09/19/14

I will review the present tense conjugations of the verbs saber, conocer, preguntar and pedir

I will understand the difference between the verbs and when to use them

I will be introduced to how to turn Spanish verbs into nouns

…do you remember what the verbs conocer and saber mean????

You will remember that the verb saber means to express knowledge or ignorance of a fact

You will also remember that the present tense conjugation of saber is”

Yo sé Tu sabes Él/ella/usted sabe Nosotros sabemos Vosotros sabéis Ellos/ellas/ustedes saben

To express knowledge or ignorance of a skill, use saber + infinitive

Yo sé conducir. I know how to drive.

Tú no sabes nadar. You don’t know how to swim. To “know something by heart” use saber.

You already know that conocer is used to describe an acquaintance or lack thereof with a person, place or thing

You also know that conocer is conjugated in the present tense as:

Yo conozco Tú conoces Él/ella/usted conoce Nosotros conocemos Vosotros conocéis Ellos/ellas/ustedes conocen

To express knowledge or ignorance of a subject or learning discipline, either saber or conocer can be used depending on the situation:

Juan no sabe nada de inglés. Juan conoce la literatura española.

…pedir and preguntar are verbs that have similar meanings but aren’t the same…

You already know that the verb pedir is a stem changing verb from e:I

You also already know that it means “to ask” and is conjugated in the present tense as:

Yo pido Tú pides Él/ella/usted pide Nosotros pedimos Vosotros pedís Ellos/ellas/ustedes piden

You already know that the verb preguntar means “to ask”

You also already know that it is conjugated in the present tense as:

Yo pregunto Tú preguntas Él/ella/usted pregunta Nosotros preguntamos Vosotros preguntáis Ellos/ellas/ustedes preguntan

So if both pedir and preguntar mean “to ask”, then what’s the difference?

Pedir = to ask for or request a service/object/favor

Preguntar = to ask a question or request information

Por ejemplo: Pregunto qué hora es. Pido más carne.

Alright…so next we’re going to look at…

A verb can be converted into a noun using the following steps:

Consider the infinitive form

Eliminate the –ar, -er, -ir

Add an appropriate ending (-ción, -cimiento, etc.) and article to make it masculine or feminine (la, el, etc.)