Learn about using prepositions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalia: Buenos días soy Natalia. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. Do You Have Skype? |
| Natalia: Hola, todo el mundo. |
| Carlos: My name is Carlos and with me is Natalia as always. Natty, how are you doing? |
| Natalia: I am doing great Carlos. So tired. |
| Carlos: Ah, you sound it. |
| Natalia: I am so tired. I went shopping all day. |
| Carlos: Oh. |
| Natalia: Yes but I have a problem. |
| Carlos: The first step is admitting that you have one Natty. |
| Natalia: Oh yeah. In today’s conversation, Jorge wants to use Skype. So well Carlos, I think that we should get into it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 1. JORGE: ¡Buenas! |
| 2. JUANA: Buen día. |
| 3. JORGE: Quisiera saber si ustedes cuentan con el programa Skype... |
| 4. JUANA: Sí, lo tenemos instalado. Cada compu equipada con audífonos |
| cuenta también con Skype. |
| 5. JORGE: Perfecto. ¿A cuánto está la media hora? |
| 6. JUANA: Nada más que diez colones. |
| 7. JORGE: ¡Anda! Y, también cuentan con cámara para chat con video? |
| Carlos: And now with the translation. Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| 1. JORGE: ¡Buenas! |
| JORGE: Mornin'! |
| 2. JUANA: Buen día. |
| 2. JUANA: Good mornin'. |
| 3. JORGE: Quisiera saber si ustedes cuentan con el programa Skype… |
| 3. JORGE: I'd like to know if you guys have the program Skype... |
| 4. JUANA: Sí, lo tenemos instalado. Cada compu equipada con audífonos |
| cuenta también con Skype. |
| 4. JUANA: Yes, we have it installed. Each computer equipped with |
| headphones also has Skype. |
| 5. JORGE: Perfecto. ¿A cuánto está la media hora? |
| 5. JORGE: Perfect. How much does a half-hour cost? |
| 6. JUANA: Nada más que diez colones. |
| 6. JUANA: Only ten Colones. |
| 7. JORGE: ¡Anda! Y, también cuentan con cámara para chat con video? |
| 7. JORGE: Wow! And do you also have a camera for video chatting? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: Man, you know, really Skype makes a difference Natie. I know you don’t use it.Like at all, actually now that I think about it. But really once you get on it, I mean it really makes a big difference in communication all over the world. |
| Natalia: Can I say something very, very, very sincere? |
| Carlos: Wow! I like that you have us to lead up and warning for that. |
| Natalia: Well you should work in some sort of advertising. Whenever you talk, either iPhones, Facebook, Skype, food whatever it sounds like you are doing a big commercial for them. |
| Carlos: Now that we’ve gone through the conversation, what do you say we run through some of the vocabulary? |
| Natalia: Sounds like a good idea. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Carlos: So today we are going to start with a verb. |
| Natalia: contar |
| Carlos: To have |
| Natalia: con-tar, contar |
| Carlos: Okay next up, we have a masculine noun. |
| Natalia: programa |
| Carlos: Program. |
| Natalia: pro-gra-ma, programa |
| Carlos: Okay then a past participle. |
| Natalia: equipado, equipada |
| Carlos: Equipped. |
| Natalia: e-qui-pa-do, e-qui-pa-da, equipado, equipada |
| Carlos: Then up a masculine noun. |
| Natalia: audífono |
| Carlos: Headphone. |
| Natalia: a-u-dí-fo-no, audífono |
| Carlos: Okay then we got a feminine noun. |
| Natalia: cámara |
| Carlos: Camera. |
| Natalia: cá-ma-ra, cámara |
| Carlos: And last but not least, a pronoun. |
| Natalia: cuánto-cuánta |
| Carlos: How much, how many? |
| Natalia: cu-án-to-cu-án-ta, cuánto-cuánta. Carlos. |
| Carlos: What? |
| Natalia: Say it all? |
| Carlos: What - contar, programa, equipado, equipada, audífono, cámara, cuánto, cuánta. |
| Natalia: Okay. |
| Carlos: There you are happy now, thank you! Bueno, okay we got the pronunciation tipped down and next I am going to use the “my recording” in the learning center to help my pronunciation. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Natalia: Entonces Carlos. Let’s see some of this vocabulary usage. |
| Carlos: I am ready when you are Natty, let’s get our learn on. |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: Nothing. All right, our first word was - contar - to count right? |
| Natalia: Well it depends. Here it means to have. |
| Carlos: Wait! Wait! Context again hah! |
