Learn about a key Spanish verb meaning "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola everybody, this is Dylan, ¿cómo están? |
| Carlos: What’s going on, pod101world? My name is Carlo. “Where will you find the beautiful people in Spain?” In this lesson, you will learn about the verb “estar”. |
| Dylan: This conversation takes place in a coffee shop. |
| Carlos: The conversation is between Andrés and Daniel. |
| Dylan: The speakers are friends and are speaking informally. |
| Carlos: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| ANDRÉS: ¿Dónde la conociste? |
| DANIEL: Ella trabaja en la cafetería que está en la esquina. |
| ANDRÉS: Entonces, ¿es la chica preciosa que trabaja ahí? |
| DANIEL: Ves, ¡cómo sí es bella!, me voy ya por que dentro de poco cierran la cafetería. |
| ANDRÉS: ¡Suerte amigo! |
| Andrés: Where did you meet her? |
| Daniel: She works at the coffee shop on the corner. |
| Andrés: So, it’s the beautiful girl that works there? |
| Daniel: See, she is beautiful! I’m gonna head over there now because the coffee shop will be closing soon. |
| Andrés: Good luck my friend! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: You know I worked for years as a waiter and I saw so many waitresses get asked out, it was hilarious. |
| Dylan: How about you as a waiter, a male waiter. |
| Carlos: All the time and they were very awkward moments like if a couple came into the restaurant and there’s like this really big dude and this hot girl and they sat down at the table and I just kept my eyes right on my pad like “Do you want fries? What about the drink?” The guy was looking at me straight like looking at me... |
| Dylan: “Don’t look at my girl.” |
| Carlos: “Don’t you dare look at my girl.” So that would be funny like you know like, well, Daniel goes all the way up and walks up and she’s with her boyfriend. |
| Dylan: What will be the end of this story? |
| Carlos: I do want to hear the next lesson now so that I know what happens. |
| Dylan: Me too. |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Trabajar”. |
| Carlos: “To work.” |
| Dylan: “Tra-ba-jar”, “trabajar”. |
| Dylan: “Esquina”. |
| Carlos: “Corner.” |
| Dylan: “Es-qui-na”, “esquina”. |
| Dylan: “Entonces”. |
| Carlos: “Then”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: “En-ton-ces”, “entonces”. |
| Dylan: “Precioso, preciosa”. |
| Carlos: “Beautiful.” |
| Dylan: “Pre-cio-so, pre-cio-sa”, “precioso, preciosa”. |
| Dylan: “Cerrar”. |
| Carlos: “To close.” |
| Dylan: “Ce-rrar”, “cerrar”. |
| Dylan: “Suerte”. |
| Carlos: “Luck.” |
| Dylan: “Suer-te”, “suerte”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases for this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we’ll look at is “trabajar”. |
| Carlos: “To work”. You know Dylan, the other day I bought a bookmark with a really cool saying on it. |
| Dylan: What did it say? |
| Carlos: Awake each day to love and work. |
| Dylan: That’s a cool proverb, where is it from? |
| Carlos: It said Africa, which is a pretty big place so who knows. Either way it resonated with me. |
| Dylan: Where did we hear “trabajar” in the conversation? |
| Carlos: Well, we heard it when Daniel tried to explain “ella trabaja en la cafetería que está en la esquina”. |
| Dylan: “She works at the coffee shop on the corner.” |
| Carlos: Trabajé en una cafetería cuando estaba en la universidad. |
| Dylan: No, man. A mi no me gusta trabajar en restaurantes. |
| Carlos: To be honest, I would do it again if I had to. Seriously it’s good money for unskilled labor. |
| Dylan: But what if you have skills? |
| Carlos: All in all, it’s good money. |
| Dylan: Well, we all know an easy related word, the noun, the dreaded... |
| Carlos: “El trabajo”, “the job.” But we all know that it is a blessing we could wake and love our work. |
| Dylan: That’s where it’s at. |
| Carlos: Moving on to the... |
| Dylan: “La esquina”, the... |
| Carlos: “Corner.” |
| Dylan: We already heard the example, but let’s hear it again. |
| Carlos: “Ella trabaja en la cafetería que está en la esquina”. |
| Dylan: “She works in the coffee shop on the corner.” |
| Carlos: You know Dylan, yo vivo en la esquina. |
| Dylan: Do you like living in a corner house? |
| Carlos: Well, my street isn’t very busy so I don’t mind. |
| Dylan: But imagine if it was busy. |
| Carlos: I would shoot myself in the head. |
| Dylan: Have you ever heard the noun, “la acera”? |
| Carlos: No, but it sounds like a car model. |
