Spanish Revision Guide - Languages...

Spanish Revision GuideContents

Planning the essay……………. Pages 2-4

Checking check-list…………….Pages 5-6

Vocabulary for debate…………….7-8The imperfect subjunctive with the conditional tense…………….9-10The different tenses…………….11-12Expressions of frequency…………….13Cognates…………….13Expressing positive and negative opinions…………….14-15Listening Strategies…………….16-17Conversational Strategies…………….18-19Making negative statements…………….19-20Giving reasons and explaining benefits…………….20-21Some idiomatic expressions with impersonal verbs…………….21-22Making judgements and recommendations…………….23Giving pros and cons…………….23Choosing the right tenses…………….24-25Preparation for listening tasks…………….25-26Avoiding repetitions…………….26

How to say how long you have been doing something…………….27

Using conjunctions to talk about causes and effects…………….27-28Varying sentence length for impact…………….28

Using idioms…………….29Tactics for understanding new vocabulary…………….30-34Reading for gist…………….34-35Reading for detail…………….35Numbers…………….36-39

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Spanish Essay Writing

Planning your writing workPlanning a piece of writing problem solving. Easy with following stages:

1) Establish what the problem is, i.e. What question is the task title asking you? What are the issues you need to think about and express an

opinion on?

2) Decide what you want to suggest as the solution to the problem, i.e. What will your main conclusion be? Bear in mind that you may

change or adapt it as your planning takes shape.

3) Make notes of the information you have at your disposal: any relevant information you have learned or can research your own ideas: use a spider diagram to jot these down and

explore them. (be careful, stick to what is in this booklet)

4) Think about what language tools and skills you have available to build your argument:

What relevant vocabulary can you plan to use? What grammar are you likely to need (which tenses, for

example)? What useful expressions can you include to make and

reinforce your argument? (Fabby phrases)

5) Decide and note down how you will construct a clear explanation of your solution:

Draw up an overall plan, sorting your ideas and relevant information under headings. You could do this as a spider diagram.

Place your ideas into a logical order suitable (coherent, fluent, mature writing) for the argument (engage in a level of debate) that you want to make; you could do this in the form of a list or a flow chart.

6) Rough out the content. Using your overall plan as a basis, write a rough version of your piece, and read through it to make sure your ideas make sense, are relevant and lead logically towards the conclusion.

7) Check: Does your draft answer the question?

Afterwards

Check grammatical and spelling accuracy. Conjugation

Practice Planning

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¿Por qué tenemos que llevar ropa? Escribe 200 palabras.1) Establish what the problem is, i.e.

What question is the task title asking you? What are the issues you need to think about and express an opinion on?

It’s asking why we wear clothes, so the answer needs to give reasons and maybe some disadvantages or reasons for deciding what we wear.

2) Decide on your suggested solution to the problem:

What will your main conclusion be? Bear in mind that you may change or adapt it as your planning takes shape.

Decide on the major reasons why it is essential to wear clothes – or not!

3) Make notes of the information you have at your disposal: any relevant information you have learned or can research your own ideas: use a spider diagram to jot these down and explore them.

Clothes: keep us warm / keep us ‘decent’ / show something about us / help us to express ourselves / show our status or role, etc. … but are restrictive / expensive / have to be kept clean and smart etc.

4) Think about what language tools and skills you have available to build your argument: What relevant vocabulary can you plan to use? What grammar are you likely to need (which tenses, for example)? What useful expressions can you include to make and reinforce your argument?

Vocabulary to do with clothing and its benefits / disadvantages; grammar: mostly present tense unless some historical references; expressions for listing reasons, persuading etc.

5) Decide and note down how you will construct a clear explanation of your solution: Draw up an overall plan, sorting your ideas and relevant information under

headings. You could do this as a spider diagram. Place your ideas into a logical order suitable for the argument you want to make;

you could do this in the form of a list or a flow chart.

Go through advantages of wearing clothes, then disadvantages; decide on best conclusion. Order: introduction, 2–3 paragraphs of benefits, 1 of disadvantages, conclusion.

6) Rough out the content: Using your overall plan as a basis, write a rough version of your piece, and read

through it to make sure your ideas make sense and lead logically towards the conclusion.

7) Check: Does your draft answer the question?

Now try using this technique to plan and write your answer to the following:

¿Qué presiones existen hoy en día sobre los jóvenes con respecto a su apariencia personal y la necesidad de “ser aceptados” por otros?

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Checking check-list AS essays:

Focus is on analysing and giving opinionsLots of detailAvoiding basic errors

How to check your work:

1) Agreements Yes, those things that you learned right at the start of learning Spanish. So if you get them wrong now, it really won’t look good.- If a noun is masculine, all of the adjectives that refer to it must be

masculine – not just in that sentence, but whenever the noun is being described.

- If a noun is feminine, all of the adjectives that refer to it must be feminine – not just in that sentence, but each time the noun is described.

- If a noun is masculine or feminine plural, all of the adjectives that refer to it must also be masculine or feminine plural – not just in that sentence but in all those beyond!

2) Staying consistent throughout a sentence This is particularly important when using verbs like “me gusta”– which you will often do at the start of your course to give your basic opinions, usually followed by “porque” (because).- Me gusta literally means “it pleases me” - describing ONLY 1

item+ porque ES - because it is- Me gustan literally means “they please me”- describing MORE than 1

item+ porque SON - because they are Of course you’ll also need to make sure that all your nouns and adjectives throughout the whole sentence agree with each other and the verb as well.

