Learn about Spanish adverbs of time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola amigos, ¿cómo están? Soy Dylan. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. - In the weeds. In this lesson we’ll learn about adverbs of time. |
| Dylan: So we’re continuing our discussion. |
| Carlos: Yes, and we are back with Santiago and Laura. |
| Dylan: They still cooking? |
| Carlos: Actually, they're co-workers in a restaurant. |
| Dylan: So, are they speaking formally or informally? |
| Carlos: Well, Dylan, we’re co-workers and we don’t speak formally, so I think it’s a safe assumption to think they are speaking… |
| Dylan: Informally? |
| Carlos: Yes, that’s right. You know what let’s listen to today’s conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| SANTIAGO: Corra Laura, aquí está el plato para la mesa 2. |
| LAURA: ¡Ocupo ajo! ¿¡Dónde está el ajo!? |
| SANTIAGO: En la condimentera. |
| LAURA: ¡Sirva la sopa! |
| SANTIAGO: ¡Esto está de locos!... ¿y el cucharón? |
| LAURA: ¡Lo tiene en frente! ¡El pollo! ¿Y el pollo? ¿¡Dónde está el pollo!? |
| SANTIAGO: Respire, Laura, ya está en el horno. |
| LAURA: Ay, perdón, es que hay mucha gente... |
| SANTIAGO: Voy a batir los huevos. |
| LAURA: Sal... orégano... paprika... listo? |
| SANTIAGO: Listo, llame a los meseros. |
| SANTIAGO: Run Laura, here's the dish for table two. |
| LAURA: I need garlic! Where's the garlic!? |
| SANTIAGO: It's with the spices. |
| LAURA: Serve the soup! |
| SANTIAGO: This is getting crazy! ...and the ladle? |
| LAURA: It's right in front of you! The chicken! And the chicken? Where's the chicken? |
| SANTIAGO: Breathe, Laura, it's already in the oven. |
| LAURA: Ah, sorry, it's just that there are a lot of people... |
| SANTIAGO: I'm going to beat the eggs. |
| LAURA: Salt...oregano...paprika...got it? |
| SANTIAGO: Got it, call the waiters. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Woo! That was really, really harsh. That’s a busy restaurant. |
| Carlos: I’ve been there, trust me. I used to be a waiter for years. Uh, about eight, so I know what that’s like. |
| Dylan: Gosh. |
| Carlos: Oh it’s crazy. You know the cooks get all flustered. Plus I used to work at a diner. And I used to work on the morning shifts with the breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, waffles, bacon, everything, all going out once you get eight tables. It’s crazy, I mean, so I completely understand what Laura is going through and Santiago. |
| Dylan: I like being on the other side. |
| Carlos: I guess so. You ever been a waitress, Dylan? |
| Dylan: Yeah, I was a bartender actually. That’s more fun. |
| Carlos: Yeah, bartenders would be more fun. Well, you know what, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First up we have a verb. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Correr”. |
| Carlos: “To run”, “to pull, move”, “to go fast.” |
| Dylan: “Co-rrer”, “correr”. |
| Carlos: And then we have another verb. |
| Dylan: “Ocupar”. |
| Carlos: “To occupy”,”to take up”, “to need.” |
| Dylan: “O-cu-par”, “ocupar”. |
| Carlos: And then a masculine noun. |
| Dylan: “Frente”. |
| Carlos: “Front.” |
| Dylan: “Fren-te”, “frente”. |
| Carlos: And then we have another verb. |
| Dylan: “Batir”. |
| Carlos: “To beat eggs.” |
| Dylan: “Ba-tir”, “batir”. |
| Carlos: Then we have a masculine noun. |
| Dylan: “Cucharón”. |
| Carlos: “Ladle.” |
| Dylan: “Cu-cha-rón”, “cucharón”. |
| Carlos: And last but not least, a masculine noun. |
| Dylan: “Horno”. |
| Carlos: “Oven.” |
| Dylan: “Hor-no”, “horno”. |
| Carlos: Ok, let’s have a closer look at the use for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dylan: The first word we’ll look at is “correr”. |
| Carlos: “Correr”. “To run.” |
| Dylan: When you aren’t moving quickly, this is what they say, “¡corra!” |
| Carlos: Aww, I remember that you know. When I was a kid I hated running. |
| Dylan: What about when you were working at restaurant? |
| Carlos: Are you kidding me? The cooks always wanted you to move faster. “¡Corra!, ¡corra!” But God forbid that you ask them to move a little faster. |
| Dylan: Well, Santiago is using that same strategy on Laura. |
| Carlos: “Corra Laura, aquí está el plato para la mesa dos.” |
| Dylan: “Run, Laura. Here is the plate for table two.” |
| Carlos: So familiar… brings back memories. But Dylan, do you have a definition for us? |