| Dylan: “La acera”, you are going to smack your head when you hear this. |
| Carlos: Okay, go ahead. |
| Dylan: “La acera”, “the sidewalk.” |
| Carlos: Man you know I never knew how to say sidewalk. One of those words that kind of slipped through the cracks I guess. |
| Dylan: That’s because there are no sidewalks, only cracks, in Costa Rica. |
| Carlos: That’s true I didn’t think about that Dylan, thank you. |
| Dylan: Entonces... |
| Carlos: “Entonces”, “then”, “so then.” |
| Dylan: Didn’t we go over this word already? |
| Carlos: Ah no, I say “entonces” more than a couple of times a day and I think it deserves being mentioned once again. |
| Dylan: “Entonces”. |
| Carlos: Exactly. |
| Dylan: “Entonces, ¿es la chica preciosa que trabaja ahí?” |
| Carlos: “So it’s the beautiful girl that works there?” |
| Dylan: Man she must be stunning. |
| Carlos: You know I always did have a thing for women in work uniforms. |
| Dylan: Sure let’s keep it PG, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Okay, I was just saying. |
| Dylan: But let’s hear “entonces” in a different sense. |
| Carlos: “Yo llegué a la casa entonces vi el accidente”. |
| Dylan: “I arrived at the house then I saw the accident.” |
| Carlos: Could I consider “pues” a related word? |
| Dylan: “Pues”, meaning “so”? |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Dylan: Well, most definitely. |
| Carlos: And what’s next? |
| Dylan: An adjective, “preciosa”. |
| Carlos: “Beautiful”, “precious”, “gorgeous.” Honestly Dylan, I think we have gone through every adjective related to beauty with this girl. “¿Es la chica preciosa que trabaja ahí?”, “that beautiful girl that works there?” Man, she better look like a combination of Jessica Alba, Gisselle and Penélope Cruz. |
| Dylan: Man, you can tell your taste. |
| Carlos: Why do you say that? |
| Dylan: Don’t you realize that you just created what would be the perfect Latin woman? |
| Carlos: My God, a woman that gorgeous will bring the apocalypse. But what about the perfect combination for a Latin man, Dylan? |
| Dylan: Oh God, this one’s hard. He’s have to be kind of surfer like, strong, I don’t know. |
| Carlos: See the difference between men and women, I thought of mine in two seconds. Now Dylan, can we call a man “precioso”? |
| Dylan: No! No, no, no, no. |
| Carlos: Okay I… |
| Dylan: He is “guapo”. |
| Carlos: That’s right we’ll stick to “guapo” for men. Now what about a little kid, “precioso”? |
| Dylan: Well yes, I guess a baby. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Dylan: ¡Qué bebé más precioso!” |
| Carlos: Well, take complements where you can get them. It’s like a guy being called pretty. |
| Dylan: Yes. We’ve already gone through the related words. Let’s hear them again. |
| Carlos: “Bonita, bonito”, adjective. “Hermoso, hermosa”, also an adjective. They all mean “beautiful” and “really good looking.” |
| Dylan: Ya, ya, ya, no más. Estamos terminando con “precioso, preciosa”. |
| Carlos: You closed it, huh? |
| Dylan: Closed. Yo lo cerré. |
| Carlos: The verb “cerrar”. |
| Dylan: “Me voy ya porque dentro de poco cierran la cafetería”. |
| Carlos: “I’m going to head over there now because the coffee shop will be closing soon.” He’s going to go for it. |
| Dylan: Looks like. After all these lessons I’m nervous for him. |
| Carlos: Me too but I have a good feeling about this. |
| Dylan: Sometimes... “cierra los ojos y brinca”. |
| Carlos: That’s not that easy to just “close our eyes and just jump in.” |
| Dylan: Well, that’s what makes it worth it. |
| Carlos: It’s cold in here. Cierre la puerta. |
| Dylan: Cierre la puerta. |
| Carlos: Cierre la puerta. |
| Dylan: The doors are already closed. |
| Carlos: I couldn’t think of another adjective. |
| Dylan: Ahh, ok, ok, relax. Lucky for you, last but not least, we have the noun “suerte”. |
| Carlos: “Luck”. Everyone needs luck. |
| Dylan: ¿Crees en suerte? |
| Carlos: Do I believe in luck? Definitely and without a doubt. |
| Dylan: Andrés probably has a big smile in his face when he says “¡suerte amigo!” |
| Carlos: Yeah, with a high five. Good Luck, my friend! You know, I would have had it god-speed. |
| Dylan: haha, you stupid. |
| Carlos: Pero necesito decirte que creo que tengo suerte en mi vida. |
| Dylan: Don’t say it out loud, man! What are you trying to do, jinx yourself? |
| Carlos: No, not at all. |
| Dylan: Well go knock on wood! |
| Carlos: Okay, okay. |
| Daylan: I want to you have éxito. |
| Carlos: What? The exit? |