3) Word order Spanish word order is different to English. In English, the description is given before the noun, but the Spanish very sensibly tell you what they are describing and then they describe it.

article + noun + adjective(el / la / los / lasun / una / unos / unas)

4) Staying consistent with verbs If you’re describing something in the past, keep using verbs to describe the past actions. If it was ongoing or habitual, keep using the imperfect; don’t suddenly start using the present or the future to describe the same thing.Yes, use a variety of verb tenses in a description, but make sure that they describe different things.

e.g.

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WRONGCuando era joven me gustaba ver la tele con mi hermano porque es cariñoso. IMPERFECT IMPERFECT PRESENT

When I was young I used to like watching TV with my brother because he is caring.- The fact that he is caring NOW had no impact on why you USED to

like watching TV with him. Instead we should say “he was caring” - “era cariñoso”.

5) Detail This speaks for itself. Short answers do not give the person marking it an opportunity to see and reward your skill or knowledge.For example, if you've described a problem that exists now, have you also described its origins and what to do to improve it?

6) Does it read well and without ambiguity? If the person reading it can’t work out EXACTLY what you wanted to say, then you won’t get the marks you hoped for.

- Read it out loud (even under your breath). If it’s hard to say, it’s probably not right.

- Does each sentence have all of the verbs it needs?

Make sure you read what you’ve actually written, not just what you wanted to write.

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Here is some useful vocabulary for your debate:1. To start and finish

2. Primero quisiera discutir / subrayar / considerar / mencionar

3. Primero / en primer lugar / para empezar / comenzar

4. Segundo / tercero / en segundo lugar / en tercer lugar

5.

6. Finalmente / para terminar / concluir / resumir

7. En resumen / a fin de cuentas / al fin y al cabo

8.

9. Opinions

10. Use as many opinions as you can (such as the ones you used above)

11.

12. Estoy a favor / en contra de…

13.

14. Opinions with subjunctive

15. No creo que

16. (No) Me gusta que

17. Es bueno / malo que

18. Espero que

19. Ojalá

20. Me preocupa mucho que

21.

22. Justifications

23. Dado que / porque / ya que / puesto que / por eso / así que / por este motivo / por lo tanto

24. A causa de / debido a

25. Como resultado de / a consecuencia de

26.

27. Ask questions

28. ¿Es posible cerrar los ojos ante...?

29. ¿Se puede imaginar un mundo donde….?

30. ¿Cómo será el mundo si (no)…?

31. ¿Cuáles serían las consecuencias de (no)….?

32.

33. Develop your argument

34. Además

35. Por consecuencia

36. Es decir

37. Por supuesto

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+ subjuntivo

38. Aparte de eso

39. Al contrario

40. Hay que tener en cuenta que

41. No cabe duda que

42. Desgraciadamente / afortunadamente / desafortunadamente

43. Sea como sea

44. Como ya sabe

45. Por un lado / por otro lado

46. En cuanto a / con respecto a / con referencia a

47.

48. Partial agreement

49. Entiendo lo que dices / has dicho / dijiste pero hay que saber / considerar / tener en cuenta…

50. Estoy de acuerdo con…pero vale considerar… pero hay otros que dicen…

51.

52. Disagreement

53. No estoy de acuerdo (con nada)

54. No estoy convencido / a

55.

56. Expressions of surprise / disagreement

57. ¡Qué barbaridad! ¡No me digas! ¡Ay caramba! ¡No puede ser! ¡Qué va! ¡Ni hablar! ¡Qué idiotez!

58.

59. Buy yourself time

60. Pues... / bueno… / mira… / es que…

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Read the grammar box below to revise the continuous tense.

61. The continuous tense

62. The gerund or the continuous tense in English produces the verb ending “ing”. In Spanish it ends in “ando” for ar verbs and “iendo” for er or ir verbs.

63.

64. Estudiar = to study Estudiando = studying

65. Hacer = to do Haciendo = doing

66. Escribir = to write Escribiendo = writing

67.

68. Some of the radical stem changing verbs are irregular, e.g.

69. Pedir = pidiendo, sentir = sintiendo, dormir = durmiendo, construir = construyendo

Read the grammar box below to revise the use of the imperfect subjunctive with the conditional tense.

70. The imperfect subjunctive with the conditional tense

71.

72. If you make sentences with hypotheses, you can improve your chance of scoring higher marks by using a complex structure.

73.

74. If I were… I would…

75.

76. If I were dancing I would like to listen to Dizzee Rascal.

77. Si estuviera bailando me gustaría escuchar a Dizzee Rascal.

78. Si estuviera… = If I were…

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Remember that the verbs must be placed in the following order:

Imperfect subjunctive + Conditional

Note how the continuous tense is included in this structure to express opinions about what music you like listening to and where.

The imperfect subjunctiveSi estuviera / Si estuviese

The continuous tensecorriendo

caminandohaciendo debereshaciendo deporte

estudiandococinando

The conditionalescucharía

orme gustaría

me encantaríame chiflaría

no me gustaríano soportaríano aguantaría

+a type of music or a song and justify your answer

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TermsInfinitive The basic part of the verb

In English this means “to…” e.g. “to jump”, “to walk” ALL Spanish verbs will have one of the following endings in the infinitive form

ar (the most common) eg visitar

er eg comer

ir eg vivir

In order to form any verb tense you will need to know what the infinitive is so that you can then work out the correct endings.

The indicative All of the tenses referred to here are otherwise known as “indicative” tenses – they explain or indicate what happens at different times.

