Learn how to express preferences using the Spanish set phrase meaning, "I would like to"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola, ¿cómo están? Mi nombre es Dylan. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. “Getting Hired.” Dylan, in this lesson, we will learn about the set phrase “me gustaría”. |
| Dylan: That’s useful. |
| Carlos: It is, it is and it looks like Luis is getting the job. |
| Dylan: Man, in today’s market, he is lucky. |
| Carlos: That he is. |
| Dylan: So he is still speaking formally? |
| Carlos: Well, if he wants to get hired, he will. |
| Dylan: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| JEFE: Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro. |
| LUIS: Muchas gracias. |
| JEFE: Creo que sería una buena adquisición para nosotros. |
| LUIS: ¿¡En serio!?... digo... Sí, señor. |
| JEFE: Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta. |
| LUIS: Claro, es justo lo que necesito. |
| JEFE: Pues, le doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa. |
| And now, slowly. |
| Una vez más, esta vez lentamente. |
| JEFE: Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro. |
| LUIS: Muchas gracias. |
| JEFE: Creo que sería una buena adquisición para nosotros. |
| LUIS: ¿¡En serio!?... digo... Sí, señor. |
| JEFE: Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta. |
| LUIS: Claro, es justo lo que necesito. |
| JEFE: Pues, le doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa. |
| And now, with the translation. |
| Ahora, incluimos la traducción. |
| JEFE: Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro. |
| JEFE: Well Luis, you seem like a very responsible and mature kid. |
| LUIS: Muchas gracias. |
| LUIS: Thank you very much. |
| JEFE: Creo que sería una buena adquisición para nosotros. |
| JEFE: I think that you would be a good acquisition for us. |
| LUIS: ¿¡En serio!?... digo... Sí, señor. |
| LUIS: Seriously!? ...I mean...yes, sir. |
| JEFE: Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta. |
| JEFE: And I would like to know if you accept my offer. |
| LUIS: Claro, es justo lo que necesito. |
| LUIS: Of course, it's just what I need. |
| JEFE: Pues, le doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa. |
| JEFE: Well then, let me welcome you to our company. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: Man, it’s got to be a relief after being hired. I mean the interview process is so stressful. |
| Dylan: Oh, it’s awful. |
| Carlos: Oh, it’s crazy. You know, I used to remember like you know especially when I was moving down here, I was so stressed by not getting a job and then when I got spanishpod101.com, I was like, “yes, finally I got a job.” I was happy. |
| Dylan: It’s a cool job. |
| Carlos: It's a relief. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Carlos: First up, we have a verb. |
| Dylan: “Parecer”. |
| Carlos: “To seem”, “to resemble.” |
| Dylan: “Pa-re-cer”, “parecer”. |
| Carlos: Then we have an introduction. |
| Dylan: “Claro”. |
| Carlos: “Sure”, “of course.” |
| Dylan: “Cla-ro”, “claro”. |
| Carlos: And then we have an adverb. |
| Dylan: “Justo”. |
| Carlos: “Just.” |
| Dylan: “Jus-to”, “justo”. |
| Carlos: And then a feminine noun. |
| Dylan: “Oferta”. |
| Carlos: “Offer.” |
| Dylan: “O-fer-ta”, “oferta”. |
| Carlos: And then we have a conjunction pause word. |
| Dylan: “Pues”. |
| Carlos: “So”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: “Pues”, “pues”. |
| Carlos: Last but not least, an adjective. |
| Dylan: “Maduro”. |
| Carlos: “Mature.” |
| Dylan: “Ma-du-ro”, “maduro”. |
| Carlos: All right. Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “parecer”. |
| Carlos: “Parecer”. A very common verb if I am not mistaken and it means... |
| Dylan: “To seem”, “to look.” The boss seems very impressed by Luis. |
| Carlos: How do you know? |
| Dylan: Well, listen to what he says to him in the conversation, “Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro”. |
| Carlos: “Well Luis, you seem like a very responsible and mature kid.” Hah! Little does he know. |
| Dylan: Carlos, just because you can trick interviewers doesn’t mean that Luis is. |
