Learn about using the subjunctive tense
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 |
| Natalia: Buenos días, soy Natalia. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. |
| Natalia: “Coffee doesn’t get better.” Hello everyone, I’m Natalia and welcome to Spanish pod101.com |
| Carlos: With us you’ll learn to speak Spanish with fun and effective lessons. |
| Natalia: We also provide you with cultural insights. |
| Carlos: And tips you won’t find in a text book. You know what, Naty? We are talking about a very, very passionate subject today. |
| Natalia: Carlos, I’m not going through my list again of passionate subjects. |
| Carlos: No, no. It’s cool. Listen check it out. Glenda and María are talking about coffee. |
| Natalia: But you’ve got to realize, everybody talks about coffee. |
| Carlos: Well, not everybody talks about it as much as much and as passionately as we do. |
| Natalia: But you know I want coffee. |
| Carlos: You know what? They are chilling and they are chilling and they are having a very, very nice strong coffee. Very informal. |
| Natalia: I’m done with the grammar point, we are going to talk about a use for the present subjunctive. |
| Carlos: Let’s get into today’s conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| GLENDA: Justo lo que necesitaba... un café bien cargado. |
| MARIA: El café de Costa Rica... es lo que llaman 'levanta muertos'. |
| GLENDA: Totalmente, no creo que haya mejor. |
| MARIA: ¿Sabías que en otros países pagan hasta diez euros por una taza de café de Costa Rica? |
| GLENDA: ¡Anda! No lo sabía, ¡pero qué suerte que aquí es casi gratis! |
| GLENDA: Just what I needed... a strong cup of coffee. |
| MARIA: Costa Rican coffee... they say it will raise the dead. |
| GLENDA: Totally, I do not think that there is a better one. |
| MARIA: Did you know in other countries they pay up to ten euros per cup of Costa Rican coffee? |
| GLENDA: Wow! I did not know, but we are lucky that here it is almost free! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: Yes, Naty. |
| Natalia: How much is one hundred and fifty colones in dollars? Like 75 cents? |
| Carlos: One hundred and fifty is well okay, right now five fifty is like a dollar, so yes, I guess about. |
| Natalia: About, yes that’s how low you can get a cup of coffee here. |
| Carlos: Yes, yes but surprisingly enough you know I find that the coffee that I get out and about really isn’t the best quality. |
| Natalia: Carlos, but if you are paying seventy five cents what do you expect? |
| Carlos: Well, I’m just saying. Like I found out that it’s actually very interesting that most of the import quality coffee kind of leaves the country. Export, I’m sorry. Export quality coffee. |
| Natalia: No again if you look in the right places you can always find really, really, really good coffee. |
| Carlos: That’s true. Alright you know what, Naty? Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for today’s lesson. Empezamos con un adjetivo. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natalia: “Cargado, cargada”. |
| Carlos: “Strong”, “loaded.” |
| Natalia: “Car-ga-do, car-ga-da”, “cargado, cargada”. |
| Carlos: Como por ejemplo... |
| Natalia: “No me gusta el café cargado, para mí es muy fuerte”. |
| Carlos: “I don’t like strong coffee, it’s too strong for me.” A continuación tenemos un set phrase, a little Spanglish for you. |
| Natalia: “Levanta muertos”. |
| Carlos: “Raise the dead.” |
| Natalia: “Le-van-ta muer-tos”, “levanta muertos”. |
| Carlos: A ver un ejemplo. |
| Natalia: “Este café es levanta muertos, tómate un poquitico”. |
| Carlos: “This coffee will raise the dead. Have just a little bit.” La próxima palabra es un adverbio. |
| Natalia: “Totalmente”. |
| Carlos: “Totally.” |
| Natalia: “To-tal-men-te”, “totalmente”. |
| Carlos: Y el ejemplo sería... |
| Natalia: “Está totalmente cubierto”. |
| Carlos: “It’s totally over cast out.” Y ahora estudiaremos un sustantivo femenino. |
| Natalia: “Taza”. |
| Carlos: “Cup”, “mug.” |
| Natalia: “Ta-za”, “taza”. |
| Carlos: Naty, como por ejemplo... |
| Natalia: “¿Te sirvo una taza de café o vos preferís una infusión?” |
| Carlos: “Can I serve you a cup of coffee or do you prefer herbal tea?” La próxima palabra es un sustantivo femenino. |
| Natalia: “Suerte”. |
| Carlos: “Luck”, “good luck”, “sort.” |
| Natalia: “Suer-te”, “suerte”. |
| Carlos: A ver otro ejemplillo, Naty. |
