Jorge are talking about Mexico City. |
| Fernando: Yes! In Spanish, la Ciudad de México. That’s where Ashley is studying. |
| Alisha: What can you tell us about this city, Fernando? |
| Fernando: Hmm, where to start! First of all, it is a HUGE city. |
| Alisha: Really? How big? |
| Fernando: Well, the actual city itself has nearly 9 million people. If you are talking about the Mexico City metropolitan area, the population is 21 million people! |
| Alisha: Wow, that IS a lot! |
| Fernando: Yes, many people live in or around the city. It is divided up into many different neighborhoods, each with its own unique feel. |
| Alisha: Where would you recommend people go if they visit Mexico City? |
| Fernando: The first place is the plaza that is in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City. Its formal name is Plaza de Constitución, or Constitution Square . But it’s more commonly known in Mexico as Zócalo. |
| Alisha: The heart of the historical center - that sounds like a good place to start! |
| Fernando: Yes. Another place I would recommend is the Metropolitan Cathedral, or Catedral Metropolitana. It’s an enormous cathedral that took 250 years to build. |
| Alisha: 250 years to build?! |
| Fernando: That’s right. Because of that, it is a mix of many architectural styles. |
| Alisha: That sounds like it’d be a great sight to see! |
| Fernando: I definitely recommend you visit when you go to Mexico City. |
| Alisha: And with that, |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: te [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: you |
| Fernando: te [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: te [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Fernando: gustar [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: like |
| Fernando: gustar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: gustar [natural native speed] |
| The next word is: |
| Fernando: ciudad [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: city |
| Fernando: ciudad [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ciudad [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Fernando: por qué [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: why |
| Fernando: por qué [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: por qué [natural native speed] |
| The next word is: |
| Fernando: me [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: me, to me, for me |
| Fernando: me [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: me [natural native speed] |
| The next word is: |
| Fernando: gente [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: people |
| Fernando: gente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: gente [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Fernando: mucho [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: much, a lot |
| Fernando: mucho [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: mucho [natural native speed] |
| The next word is: |
| Fernando: arquitectura [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: architecture |
| Fernando: arquitectura [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: arquitectura [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Fernando: gente |
| Alisha: people. |
| Fernando: This is a feminine noun, so in the dialogue we had la gente. |
| Alisha: “the people.” This refers to people in general, right? |
| Fernando: Yes, that’s right. Jorge says he likes the people of Mexico City - A mí me gusta la gente. We’ll cover this grammar in the next section. |
| Alisha: Sounds good. What else did we have? |
| Fernando: ¿Por qué? |
| Alisha: This is the question - “Why?” |
| Fernando: Ashley said she liked Mexico City a lot, and Jorge asked - ¿Por qué? “Why?” |
| Alisha: So you can use this just like in English, when you want to ask why something is. |
| Fernando: It’s a good way to learn more about someone’s preferences and opinions. |
| Alisha: Once again, it’s…? |
| Fernando: ¿Por qué? |
| Alisha: All right, now let’s move onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to say you like, or don’t like something. Let’s jump right in! |
| Fernando: Okay. To simply say “I like it”, you can say Me gusta. |
| Alisha: So if someone asks you what you think of something, you can just use that phrase? |
| Fernando: Sure! Me gusta means “I like it”. |
| Alisha: What if you want to be specific about what you like, for example, “I like music”? |
| Fernando: Then, you just say me gusta plus the thing you like. So for music, for example, you would say – Me gusta la música. |
| Alisha: Everyone, please repeat. |
| Fernando: Me gusta la música. [pause] |
| Alisha: In the dialogue, Ashley says that she likes the architecture of Mexico City. |
| Fernando: Yes. This word is a little difficult in Spanish. La arquitectura. |
| Alisha: Oh, but it’s close to English. |
| Fernando: Yes, it’s similar. Ashley’s whole sentence is - Me gusta la arquitectura. |
| Ashley |
| “I like the architecture.” And then Jorge says that he likes the people in Mexico City. |
| Fernando: Yes, remember how we learned that “the people” is la gente? So Jorge says Me gusta la gente. |
| Alisha: “I like the people.” Okay, so that seems simple enough. |
| Fernando: Yes, me gusta, plus the thing you like. |
| Alisha: Now Fernando, how do you say you don’t like something? |
| Fernando: It’s very simple. Simply add no before me gusta. No me gusta. |
| Alisha: “I don’t like it”. And just like before, you can be specific and add the thing you are talking about. |
| Fernando: Yes, for example, if you don’t like music, you would say No me gusta la música. |
| Alisha: Please repeat after Fernando! |
| Fernando: “I don’t like music.” No me gusta la música. [pause] |
| Alisha: Now, one quick thing I want to add about saying you like or don’t like something. |
| Fernando: What’s that? |
| Alisha: Well, we should mention that this pattern only works for singular objects. |
| Fernando: Good point! If you talk about something in the plural, you have to change it slightly. |
| Alisha: We didn’t see this in our dialogue, but to give an example, how would we say… I like dogs? |
| Fernando: Okay, for “dogs”, you say los perros. And instead of me gusta, you say me gustaN, with an n at the end. So all together… |
| Me gustan los perros. |
| Alisha: So if the item is plural, add n. |
| Fernando: That’s right. |
| Alisha: Everyone, please repeat! |
| Fernando: “I like dogs.” Me gustan los perros. [pause] |
| Alisha: Excellent! Now, to wrap up, how do we ask someone “do you like [something]?” |
| Fernando: Easy. In casual Spanish, me becomes te, and you use rising intonation. Te gusta? |
| Alisha: And that means “do you like it?” |
| Fernando: Right. |
| Alisha: And like our other phrases, you can also be more specific. |
| Fernando: In the dialogue, Jorge asked Ashley if she likes Mexico City. ¿Te gusta la Ciudad de México? |
| Alisha: “Do you like Mexico City?” |
| Alisha: Ok, we’ve covered a lot here, haven’t we! |
| Fernando: We sure have. |
| Alisha: Let’s review really quickly. To say you like something is… |
| Fernando: Me gusta… plus the item. |
| Alisha: To say you don’t like something is… |
| Fernando: No me gusta… plus the item. |
| Alisha: To ask someone if they like something is… |
| Fernando: Te gusta…? Plus the item. |
Outro |
| Alisha: Great! Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes for even more information. Until next time everyone! |
| Fernando: Hasta luego! |
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