The past An unhelpful term in grammar – the past is not a tense- it’s a time reference.

The standard “past” tenses:

the preterite describes finished, completed actions (…ed)

the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past (was / used to)

the perfect a recently completed action (have …ed)

the pluperfect a completed action further back in time (had …ed)

The future An unhelpful term in grammar – the future is not a tense – it’s a time reference.

The standard “future” tenses:

the simple future describes what you are going to do in the near future

the future describes what you will do at a more distant time

the conditional describes what you would do if something else happened first

An adverb A descriptive word used to add detail to a verb. Often formed using “–mente” in Spanish and “-ly” in English.

A noun The name of something - be it a person, an animal, object, quality or idea.

An adjective A descriptive word used to add detail to a noun.

The subjunctive Not included in the tenses section because it’s not a tense – it’s a mood. This means that it doesn’t describe precise, definite events but theoretical or emotional events that might take place.

The subject The person or object that is carrying out the action of the verb - you need to know this to choose the correct ending of the verb to make it say what you want it to

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mean!

The object The item (person or other noun) which is having an action done to it.

1. Analyse the sentences below and label the requested grammatical elements.

1. noun, adjective, preterite tense

El equipo español ganó otra vez anoche.

2. simple future, infinitive

Van a tomar pasos para reducir el efecto de la polución en las zonas urbanas.

3. imperfect tense, preterite tense, noun, adjective

Leía un libro fascinante cuando mi amiga Inma me llamó.

4. present tense, subjunctive, infinitive, noun, adjective, adverb

No creo que sea posible cambiar su mentalidad negativa sin destruir los obstáculos

personalmente.

5. subject, preterite tense, adverb, noun

La mujer se acercó lentamente al puente, preocupada por los riesgos evidentes de sus acciones.

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EXPRESSIONS OF FREQUENCY

Match the Spanish expressions with their English equivalents.

1 una vez al día a a lot2 dos veces a la semana b after the evening meal3 todos los días c always4 los domingos d an average of5 durante la semana e before I go to bed6 por las tardes f during the holidays7 después de cenar g during the week8 antes de acostarme h every day9 durante las vacaciones i from time to time10 mientras j hardly ever11 hasta las dos de la madrugada k in the evenings12 de vez en cuando l never13 siempre m not much14 nunca n on Sundays15 apenas o once a day16 muy a menudo p rarely17 rara vez q twice a week18 mucho/a(s) r until 2 a.m.19 poco/a(s) s not very often/occasionally20 una media de t while

Cognates: Spanish nouns ending in -ción or -sión often have English equivalents: estación – station.

Spanish nouns ending in -dad often end in ‘-ity’ in English: comunidad – community.Spanish nouns ending in -aje, -ancia or -encia often have English equivalents ending in ‘-age’,

‘-ance’ or ‘-ence’: pasaje – passage, persistencia – persistence.Spanish nouns ending in -ería or -aría often have ‘-ery’ / ‘-ary’ equivalents in English: galería –

gallery.Spanish nouns and adjectives ending in -or often have English equivalents ending in ‘-or’ or ‘-er’:

gobernador – governor. Spanish nouns and adjectives ending in -al often have English equivalents: general – generaladverbs ending in –mente HAVE ENG EQUIVALENTS ending in ‘-ly’.

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Expressing positive and negative opinions

me encanta

me gustaun poco

me gustabastante

me gustamucho

no megusta

no megusta nada

no aguanto

no soporto

odio/detesto

Verbs like gustar, encantar, parecer are ‘back to front’ expressions: if you say me gusta mucho estapelícula, you are actually saying ‘this film is pleasing to me’: the film is the subject, and you are the object.

The following example shows how the verb needs to change to plural when you like something plural.

Me encanta la obra de Almodóvar. = singular verb for singular subject

Me gustan sobre todo los guiones de sus películas. = plural verb for plural subject

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You need to remember to use the correct indirect object pronoun for the person or people who like something, as in the examples given below.

¿Te gusta el cine español?No, pero me molan las películas inglesas.A mi hermano le encantaba la ciencia ficción.

A usted no le gustan las comedias, ¿verdad?Nos encantó la última película que vimos.¿Qué os parece la ciencia ficción?A mis hermanas les encantaron las escenas en las que aparecía el héroe.¿A ustedes les gustaban las películas épicas como El Cid?

Remember that preferir is a radical-changing verb.

Mi amiga prefiere ver las películas de terror en el cine, pero yo prefiero ver un DVD romántico en casa, ¡porque odio los cines!

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Listening strategies* The one most important strategy is to look closely at the questions and make sure you know what crucial/key details are asked for, e.g.

numbers?times? dates?people’s attitudes to something?facts about what someone did?

If the stimulus is heard more than once, listen for gist the first time, then for the detail asked for in the questions.

* The following might help you cope with listening items that seem quick or difficult.Words sometimes seem to run into each other when you are listening. Use what you know about common prefixes and suffixes to help you distinguish words from each other in a sentence. For example:

Adjectives usually end in -o, -a, -os or –as

Abstract nouns often end in -ción, -tud, -dad

(abstract noun) A noun that denotes an idea, emotion, feeling, quality or other abstract or intangible concept, as opposed to a concrete item, or a physical object

Use your knowledge of verb endings to home in on meaning about who did /does what:

Don’t forget that object pronouns can be attached to the ends of verbs:

There are bound to be some cognates, watch out for different pronunciation in Spanish – try to visualise the spelling of words, because cognates are sometimes easier to recognise when you see them than when you hear them.When listening out for personal opinions, try to recognise people’s positive or negative feelings from any signs available:

- Look out for exclamatory expressions.

