Learn how to express existence
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fernando: (Two, please) In this lesson, you will learn about the existence verb, hay. This conversation takes place on the plane. The conversation is between Jimmy, Sandra, and a flight attendant. And they’re all speaking in formal and familiar register. |
| JP: Alright. Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| SANDRA: (a la sobrecarga): Disculpe. |
| SOBRECARGA: Dígame, señorita. |
| SANDRA: ¿Me trae una botellita de agua, por favor? |
| JIMMY: Dos, si es tan amable. |
| SOBRECARGA: Como no. |
| SANDRA: Bueno, Los Ángeles... tantas estrellas... |
| JIMMY: Bueno, en Cozumel hay estrellas también, ¿no? ¿Qué haces en Cozumel? |
| SANDRA: Soy ingeniera de audio. |
| JIMMY: Ingen... perdón, no sé esa palabra. |
| SANDRA: (un poco más despacio): Ingeniera de audio. ¿Cómo se dice en inglés? Sound engineer. |
| JIMMY: Entonces, tú hablas inglés. |
| SANDRA: Sí, cómo no. |
| JIMMY: Ok, so ya’ mind tellin’ me what a sound engineer is doing in Cozumel, Mexico? |
| SANDRA: Whoa, cowboy, es que ya me harté de hablar inglés. Además necesitas practicar tu español. |
| JP: One more time, with the translation. |
| SANDRA: Disculpe. |
| Fernando: Excuse me. |
| SOBRECARGA Dígame, señorita. |
| Fernando: What can I do for you, miss? |
| SANDRA: ¿Me trae una botellita de agua, por favor? |
| Fernando: Could you bring me a bottle of water, please? |
| JIMMY Dos, si es tan amable. |
| Fernando: Two bottles, please. |
| SOBRECARGA Como no. |
| Fernando: Of course. |
| SANDRA: Bueno, Los Ángeles... tantas estrellas... |
| Fernando: So L.A.... all the stars... |
| JIMMY Bueno, en Cozumel hay estrellas también, ¿no? ¿Qué |
| haces en Cozumel? |
| Fernando: Well, there’s stars in Cozumel too, right? What do you |
| do in Cozumel? |
| SANDRA: Soy ingeniera de audio. |
| Fernando: I’m a sound engineer. |
| JIMMY Ingen... perdón, no sé esa palabra. |
| Fernando: Ingen... sorry, I don’t know that word. |
| SANDRA: Ingeniera de audio. ¿Cómo se dice en inglés? Sound engineer. |
| Fernando: Ingeniera de audio. How do you say it in English? Sound engineer. |
| JIMMY Entonces, tú hablas inglés. |
| Fernando: So you speak English. |
| SANDRA: Sí, cómo no. |
| Fernando: Yes, of course. |
| JIMMY Ok, so ya’ mind tellin’ me what a sound engineer is doing in Cozumel, Mexico? |
| Fernando: Okay, so ya’ mind tellin’ me what a sound engineer is doing in Cozumel, Mexico? |
| SANDRA: Whoa, cowboy, es que ya me harté de hablar inglés. Además necesitas practicar tu español. |
| Fernando: Whoa, cowboy, I’m tired of speaking English. Besides, you need to practice your Spanish. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| JP: Fernando, we're continuing our conversation between Jimmy and Sandra on the airplane. |
| Fernando: Yes, in today's dialog we heard several politeness formulas, and we found out a little more about Sandra. |
| JP: Right. So now it begins with Sandra asking the flight attendant for a bottle of water, then Jimmy chimes in saying he wants one as well. |
| Fernando: Exactly. Then the flight attendant leaves to get the water, and Sandra continues the conversation where they left off last time. |
| JP: I think Jimmy had just told her that he was angelino... from Los Angeles. |
| Fernando: So then Sandra says "Los Ángeles... tantas estrellas..." |
| JP: Estrella means "star" so she's probably referring to the movie stars in LA. |
| Fernando: And then Jimmy replies, " Bueno, en Cozumel hay estrellas también, ¿no?" |
| JP: There's stars in Cozumel, too, right? Maybe not movie stars, but the astronomical kind of stars. |
| Fernando: So then Jimmy asks her what she does in Cozumel, and it's a word Jimmy hadn't heard before. Ingeniera de audio. |
| JP: Ingeniera de audio. Sound engineer. That is a hard word. |
| Fernando: Sandra explains it to him in English, so then Jimmy wants to speak English to her. |
| JP: But she's having none of it. Fernando: No, she says "Whoa, cowboy, es que ya me harté de hablar inglés." |
| JP: I'm sick of speaking English, cowboy. Well, he's going to Mexico, he should be practicing his Spanish anyway. |
| Fernando: Which is exactly what she says. Además necesitas practicar tu español. |