| Natalia: “Hay personas que siempre tienen suerte”. |
| Carlos: “There are people who are always lucky.” Y la última palabra de hoy es un adjetivo o adverbio. |
| Natalia: “Gratis”. |
| Carlos: “Free.” |
| Natalia: “Gra-tis”, “gratis”. |
| Carlos: Y el ejemplo sería... |
| Natalia: “Por la compra de un cuarto de kilo de café recibe otro cuarto gratis”. |
| Carlos: “Get a quarter kilo of coffee free with a purchase of one quarter kilo.” |
| Natalia: How about, Carlos? repeat that one “Por la compra de un cuarto de kilo de café recibe otro cuarto gratis”. |
| Carlos: Wo,wo,wo say that a little slower so I can get that. |
| Natalia: “Por la compra de un cuarto de kilo de café recibe otro cuarto gratis”. |
| Carlos: “Por la compra de un cuarto de kilo de café recibe otra...” |
| Natalia: “Otro…” |
| Carlos: “Otro cuarto gratis”. |
| Natalia: Okay, pretty easy, “levanta muertos”. |
| Carlos: “Taza”. Yes, kind of you know. |
| Natalia: “Suerte”. |
| Carlos: “Suerte”. |
| Natalia: Well, this means you are not going to forget this easily. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: You know what, Naty? Let’s have a closer look for the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natalia: The first word phrase we’ll look at is “cargado, cargada”. |
| Carlos: “Cargado, cargada”. So Naty, what does this mean again? |
| Natalia: Well, it means strong or loaded. |
| Carlos: Ah okay, so it’s describing something so we know that it’s an adjective. |
| Natalia: Right. |
| Carlos: Now, how about a definition? |
| Natalia: Well, I’ll give it to you in Spanish. “Fuerte, espeso, saturado. Café cargado”. |
| Carlos: No doubt, so it’s describing strong coffee. |
| Natalia: Like the one you make every day Carlos, exactly. |
| Carlos: So what about in today’s conversation. How was it used? |
| Natalia: So in the same way as in the definition “Justo lo que necesitaba... un café bien cargado”. |
| Carlos: “Just what I needed a strong cup of coffee.” Don’t we always, Nat? |
| Natalia: It’s just a life booster. |
| Carlos: It is, right? |
| Natalia: Hey, I know. It’s addictive but well… |
| Carlos: Now I know there are word we are going to learn with this one. |
| Natalia: Well, there’s the verb “cargar”, “to load”, “to give a hard time.” |
| Carlos: Okay, what’s next? |
| Natalia: A verbal phrase, “levanta muertos”. |
| Carlos: Ah, “raise the dead.” Man, that’s some strong coffee. |
| Natalia: Right in today’s conversation we heard “El café de Costa Rica... es lo que llaman 'levanta muertos'”. |
| Carlos: “Costa Rican coffee, they say it will raise the dead.” And that’s why I have it every morning! |
| Natalia: So it gets your grumpy mood off? |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Natalia: Every morning, every afternoon and sometimes even like at midnight. But, well continue with the topic you have so much to learn with this phrase. “Ponte en pie”, which is a “pick me up” like “tiramisu” which means the same thing. |
| Carlos: Man, you love desert. |
| Natalia: Carlos, it’s just an example. We are talking coffee, we are talking cakes. |
| Carlos: That’s true. So what’s next? |
| Natalia: “Taza”. |
| Carlos: Feminine noun. “Cup” or “mug”, right? |
| Natalia: Right. No need to be confused with “vaso” or “copa”. |
| Carlos: You know I remember I made that mistake, “vaso” for water and “copa” for wine. So now “taza” for… |
| Natalia: Coffee and tea. |
| Carlos: You know we got the concept but you what Naty? How about the definition. |
| Natalia: Bueno. “Vasija pequeña, por lo común de loza o de metal, y con asa. Empleada generalmente para tomar líquidos”. |
| Carlos: And in today’s conversation? |
| Natalia: “¿Sabías que en otros países pagan hasta diez euros por una taza de café de Costa Rica?” |
| Carlos: “Did you know that in other countries they pay up to ten euros for a cup of Costa Rican coffee?” Wait I’d like to know which countries these are and I’d like to start exporting immediately. |
| Natalia: A gringo that wants to be a Costa Rican coffee plantation owner. How original, Carlos. |
| Carlos: No to sarcasm everybody. No to sarcasm. Are there any words we should learn that are associated with “taza”? |
| Natalia: Well, the diminutive of “taza” is a “tacita” which is spelled with a “c” not a “z”. |
| Carlos: You know what? That is something to note. |
| Natalia: Okay, next up we have “suerte”. |
