Learn how to use the plural definite articles
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: Hola soy Anna. |
| Eric: Eric here! Using the Spanish Definite Articles, Part 2. |
| Anna: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the plural forms of Spanish definite articles. |
| Eric: The conversation takes place at a coffee shop in the morning. |
| Anna: It’s between Daniel and Paula. |
| Eric: The speakers are friends, so they'll be speaking casually. |
| Anna: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Daniel: Son las diez de la noche, ¿vamos a tomar algo? |
| Paula: No puedo, los domingos trabajo, me voy a casa. |
| Daniel: ¿Los domingos también? ¿Cuándo tienes fiesta? |
| Paula: Sólo los sábados y las fiestas nacionales… |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| Daniel: Son las diez de la noche, ¿vamos a tomar algo? |
| Paula: No puedo, los domingos trabajo, me voy a casa. |
| Daniel: ¿Los domingos también? ¿Cuándo tienes fiesta? |
| Paula: Sólo los sábados y las fiestas nacionales… |
| Eric: Now let’s listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Daniel: Son las diez de la noche, ¿vamos a tomar algo? |
| Daniel: It's ten p.m. Why don't we go have a drink? |
| Paula: No puedo, los domingos trabajo, me voy a casa. |
| Paula: I can't. I work every Sunday. I'm going to go home. |
| Daniel: ¿Los domingos también? ¿Cuándo tienes fiesta? |
| Daniel: Sundays too? When do you have a day off? |
| Paula: Sólo los sábados y las fiestas nacionales… |
| Paula: Only on Saturdays and national holidays... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Anna: In Spain, there’s something that we could call la cultura del Bar, or "bar culture." The bar is a social hangout. You don't go there just to drink a beer or to get drunk. Bars are as much for social activity as for drinking. |
| Eric: That's right. For example, you can have coffee with some friends, watch a soccer match, study, or have breakfast while reading the newspaper. |
| Anna: In some countries, you find pubs, restaurants, and cafes, but a Spanish bar is a mix of all three. Spanish people spend a lot of time in different bars, and they are the best place to socialize with your friends |
| Eric: I think that the bar is one of the most widespread businesses in Spain; you can't take three steps without seeing a bar. |
| Anna: I think you're right. Okay, now let's move on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: tomar |
| Eric: to take, to drink |
| Anna: tomar [slowly] |
| Anna: tomar |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: diez |
| Eric: ten |
| Anna: diez |
| Anna: diez |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: noche |
| Eric: night |
| Anna: noche [slowly] |
| Anna: noche |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: algo |
| Eric: something |
| Anna: algo [slowly] |
| Anna: algo |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: ir |
| Eric: to go |
| Anna: ir [slowly] |
| Anna: ir |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: poder |
| Eric: can, to be able to |
| Anna: poder [slowly] |
| Anna: poder |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: domingo |
| Eric: Sunday |
| Anna: domingo [slowly] |
| Anna: domingo |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: también |
| Eric: also, too, as well |
| Anna: también [slowly] |
| Anna: también |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: trabajar |
| Eric: to work |
| Anna: trabajar [slowly] |
| Anna: trabajar |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: solo |
| Eric: only, just |
| Anna: solo [slowly] |
| Anna: solo |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let’s take a closer look at a few words and phrases from the lesson. |
| Anna: The first word we'll look at is diez. Now, diez itself is the cardinal number "ten," but in this case it's referring to an hour, "ten o'clock." When we use it to talk about the time, we usually use articles; that's why it's las diez. |
| Eric: What's our next word? |
| Anna: The next word we'll look at is tomar. Tomar is a regular -ar verb, so it follows those rules. |
| Eric: This word has two meanings in English. The first one we'll look at is "to take." Could you give us an example? |
| Anna: Tomar el tren, which means "take the train." |
| Eric: Perfect. The other use is "have", as in "have a coffee." How do you say "have a coffee?" |
| Anna: Tomar un café. It would also work for, "Let's have a few beers," which is, Vamos a tomar unas cervezas. |
| Eric: What's our next word? |
| Anna: The next word we'll look at is poder. Poder is an irregular verb in Spanish, which means that its conjugation is different than the other -er ending verbs. |
| Eric: The meaning of this verb in this situation is "to be able to do something," and we can translate it as "can" or "be able to." |
| Anna: That's right. For example, you could say Puedo ir mañana. which means "I can go tomorrow," or "I'll be able to go tomorrow." |
| Eric: Our last word is...? |
| Anna: ¡Fiesta! Fiesta is one of those words that can have different translations depending on the situation, but most of the time, it just means a "party." For example, fiesta de cumpleaños means "birthday party." |
| Eric: Okay, let's move on to the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Anna: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the plural definite articles in Spanish, which are el, la, los and las. In the dialogue we heard the phrase, Los domingos trabajo. |
| Eric: Which we translated as "I work every Sunday." In the last lesson, we saw some rules about the use of the definite articles in Spanish, and in this lesson we will learn some other rules and exceptions. |
| Anna: That's right, but keep in mind that all the rules we study about definite articles in these two lessons are applicable for every definite article; el, la, los, and las. |
| Eric: Right, the rules about articles we learned in the previous lesson are, first, to use articles when talking in general. |
| Anna: Second, to use articles with names referring to geographic places like rivers, mountains, and seas. |
| Eric : Third, to use articles when talking about specific people or things. |
| Anna: And fourth, to use articles when talking about the days of the week. Now, we'll take a look at some new rules. |
| Eric: That's right. The first rule we'll look at is to use articles with the name of languages. |
| Anna: For example, El chino es el idioma más difícil, which means, "Chinese is the most difficult language." |
| Eric: But there's an exception. |
| Anna: That's right. Don't use articles after the verb hablar, which means "to speak." For example, Yo hablo español, which means "I speak Spanish." |
| Eric: The next rule is to use articles when you're telling time. |
| Anna: That's right. For example, Son las dos y media, which means "It's two-thirty." Or La reunión es a las cinco de la tarde, which means, "The meeting is at five pm." |
| Eric: The next rule is to use articles with nouns that refer to measurement. |
| Anna: For example, El kilo de patatas cuesta 5 euros, which means, "A kilogram of potatoes costs five euros." |
| Eric: And the last rule we’ll learn in this lesson is to use articles with titles, but not all the time. |
| Anna: So, some titles would be El Doctor Martínez which means "Dr. Martinez," and La Sra. Rodríguez which means "Mrs. Rodriguez." |
| Eric: Listeners, the explanation here is that we only use direct articles when referring to people, not when addressing them directly. |
| Anna: That's right. For example, Doctor Martínez, vaya al quirófano, means "Dr. Martinez, go to the operating room." That sentence would sound very strange with an extra article. |
| HOMEWORK |
| Eric: Great. Before we go, let’s give the answer from the previous homework question. |
| Anna: The answer from the tarea is Phrase #3, La ciudad más grande del mundo. And this week’s tarea is... |
| Eric: Which of these sentences is incorrect? |
| Anna: 1) Las diez niños vinieron a jugar. |
| El chino es el idioma más hablado. |
| Pon los 500 gramos de azúcar. |
Outro |
| Eric: Well, that just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Anna: ¡Hasta luego! |
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