Learn how to use the Spanish word meaning "half"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola a todos, habla Dylan, ¿cómo están? |
| Carlos: What’s going on pod101 world? My name is Carlos. “You Don’t Want to Leave Your Spanish Dish Half-baked, Do You?” |
| Dylan: In this lesson, you will learn about the adjective and adverb “medio”, “media”. |
| Carlos: This conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Dylan: The conversation is between Fernanda and her grandmother. |
| Carlos: The speakers are friends, so they will be speaking informally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Abuela: Fernandita, ¿me dijo que sólo necesita saber los ingredientes? Y... ¿la receta? |
| Fernanda: Sí Abue,sólo los ingredientes, yo sé como hacer los chiles. |
| Abuela: Ahhh, bueno amor, recuerde que estoy medio sorda. |
| Fernanda: Tranquila abuelita, yo recuerdo. |
| Abuela: Entonces lo que necesita es cuatro chiles grandes, cuarto de carne molida, dos huevos, harina, aceite, cien gramos de pasitas, un tomate, y una cebolla. |
| Fernanda: ¿Necesito algo más, abuela? |
| Abuela: No mamita, sólo eso, espero que su novio lo disfrute. |
| Abuela: Fernandita, you told me you only needed to know the ingredients? And...the recipe? |
| Fernanda: Yes Granny, only the ingredients. I know how to make the chiles ("peppers"). |
| Abuela: Ahhh, okay my love, remember that I’m half-deaf. |
| Fernanda: Relax grandma, I remember. |
| Abuela: So what you need is 4 big peppers, ¼ pound ground meat, 2 eggs, flour, oil, 100 grams of raisins, 1 tomato, and 1 onion. |
| Fernanda: Do I need anything else, granny? |
| Abuela: No honey, only that, I hope your boyfriend will enjoy it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Really, I know how to make them, Carlos. |
| Carlos: That’s right. You did bring that up. I thought of eating them you know. Kind of come over and… |
| Dylan: Yeah, come over… |
| Carlos: you can put it down you know. |
| Dylan: Yeah, chiles rellenos con queso, ¡qué rico! |
| Carlos: I like eating them though. |
| Dylan: Ah, we can do it. |
| Carlos: Awesome. You know I cooked “yuca” yesterday for the first time? “Yuca”. |
| Dylan: Umm, my favorite. |
| Carlos: My favorite too. It came out really good. I was very proud of myself. I have been really more excited for Fernanda as she puts all this together, just makes the delicious recipe but let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Saber”. |
| Carlos: “To know”, “to know how.” |
| Dylan: “Sa-ber”, “saber”. “Tranquilo, tranquila”. |
| Carlos: “Calm”, “relaxed”, “tranquil.” |
| Dylan: “Tran-qui-lo, tran-qui-la”, “tranquilo, tranquila”. “Recordar”. |
| Carlos: “To remember.” |
| Dylan: “Re-cor-dar”, “recordar”. “Entonces”. |
| Carlos: “Then”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: “En-ton-ces”, “entonces”. “Lo que necesitas”. |
| Carlos: “Whatever you need.” |
| Dylan: “Lo que ne-ce-si-tas”, “lo que necesitas”. “Disfrutar”. |
| Carlos: “To enjoy”, “to make the most of.” |
| Dylan: “Dis-fru-tar”, “disfrutar”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay, let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “saber”. |
| Carlos: You know you can never know enough about “saber”. |
| Dylan: Right, the verb “saber”, “to know”, is one of the most important verbs in Spanish. |
| Carlos: Sí, yo sé. |
| Dylan: Exactly. |
| Carlos: And what is really important is knowing when to use “saber”. You know, Dylan, what are you describing that you know? |
| Dylan: Well, we have a perfect example from our conversation today when Fernanda’s grandmother says “Fernandita, ¿me dijiste que sólo necesitas saber los ingredientes?” |
| Carlos: “Fernandita, you told me you only need to know the ingredients?” |
| Dylan: So here we see the grandma is talking about knowing the ingredients which is a thing. |
| Carlos: Right, or I could say “Mónica sabe que San José es la capital de Costa Rica”. “Mónica knows that San José is the capital of Costa Rica.” |
| Dylan: Which leads us to “saber” evil twin brother, the verb “conocer”. |
| Carlos: Right, “conocer”, also means “to know” but we use it in relation to a place or a person, not a thing. |
| Dylan: “Yo conozco a Paco”. |
| Carlos: “I know Paco.” |
| Dylan: This is one of those universal problems and confusions that people have when learning Spanish. |
| Carlos: So here is our first line of defense. |
