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Verbs in -ducir Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 18, 2008
We know that a suffix is often added to a word stem to create new words, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s take the example of the suffix –ducir in Spanish and some verbs formed with it: conducir, reducir, deducir, etc. Such verbs are derived from Latin ducere, which meant “to lead”. The examples…
Elections en español Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 15, 2008
US elections are around the corner and candidates are doing their best to get votes from the ever-growing Latin communities. John McCain www.johnmccain.com/espanol and Barack Obama www.barackobama.com/espanol have Spanish versions of their websites with lots of useful information. In case your Spanish is a little rusty, here’s a list of some handy political vocabulary. apoyar…
Para vs. Por Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 8, 2008
The prepositions por and para have very specific uses in Spanish. Here are some of them. PARA 1. Para is used to indicate destination or purpose. El barco salió para Francia. – The ship left for France. Este regalo es para María. – This gifit is for María. Estudia para abogado. – He studies (to…
Vegetables Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 5, 2008
OK, so your mom always told you: “Eat your vegetables, theyre good for you!”; and guess what? She was right! Heres a list of some common verduras in Spanish. artichoke — la alcachofa asparagus — el espárrago, los espárragos avocado — el aguacate, la palta bean — la judía, la haba, la habichuela, el frijol…
Idioms with Bread Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 2, 2008
The word bread (pan) is the source of several idioms and expressions. Contigo, pan y cebolla – We shall live on love alone. Para casarse se necesitan muchas cosas, no sólo decir que contigo pan y cebolla. Llamar al pan pan y al vino, vino. – to call a spade a spade. Voy a hablarte…
Body idioms II Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 30, 2008
We’re back with the second part of body idioms. This post will be totally dedicated to la cabeza (the head). Check it out! 1. ser la cabeza pensante – to be the brains. (Es la cabeza pensante de la banda. – He’s the brains of the band.) 2. tener la cabeza dura – to be…
Chilean Spanish Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 26, 2008
I went to high school with two Chilean kids and one year I spent Christmas Eve with their families. I ended up learning some Chilean Spanish expressions. Here are some interesting ones: ¿Cachai? – Do you understand? Get it? Agarrar p’al hueveo/leseo/chuleteo – make fun of someone Al tiro – right away, immediately Año de…