| Carlos: I am just saying that it could be possible. And now you said “parecer” means “to seem”, “to look”, like “to look at”? |
| Dylan: This example is going to answer your question, “La bebé se parece a su mamá”. |
| Carlos: “The baby looks like her mom.” Okay, I see what you mean. |
| Dylan: We have some phrases that are related like “ser igual a”. |
| Carlos: Which means... |
| Dylan: “To look like.” Do you understand? |
| Carlos: Claro. |
| Dylan: There you go rushing into the next word. |
| Carlos: I was just agreeing with you. |
| Dylan: So why don’t you share with our audience what “claro” means? |
| Carlos: “Claro” is a interjection that means “of course.” |
| Dylan: More commonly heard as “claro que sí”. |
| Carlos: But that’s not what Luis says. |
| Dylan: No, Luis says “Claro, es justo lo que necesito”. |
| Carlos: Of course this is just what I need. |
| Dylan: You already provided an example sentence of sorts with “claro que sí”. |
| Carlos: Yes, but I know a related phrase. |
| Dylan: And that is... |
| Carlos: “Por supuesto”, which also means “of course.” |
| Dylan: Our next word is a cognate of sorts. |
| Carlos: And what is it? |
| Dylan: “Justo”. |
| Carlos: An adverb that means “just.” And you are not with that. |
| Dylan: And luckily we already saw the example from today’s conversation. |
| Carlos: “Claro, es justo lo que necesito”. “Of course it’s just what I need.” |
| Dylan: But we can also think of “justo” as “just” or “fair.” |
| Carlos: For example... |
| Dylan: Well, for example, “es un trato justo”. |
| Carlos: Wait, I think I got this one. “It’s a fair deal.” |
| Dylan: Exactly. So a related word would be its opposite, “injusto”. |
| Carlos: Injustice? |
| Dylan: “Unjust.” |
| Carlos: “Unjust”, okay. |
| Dylan: Give them out a cracker. |
| Carlos: Thank you for the offer. |
| Dylan: Carlos, I am supposed to introduce the word. |
| Carlos: Why? What’s our next word? |
| Dylan: “Oferta”, “offer.” |
| Carlos: Oh, yes, I got that. Feminine noun, right? |
| Dylan: Yep, and that is how you know Luis got the job. |
| Carlos: Why because the boss says “Y me gustaría saber si está de acuerdo con mi oferta”. |
| Dylan: “And I would like to know if you accept my offer.” |
| Carlos: I guess it’s an offer he couldn’t refuse. |
| Dylan: You couldn’t resist the godfather props hah! |
| Carlos: No, I can’t say that I could. |
| Dylan: We can also think of “oferta” as a “sale.” |
| Carlos: Like “los vestidos de baño están en oferta”. |
| Dylan: “The bathing suits are on sale.” So then a related word would be “descuento”. |
| Carlos: “Discount.” |
| Dylan: No discount on the next word. It’s a conjunction as well as a pause word. |
| Carlos: And what is it? |
| Dylan: “Pues”. |
| Carlos: “Pues”. “So”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: And now we know Luis got the job. |
| Carlos: Why because the boss says “Pues, le doy la bienvenida a nuestra empresa”. |
| Dylan: “Well then, let me welcome you to our company.” I don’t think that that’s an ambiguous answer. He is in! |
| Carlos: Good for him. Now I’ve heard “pues” and “entonces” used a lot in the same way. |
| Dylan: Well, they are kind of the same. “Entonces” means “so”, “then well” as well. |
| Carlos: Entonces la última palabra. |
| Dylan: The last word is “maduro”. |
| Carlos: “Plátano maduro”. |
| Dylan: I knew you would jump on that. |
| Carlos: Yeah, hold on, “maduro” is an adjective that means “mature.” |
| Dylan: But Carlos automatically jumped to the association with the fruit which would mean “ripe.” |
| Carlos: Well, remind me how it’s used in the conversation then? |
| Dylan: It was our first example from the conversation. |
| Carlos: All right. “Bueno Luis, usted parece un chico muy responsable y maduro”. |
| Dylan: “Well Luis, you seem like a very responsible and mature kid”, but just to make you happy, here is an example with “maduro” as “ripen.” |
| Carlos: No, no I got this “los plátanos maduros son deliciosos”. |
| Dylan: “The ripe plantains are delicious.” Okay Carlos, today we will look at something that is very common all across the Spanish speaking world. |
| Carlos: And that is... |
| Dylan: Set phrases. |
| Carlos: So phrases that are set. |
| Dylan: Good one. |
