Archive for 'Spanish Vocabulary'
More expressions! Posted by Adir on Oct 23, 2008
Spanish has thousands of fixed expressions. I have chosen some adverbial phrases with the preposition “a” so you can see how colorful those expressions can be. A ciegas – without thinking A deshoras – at an inappropriate time A diestro y siniestro – left and right A duras penas – with difficulty A fe mía…
Road signs in Spanish Posted by Adir on Oct 13, 2008
Hello, there! A reader wrote asking whether road signs are different in Spanish speaking countries. It turns out that you probably won’t have too much difficulty with the signs because they use internationally recognized pictures or symbols. If you want to have a look at the international road signs, check this link: http://www.sitographics.com/enciclog/trafico/entrada.html. Speed…
Idioms game Posted by Adir on Oct 6, 2008
In our idioms posts I always give you the definition, an example or two and the translation, right? Today we’re going to do something different: you guys are going to have to match the expressions to their meaning, in Spanish! After a few days I’ll give you the right answer! Shall we go for it?…
Feeling good? Posted by Adir on Sep 30, 2008
Hello everybody! Feeling good today? Well, I’m feeling wonderful posting a brand new tip so you can improve your Spanish. Talking about feelings, translating the verb to feel into Spanish can be a tricky business. Let’s check out how some common sentences with feel in English are translated into Spanish: 1. Feeling an emotion. Me…
Color…ish! Posted by Adir on Sep 22, 2008
Spanish has a particular way of saying the …ish suffix when referring to colors, like whiteish, greenish, blueish, greyish, etc. The adjectives are derived in several different ways. Check it out! Blanco (white) – blanquecino/blancuzco Rojo (red) – rojizo Azul (blue) – azuláceo/azulino Amarillo (yellow) – amarillento Negro (black) – negruzco Verde (green) – verdusco/verdoso…
By the way… Posted by Adir on Sep 19, 2008
The expressions “by the way” and “incidentally” are called afterthoughts or offhand remarks, and in Spanish there two ways of saying them: a propósito and por cierto. Examples: – Por cierto, ¿no estás estudiando para la prueba? (By the way, aren’t you studying for the test?) – Tienen que entregarme el resumen del libro para…
Greetings Posted by Adir on Sep 15, 2008
Hello, everybody! Let’s learn (or review) some of the most common greetings in Spanish: Hola – Hello, Hi Hola, aló, bueno, diga, dígame – Hello (on the telephone) Adiós – Goodbye/ Chao, Chau (informal, from italian “Ciao”) Hasta luego – See you later Hasta pronto – See you soon ¿Cómo estás? / ¿Cómo está? –…