| Carlos: I know this. “Luck.” |
| Natalia: Right and what’s its word class? |
| Carlos: Feminine noun. |
| Natalia: Almost got you huh? |
| Carlos: Yes, it’s one of those things you have to remember. You know like gift is learning, remember it. How about the definition though, Naty? |
| Natalia: “Encadenamiento de los sucesos considerado como fortuito o casual”. |
| Carlos: And in today’s conversation? |
| Natalia: “¡Qué suerte que aquí es casi gratis!” |
| Carlos: “Man, we are lucky that here it’s almost free!” |
| Natalia: Someone who is perpetually lucky is “un suertudo”. |
| Carlos: That’s good to know. |
| Natalia: Last but not least, we have an adjective. |
| Carlos: Which is? |
| Natalia: “Gratis”. |
| Carlos: Well, that means “free”, right? |
| Natalia: Right, in today’s conversation we heard it again, “¡qué suerte que aquí es casi gratis!” |
| Carlos: “Man we are lucky that here it’s almost free!” |
| Natalia: There is a word to learn with this one too, “gratuito”, it’s an adjective and also means “free.” |
| Carlos: Got it. |
| Natalia: Okay Carlos, for today’s grammar point, we are going to look at the expressions of possibility, doubt and volition. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Okay, what you just said. |
| Natalia: Carlos, it’s easy. Like for this, the subjunctive tense is regularly employed. |
| Carlos: Oh man, this is going to be a biggie. |
| Natalia: Not much in today’s conversation “no creo que haya mejor”. |
| Carlos: “I don’t think there’s a better one.” |
| Natalia: Notice how the verb “haya” from “haber” in the infinitive is being used here as a verb of existence, “terciopersonal”, which is the third person singular impersonal. |
| Carlos: You know I did notice that. |
| Natalia: This belongs to a group of irregular verbs in the present subjunctive which do not end in “o” in the present tense of the first person indicative. |
| Carlos: Ah well, thank you for clarifying. |
| Natalia: Now, which other verbs are in said group? Okay, we have “dar” that’s infinitive, we have “doy” which is the first person present indicative, we have “estar” which is an infinitive “estoy” first person present indicative, so we’ve got “haber”, “he”, “saber”, “sé” and “ser”, “soy”. |
| Carlos:You know I think I’m going to need the grammar bank. |
| Natalia: Just think about it “dar”, “doy”, “estar”, “estoy”, “haber”, “he”, “saber”, “sé”, “ser”, “soy”. |
| Carlos: Okay, so these are the irregular verbs? |
| Natalia: That’s what it’s there for Carlos, just go back to the grammar bank you know. If you don’t remember, just go back. Let’s look at the conjugation of “haber” in the present subjunctive. |
| Carlos: Alright. |
| Natalia: Wait, you know these conjugations ,Carlos! |
| Carlos: But when you say it like that. |
| Natalia: ¡Anda Carlitos! |
| Carlos: “Yo haya”, “that I may have”, “tú hayas”, “that you may have”, “él/ella/usted haya”, “that he/she/you formal may have”, “nosotros hayamos”, “that we may have”, “vosotros hayáis”, “that you all may have”, “ellos/ellas/ustedes hayan”, “that they/you all formal may have.” |
| Natalia: Good work, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Well, it would be better with some examples, Naty. |
| Natalia: “Dudo que haya mucha gente”. |
| Carlos: “I doubt that there will be many people.” |
| Natalia: "No creo que haya otra opción”. |
| Carlos: “I don’t think there’s another option.” |
| Natalia: “Puede ser que haya una fiesta en la casa cuando lleguemos”. |
| Carlos: “It’s possible that there may be a party in the house when we get there.” |
| Natalia: So what do you see from these examples? |
| Carlos: Well, they are all doubting something or expressing the possibility. |
| Natalia: Exactly so to express this, what do we need to do? |
| Carlos: Use the present subjunctive. |
| Natalia: Right. You can find a data bank for all the verbs listed in the learning center at spanshpod101.com under the verb conjugation section. |
| Carlos: You know what? I have to check that out and actually I have. The verb conjugation section in the learning center is seriously cool. I mean it has everything you’d ever need. |
| Natalia: Does it have a cup of coffee too? |
Outro |
| Carlos: Well, that just about does it for today. |
| Natalia: Es hora de decir adiós. |
| Carlos: Ya nos vemos, ¿si? |
| Natalia: ¡No se pierdan! Adiós. |
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