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el más conocido de nuestra juventud

una canción

hemos decidido

Nuestro hijo acaba de regalarnos un nuevo equipo.

- Look out for expressions which reveal the tone or mood of what is said/written.- Look out for key phrases expressing likes/dislikes.

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• Me permiten hacerles un par de preguntas … durará sólo un ratito.

the speaker is anxious not to annoy the other person

• No, lo siento, tengo mucha prisa …

• ¿Por qué no? No tenemos prisa.

the speaker is not in a hurry

the speaker is stressed

• Sí, el Concierto de Aranjuez, ¡todos lo conocen!

the speaker is enthusiastic, positive

• No, nunca contesto a las preguntas de encuesta. Adiós,

the speaker is brusque, not very friendly

Conversational Strategies

To keep a conversation going, youneed to build a range of expressions for:•what you want to say•what you want to know from the other person•how to react to what they say

Here are some phrases you could use in a conversation about music, to express your feelings, opinions and experiences and to ask the other person about theirs.Emphatic reactions•¡Vaya pregunta! •¡Fíjate qué (e.g.) locura!•¡Caramba!•¡Madre mía!•¡Hombre!

Questions•¿Dónde ... •¿Cuándo ... •... te gusta oír música? … sueles escuchar música?•¿Por qué ...?

Expressions to show you agree•Estoy de acuerdo (contigo)•Tienes razón (, pero ...)•Eso me parece razonable (, pero ...)•¡Claro!•¡Eso es!•¡Exactamente!•¡Precisamente!•¡Verdad que sí!

Expressions to show you don’t agree•¡No estoy de acuerdo (contigo)!•Pero eso no es razonable ...•Pero, ¿no te parece que ...?•No seas exagerado/a•¡Qué tonterías dices!•¡Claro que no!

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•¡Si no es eso!•¡Hombre, que no!•¡Ni pensar!

Expressions to describe emotions and positive opinions•me chifla eso•me encanta ...•estoy a gusto•me gusta bastante•me ayuda a ...•me recuerda mucho a ...•para mí ... es esencial•no puedo vivir sin ... •lo que pongo mucho es … •la melodía / la letra / la cantante es muy bonita •tiene(n) algo de ...

... original / interesante / triste etc.

Expressions to describe emotions and negative opinions

• me irrita

• me pongo muy nervioso

• sólo es una manera de

• ... cubrir los ruidos de fondo

• ... escaparme de mis problemas

• odio ... / no aguanto ... / no soporto ...no lo puedo entender

And if you’re not sure*no me importa mucho •me da igual

Making negative statements

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Negativesno not

nunca never

nada nothing

nadie nobody

ni … ni … neither ... nor

tampoco neither

ni siquiera not even

ya no no longer

ningún, ninguna, ningunos, ningunas are adjectives meaning ‘no…’ (i.e. not any)

Here are some examples from this section, to remind you how to use these.

No podríamos vivir sin deporte.

¿Tampoco haces ejercicio físico?

Nunca es demasiado tarde para cambiar de rutina.

The word no in Spanish always goes in front of the verb:

María no sabe cocinar.

Other negative words can also go in front of the verb, for example Nadie le habla.

But it is very common to use more than one negative word:

No quiero nada.

No he visto a nadie.

So in Spanish you need to be able to handle double negatives.

Yo no hago ninguna forma de ejercicio.

Hipócrates no sabía nada del sedentarismo.

Giving reasons and explaining benefitsGiving reasonsTo explain why we do or don’t do something or why something is the case there are a number of ways we can start a causal clause:

porque no tengo tiempoa causa de la falta de instalacionesdebido a una enfermedad crónica

ya que la piscina está cerradapor pereza

Alternatively we can state the reason first and add a linking word to the main clause:Me he roto la pierna, por eso no voy al gimnasio.Llego tarde de mi trabajo, así que no puedo hacer la clase de yoga.

Stating benefits You can talk about improving or reducing something, using these verbs followed by a noun.

… mejora la circulación.

… reduce el estrés.

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You can talk about what something allows or helps you to do, using these verbs followed by an infinitive.

… permite relacionarme con los demás y hacer amigos.

Puedo practicar con seriedad el deporte que me interesa.

… ayuda a relajarme.

Persuading others, using ‘if’ clausesRemember the simplest form of conditional sentence uses the present tense in the ‘if’ clause and the present or future tense in the main clause.

Si vas a la clase de salsa, lo pasarás fenomenal.

In a hypothetical conditional sentence you need the imperfect subjunctive in the ‘if’ clause and the conditional tense in the main clause.

Si fueras a la clase de salsa, lo pasarías fenomenal.

See pages 117-118 of the Student’s Book.

Some idiomatic expressions with impersonal verbsThere are some verbs in Spanish that are used ‘impersonally’ and have no obvious equivalent in English. You have already met gustar, encantar, interesar, apetecer. Remember that with these verbs you need to use an indirect object pronoun to link them to a person, e.g.

¿Te gusta el chocolate?

Me encantan las gambas.

A Paco no le interesa aprender a bailar.

Nos apetece tomar una copa.

Using verbs impersonally (with or without an indirect object pronoun) makes your Spanish more idiomatic and more stylish. Here are some common ones that you might try to include in your writing or speaking.

bastar to be sufficient

basta (con) decir que … it’s sufficient to say that …

basta saber que … it’s enough to know that ...