| Natalia: Well something like that. In other cases, you write it means to count but to make it means to have. We need to use the preposition - con - after it. |
| Carlos: Like |
| Natalia: Contamos con los recursos necesarios. |
| Carlos: So with the preposition - con - it means to have. So that would mean we have the necessary resources. |
| Natalia: Right - contar, is an ar verb but… |
| Carlos: It is a stem changing in the present indicative. |
| Natalia: I was just about to say that. |
| Carlos: I beat you to it. |
| Natalia: Oh please... okay. Then conjugate it. |
| Carlos: I walked right into that one, okay. Cuento, cuentas, cuenta, contamos, contáis, cuentan |
| Natalia: Next word |
| Carlos: programa |
| Natalia: programa. |
| Carlos: Programa - Program, but wait in this sense, a computer program. |
| Natalia: A Carlos le gusta usar Skype. |
| Carlos: That’s right I do. |
| Natalia: But there is something that you should notice. |
| Carlos: What’s that? |
| Natalia: What kind of word is it? |
| Carlos: A masculine noun. |
| Natalia: Right but what letter doesn’t it end it. |
| Carlos: A |
| Natalia: Right next word. |
| Carlos: equipado, equipada |
| Natalia: equipado, equipada, is the past participle of the verb - equipar |
| Carlos: To equip, yeah but here it’s being used as an adjective though right? |
| Natalia: Yep in Spanish, past participles are often used this way. Don’t you notice the similarity to the English word? |
| Carlos: Similarity. |
| Natalia: Do you notice the similarity to the English word? |
| Carlos: Well now that you say it in the English accent, yeah I did notice that. |
| Natalia: Also in this conversation, ojo it says - Cada compu equipada. |
| Carlos: Okay I am looking. |
| Natalia: Well you are listening, not looking. |
| Carlos: I am listening. |
| Natalia: Okay, ojo - don’t take it literally. So Carlos, pay attention. |
| Carlos: I am. |
| Natalia: Here we know that these adjectives need to be feminine singular because - compu - is short for - computadora - also feminine singular. |
| Carlos: I see, Natalia good explanation. |
| Natalia: Thank you. Here is the fun one to pronounce - audífono |
| Carlos: audífono |
| Natalia: Uhoo. |
| Carlos: You know that kind of sounds like audio phone. |
| Natalia: Yeah look closely at both parts of the word -audi- from audio and -fono- like phone. We usually use this word in the plural - audífonos - since there is one for each year. |
| Carlos: You know what, that would make sense. Now next up is a easy one I think - cámara |
| Natalia: cámera. |
| Carlos: My English students used to have so much trouble with the English pronunciation of this word because it was so similar. |
| Natalia: I mean come on, anyone who speaks English would understand what that means. |
| Carlos: I know I mean I pretty much just told them not to worry about it. I mean seriously you could say camera - cámara. I mean it ain’t that much of a jump. |
| Natalia: Only two differences between the Spanish and the English here. The Spanish word is spelled - cámara - while the English is - camera - and in the Spanish word, the first A receives a written accent. |
| Carlos: Well if you want to get all tactical with it. I mean she just likes this because she is a picture junkie. |
| Natalia: What do you mean? |
| Carlos: Natty, tell the truth. ¿Tienes tu cámara ahora? |
| Natalia: Yeah so what? You never know when you can take a good picture, plus I got a bunch of pretty pictures in my camera. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Now we have grammar. |
| Natalia: Carlos |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Natalia: You cannot just switch up like that. Are you sick? |
| Carlos: No. |
| Natalia: I am used to you screaming Grammar. I actually have like little earplugs when I come to record with you just for the grammar. |
| Carlos: Natty, you know sometimes, you just have to keep things fresh. |
| Natalia: Well fine, we will get ready any way. Today we are looking at the preposition A. |
| Carlos: Uh! Sounds technical. So then let’s just bite off a chunk and let’s see what happens. |
| Natalia: Let me ask you something. |
| Carlos: Shoot. |
| Natalia: When you were just beginning to learn Spanish, what were you told about the preposition A. |
| Carlos: Well, very simply that it was a way of expressing the English preposition, to. |
