Learn about expressing appreciation/thanks
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Lizzie: Buenos días Lima. Me llamo Lizzie. |
| Allan: Hello, I am Allan. |
| Lizzie: Beginner Series, Lesson number 3. |
| Allan: “Thank you for your help”. |
| Lizzie: ¿Cómo están estudiantes de spanishpod101.com? Soy Lizzie y aquí conmigo está Allan. ¿Allan como estas? |
| Allan: I’m great, Lizzie. And hello to everybody from Lima, Peru’s capital, a city of 9 million people on the Peruvian coastline. Welcome to the third lesson in SpanishPod101.com, Beginner Series. Did you hear that, Lizzie? Lucky number three. |
| Lizzie: That’s right. We’re moving right along. |
| Allan: That’s right. Learning is a day by day process and with the Beginner Series, you start your studies upright. It’s actually like a balanced breakfast. |
| Lizzie: Oh, how you love the food comparisons. |
| Allan: I love the food comparisons. Well, when it applies, it applies, Lizzie. Lizzie, a small review. What did we deal with in our last lesson? |
| Lizzie: In Beginner Lesson 2, we continued our discussion of introductions and learnt the question: ¿De dónde es usted? Where are you from? |
| Allan: That’s right. We should point out that this is the formal version of the question. |
| Lizzie: When in doubt, be formal. |
| Allan: I agree. No one has ever been offended by being overly polite. So, how are we going to spring off on that topic today, Liz? |
| Lizzie: In today’s lesson we meet Abraham and Erman. |
| Allan: And may I ask what are these two gentlemen doing? |
| Lizzie: It seems Hernan is staying at Abraham’s Inn and he’s quite satisfied. |
| Allan: No me digas, Lizzie. |
| Lizzie: So, he is saying “thank you” as well as complimenting the inn. |
| Allan: So, I assume that this conversation is formal as well? |
| Lizzie: It is. |
| Allan: Well, I think that’s a proper introduction. Listen up, guys, if you want to get the most out of your studies, don’t forget to visit the Learning Center at SpanishPod101.com. |
| Lizzie: What you put in, you get out. Take your studies to the next level. |
| Allan: Now, let’s get into today’s conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| ABRAHAM: Gracias, señor. |
| HERNÁN: ¡Ah, por favor! Gracias a usted. ¡Tiene una linda posada! |
| ABRAHAM: Muy amable, señor. |
| HERNÁN: Agradezco su ayuda. |
| ABRAHAM: No, señor. No hay de qué. |
| HERNÁN: Bueno, la agradezco mucho. |
| ABRAHAM: Thank you, Sir. |
| HERNÁN: Ah, please! Thank you. You have a darling inn! |
| ABRAHAM: Very kind, Sir. |
| HERNÁN: I appreciate your help. |
| ABRAHAM: No, Sir. There's nothing to it. |
| HERNÁN: Well, I appreciate it very much. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Lizzie: Definitely. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don’t. What’s the worst hotel stay you’ve ever had, Allan? |
| Allan: Oh, I’ve had many, Lizzie. But it may surprise you to know that the worst one wasn’t in South America, in fact, it was in Africa. I was in Morocco, in Marrakech, travelling with, let’s say, a limited budget, so I was in one of the cheapest hotels and well, the doors and the windows had been forced open several times and it’s just, obviously the wood was broken, I felt very unsafe but I didn’t have a lot of options. |
| Lizzie: Wow, that’s pretty bad. |
| Allan: But you live in there, Liz. Tell me, what was your best hotel stay? |
| Lizzie: It was in Arequipa, Peru. It was a nice place, very traditional of the [unclear] because of the décor and the food. They served the best stuffed pepper there. |
| Allan: Oh, who’s talking about food now? Hey, I know how to keep a great secret but you seem like you really got lucky that time at the hotel. Good for you. Now, let’s pay close attention to the way today’s vocabulary is pronounced. |
| Lizzie: Here comes a breakdown. |
| Allan: So, let’s begin with… |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Lizzie: Lindo, linda. |
| Allan: Pretty, nice, lovely. |
| Lizzie: Lindo, linda. Lindo, linda. |
| Allan: Next, we look at… |
| Lizzie: Posada. |
| Allan: Inn, Bed and Breakfast. |
| Lizzie: Posada, posada. |
| Allan: Now, we have… |
| Lizzie: Amable. |
| Allan: Kind. |
| Lizzie: Amable, amable. |
| Allan: And then… |
| Lizzie: Agradecer. |
| Allan: To appreciate. |
| Lizzie: Agradecer, agradecer. |
| Allan: Next we’ll hear… |