¡basta ya (de tonterías)! that’s enough (nonsense)!

caber to be contained, to fit

cabe mencionar que … it’s appropriate to mention …

cabe destacar que … it should be pointed out that …

cabe recordar que … it’s worth remembering that …

faltar to be lacking

faltan instalaciones adecuadas there aren’t enough proper facilities

faltan recursos there aren’t the resources

falta la determinación política the political will is lacking

importar to be important, to matter

no importa el estado físico a person’s physical condition doesn’t matter

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de una persona

lo que importa es … what’s important is …

¿le importa si fumo? Do you mind if I smoke?

quedar to be remaining

queda mucho por hacer there remains a lot to be done

quedó paralítico después del accidente the accident left him paralysed

el proyecto se quedó sin realizar the project was never carried out

sobrar to be left over, to be in excess

ha sobrado mucha comida there was a lot of food left over

nos sobra tiempo we have plenty of time

este ejemplo sobra this example is unnecessary

valer to be worth

no vale la pena it’s not worth it

más vale no hacerlo it’s better not to do it

Juan no vale para el deporte Juan is no good at sport

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Making judgements and recommendationsIn Listening activity 4 you heard a number of constructions used to make recommendations and judgements. Many of these are impersonal expressions followed by an infinitive, e.g.

Es aconsejable reducir la cantidad de grasa.

Es conveniente no tomar más ...

Más vale limitar …

Deberíamos tratar …

Some can be followed by a noun, e.g.

Es imprescindible una dieta sana.

Son preferibles los productos ...

Don’t forget the verb recomendar (it has a radical change o to ie).

You can also give direct instructions (do’s and don’ts) using the imperative, e.g.

Tú imperative Vd. imperative

Come más fruta . Coma más fruta.

No bebas alcohol. No beba alcoho

Lo ideal sería

es preciso

son preferibles

es mejor

hay que

es vital

más vale

lo peor es

es aconsejable

es imprescindible

Giving pros and consYou have met a number of expressions which you can use to introduce points in favour and points against something:

Lo bueno / malo es (que) … Por un lado … por otro lado … La ventaja / El inconveniente

es (que) …

Lo positivo / negativo es (que) … Por una parte … por otra parte … En cambio …

AQA Spanish AS Level © Nelson Thornes Ltd 2008 22

La vida sanaHoja de trabajo

Choosing the right tenses

el año pasado cuando era joven normalmente

realicé mi sueñopasé varios días en Limafue una experiencia inolvidablefui a Guatemalami trabajo consistió en …

preferíamos alquilar una casitaestábamos más a gustolos hijos jugaban en el jardínpodíamos tomar una copano sabía nada de la pobreza

quiero dormir ...necesito desconectarmeme chifla ir de campingestamos al aire librees difícil estar en un hotelhago mucho senderismono entiendo esas personas

These are completed actions in the past.

These are habitual actions in the past.

These are things that you normally do.

Preterite tense to say what happened, what you did

Imperfect tenseto say what things were like, what you used to do

Present tenseto say what you do now

Word families and compound wordsYou can learn and understand vocabulary much more quickly and easily if you start to recognise that words come in ‘families’.

Many nouns have adjectives and verbs that are related to them, and many adjectives are in fact the past participle of a related verb.

noun verb adjective

la animación animar animado

Many verbs have several others that are related to them and which conjugate in exactly the same way: it’s just the prefix of the verb which gives it its individual meaning.

ponercomponer

disponer

exponer

imponer

proponer

suponer

The key is to recognise parts of words: the root, which is the main clue to its meaning, the prefix if there is one, and the suffix if there is one.

Prefixes are standard beginnings of words.

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Typical ones in English are con, pre, mis, ex.

Typical ones in Spanish are con or com, des, dis, ex, im, in, pro.

Suffixes are standard endings of nouns and adjectives.

Typical ones in English are -tion and -sion, -ery and -ary, al and -ity.

Typical ones in Spanish are -dad, -ción or -sión, -ista, -ico, and -al.

1 Complete the table with words from the same family, following the example. Check in a dictionary if necessary.

noun verb adjective

limpieza limpiar limpio

variado

invasora

adecuado

construir

beneficiar

fomentar

tolerancia

solidaridad

educativo

prueba

imaginativo

estable

llamativo

relajante

Preparation for listening tasksBefore you listen to a recording, read the questions carefully.

The instructions will often tell you how many speakers you will hear, as in activity 2a where there are four speakers and eight questions, two questions per speaker.Look for key words in the question and then listen out for these words, or words with similar meanings, in the recording, to help you focus on the right phrases.Look for the question words ¿por qué? ¿qué? ¿cuáles? ¿cómo? Notice that they do not always come at the beginning of the question.

The activity below consists of filling in the gaps in the transcript of four interviews (as heard in activity 2a).

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When you do an exercise like this, you need to decide what sort of word you are looking for – noun, verb, adjective etc.In the hotelero’s speech, the missing words are all nouns. Could you have deduced this from looking at the transcript?In the camarero’s and vendedora’s speeches, all the missing words are verbs. Are there any clues in the text that could have helped you to know this? Look at the tenses and think about whether the sentence refers to past, present or future. Remember that when two verbs come together the second one is an infinitive. In the taxista’s speech the missing words are a mixture of odd words such as prepositions, linking words etc. It is much harder to find clues for these. You really need to know what they mean and understand the sense of the sentence. Use trial and error and eliminate those you think can’t fit.