| Natalia: Well that’s right and what else did you learn as you went on. |
| Carlos: Well quite simply that the preposition A has like a lot of uses. I mean not only translated as to but also as on, at, from, by or in. And I mean other prepositions as well. |
| Natalia: Well it might be confusing but sometimes this is not translated at all. |
| Carlos: Okay. How would you suggest learning how to use A? |
| Natalia: Umm well probably by looking at how it’s used. |
| Carlos: Okay so what would be the first function on your list? |
| Natalia: To express motion. |
| Carlos: Example. |
| Natalia: Voy a Granada. Una carta dirigida a ella. Aspirar a capitán. Voy a Granada |
| Carlos: Okay, I am going to Granada. |
| Natalia: Una carta dirigida a ella. |
| Carlos: I don’t know what - dirigida - means. |
| Natalia: A letter directed to her. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Aspirar a capitán. |
| Carlos: So then about a captain. |
| Natalia: Carlos - aspirar, aspire. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Aspire to a captain, aspire to be a captain. There is three different examples. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Well you know what else, it is used with infinitives. |
| Carlos: Oh that wasn’t a sentence. |
| Natalia: Oh my god! He got it. |
| Carlos: I am sorry. Took me a little time. |
| Natalia: We are expressing motion. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: So Voy a Granada. - I am going to Granada. motion, I am going. However you are getting it as to express emotion. A letter directed to her. |
| Carlos: Aaha |
| Natalia: Aspire to captain. |
| Carlos: Okay I get it, I get it. |
| Natalia: Okay well this is used with infinitives that compliment the conjugated verb of movement. |
| Carlos: Like ir - to go? |
| Natalia: Yeah. |
| Carlos: For example. |
| Natalia: Viajaré a Madrid. |
| Carlos: Okay so I see. So this is like saying I will travel to Madrid. |
| Natalia: Yep. Now let’s look at another role of the preposition, A. |
| Carlos: Which is? |
| Natalia: Well this is used when an infinitive verb complements a conjugative verb with a sense of finalization. For example - Aprendo a nadar. Enseña a leer. |
| Carlos: I learn to swim, he learns to read. |
| Natalia: Yet on the other hand, Quiero nadar. and Deseo leer. are verbs of volition that do not signify a sense of finalization and there before do not carry A. |
| Carlos: Okay that was pretty technical. |
| Natalia: So you get it? |
| Carlos: Except for the fact that you said the word volition. |
| Natalia: Quiero nadar and Deseo leer, are verbs of volition. That’s how you say it. |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Natalia: Okay great. So what’s wrong with you? And do not signify a sense of finalization and there before do not carry A |
| Carlos: Okay so since it’s like an open thing - I wanna swim. Not like - I want to swim now. |
| Natalia: All right. So now it is time for homework. |
| Carlos: Oh I like – I want to read. |
| Natalia: Carlos, time for homework. Don’t ignore it. Their homework. Any way… |
| Carlos: Okay - La tarea |
| Natalia: La tarea - Here is today’s assignment. Today we’ve talked about how the preposition A can be used to express motion or to express a sense of finalization. For example, if I say Manejé a la fiesta - I drove to the party, this expresses emotion but if I say - Aprendí a manejar - I learn to drive, now it’s expressing finalization. Are you ready? |
| Carlos: Sure let’s have it. |
| Natalia: Okay number one-Ella me enseñó a bailar, number two-Volamos de Costa Rica a los Estados Unidos, number three-Él aprendió a cantar cuando era joven. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Now remember people, you can always get the answers and comments on answers by checking out the premium audio track label Tarea. |
| Natalia: Okay. You just have to apply what you have learned. Well Carlos, it’s time for us to say adiós. |
| Carlos: Goodbye. Que tengan una linda semana. |
| Natalia: He is like a parrot. |
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Comments
HideThanks to Kevin Macleod for the music used here. Have any users out there tried Skype® before? It is a great way to stay in touch while abroad with free or cheap rates for calling and video chatting.
Hola Katarzyna,
Thank you for your comment.
