Feliz cumpleaños = Happy Birthday

November 29, 2012

By Os

Hola amig@s. ¿Todo bien? Today this column is celebrating one year of being around. Muchas gracias for reading it, and saying good things about it. You can find this and the other 11 (once) articles on this website: www.OsCostaRica.com

Last month there were two little (but VERY important) mistakes in some of the patterns we learned. Specifically #2, the –ER Pattern and #3, the –IR Pattern. One of the endings shown there, instead of being an “A” it should have been an “E”. (Just for the record, the endings of a verb are called CONJUGATIONS). Let’s review the three patterns we learned last month very quickly.

#1. –AR Pattern. PRESENTE

Drop the –AR ending of an infinitive, like hablAR, and add the following endings:

Yo hablO

Usted hablA

Ella – Él hablA

Nosotros hablAMOS

Ustedes hablAN

Ell@s hablAN

#2. –ER Pattern. PRESENTE

Drop the –ER ending of an infinitive, like comER, and add the following endings:

Yo comO

Usted comE

Ella – Él comE

Nosotros comEMOS

Ustedes comEN

Ell@s comEN

#3. –IR Pattern. PRESENTE

Drop the –IR ending of an infinitive, like vivlR, and add the following endings:

Yo vivO

Usted vivE

Ella – Él vivE

Nosotros vivIMOS

Ustedes vivEN

Ell@s vivEN

Let’s make it smaller:

HablAR = TO talk-TO speak

I hablO we hablAMOS

you, s/he hablA you all, they hablAN

ComER = TO eat

I comO we comEMOS

you, s/he comE you all, they comEN

VivIR = TO live

I vivO we vivIMOS

you, s/he vivE you all, they vivEN

Play with these:

EstudiAR = TO study

I _____O we _____AMOS

you, s/he _____A you all, they _____AN

CorrER = TO run

I _____O we _____EMOS

you, s/he _____E you all, they _____EN

EscribIR = TO write

I _____O we _____IMOS

you, s/he _____E you all, they _____EN

Use real names and situations:

Yo estudi___ en mi casa.

Usted estudi___ en un hotel.

Pat escrib___ en la oficina.

Bill corr___ en el gym.

Pat, Bill y yo escrib_______ en Quepos.

Ustedes corr_____ en la playa.

Pat y Bill estudi_____ mucho.

Check the answers:

O – A – E – E – IMOS – EN – AN.

Well done guys. ¿Have you been learning one or two names of verbos everyday, just one or two, memorizing the meaning and playing with them? ¿¿¿NO??? It’s a shame, I told you to do that 60 days ago.

Imagine yourself knowing 60 verbos for now… or 120… or 55… or 30… or at least 12… ¿Wouldn’t it be easier to express yourself and communicate with people who do not speak English?

There is a book on the street named “501 Spanish Verbs”, it is yellow and muy gordito. ¿Have you seen it? Let me rewrite one paragraph for you:

“Beginning students should pay careful attention to the 55 verbs in this list. We have chosen them because they are useful for learning essential conjugations, tricky spelling changes, and common usage. If you study (look at this word, STUDY) the verbs on this list, you will be able to conjugate just about any verb you come across and you will be able to express yourself (I like that, TO EXPRESS YOURSELF) in correct idiomatic Spanish.”

If you want the full list let me know. I just care about 12 of them:

* hablar * comer * vivir * ser * estar * tener * hacer * ir * poder * llamarse * gustar * haber *

We already know how to play with the first three. ¡Right on!

Os is a certified and experienced teacher of español. Call him… you can start to learn NOW.

SPANISH PURAVIDA

(506) 88-222-936 www.OsCostaRica.com