| Dylan: “Ir deprisa”. |
| Carlos: You know and I think I have a sample sentence. “El atleta corre cinco kilómetros todos los días”. |
| Dylan: “The athlete runs five kilometers every day”. We have some related words that can apply to that sample sentence, “la carrera”. |
| Carlos: Ok, “the race”, right? Next up I believe we’ve seen this verb before. |
| Dylan: We have. “Ocupar”. |
| Carlos: “Ocupar”, “to occupy”, “to take up.” |
| Dylan: Yes, but also “to need”. |
| Carlos: Like “necesitar”. |
| Dylan: Exactly. If you look at the conversation you can see this explained. |
| Carlos: “Ocupo ajo”. |
| Dylan: “I need garlic.” You can never have enough garlic. |
| Carlos: Well, I mean you can. It just all depends on what you’re doing for the rest of the day. Like if we're recording a lesson… |
| Dylan: Yes, I can’t argue with that Carlos. Now, here’s another sentence with the same usage. “Ocupamos maíz molido para hacer la masa del tamal”. |
| Carlos: “We need ground corn to do the tamal dough.” “Tamal”. You know we discussed that in our other lesson and now that you mention it I want one. |
| Dylan: Ah ok, ok, ok, ok. Let’s continue over that stomach grumbling. “Frente”. |
| Carlos: A masculine noun, “frente, “front”. Not too difficult. |
| A. No it’s not. Santiago is asking for one of our other vocab words which we will get to later. And Laura’s answer to his question is... |
| Carlos: “Lo tienes enfrente”. |
| Dylan: “It’s right in front of you.” I can think of a thousand times when I’m looking for something and it’s just right in front of me. |
| Carlos: That’s how it usually happens. You know it’s obvious but you can’t see it. You know another topic... Do you know why I moved into my new house? |
| Dylan: Why? |
| Carlos: “Porque mi casa está enfrente de un parque muy grande”. “Because my house is in front of a huge park.” |
| Dylan: Wow! “Frente”, “el opuesto de atrás”, “the opposite of behind.” |
| Carlos: Does that makes sense? |
| Dylan: Well, I did think of a related word for this one of your opposite pairs. |
| Carlos: But you just did right. “Frente”, “front”, “atrás”, “back”. |
| Dylan: Exactly, now moving right along with “batir”. |
| Carlos: “Batir”. |
| Dylan: Now this verb means “to beat”, but in this case eggs. |
| Carlos: Did you know they just release information that eggs aren’t really bad for you, like in terms of cholesterol. |
| Dylan: Interesting Carlos. |
| Carlos: Wow. Ok, a little sarcasm. And I thought this was relevant. |
| Dylan: More relevant is how it was used in the conversation. |
| Carlos: “Voy a batir los huevos”. |
| Dylan: “I’m going to beat the eggs.” |
| Carlos: And how you like your eggs Dylan? |
| Dylan: Over-easy. |
| Carlos: Over-easy. |
| Dylan: Yup. |
| Carlos: I’m not an over-easy person. See some people prefer to use a whisk to beat their eggs. Me? “Yo bato los huevos con un tenedor”. “I beat the eggs with a fork.” |
| Dylan: So I assume your favorite kind of eggs are scrambled. |
| Carlos: I would be lying if I said no. |
| Dylan: You may have heard of this appliance which is our related word. |
| Carlos: And what is it? |
| Dylan: “Batidora”. |
| Carlos: I need some more kitchen appliances. So what is that a mixer or a beater? |
| Dylan: No, it’s a blender. |
| Carlos: A blender. |
| Dylan: “Batidora”. |
| Carlos: I do need more kitchen appliances. |
| Dylan: “¿Tiene un cucharón?” |
| Carlos: “A ladle”? As a matter of fact I do. |
| Dylan: Well, that is our next word. A masculine noun. |
| Carlos: The thing is I have a ladle, but that I use, but it’s metal and it scratches up my pans. |
| Dylan: Carlos, have to step it up and buy better cookery. |
| Carlos: I’ll get around to it but, you know, I don’t make a lot of money. |
| Dylan: Yeah, well… Santiago is looking for everything. His kitchen must be a mess. He’s also asking Laura, “¿y el cucharón?”. |
| Carlos: And the ladle? |
| Dylan: I did find the definition for this one. “Cucharón: cazo con mango o cuchara grande que sirve para repartir ciertos alimentos en la mesa y para ciertos usos culinarios”. |
| Carlos: You know I think I know some related words. “Cuchara”, “spoon”. “Cuchillo”, “knife”. “Tenedor”, “fork”. |
| Dylan: Wow, that’s a lot on their plate. |
| Carlos: Yes. On the “plato”. |
| Dylan: Last, but not least, we have “horno”. |
| Carlos: A masculine noun that means... |
| Dylan: “Oven.” |