| Lizzie: No hay de qué. |
| Allan: There’s nothing to it. |
| Lizzie: No hay de qué, no hay de qué. |
| Allan: And finally… |
| Lizzie: Lo, la los, las. |
| Allan: Eat |
| Lizzie: Lo, la, los, las, lo, la los, las. |
| Allan: Quick Lizzie, a pronunciation tip. |
| Lizzie: A ver… |
| Allan: The word amable has this BLE combination right at the end. |
| Lizzie: Amable. |
| Allan: Now, that letter E has to be pronounced like the A of today amable. |
| Lizzie: Amable. |
| Allan: Amable. Let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Lizzie: Which words are we starting with, Allan? |
| Allan: I think we should start with lindo. |
| Lizzie: Lindo? |
| Allan: Lindo. Lizzie, can you think of an example for us? |
| Lizzie: Es una lindo ciudad. |
| Allan: It’s a darling city. Hey, Lizzie, how might we translate lindo? |
| Lizzie: The word lindo is an adjective that means “nice” or “pretty”, or “lovely”. |
| Allan: I hear a lot. |
| Lizzie: It’s a pretty common way to talk about something appealing to you in Spanish. |
| Allan: Now, hold on a second, Lizzie. You specified lindo as an adjective. Why? |
| Lizzie: Well, it’s important to point out that since lindo is an adjective its ending can be either masculine or feminine and either singular or plural. |
| Allan: Right. Concordance is a very important aspect of Spanish. |
| Lizzie: It is. But don’t worry, audience. While you’re learning concordance is where you will probably make the most mistakes. |
| Allan: Oh, definitely. But be patient with yourself, it will pay off. |
| Lizzie: Which words are we looking at next? |
| Allan: The next word we’re going to look at today is posada. Lizzie, how about one example with posada? |
| Lizzie: La posada es chiquita. |
| Allan: The inn is tiny. A posada is an inn, or maybe a Bed And Breakfast. Lizzie, are these common in Latin America? |
| Lizzie: Oh, yes. Posadas are all over the place in Latin America. They’re usually smaller than a hotel, but bigger than a hostel, and they’re usually noticed for their acquaintance. |
| Allan: Do you have any favorites in Peru? |
| Lizzie: Not really. There are so many nice ones to choose from. |
| Allan: Ok. The next vocabulary word is amable. Lizzie, would you give us an example with amable, please? |
| Lizzie: Usted es muy amable. |
| Allan: You’re very kind. The adjective amable means “kind”. It’s a very common and polite term. Lizzie, do you know where it comes from? |
| Lizzie: It comes from the verb amar which means “to love”, literally amable means “lovable”. But in Spanish we use it all the time to show our appreciation for other people’s kindness and consideration. |
| Allan: How is amable used most commonly? |
| Lizzie: Very often people will just say muy amable as we heard in the conversation when they wanted to express their gratitude. |
| Allan: So muy amable in this sense would be like saying “very kind of you” in English. |
| Lizzie: I think that works. |
| Allan: The next vocabulary word is agradecer. Lizzie, would you give us an example with agradecer, please? |
| Lizzie: Agradecemos todo. |
| Allan: We appreciate everything. So the verb agradecer literally means “to be thankful for”. |
| Lizzie: Right. But I believe it is often translated as “to appreciate”. |
| Allan: I agree. This is an emphatic way of expressing your gratitude for something someone has done. It shows them what it really means to you. By simply telling gracias it’s kind of like complying with the norm. |
| Lizzie: So, it’s going the extra mile. |
| Allan: Sure, or the extra kilometer in this case. When you really want to show your thanks you say: |
| Lizzie: Muy amable. |
| Allan: Ok, this brings us to the last vocabulary phrase today, which is: no hay de qué. Lizzie, how about one more example? |
| Lizzie: No hay de qué, es un gusto. |
| Allan: There’s nothing to it, it’s a pleasure. Lizzie, if we were to translate no hay de qué word for word, what would it mean? |
| Lizzie: Well, if we translated word for word, literally means “there is not from what”. |
| Allan: Wow, that doesn’t make much sense. |
| Lizzie: That’s because it is an idiomatic expression. When we take it as such it means “there’s nothing to it” or “don’t mention it”. |
| Allan: How common would you say this phrase is? |
| Lizzie: It’s a very common phrase that anyone going to a Spanish speaking country you will hear guaranteed. |