| JP: Right. Besides, you need to practice your Spanish. |
| Fernando: Ok, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| JP: practicar [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: to practice |
| JP: practicar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| JP: practicar [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Next. |
| JP: ¿Cómo se dice? [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: How do you say? |
| JP: ¿Cómo se dice? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| JP: ¿Cómo se dice? [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Next. |
| JP: Cómo no. [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Of course. |
| JP: Cómo no. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| JP: Cómo no. [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Next. |
| JP: Dígame. [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: How can I help you? Tell me. |
| JP: Dígame. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| JP: Dígame. [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Next. |
| JP: disculpar [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: to excuse |
| JP: disculpar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| JP: disculpar [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| JP: Ok, let's have a closer look at the vocab and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando: Let's start with practicar. |
| JP: To practice. She says he needs to practice his Spanish. |
| Fernando: Además necesitas practicar tu español. |
| JP: practicar. What's next? |
| Fernando: Next, the phrase, "¿Cómo se dice?" |
| JP: "¿Cómo se dice?" How is it said. This is a great way to ask for a word in Spanish you don't know. How do you say it? "¿Cómo se dice?" |
| Fernando: "¿Cómo se dice?" Next, the phrase "Cómo no." |
| JP: "Cómo no" is like, of course! It's an affirmation. Do you speak Spanish? "Cómo no." |
| Fernando: "Cómo no." Also, when Jimmy asked for the second bottle of water, the flight attendant said, of course! "Cómo no." |
| JP: "Cómo no." Now, Fernando, what was that flight attendant's first line? |
| Fernando: Well first of all, Sandra got the flight attendant's attention by saying "disculpe," which is a polite way to get someone's attention. |
| JP: Disculpe, that's the verb "disculpar" which is to forgive, or to pardon. So when Sandra says "disculpe" it's like, pardon me... |
| Fernando: And then the flight attendant says "dígame" |
| JP: "dígame" literally this is tell me. but... |
| Fernando: But in this context "dígame" is equivalent to saying "what can I do for you?" or "how can I help you?" "dígame" |
| JP: Cool. "dígame." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| JP: Let's look at that little existence verb "hay." |
| Fernando: "hay." |
| JP: yes, h-a-y, hay. So this is technically the verb "haber" but we're only talking about his very special present tense form hay. It's the equivalent of "there is" and "there are," and it just mentions the existence of something. So in English, if we want to say, there's a problem... |
| Fernando: Hay un problema. |
| JP: Hay un problema. So we start with the word "hay" and it's followed by the thing that exists; in this case, un problema. There's a problem, hay un problema. To make it negative, put a 'no' in front of hay. No hay. |
| Fernando: No hay problema. |
| JP: No hay problema. Now the reason why this hay form is so special is that it's invariable regarding number... that means that the singular form is hay, and the plural form his hay. there's no difference. So if we want to say "there are enchiladas." |
| Fernando: Hay enchiladas. |
| JP: Ok. See, that same form "hay" for plural as singular. you can say "Hay enchiladas" and "hay una enchilada." No matter how many enchiladas, it's always 'hay.' |
| Fernando: Good to know. |
| JP: Also, you notice that "hay" doesn't take a subject, which should be no surprise, because in English, "there is" and "there are" don't take subjects either. So "hay" is an impersonal expression of existence. |
Outro |
| Fernando: That just about does it for today. |
| JP: For now, it’s time to go. |
| Fernando: Adiós. |
| JP: Hasta luego. |
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