| Carlos: Now I know there are a lot of set phrases in Spanish. |
| Dylan: But let’s not get bogged down. We have to focus on one for this lesson anyway. |
| Carlos: Okay, so how about “me gustaría”, which means... |
| Dylan: “I would like to.” |
| Carlos: I learned this phrase in relation to a very common situation. |
| Dylan: Which was... |
| Carlos: When I am ordering food in the restaurant. |
| Dylan: Makes sense. This is a very proper way of ordering although you know there is a different way to say it here in Costa Rica. |
| Carlos: Right, “me regala” and that was for the Costa Rican series. Do not, I repeat do not order food by saying “me regala” in any other country. |
| Dylan: That’s right. Be polite and say “me gustaría” but I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s look at this closer. |
| Carlos: Sure. |
| Dylan: Which verb is being used in the phrase “me gustaría”? |
| Carlos: That will be the verb “gustar”, “to like.” |
| Dylan: And how is it conjugated? |
| Carlos: Here “gustar” is conjugated in the conditional tense becoming “gustaría”. |
| Dylan: Using the conditional tenses roughly saying “would” in English. This is how we express a personal preference. |
| Carlos: But that’s not the only way, right? |
| Dylan: Oh no, not at all. “Gustar” in the conditional tense often has a same meaning as “quisiera” or “preferiría”. |
| Carlos: Right, so all of those express personal preference. |
| Dylan: Exactly. Like if you are an ESL teacher, you might hear a Hispanic student say “me gustaría hablar inglés”. |
| Carlos: “I would like to speak English.” |
| Dylan: Whereas the present tense of the indicative mood expresses that “I like to speak English.” |
| Carlos: Right, “me gusta hablar inglés”, “I like to speak English.” |
| Dylan: The conditional indicates preference. In this case “me gustaría hablar inglés”. “I would like to speak English”, but I think there is a review in order. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Dylan: I have a question for you. |
| Carlos: Shoot. |
| Dylan: How do you use the verb “gustar” in the conditional tense? |
| Carlos: Oh well, in that case you would need to use indirect object pronouns with it. |
| Dylan: Good call. Let’s check the forms of the verb out first. |
| Carlos: Sure to form the conditional tense for all verbs, we add the endings of the imperfect tense with “er” and “ir” verbs to the infinitive. Keep in mind that these endings are the same for the conditional of “ar”, “er” and “ir” verbs. |
| Dylan: So with the infinitive “gustar” we have... |
| Carlos: “Gustaría”, “gustarías”, “gustaría” This is the form we are focusing on here “gustaríamos”, “gustaríais” and “gustarían”. |
| Dylan: Good work. |
| Carlos: Thank you, but I think we should look at some example sentences just to make sure everything is down packed. |
| Dylan: “Me gustaría hablar castellano para conseguir un trabajo en España”. |
| Carlos: “I would like to speak Spanish in order to get a job in Spain.” Notice here that we use the indirect object pronoun “me”. |
| Dylan: “¿Te gustaría acompañarme a tomar un café y conversar?” |
| Carlos: “Would you like to come with me to have coffee and talk?” Notice here we use the indirect object pronoun “te”. |
| Dylan: “Nos gustaría que respondas lo antes posible”. |
| Carlos: “We would like you to respond as soon as possible.” Notice here the indirect object pronoun “nos”. |
| Dylan: “Me gustaría que te calles la boca”. |
| Carlos: “I would like you to shut your mouth.” Once again, the indirect object “me”. |
| Dylan: Carlos, you have a confused look. What do you notice? |
| Carlos: Well, I notice that in all of these expressions, we are only using the form “gustaría”. |
| Dylan: Good eye and what that means is that you need to know the indirect object pronouns by heart. |
| Carlos: Okay, and it’s not that hard. |
| Dylan: What are they just for good measure? |
| Carlos: “Me”, “te”, “le”, “nos”, “os” and “les”. |
| Dylan: That’s right. “Me”, “te”, “le”, “nos”, “os” and “les”. |
Outro |
|---|
| Carlos: You know what guys, that just about does it for today. Carlos: Okay, ¡nos vemos! |
| Dylan: ¡Chao! |
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