Archive for December, 2008
La Bolsa – Stock Market vocabulary Posted by Adir on Dec 27, 2008
A lot has been said and written about the world’s economic crisis, mostly concerning the Stock Exchage. Here’s some useful vocabulary to talk about it. la Bolsa – the Stock Exchange parqué – floor (in Stock Exchange) sala de la Bolsa – Stock Exchange hall tablón con las cotizaciones bursátiles – (Stock Exchange) prices board…
Idioms with Numbers Posted by Adir on Dec 23, 2008
There are several idioms formed with numbers. Check them out! Cero ser un cero a la izquierda – to be useless Uno una y no más, Santo Tomás – once is enough Dos cada dos por tres – very frequently estar entre dos fuegos – to be caught in the crossfire estar entre dos aguas…
Getting into trouble? Te la vas a cargar. Posted by Adir on Dec 19, 2008
There are a number of verbal expressions in Spanish that involve a reflexive verb and the pronouns -la or -las. Check them out. 1. apañárselas, arreglárselas – to manage, to get by. No te preocupes, me las apañaré. (Don’t worry, I´ll manage.). Jorge vive solo y se las arregla bien en la cocina. (Jorge lives…
Christmas, Latin style! Posted by Adir on Dec 15, 2008
We’re used to seeing Christmas in movies and TV and it involves snow, cold, chimneys, and all of the North American and European style feature. However, things are different in Latin America: it is warmer, and for Latinos, we like to party! Usually we have supper at someone’s house and return for the famous Christmas…
¿Gorra o gorro? Posted by Adir on Dec 12, 2008
Because of its distinctive gender endings, Spanish does not have many words with the same form but different meanings (true homonyms). However, there are many pairs of words distinguished only by the –o and -a (and sometimes also -e) endings which are easily confused. These are known as gender paronyms. Here are some examples: el…
One word, many meanings Posted by Adir on Dec 9, 2008
Synonyms are terms or expressions which have the same or similar meanings and it also entails the study of the contexts in which they occur. I have chosen some very common Spanish words and their synonyms with examples, espero que les guste. Abogado – lawyer 1. letrado – lawyer. El letrado nos leyó la carta…
Idioms with “Hacer” Posted by Adir on Dec 5, 2008
In addition to its regular meanings (to do, to make), the verb “hacer” is used in very common idioms. Check them out. hacer una broma – to play a joke. Nunca más me hagas bromas así, que no me gustan. (Don’t you ever play jokes like this with me again, because I don’t like them.)…