{"id":9606,"date":"2016-03-29T12:38:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T16:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=9606"},"modified":"2016-03-29T12:38:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T16:38:30","slug":"basic-spanish-what-is-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/basic-spanish-what-is-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Spanish: “What is this?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post will help\u00a0beginner students of Spanish<\/a>. One of the first things we should learn in a new language is how to ask what something is. However, there are different situations and reasons\u00a0we ask \u201cWhat is X?\u201d and they require different phrases. Let\u2019s look at the different situations\u00a0to learn which phrase to use in each case.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Objetos desconocidos (Unknown Objects)<\/h3>\n

If you don\u2019t know what something is (you see a friend carrying a\u00a0wrapped\u00a0box) you use \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 es?\u201d<\/strong> A variation of this question is \u201c\u00bfEsto qu\u00e9 es?”<\/strong> or \u00a0“\u00bfQu\u00e9 es esto?\u201d<\/strong> These questions help you ask to identify an object when you don\u2019t know what it is or does. Pay attention to the accent in interrogative “qu\u00e9”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Palabras desconocidas (Unknown Words)<\/h3>\n
\"\u00bfQu\u00e9<\/a>

\u00bfQu\u00e9 es una alhaja?<\/p><\/div>\n

If you hear a\u00a0word,\u00a0but don\u2019t know what it means or what it does, you can ask \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 es …….?<\/strong>\u201d For instance, if you hear the word \u201calhaja\u201d (jewel, gem) and aren’t\u00a0sure what it refers to, you should\u00a0say \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 es una alhaja?<\/strong>\u201d. Another way of asking this is \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 significa ‘alhaja’<\/strong>?\u201d. This means \u201cWhat does \u2026 mean?\u201d and is used to ask for a definition.<\/p>\n

A formal and fairly rare way of asking this is \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 ser\u00eda (un\/a) …?\u201d<\/strong> This souds polite and would almost never be said in a conversation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nombre de objectos espec\u00edficos (Specific Objects)<\/h3>\n

If you do know what something is and how it works, but you don\u2019t know what it\u2019s called, you should\u00a0use \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se dice ….?\u201d <\/strong>or “\u00bfC\u00f3mo se llama …?”.\u00a0<\/strong>You can use this phrase\u00a0with a description, for example \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se llama el edificio donde esperas el tren?\u201d (\u201cWhat do you call the building where you wait for the train?\u201d) or simply \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se llama esto?\u201d<\/p>\n

For plural nouns you should\u00a0say \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se llaman \u2026?\u201d For example, \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se dice ‘tall boots’?” (“What do you call tall boots?”).<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Nombre en espa\u00f1ol (Name in Spanish)<\/h3>\n

Sometimes you know the name in your language\u00a0but not in Spanish.\u00a0A good phrase to know then is \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se dice ……. en espa\u00f1ol?\u201d<\/strong> For example, you need the equivalent of \u201cgem\u201d in Spanish. You can then say \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo se dice ‘gem’ in Spanish?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Try practicing these questions with\u00a0objects around you and you’ll soon get used to asking for words in Spanish… in Spanish!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

This post will help\u00a0beginner students of Spanish. One of the first things we should learn in a new language is how to ask what something is. However, there are different situations and reasons\u00a0we ask \u201cWhat is X?\u201d and they require different phrases. Let\u2019s look at the different situations\u00a0to learn which phrase to use in each…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":9610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[61202,13],"tags":[358370,358369],"class_list":["post-9606","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-2","category-vocabulary","tag-basic","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t