We will take this into consideration, we appreciate constructive feedbacks and feel these are very important to improve your experience.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
I just would like to say that Nataly should work a bit on the way how she speaks as she comes across as quite rude person, and she moans too much. I want to enjoy my lessons
Hi Willie James Turner again !! I made a mistake !! I skipped the newbie lessons!! That is why I was confused !! I feel better as I start from the newbie beginning !! I found that the BEGINNER SERIES IS MORE ADVANCED!! Maybe other students will learn from my slip-up !! Anyway , I feel better , now !! Hasta Pronto Amigoes and Amigas !! Choa !! it is 27 September 2017 !!
Hola Neil,
Yes, this will mean the same.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
OK.... in American English we sometimes say "Look, ...." to emphasize in much the same way. Thanks!
Hola Neil,
Thank you for your comment!
When Natalia says "Ojo" - which means "eye" is an expression for listeners to keep more attention of what she's talking about 'cause is an important point.
Suerte,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Occasionally I hear Natalia use a word that sounds like "ojo" (or possibly "hojo"). It seems to be similar to "or", but I can't find anything in any dictionaries. Can you identify it?
Dear Norma Roed,
Dear Rosemary,
Thank you for your comments and feedback! We really appreciate it.
We are going to add the "tarea" to the Lesson Notes in the near future.
Please, for now let us know if you need help or if you have any question.
Thank you for your patience :smile:
Kind regards,
Laura
Team SpanishPod101.com
Norma Roed
Thank you for mentioning this issue. I have written about this in Newbie Season 1 "Homework" as well so you aren't alone.
The only solution right now is to listen repeatedly to decipher (at least that's what I did) or listen to the Homework Review Audio which unfortunately you have to guess at because the Audios are not labelled. This season the homework audio review appears to be the Audio after the audio labelled "Review" i.e. the second Audio listed.
Hi Norma Roed,
Thank you for posting.
Have you tried to open [2. Lesson Materials]>[Vocabulary]>[Expansion]?
There you should be able to read and listen all the sample sentences.
Please let us know, if what you were asking refers to a different thing.
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team SpanishPod101.com
Are the homework questions written anywhere, I do not get the audio spanish sentences properly.
Hola Jaba,
Thank you for your comment!
Don't worry! it had been corrected.
Stay tuned, we have a new lesson for you every week.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Sorry, what kind of errors are you talking about? I don't wanna learn Spanish with mistakes!
Hi again Bjørn!
Gracias por su comentario :D
Yes, I'm from California! I went to school in Los Angeles for a year :) I live abroad now, though, so I miss it!
Thanks for letting us know about that error :oops:
We will look into getting that fixed!
Jessi
Team SpanishPod101.com
Grácias, Jessi. Yo leí que es Usted de California. Llevo aquí en Los Angeles 16 años. Caramba!
Yo he pasado unos mezes fuera de mis lecciones a la compu de Spanishpod. He secuchando todo esos mezes al otro lado. Oí este leccion hoy, y una cosa que llamé a mi attención es que en el dialogo, las mujer dice 14 en la tradución sino dice en el dialogo escribiendo, como, 22? Tambien que la mayoia de los estudiantes y oientes estan setudiando los lecciones del ultimo año, pero pienso que les gustarian saber este error.
Ciao!
B
HI Earle,
Thank you for pointing out those errors, we have now fixed them!
Here are the sentences from the tarea!
1. Ella me ensenó a bailar.
2. Volamos de costa rica a los estados unidos.
3. Andaba en la tienda cuando te vi.
4. El aprendió a cantar cuando era joven.
5. Logré a probar la comida mas rica en la ciudad.
Jessi
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola Carlos and Natalia,
Another great lesson, thanks.
Errata:
In the lesson guide in the vocabulary table "camara" is listed as a masculine noun and in the second sample sentence the English translation has "Mi" nephew ... rather than "My" nephew ...
In relation to the "tarea" I am struggling with deciphering the spoken sentences to complete the homework (industrial deafness and still developing a "Spanish ear") is there a written version available that will display on my iPad that I can work from? If not that's ok I will keep trying.
Otherwise a great resource I have made more progress in a few weeks using Spanishpod 101 .com than all my previous efforts combined.
Regards
Earle
Hi Bjørn!
You can find the host profiles here:
https://www.spanishpod101.com/about-us/member-introduction/
Cómo se puede ver a los "profiles" de los profesores?
We do say "¡Buenas!" in informal situations in El Salvador as well, at any time of the day :)