| Allan: There are so many times when you can use this phrase. |
| Lizzie: How about one more example? |
| Allan: Oh, I get asked on the street all the time for directions, Lizzie. So, perhaps I will give the person the directions and they will say Muchisimas gracias. And I’ll say No hay de qué. So, don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure. Let’s have a more thorough look at the grammar used in this lesson. Lizzie, which grammar focus are we looking at today? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Lizzie: Today’s grammar point focuses on expressions of thanks. |
| Allan: We know gracias and now we’ve heard muy amable. Lizzie, how many ways are there to say “thank you” in Spanish? |
| Lizzie: In Spanish there are different degrees of gratitude. |
| Allan: Ok, I’m with you. |
| Lizzie: Now, back in Lesson 1 of the Newbie Series we saw that the word gracias is a most universal way to say “thanks” or “thank you” in Spanish. |
| Allan: Lizzie, could you refresh our memory with an example? |
| Lizzie: Gracias señor. |
| Allan: Thank you, sir. Lizzie, on your list of degrees of gratitude where would Gracias señor. fall? |
| Lizzie: Gracias señor. is a most basic way of saying thanks. Remember the word gracias means both “thank you” and “thanks”. |
| Allan: Ok. Now, what if you wanted to step it up a notch? |
| Lizzie: Then you would say Muchas gracias señor.. |
| Allan: Thank you very much, sir. So, by simply adding the word muchas before gracias the expression of gratitude becomes more emphatic. |
| Lizzie: In the Spanish speaking world it’s really common to emphasize and even over-emphasize gratitude. It’s a kind of a cultural custom. |
| Allan: And I think it’s something you could apply here to politeness in general. It really matters here. If somebody sneezes, for example, you really have to say “bless you”. And the person who sneezed really has to say “thank you”. And if you don’t comply with those, you can really offend somebody. It’s funny. There are so many elements of social protocol. Now, we saw another expression of thanks in the conversation, too. Lizzie, could you take us back to where that was? |
| Lizzie: Agradezco la ayuda. |
| Allan: I appreciate the help. Now, Lizzie, agradezco. What can you tell us about that word? |
| Lizzie: The word agradezco comes from the verb agradecer. |
| Allan: And how is that conjugated? |
| Lizzie: Here we’re looking at the end in the first person singular of the Present. |
| Allan: Right. This is the “I” form, it means “I appreciate”. So, where does this expression land in degrees of gratitude? |
| Lizzie: This expression is more emphatic than both gracias and muchas gracias, because it takes it to the personal level. By saying this, you’re telling the other person what their ordeal really means to you. |
| Allan: This is a good thing to know. And it can go a long way. How do we use agradecer to form a complete phrase? |
| Lizzie: To form the complete phrase all you have to do is put what it is that you appreciate after the verb agradezco. |
| Allan: It seems simple enough. Now, how is this used in the conversation? |
| Lizzie: In the conversation, Erman appreciates la ayuda that is “the help”. |
| Allan: Ok. But Lizzie, if we wanted to say that we appreciate something else, what might we say? |
| Lizzie: Agradezco la comida. |
| Allan: I appreciate the meal. |
| Lizzie: So, in this case, let’s say that someone has gone above and beyond and has prepared you a meal after the kitchen was officially closed. Or, when they were obviously really tired it would probably be better to tell them that you appreciate it, instead of simply saying “thanks”. |
| Allan: I think that would be the polite thing to do. And, like we said, when in doubt, be polite. |
| Lizzie: Bueno hasta aquí llegamos por hoy. |
| Allan: Here, again, it’s been a pleasure, Lizzie. |
| Lizzie: For me, too, Allan. |
Outro |
| Allan: Now, guys, remember that these lessons are designed to be used in tandem with the language tools of the Learning Center SpanishPod101.com. Believe me, it’s much quicker to do this than the alternative. |
| Lizzie: Which is? |
| Allan: Osmosis, Lizzie. Osmosis. |
| Lizzie: Bueno hasta la próxima amigos. |
| Allan: See you, guys. Be well, chao. |
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