| Dylan: Now with the relationship of “saber” and “conocer” everyone can be “tranquilo”. |
| Carlos: “Calm”, “tranquil”, a very relaxed adjective, one of my favorites. |
| Dylan: And Fernanda uses it in the same way that I have heard you use it, Carlos. |
| Carlos: How? |
| Dylan: “Tranquila abuelita, yo recuerdo”. |
| Carlos: “Relax grandma, I remember.” |
| Dylan: Although if you were saying it, I think you would translate it as “chill.” |
| Carlos: Yeah, you are right. I say “chill” all the time when I am speaking in English and so substituting that with “tranquilo” I would say is a easy way when speaking Spanish. I mean this word quickly became part of my Lexicon. |
| Dylan: So give me a sentence where you would use it? |
| Carlos: Well, not only will I give you a sentence, I will also use it in response to your request. Ask me again? |
| Dylan: Give me a sentence using “tranquilo” or “tranquila”. |
| Carlos: “Tranquilo, no hay problema”. “Relax, no problem.” |
| Dylan: Perfect. |
| Carlos: It was easy. I say that all the time. |
| Dylan: So you like being relaxed. |
| Carlos: I love it. |
| Dylan: So do you know the opposite of being relaxed? |
| Carlos: Actually I don’t know a word for that. |
| Dylan: “La preocupación”, “the worry.” |
| Carlos: Or “preoccupation” you know, which kind of means the same thing. |
| Dylan: You got to remember that now. |
| Carlos: Yep. |
| Dylan: Our next word is a verb that means “to remember.” |
| Carlos: ¿“Acordar”? |
| Dylan: Nope. The other one we discussed. |
| Carlos: “Recordar”. |
| Dylan: Exactly. |
| Carlos: Now I should have said that first. That is actually the verb that I am more comfortable with. |
| Dylan: That is your default. |
| Carlos: That is a good way to say it. Yes, that is my default. |
| Dylan: I can’t believe that you didn’t get “recordar” for another reason. |
| Carlos: And what’s that? |
| Dylan: We already heard the example. |
| Carlos: Ah, right. “Tranquila abuelita, yo recuerdo”. “Relax grandma, I remember.” |
| Dylan: Now that reminds me of my grandmother. |
| Carlos: Mine too. They do tend to forget things as they get older, don’t they? |
| Dylan: Part of getting older. |
| Carlos: You know but I always like to do a conference call with my other family members all around the country using Skype. We can then call my grandmother and say “nosotros recordamos que hoy es su cumpleaños”. “Remember that today was your birthday.” Thanks to videoconferencing. It puts a visible smile on her face. |
| Dylan: Oh, that’s so sweet. |
| Carlos: Man, we try and we try. |
| Dylan: Let’s continue our pattern today of related word that are opposite of meaning. |
| Carlos: Sounds good. When you can understand opposites, you really do learn something better. |
| Dylan: So our verb is “recordar”, “to remember”, and we also know the verb “acordar” which also means “to remember.” So Carlos, dime, what is the opposite of remembering? |
| Carlos: “Olvidar”. “To forget.” |
| Dylan: Something that many of us do at times. |
| Carlos: But let’s not forget the next word. |
| Dylan: “Entonces”. |
| Carlos: A very, very common adverb. “Then”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: “Entonces…” |
| Carlos: Exactly. This is the filler word. And what I mean by that is that I cannot think about how many times a day I say it. You know, when I am speaking Spanish that is, actually it’s interesting when you get someone who is learning English because if they are of native Spanish speaker, they will say, “so”, “so then”, in the middle of a conversation and you know that they are thinking in “entonces”. |
| Dylan: Yeah, when my friends from the states come down, a question that is usually asked is, what does “entonces” mean? It’s a word they hear a lot and it stands out. |
| Carlos: You know that’s true. You know, I know when I was learning Spanish, it came to a point where I was wondering what that word meant. |
| Dylan: So you know that “entonces” is the jump off in the conversation when we hear “Entonces, lo que necesita…” |
| Carlos: “So then, what you need…” |
| Dylan: Let’s give an example of how we would use “entonces” in a more everyday conversation. |
| Carlos: “Entonces, ¿qué vamos a hacer?” |
| Dylan: “So then, what are we going to do?” Man, I just got a flashback of being a teenager with my group of friends and everyone asked everyone else. |
| Carlos: “Entonces, ¿qué vamos a hacer?” |