| Carlos: You know Dylan, “tengo un horno eléctrico”. |
| Dylan: Do you like that better? |
| Carlos: Well, I thought I did until I got my electric bill. |
| Dylan: True, Laura is stressed out until Santiago tells her “ya está en el horno”. |
| Carlos: “It’s already in the oven.” I’ve been there. That is a very stressful situation. |
| Dylan: And we can define “horno: aparato culinario cerrado en cuyo interior se asan, calientan o gratinan alimentos”. |
| Carlos: You know what else I also learnt when I was buying my oven. A related word. I had no idea that “cocina” not only meant ”kitchen” but also “stove” or “oven.” |
| Dylan: You learn something new every day! |
| Carlos: I try. |
| Dylan: Carlos, we’re going to pick up where you left off with Natalia. |
| Carlos: I’m ready. |
| Dylan: You guys were studying adverbs, right? |
| Carlos: Yes, and I’ll save you the trouble of asking. Adverbs in Spanish are invariable meaning they do not show number of gender. |
| Dylan: Yes, covered that well, and their function? |
| Carlos: Well, their function is to modify the meaning of verbs and the meaning of adjectives, and the meaning of other verbs. |
| Dylan: Don’t forget the categories! |
| Carlos: I’m not adverbs of time, place, manner, quantity, affirmation, negation, doubt, exclusion, inclusion and interrogation. Last time we went through adverbs of place. Which category are we focusing on today? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dylan: Adverbs of time. Let’s take a look at some. |
| Carlos: Ok. |
| Dylan: “Ahora”. |
| Carlos: “Now.” |
| Dylan: “Antaño”. |
| Carlos: “Long ago.” |
| Dylan: “Anteayer”. |
| Carlos: “The day before yesterday.” |
| Dylan: “Antes”. |
| Carlos: “Before.” |
| Dylan: “Aún”. |
| Carlos: “Still”, “yet.” |
| Dylan: “Ayer”. |
| Carlos: “Yesterday.” |
| Dylan: “Cuando”. |
| Carlos: “When.” |
| Dylan: “Después”. |
| Carlos: “After.” |
| Dylan: “Entonces”. |
| Carlos: “Then.” |
| Dylan: “Hoy”. |
| Carlos: “Today.” |
| Dylan: “Jamás”. |
| Carlos: “Never.” |
| Dylan: “Luego”. |
| Carlos: “Soon.” |
| Dylan: “Mañana”. |
| Carlos: “Tomorrow.” |
| Dylan: “Mientras”. |
| Carlos: “While.” |
| Dylan: “Nunca” |
| Carlos: “Never.” |
| Dylan: “Siempre”. |
| Carlos: “Always.” |
| Dylan: “Pronto”. |
| Carlos: “Soon.” |
| Dylan: “Despacio”. |
| Carlos: “Slowly.” |
| Dylan: “Tarde” |
| Carlos: “Late.” |
| Dylan: “Temprano”. |
| Carlos: “Early.” |
| Dylan: “Todavía”. |
| Carlos: “Still”, “yet.” |
| Dylan: “Ya”. |
| Carlos: “Already”, “by now.” |
| Dylan: Alright, well let’s take a couple from that list and make some sample sentences. |
| Carlos: Ok. |
| Dylan: Pick one. |
| Carlos: “Aún”. |
| Dylan: “Aún estamos en Bogotá”. |
| Carlos: “We are still in Bogota.” How about “nunca”? |
| Dylan: “Nunca le habías llamado”. |
| Carlos: “You have never called him.” And “cuando”? |
| Dylan: “Me gusta viajar de vez en cuando”. |
| Carlos: “I like to travel from time to time.” And one more “ahora”. |
| Dylan: “De ahora en adelante no hablaremos inglés”. |
| Carlos: “From now on we will not speak English.” |
| Dylan: Ok, we have gone over adverbial locutions. |
| Carlos: Yes. Adverbial locutions are simply particular phrasal expressions that use adverbs. We have some examples. |
| Dylan: “De ahora en adelante”. |
| Carlos: “From now on.” |
| Dylan: “Al anochecer”. |
| Carlos: “At nightfall.” |
| Dylan: “De día”. |
| Carlos: “In the day.” |
| Dylan: “De la noche a la mañana”. |
| Carlos: “Overnight.” |
| Dylan: “De la tarde”. |
| Carlos: “In the afternoon.” |
| Dylan: “De la mañana”. |
| Carlos: “In the morning.” |
| Dylan: “De noche”. |
| Carlos: “At night.” |
| Dylan: “De vez en cuando”. |
| Carlos: “From time to time.” |
| Dylan: “En fin”. |
| Carlos: “At last.” |
| Dylan: “Pasado mañana”. |
| Carlos: “The day after tomorrow.” |
| Dylan: “Por ahora”. |
| Carlos: “For now.” |
| Dylan: “Por último”. |
| Carlos: “Finally.” |
| Dylan: So what do you think? Adverbs of time. |
| Carlos: It was time I got an explanation of those. |
| Dylan: Very funny, Carlos. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Yeah, yeah , yeah. Well that just about does it for today, Dylan. Carlos: Ok. “¡Nos vemos!” |
| Dylan: Chao! ¡Gracias! |
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Comments
HideThanks to Herman Pearl for the music in today's lesson! Have you ever worked in a restaurant kitchen before?
