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Word Origins: placebo, domingo y ostra Posted by Adir on Sep 18, 2009
Placebo (same spelling in English and Spanish) is a harmless substance given to a sick person instead of medicine, without telling them it is not real. They’re often used in tests in which some people take real medicine and others take a placebo, so that doctors can compare the results to see if the real…
Verbs and Prepositions Posted by Adir on Sep 14, 2009
Verbs and other words change meaning when used with some prepositions. Let’s have a look at some of them. 1. deber Deber – have to, must (obligation) – Debes estudiar mucho para la prueba. (You have to study a lot for the test.) Deber de – must, should (probability) – Hoy no ha venido; debe…
Las Telenovelas Posted by Adir on Sep 11, 2009
Las Telenovelas Telenovelas are a big hit in Latin America and Brazil. Hundreds of them are produced every year, and stars go from telenovelas to Hollywood, like Mexican Salma Hayek and Brazilian heartthrob Rodrigo Santoro, who’s starred in Lost and some mainstream movies. Watching soap operas in Spanish is a very good way to improve…
¡Somos refraneros, sí señor! Posted by Adir on Sep 8, 2009
We know that refranes are popular sayings and that in Spanish there are lots of them so, instead of giving you guys a list with their English equivalents, today I’m going to give you the refrán and you will have to match it to its explanation, en español. Shall we give it a try? 1…
Apócope Posted by Adir on Sep 4, 2009
Apócope is a kind of reduction that happens in some words in Spanish. When the words bueno (good), malo (bad), primero (first), alguno (some), ninguno (nobody, nothing) and tercero (third) come before a masculine singular noun, they lose their final –o. Este coche es muy bueno. – Este es un buen coche. Este coche es…
Partes del Coche Posted by Adir on Aug 31, 2009
I had this great teacher and friend, Mariza Ribeiro, and she taught me a very valuable lesson. Learn a bit about everything, vocabulary-wise. So today we’re going to learn a bit about parts of the car. Check them out! Acelerador – gas pedal Asiento – seat Cambio de marchas – gear shift Embrague – clutch…
Prepositions and Art Posted by Adir on Aug 27, 2009
Let’s practice our prepositions with a little bit of art. Using this Van gogh’s painting from 1889, fill in the blanks with the following prepositions: ENCIMA DE / SOBRE A LA IZQUIERDA (DE) DELANTE (DE) / ENFRENTE BAJO / DEBAJO DE A LA DERECHA (DE) DETRÁS DE DENTRO DE CERCA (DE) ARRIBA / ENCIMA…