Aim: Avoiding repetitionNotice how the text uses several different ways to

describe new kinds of families:Las nuevas relaciones familiares ..., nuevas formas

familiares ..., nuestra nueva dimensión familiar ..., este nuevo modelo ...

In your own speaking and writing you can add variety by using synonyms.

The text uses novedosos to avoid repeating nuevos and enormemente instead of muy.

In the interview, Cecilia uses both a negative and an affirmative statement to describe her relationship with her half-brothers and sisters, so that she repeats the idea but uses two different adjectives: No son cercanos and Son distantes para mí.•Well-written Spanish avoids repetition of the verbs ser and estar. Notice that the introductory paragraph of the text uses a variety of other verbs and phrases but doesn’t use ser or estar.•Look at the verbs used in the texts and try to use them in your own writing. For example: coexistir, crear, adquirir, superponer, permitir

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How to say how long you have been doing somethingIf you have been doing something for a long time and are still doing it, you need to use the present tense in one of the following constructions:

Action in present tense + desde hace + timeDesde hace unos meses quiero decirte eso. I have wanted to tell you that for several months. Hace + time + que + action in present tense

Hace meses que no quiere estudiar. For months she hasn’t wanted to study. Llevar in present tense + time + action in gerundLlevo todo ese tiempo en casa cuidándolos. I have been at home looking after them for all that time.

If you had been doing something, and were still doing it, you use the same construction, but put the verbs in the imperfect tense:

Desde hacía unos meses quería decirte eso. I had wanted to tell you that for several months.Hacía meses que no quería estudiar. She hadn’t wanted to study for months.Llevaba todo ese tiempo en casa cuidándolos. I had been at home looking after them for all that time.

Hace + a period of time means ‘ago’:Hace cinco años mi mujer y yo tuvimos gemelos. Five years ago my wife and I had twins.

Using conjunctions to talk about causes and effectsIn order to talk about cause and effect in situations such as family relationships you need to use linking words between the clauses of a sentence or between ideas or events.

To refer to something, use en cuanto a or (con) respecto a.En cuanto a la discordia entre hermanos …

As far as disagreement between brothers and sisters is concerned …

To give more information, use (y) además or incluso.Tengo confianza en mis padres. Incluso cuando tengo problemas se lo digo.

I trust my parents. What’s more, when I have problems I tell them.

To talk about consequences or give explanations, use por eso, así que or entonces.No quiero que sean machistas. Por eso es bueno que sepan ocuparse de la casa.

I don’t want them to be chauvinists. So it’s a good thing that they know how to look after the house.

To counteract information or a point of view, use en cualquier caso, ahora bien orsin embargo.

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Son chicos divertidos. Sin embargo se apoderan de toda la casa.

They’re fun kids. On the other hand, they’re taking over the house.

To summarise and give conclusions, use al fin y al cabo or total, que.Al fin y al cabo no es mi casa, sino la nuestra.In the end it’s not my house but ours.

Varying sentence length for impactGive an idea of what the text is about in your opening

sentence: Es cierto que se puede conocer a un amigo en las

circunstancias más imprevistas.Use short, factual sentences to give key information:Hace dos años atropellé a un señor con mi coche.

Add detail and vary the pace by following a short sentence with a longer one:

Afortunadamente, el señor se escapó sin consecuencias físicas y asumí mi culpa del hecho y lo llamé en los días después para ver cómo iba.

Notice how much more interesting the information is when the expression por pura casualidad is added to the sentence:

Luego nos encontramos en la calle una semana después.

Luego, por pura casualidad, nos encontramos en la calle una semana después.

Try to give your sentences a sense of rhythm by choosing certain words to link ideas. Notice how using ya in the following sentence makes the words flow better than if porque had been used.

Eso tiene que ser una señal de destino, ya que Buenos Aires es una ciudad muy grande.

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Using Idioms

Using idioms Conversational Spanish includes many idioms and expressions. Notice the contexts in which they are used and include them in your own speaking and writing to be more expressive and to sound natural.

Nos caen fatal. We don’t get on with them at all.

Se llevan como el perro y el gato. They fight like cat and dog.

Me dejó de piedra. It made me go cold.

Nos morimos de risa. We laughed a lot.

Perdonaría todo menos la traición. I would forgive everything except betrayal.

La amistad no tiene fecha de caducidad. Friendship doesn’t have an expiry date.

Expressions that you use to introduce an opinion or idea can be useful in conversation:

Para colmo ... The worst thing / the final straw …Ojalá que (+ subjunctive) … Let’s hope that …

Here are some more tips for making your Spanish sound authentic:

Learn words and expressions that are used in specific situations.

cortar con – to finish, to break up with

enrollarse con – to get involved with

meterse con – to provoke, to annoy

Use a variety of verbs to express feelings.