| Dylan: Noo, Carlos. “The success.” |
| Carlos: Oh yes, I want that too. |
| Dylan: Okay Carlos, how many conjugations are there in Spanish? |
| Carlos: There are three conjugations, first second and third conjugations. |
| Dylan: “Ar”, “er” and “ir”. “Ar”, “er” and “ir” verbs. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: So which verb are we looking at today? |
| Dylan: The verb “estar”. |
| Carlos: “Estar”, right. The first verb we learn in Spanish. |
| Dylan: That doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be revisited. |
| Carlos: Okay, so where was “estar” used in the conversation today? |
| Dylan: “Ella trabaja en la cafetería que está en la esquina”. |
| Carlos: “She works at the coffee shop on the corner.” |
| Dylan: First off, what is one important thing that we need to know about the verb “estar”? |
| Carlos: The verb “estar” is one of the two Spanish verbs that mean “to be.” |
| Dylan: And the other one is... |
| Carlos: The other is “ser”. |
| Dylan: What’s the difference between the two? |
| Carlos: Well, the difference lies in what they express. |
| Dylan: We use the verb “estar” to express: one, temporary condition such as the way one feels, two, characteristics such as colors and three, personality traits such as punctuality. |
| Carlos: Is that all? |
| Dylan: Of course these categories do not encompass all of the uses of the verb, but they will be helpful as we learn how and which context we use it. |
| Carlos: So how do we form “estar”? |
| Dylan: To form the present tense of the indicative mood for the verb “estar” in the singular, you need to remove the “ar” ending from the infinitive form. |
| Carlos: “Est-” minus “ar” and then add the personal endings for the present tense. Let’s go through that first. Okay, so the singular present tense indicative mood of “estar”, “to be.” The first, so the person is, first person singular... |
| Dylan: “Estoy”. |
| Carlos: Second person singular... |
| Dylan: “Estás”. |
| Carlos: And third person singular? |
| Dylan: “Está”. |
| Carlos: You know something else that is known but I think should be mentioned is that all the conjugated verbs are related to personal pronouns. |
| Dylan: And what are these? |
| Carlos: Well, in English the singular personal pronouns are “I”, “you”, “he”, “she” and “it.” Let’s look at the personal pronouns for the present singular. Present singular personal pronouns. First person singular... |
| Dylan: “Yo”. |
| Carlos: “I.” Second person singular... |
| Dylan: “Tú”. |
| Carlos: “You”, informal. Third person singular... |
| Dylan: “Él/ella/usted”. |
| Carlos: “He/she/you”, formal. So then, let’s combine these guys, so we have first person singular “yo estoy”, “I am”, second person singular “tú estás”, “you are”, informal and third person singular “él/ella/usted está”, “he/she/you are” informal. Let’s check out some sample sentences using “estar” in singular. |
| Dylan: “Yo estoy contento”. |
| Carlos: “I am pleased.” |
| Dylan: “Tú estás bronceado”. |
| Carlos: “You are tan”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Él está bien”. |
| Carlos: “He is well.” |
| Dylan: “Ella está triste”. |
| Carlos: “She is sad.” |
| Dylan: “Usted está en Miami”. |
| Carlos: “You are in Miami.” Formal. |
| Dylan: Notice how all you have to do to create a new sentence with the samples provided here is to replace “contento”, “bronceado”, “bien”, “triste” or “en Miami” with a new adjective or compliment that describes some kind of temporary state of being. |
| Carlos: Well, that does make things easier. |
| Dylan: For example, “tú estás feliz”, “you are happy.” “Ella está enojada”, “she is upset.” |
| Carlos: Now because the verb “estar” is so integral to the Spanish language, you will find forms of it popping up all over the place. |
| Dylan: For example, observe how “bienestar” refers to “well-being” and “malestar” refers to “discomfort.” |
| Carlos: Now these are just two examples. Keep your eyes open for more. |
| Dylan: Also we’ve said “estar” is one of the two verbs in the Spanish language that means “to be.” |
| Carlos: The other being “ser”. |
| Dylan: It will be well worth your while to learn how to differentiate between these two verbs right from the start. |
Outro |
| Carlos: If you do, you will save yourself a lot of time down the road. Okay guys, that just about does it for today. |
| Dylan: ¡Hasta luego! |
| Carlos: Nos vemos, ¡chao! |
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