Learn how to use adverbs of frequency
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: Hola soy Anna. |
| Eric: Eric here! How Often Do You Go to the Movies in Spain? |
| Anna: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use adverbs of time when planning your evening. |
| Eric: This conversation takes place in the morning at home. |
| Anna: And it’s between Paula and Daniel. |
| Eric: The speakers are friends, so they'll be speaking casually. |
| Anna: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Paula: ¿Vas a menudo al cine? |
| Daniel: Sólo de vez en cuando, una vez al mes, más o menos. ¿Tú vas mucho? |
| Paula: Casi nunca, siempre me alquilo las películas que es más barato. |
| Daniel: Jaja, es verdad, aunque yo como no tengo DVD nunca alquilo películas. |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| Paula: ¿Vas a menudo al cine? |
| Daniel: Sólo de vez en cuando, una vez al mes, más o menos. ¿Tú vas mucho? |
| Paula: Casi nunca, siempre me alquilo las películas que es más barato. |
| Daniel: Jaja, es verdad, aunque yo como no tengo DVD nunca alquilo películas. |
| Eric: Let's now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Paula: ¿Vas a menudo al cine? |
| Paula: Do you go to the movies often? |
| Daniel: Sólo de vez en cuando, una vez al mes, más o menos. ¿Tú vas mucho? |
| Daniel: Only sometimes...once a month, more or less. Do you go a lot? |
| Paula: Casi nunca, siempre me alquilo las películas que es más barato. |
| Paula: Almost never; I always rent movies because it's cheaper. |
| Daniel: Jaja, es verdad, aunque yo como no tengo DVD nunca alquilo películas. |
| Daniel: (laughs) That's true, but since I don't have a DVD player, I never rent movies. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Going to watch a movie on weekends is a very popular pastime in Spain. |
| Anna: That's right. A long time ago, the small movie theaters that projected just one movie were the favorite. But nowadays the multicines or cineplexes that show a lot of movies are preferable. |
| Eric: Normally, these cineplexes or... |
| Anna: Multicines... |
| Eric: Are located in downtown areas or in shopping malls, so people can watch a movie before or after a coffee, a beer, or dinner. |
| Anna: The busiest times to go to the movies are at six, seven, or eight p.m., but the night film session at eleven p.m. is also very popular, especially for couples who go there as part of a romantic date after dinner. |
| Eric: Okay, and now let's take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: a menudo |
| Eric: often |
| Anna: a menudo [slowly] |
| Anna: a menudo |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: de vez en cuando |
| Eric: from time to time, sometimes |
| Anna: de vez en cuando |
| Anna: de vez en cuando |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: cine |
| Eric: movie theater |
| Anna: cine [slowly] |
| Anna: cine |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: nunca |
| Eric: never, ever |
| Anna: nunca [slowly] |
| Anna: nunca |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: siempre |
| Eric: always, ever |
| Anna: siempre [slowly] |
| Anna: siempre |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: barato, barata |
| Eric: inexpensive, cheap |
| Anna: barato, barata [slowly] |
| Anna: barato, barata |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: alquilar |
| Eric: to rent |
| Anna: alquilar [slowly] |
| Anna: alquilar |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: aunque |
| Eric: although, even though |
| Anna: aunque [slowly] |
| Anna: aunque |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Anna: The first word we'll look at is siempre, which usually means "always," but can also mean "every time" or "every moment." |
| Eric: Could you give us an example? |
| Anna: Sure. You could say, Siempre voy al gimnasio después de trabajar, which means, "I always go to the gym after work." |
| Eric: Our next word is "cheap," which in Spanish is? |
| Anna: Barato. Barato is a masculine singular adjective that means that something has a low price. It can sometimes change according to gender and number. Those forms are barato, barata, baratos, baratas. |
| Eric: Could you use this in a sentence? |
| Anna: Sure. You could say, La corbata es barata, which means, "The necktie is cheap." |
| Eric: The next phrase we'll look at is... |
| Anna: A menudo. A menudo is a phrasal adverb that means "doing something frequently." We translate it in English as "often." |
| Eric: Okay so, how would I say, "I have headaches very often." |
| Anna: Muy a menudo me duele la cabeza. |
| Eric: Now, our last word is... |
| Anna: Cine. Cine is an abbreviation of cinematografía, which is the technique of projecting frames in rapid succession to create the impression of movement, a.k.a. a video. |
| Eric: In English, we translate this as "cinematography." |
| Anna: That's right. Cine is also the word we use for the place or theater where you watch movies. In this sense, it means "movie theater." |
| Eric: Let’s have an example sentence. |
| Anna: For example, you could say something like, Voy al cine a ver una película, which means, "I'm going to the movie theater to watch a movie." Or you could also say, El cine hoy en día es muy comercial, which means, "Cinema nowadays is very commercial." |
| Eric: Okay, now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use adverbs of frequency. |
| Anna: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase, ¿Vas a menudo al cine? |
| Eric: Which we translated as, "Do you often go to the movies?" |
| Anna: That's right. Adverbs normally answer questions, such as, “How much?” This is an adverb of quantity. “When” is an adverb of time. |
| Eric: In this lesson, we'll see how the adverbs of time, particularly of frequency, work in Spanish. So, how do you say "always" in Spanish? |
| Anna: Siempre. |
| Eric: And "almost always?" |
| Anna: Casi siempre. |
| Eric: And "often?" |
| Anna: A menudo. |
| Eric: “Sometimes.” |
| Anna: De vez en cuando. |
| Eric: “Almost never.” |
| Anna: Casi nunca. |
| Eric: “Never.” |
| Anna: Nunca. |
| Eric: “Never ever.” |
| Anna: Jamás. |
| Eric: Perfect. Could you give us an example sentence using the Spanish word for "always?" |
| Anna: Certainly. Let's see, you could say, Siempre como en casa, which means, "I always eat at home." |
| Eric: How about a sentence with the Spanish word for "often?" |
| Anna: Okay, that would be a menudo. You could say, Voy a menudo al cine. Meaning, "I go to the movies often." |
| Eric: Excellent. So how would I say, "I only sometimes play sports?" |
| Anna: In that case you could use the phrase de vez en cuando. The sentence would be, Hago deporte sólo de vez en cuando. |
| Eric: Okay, now let's look at just a few more sentences like this. How about one that says "almost never?" |
| Anna: Casi nunca bebo alcohol, which means, "I almost never drink alcohol." |
| Eric: And how about "never?" |
| Anna: Well, there are two words for "never" in Spanish. The most normal one is nunca, and in a sentence it would sound like, Nunca como carne, which means, "I never eat meat." |
| Eric: What's the other word for "never"? |
| Anna: That would be jamás and it still translates as "never" but it's a lot stronger. Kind of like saying "never ever." |
| Eric: Could you use it in a sentence? |
| Anna: Sure. For example, Yo jamás haría eso, which means, "I would never do that." |
| Eric: One of the great things about adverbs of time is that they don't change. Even when the adjective or the noun is singular or plural, masculine or feminine, the adverb stays the same. |
| HOMEWORK |
| Anna: Okay, now let’s hear the answer to the previous Tarea. The incorrect sentence is, Son la una y media. It should be, Es la una y media. |
| Eric: And this time, we will ask you to identify the Spanish sentence that means, “You never do your homework.” |
| Anna: 1) Tú casi nunca haces la tarea. |
| 2) Usted a menudo hace la tarea. |
| 3) Nunca haces la tarea. |
Outro |
| Eric: I hope that none of our listeners identifies him or herself with that sentence! |
| Anna: I hope so too. That just about does it for this lesson. |
| Eric: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Anna: ¡Hasta luego! |
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