No me agrada – it doesn’t please me

No aguanto que … / No soporto que … – I can’t stand …

Odio que … / Detesto – I hate

Me fastidia … / Me molesta … – … annoys me

Me pone de los nervios – It gets on my nerves

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Tactics for understanding new vocabulary

Remember that words come in families. This will help you to spot nouns and adjectives

that are really verb past participles:una pareja de hecho, estabaembarazada, está avergonzado, vivirescondido

Verbs can look odd when they have object pronouns stuck on the end

(the accent is a hint):inscribiéndonos, pagándolo, aceptándole, criticándose, celebrarloRemember that in some cases the pronoun can go in front of the verb

and this might help you to work out its meaning;lo está planeando / está planeándoloestaba distribuyéndolos / los estaba

distribuyendo

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Look at these families of words:

noun verb adjective adverb other

vistavistazo

ver vistovistoso

en vistapor lo vistovistosamente

en vista decon vistas a

alegría alegrar(se) alegre alegrementecon alegría


Many verbs are reflexive in their form in Spanish but not in English, which can make them harder to recognise, so you need to realise when a pronoun is simply part of a verb:

me alegro que, me daba vergüenza, va a casarse, me enamoré

Remember that the reflexive form is often used in the plural to indicate doing the action to each other:

se apoyan el uno al otro, nos conocimos en un bar, nos vemos a menudo, se quieren mucho •Recognising the gender of a noun is important because it affects the whole sentence:

El divorcio es algo complicado.Los gastos de la boda no dependen en que sea civil o

religiosa.•Remember that some masculine nouns end in -a, and some feminine nouns end in -o:

el día, el mapa, el sistema, el programa, el problema, el yoga

la mano, la radio, la foto, la moto•Nouns ending in -ista don’t change whether referring to a male or female person:

el/la tradicionalista, el/la socialista, el/la ciclista, el/la periodista, el/la dentista•La pareja is always feminine whichever sex it refers to. How can you apply this advice with the new vocabulary in this text?

Leticia, de padres congoleños, sabe que quien quiera casarse con ella deberá pagar una dote que incluye ropa, comida, alcohol y dinero, algo que le degrada pero reconoce que tiene que acatarlo como tradición. La joven de 18 años se atreve a decir que no le gusta. •You can tell this word is an adjective, from its position just after the noun (padres) and its masculine plural ending that agrees with padres. You can see the name of a country, congo, and you may know the ending -eño (as in madrileño) which tells you where someone comes from.•la dote – dowry; family of words: dotar – to provide someone with something, dotado – gifted•acatar – to respect, to comply with; acatarlo – respect it, comply with it

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•atreverse – to dare, reflexive verb Los desencuentros de este tipo son habituales entre

las familias inmigrantes, pues sus costumbres no siembre encajan en el país de acogida. Son las madres que aplican las normas que dictan los maridos en las sociedades patriarcales, y las hijas, al irse integrando, empiezan a vivir contradicciones por el contraste entre sus valores de origen y los de la sociedad a la que han llegado. En las familias de religión musulmana este hecho es tal vez más palpable. • el desencuentro – misunderstanding; family of words: encontrar – to find, desencontrarse – to become separated, to fail to meet up• encajar – to fit; family of words: caja – box, encajadura – insertion, encajable – that fits together• acogida – reception; past participle of acoger – to take in, to receive; family of words: acogedor – welcoming• hecho – fact, event; past participle of hacer – to do, to carry out A Farida, de 35 años y originaria de Marruecos, no le parece mal que su hijo mayor tiene novias españolas. En el caso de su hija, aunque asegura que al final será ella quien decida, preferiría que se casara con un hombre de su cultura. En realidad no sabe por qué; dice que “es por cuestión de costumbre y religión”. Su marido impone su punto de vista: “Los hijos piensan de una manera, pero, claro, uno tiene que inculcarles lo que son y de dónde son. Mis hijos son de allí; aunque hayan nacido aquí, no dejan de ser de donde son, de los suyos.”••originario – from, native to; family of words: el origin – origin, originar – to come from•asegurar – to assure; family of words: el seguro – insurance, lock; seguro – sure, safe, certain; la seguridad – security•inculcar – to instil, to inculcate; incularles – to instil in them•nacido – born; past participle of nacer – to be born

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A muchas jóvenes, al llegar a la adolescencia se las llevan a su país para casarlas y no vuelven. En ocasiones, las chicas están mentalizadas y lo aceptan como normal. Pero en otras la situación es más traumática, como en el caso reciente de una niña de Mauritania de 13 años, forzada a casarse con un pariente de 42, que acabó en los juzgados.

Adapted from La Vanguardia magazine: 15 July 2007 (text Ana García Novoa) •casarlas – to marry them off•mentalizadas – persuaded, brainwashed; past participle of mentalizar – to make aware, to convince, to persuade, to brainwash•los juzgados – the courts; past participle of juzgar – to judge

Positive and negative commentsTo express approval or disapproval you can use the following expressions with infinitives:

a mí me da igual vivir soltero o casado

no me importa casarme

me parece bien buscar alguien con quien tenga mucho en común

para mí es importante tener una pareja

es una pena vivir solo

(no) está bien casarse muy joven(no) me gusta la idea de tener muchos hijos

You can also use these expressions to convey approval or disapproval of someone’s particular situation or behaviour. For this you use them with que and another subject, and the second verb has to be in the subjunctive.

You can also use these expressions to convey approval or disapproval of someone’s particular situation or behaviour. For this you use them with que and another subject, and the second verb has to be in the subjunctive.

Reading for gistBefore you start reading the text itself look at the way the text is laid out. The titles and subheadings will help you work out what it’s about. If there were any pictures, these would help you too.

What do these titles and subheadings tell you?

Una mujer se queda sin la custodia de su hijo y sin casa por su horario laboral

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Un divorcio traumático

Por su estabilidad emocional

Note any key words that appear frequently.

For example: custodia, divorcio, horario, tribunal

Find another ten words and note their meaning.

Look out for quotes which convey key opinions or facts. They will help you to recognise attitudes and prioritise the main points of the text.