| Dylan: “So then, what are we going to do?” |
| Carlos: And a related word is the conjunction “pues”, which means... |
| Dylan: “So.” |
| Carlos: “Pues”, “entonces”. What’s next? |
| Dylan: A very important construction. |
| Carlos: Which is... |
| Dylan: “Lo que necesitas”. |
| Carlos: “What you need.” |
| Dylan: Here we have “lo que” verb, “la cosa que necesitas”. |
| Carlos: So I can use this construction with anything? |
| Dylan: Right in our conversation, we heard “lo que necesitas”, “what you need”, and from there, we can replace that with anything. |
| Carlos: Like “lo que necesitas es un vaso de agua”, “what you need is a glass of water.” |
| Dylan: Or you could also use another verb altogether. |
| Carlos: For example. |
| Dylan: For example, “lo que compraste es muy bonito”. |
| Carlos: “What you bought is very nice.” |
| Dylan: And last but not least, we have a very important thing in life. |
| Carlos: And that can be many, many things, Dylan. |
| Dylan: “Disfrutar”. “To enjoy”, “to make the most of.” |
| Carlos: Ah, something I try to do every day. |
| Dylan: Definitely. That is what life is all about. |
| Carlos: Now I mean the whole point of this conversation is that Fernanda is cooking something special for her boyfriend. |
| Dylan: And the grandmother gives her the recipe, “espero que tu novio lo disfrute”. |
| Carlos: “I hope that your boyfriend enjoys it.” |
| Dylan: How could you not enjoy it? A stuffed pepper, those things are amazing but although mine are good, you do have to try them in México. |
| Carlos: Well, next time I go to México I will keep that in mind. The only stuffed peppers I’ve had are the ones at Tex Mex chain restaurants in the US. |
| Dylan: Then you are doing yourself a disservice, let me tell you. |
| Carlos: I know, I know, “me gustaría probar un chile relleno en México”. |
| Dylan: I know you’d like to try a stuffed pepper at México. Everyone should. |
| Carlos: So what related words do we have? |
| Dylan: Well, we can go of course now. What would be the opposite of enjoying? |
| Carlos: “Hating”, “odiar”. |
| Dylan: Exactly. |
| Carlos: But I would never hate a stuffed pepper. |
| Dylan: That would take a special kind of person. |
| Carlos: So Dylan, what’s stuffed on our grammar plate today? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dylan: We are going to be taking a look at adjectives with the focus on the adjective “medio”, “half.” |
| Carlos: Focus is always good. |
| Dylan: We use the word “medio”, “half”, to modify an adjective or noun. |
| Carlos: So it has more than one use. |
| Dylan: Right but we can employ “medio”, “half”, as an adjective and as an adverb. |
| Carlos: I didn’t realize it was so versatile. |
| Dylan: If you aren’t careful, things like that can get by you. |
| Carlos: Isn’t that the sad truth? |
| Dylan: Let’s take a look at formation. |
| Carlos: Okay, so are we following the general rule of adjectives. |
| Dylan: Well, adjectives are a sticky subject because usually they are placed after the noun. |
| Carlos: So I am guessing with “medio” we are placing it before the noun. |
| Dylan: Read my mind. |
| Carlos: So let’s see about “medio” as an adjective. |
| Dylan: Here we have some examples, “medio kilo”, “half a kilo.” |
| Carlos: Which would be 1 pound for all Americans out there. |
| Dylan: “Media manzana”. |
| Carlos: “Half an apple.” |
| Dylan: “Pagar medio pasaje”. |
| Carlos: “To pay half fare.” And when does that ever happen? |
| Dylan: Never. “Media hora”. |
| Carlos: “Half an hour”, which I would say it’s most common use. |
| Dylan: Okay, now let’s look at “medio”, “media”, as an adverb. |
| Carlos: Sounds good. |
| Dylan: “Ella está medio loca”. |
| Carlos: “She is half crazy.” |
| Dylan: “Todo lo deja a medio terminar”. |
| Carlos: “He leaves everything half finished.” |
| Dylan: In our example from today’s conversation, “recuerda que estoy medio sorda”. |
| Carlos: “Remember that I’m half-deaf.” |
| Dylan: Keep in mind that we can also utilize “medio” as a noun with one of these meanings. “Half”, “middle” or “means.” |
| Carlos: So it doesn’t have half but triple the meanings. |
| Dylan: Very funny. |
Outro |
| Carlos: I thought it was so good closer. You know what guys, that just about does it for today. |
| Dylan: ¡Hasta luego a todos! |
| Carlos: Nos vemos, ¡chao! |
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