Hola Dennis,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, that's correct.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Beginner season 3 lesson #8. Jámas and nunca in the adverbs of time list both mean never. Does that mean you can use either one in any context?
Hola Frank,
Thank you for your question
The use of "ocupar" as need something "necesitar" it's from Costa Rica.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola, Carla,
Thanks a lot for your gracious reply. One of my questions that you did not answer is this one: when I looked up ocupar in your dictionary, the only definitions given were "occupy, take occupy (whatever that means), to occupy and to take up. None were given meaning to need. Is that usage only in Costa Rica or in Bogata (if that is where this lesson is being given from)? Gracias otra vez! Frank P.S. Thank you also for emailing your reply. Will you please do that again when you send your answer to the question about ocupar.
Hola Frank,
Thank you for your feedback.
We take in real consideration all your comments, they are going to help us improve new lessons in the future.
Please let us know any question you have.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Thanks for all the vocab. beyond what is on the list. Also, as an "advanced beginner" who still has a lot of trouble understanding what I hear, even though I can speak enough Spanish to get around in ordinary interactions with cab drivers, hotel staff, people in grocery stores, and so on, I really appreciated Dylan speaking more slowly than Natalie usually does. I could understand her whereas with Nati, even when I put the audio on 3/4 speed, it is at least some of the time still very difficult for me to understand her.
When you create new lessons, after the native Spanish speaker has given a formal definition of a word, I think it would be helpful for at least one of the teachers to translate that definition into English since I find that the definition itself often has several new vocab words in it. For example, even though I know what a ladle is, I did not know all the words in the definition. Finally, when I looked up ocupar in your dictionary, the only definitions given were "occupy, take occupy (whatever that means), to occupy and to take up. None were given meaning to need. Is that usage only in Costa Rica or in Bogata (if that is where this lesson is being given from)? Sorry for so many questions and requests. As only an "advanced beginner" who has learned almost all the Spanish I know from cassette tapes, I am especially unskilled at writing in Spanish and am mostly studying it in order to do volunteer work with immigrants who live in Denver and who speak almost no English so am not inclined to put much time into learning to write it. Therefore, I hope it is acceptable for me to continue to write most of my comments and questions in English, especially if they are long and/or complicated like this message. Muchísimas gracias! Frank
Hello Willie James Turner,
Thank you for your question.
Please check this link for more information about the conjugation:
https://www.spanishpod101.com/learningcenter/reference/conjugation_list
We hope it helps!
Cheers,
Lena
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hi Willie James Turner here !! Verb conjugation is driving me crazy !! What is the best way to recall all the different Persons , numbers and genders of the Irregular and regular verbs !! Help or Ayudarme . por favor !!
I was going to make a similar content about the use of "ocupar" but Karenn beat me to it. Maybe someday you can move this use of "ocupar" to the Mexican regional series if it is not already used in that series.
Karenn,
You are absolutely right! Thank you for pointing that out! Necesitar is always the safe bet!
¡Mil Gracias!
Carlos
It turns out that using the verb "ocupar" to indicate need is a distinctly regional usage. Good in Mexico, Costa Rica, some parts of Central America, but not understood or puzzling to those from many parts of Latin America. The verb necesitar would be more widely understood.
Has been fixed!
Hey Mharbus,
Thanks again for your help as always. We apologize but the problem with the PDF is technical in nature. We do have someone who proofs and generates the PDFs. Sometimes the generator adds extra spaces. Our tech team is currently reviewing the problem and will resolve it soon.
Thanks,
Carlos
You need to fix the lesson notes...they are a mess! Someone needs to spend time reviewing the printed versions of your lessons.