Examples: "un horario laboral más extenso y disperso que lo hace difícilmente compatible con estar con el niño en actos como la comida diaria"

"Lo que nunca pude imaginar es que, siendo yo la víctima, los tribunales decidieran que por no tener un empleo estable no tenga derecho a la custodia de mi hijo y a la vivienda familiar".

Make a note of the rest of the quotes in the passage and what they tell you.

Remember that there is a lot of redundant language in a text to pad out and enhance the writing: this is not essential to understanding the gist.

The following are examples of ‘padding’ – language that doesn’t actually tell you anything:

Lo que nunca pude imaginar

Precisamente

Can you find any other examples?

Reading for detail1 Look out for names, numbers and dates.

Examples:

Guillerma Calderón

divorcio iniciado hace tres años

Find two more numbers.

Look out for punctuation – exclamations and questions can tell you about attitude.

Examples:

¿Quién se ocupa de mis derechos como madre?

¡No es justo!

What do these tell you about Guillerma’s feelings?

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To help you understand a word that’s unfamiliar, look at its role in the sentence.

For example, el tribunal estima que se ha de velar por el interés del niño: velar is a verb and the sentence implies that the court is acting with the welfare of the child in mind, so we can make an educated guess that velar por means to look after.

Work out the meanings of desahuciada and ajenos.

Look for

prefixes, such as contra-, des-, dis-, ex-, re- which affect the meanings of words

suffixes, such as -mente, -able, -dad, -tud, which help you to work out the English equivalent.

desatención: des-atención = the prefix des- changes the meaning from ‘attention’ to ‘lack of attention’ or ‘neglect’.

estabilidad = the suffix -dad in Spanish is usually equivalent to the suffix -ity in English, so this means stability.

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Number Basics 10. diez

11. once12. doce13. trece14. catorce15. quince16. dieciséis17. diecisiete18. dieciocho19. diecinueve20 = viente 30 = trienta40 = Cuarenta50= Cincuenta60 = Sesenta70 = Setenta80 = Ochenta90 = Noventa100 = Cien

From 101 – 199 use “ciento”… e.g. ciento uno, ciento sesenta y dosCorrect:ciento ochenta y nueve

Incorrect:ciento y ochenta y nueve

To get to 1000 100. cien200. doscientos300. trescientos400. cuatrocientos500. quinientos600. seiscientos700. setecientos800. ochocientos900. novecientos1000. mil

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There is a feminine and masculine for number one, numbers 200 – 900 (cientos/as)un libro

one bookuna pluma

one pen

doscientos librosdoscientas plumas

cuatrocientos señorescuatrocientas señoras

When there is exactly 100 of something, and the number is used with the noun, use the shortened form "cien."

cien dólarescien gatascien perroscien pesetas

Spanish represent thousands in periods (.) and decimal points as commas (,) ... e.g. 1.900,99 NOT 1,900.99 (crazy0

Big number test:ciento uno 101

ciento noventa y nueve 199

doscientos 200

doscientos catorce 214

doscientos cincuenta y cinco 255

trescientos 300

trescientos setenta y cuatro 374

cuatrocientos 400

cuatrocientos treinta y seis 436

quinientos 500

quinientos sesenta y seis 566

seiscientos 600

seiscientos cuarenta y tres 643

setecientos 700

setecientos veinte y dos 722

ochocientos 800

ochocientos ochenta y ocho 888

novecientos 900

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novecientos noventa y siete 997

mil 1000

diez mil 10,000

diez y siete mil 17,000

cincuenta mil 50,000

setenta mil quinientos y catorce 70,514

cien mil 100,000

ciento cincuenta mil 150,000

ciento cuarenta y cinco mil 145,000

ciento setenta y siete mil trescientos ochenta y ocho 177,388

doscientos mil 200,000

doscientos cincuenta mil 250,000

trescientos mil 300,000

trescientos treinta y tres mil trescientos treinta y tres 333,333

cuatrocientos mil 400,000 cuatrocientos veinte y cinco mil 425,000 trescientos mil 300,000 trescientos mil quinientos cinco 300,505 cuatrocientos mil 400,000 cuatrocientos setenta y cinco mil 475,000 quinientos mil 500,000 quinientos cincuenta y cinco mil quinientos cincuenta y cinco 555,555 cuatrocientos cuarenta y cuatro mil cuatrocientos cuarenta y cuatro 444,444 doscientos veintidós mil doscientos veintidós 222,222 ciento once mil ciento once 111,111 setecientos mil 700,000 setecientos setenta y siete mil setecientos setenta y siete 777,777 ochocientos mil 800,000 ochocientos ochenta y ocho mil ochocientos ochenta y ocho 888,888 novecientos mil 900,000 novecientos noventa y nueve mil novecientos noventa y nueve 999,999 un millón 1,000,000 un millón doscientos mil 1,200,000 un millón cien mil 1,100,000 dos millones 2,000,000 dos millones doscientos mil 2,200,000 tres millones 3,000,000 cinco millones 5,000,000

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cinco millones quinientos cincuenta y cinco mil quinientos cincuenta y cinco 5,555,555 seis millones 6,000,000 seis millones seiscientos sesenta y seis mil seiscientos sesenta seis 6,666,666 siete millones 7,000,000 siete millones setecientos setenta y siete mil setecientos setenta y siete 7,777,777 ocho millones 8,000,000 ocho millones ochocientos ochenta y ocho mil ochocientos ochenta y ocho 8,888,888 nueve millones 9,000,000 nueve millones, novecientos noventa y nueve mil novecientos noventa y nueve 9,999,999

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