Venezuelan Patricia Martí tells us about her home town of Coro, compared to other parts of the world:
Así como en otros países, que hay muchas discotecas y reventones y fiestas...
The way [it is] in other countries, there are a lot of discotheques and big blowouts and parties...
Caption 4, Patricia Marti - Diversión y Ejercicio
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Look up reventones -- plural of reventón -- and you'll see it's "a flat tire" or "a blowout." As you can see, Patricia uses the word in a looser sense to mean a sort of big social event, which, in English, we might also call a blowout.
To further build up your vocab, note that reventón is a noun related to the verb reventar, which means "to burst." The verb form can also be used in formal and informal speech. For example, to be formal:
Reventó un caño.
A pipe burst.
And, in a looser, more figurative sense:
Su padre reventaba de orgullo.
Her father was bursting with pride.
How might a new airport affect the families living off the farming land of Atenco, Mexico? Listen to the interviews in this documentary for some strongly held opinions.
In the introduction, a listener might think they're hearing double:
A no nomás al estado de México.
And not only to the state of Mexico.
Caption 9, ¡Tierra, Sí! - Atenco - Part 1
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No nomás ("not only") is not to be confused with no, no más ("no, no more"). In Mexico and parts of Central America, nomás as a single word can mean solamente or sólo (in English: "only"). It's distinguished from the two words 'no más' by their context.
But note that 'no nomás' probably sounds a little odd to someone from Spain, who would say "No sólo el estado de México," instead. (Loyal readers may recall we previously discussed why sólo takes an accent mark when it means "only.")
Y ahí, bueno, pienso que con eso colaboro para mi país. Con eso... y ya.
And so, well, I think I'm helping my country like this. Like that... and that's it.
Captions 36-38, Patricia Marti - Perspectiva Política
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In Spanish, ya is an adverb that packs a lot of meanings. It most commonly means "already" and "now." In informal, everyday speech, it's best understood in the context. For example, in a busy café, a waiter might ask you and your friend:
¿Ya pidieron?
Did you all order already?
No, no tenemos la carta todavía
No, we don't have the menu yet
Ya se la traigo
I'll bring it to you now
Note that fellow adverb todavía means "yet" or "still". But getting back to ya, here are two phrases you're sure to come across often:
Ya es la hora = "It's time [already/now ]."
Ya está = "It's here [already/now]."
Our interview subject ends the interview with a shrug and a "y ya," which is her way of telling us "enough already," or "that's it."
In the music video A Casa by Javier Garcia, take a look at two lines of the catchy refrain:
Anoche fue muy fuerte...
Last night was very tough...
Caption 7, Javier García - A Casa
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La noche fue muy fuerte...
The night was very tough...
Caption 11, Javier García - A Casa
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Note that anoche means "last night." Some non-native Spanish speakers think they should say 'la noche pasada,' but that would be akin to saying "the day before today" when you mean simply "yesterday" in English. So listen closely to distinguish 'la noche' -meaning, more generically, "the night"- from 'anoche' -meaning "last night"- as in this week's featured song.
Here are some more useful Spanish terms for the past:
Dígame... Eh Padre, ¿se acuerda de esa chica que estábamos hablando ayer?
Tell me... Um, Father, do you remember that girl that we were talking about yesterday?
Caption 12, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza - Part 2
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Ayer = "Yesterday"
Anteayer = "The day before yesterday"
You'll note ante means "before," and so anteayer is really just a contraction of "[the day] before yesterday." Following the logic, can you guess what anteanoche means? Yup, "the night before last." (Isn't it convenient to have one Spanish word when in English we require four?)
Moving from days to weeks and years, the rules change a little. You see, there's no single word that means "last week." Instead, you have to say: 'la semana pasada.' And to say "last year," use el año pasado. But there is a word that means "yesteryear": It's antaño. Like "yesteryear" in English, antaño in Spanish refers to "times past"--not necessarily last year.
Meanwhile, in New York City, we catch up with Skampida's Gustavo and David on camera. They tell us what they've been up to:
Llevamos cuatro meses en New York City.
We've been in New York City for four months.
Caption 7, Skampida - Gustavo y David
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Bueno la... la banda ha estado... llevamos ocho años tocando y...
Well the... the band has been... we've been playing for eight years and...
Caption 12, Skampida - Gustavo y David
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You probaby know that the verb llevar means "to carry." But it has many other shades of meaning, one of which indicates the passage of time. Here are a couple more examples of llevar in this context:
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas aquí?
How long have you been here?
Llevo seis horas esperando.
I've been waiting six hours.
Note that you could substitute "haber estado," as in "to have been," to arrive at approximately the same meaning as llevar.
El niño se daba cuenta que por haber estado agachado tanto tiempo.
The boy realized that as the result of having been bent over for so long.
Caption 36, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8 - Part 1
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In the new music video posted this week, the diction is very clear, but the meaning...? Well, Mexican pop band Molotov tends towards the surreal in this song about turning into a Martian (marciano). Once you listen carefully, and realize the lyrics are as goofy as the dance moves on your screen, you'll learn some very useful Spanish vocabulary.
For starters, take a look at the third line of the song:
No es el cuerpo marrano que solía tener...
It's not the fat body I used to have...
Caption 5, Molotov - Marciano
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Solía is from the verb soler, which means, in the present infinitive, "to usually do" or "to be accustomed to." But in the past tense -as in the caption above- it has a simpler English translation: "used to."
Here's the trick: Soler in the present or past tense is always followed by another verb in the infinitive. Compare these two similar sentences:
En verano, suelo ir a la playa.
In summer, I usually go to the beach.
Or: In summer, I tend to go to the beach.
Cuando era niño, solía ir a la playa (tense = past)
When I was a boy, I used to go to the beach.
And what about in the future or in the conditional tenses? Well, soler doesn't have a future or a conditional tense. That puts the word in a category of verbs that are not fully conjugated, known as "defective verbs." Other examples of defective verbs in Spanish include llover--"to rain"--and amanecer--"to dawn." (Click here for more.)
No acato límites.
I don't obey limits.
Caption 33, Babasónicos - Carismático
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The verb acatar means "to respect," "to observe," "to comply with" or "to defer to." For the lyrics quoted above, we translate: "I don't obey limits."
Here are some other examples of the verb in context:
Deben acatar la ley.
They ought to follow the law.
El gobierno acata la decision final.
The government respects the final decision.
Acatar is conjugated the same way as hablar. In other words, it follows the rules (acata las reglas) of a regular -ar verb.
In this week's new videos, Argentine movie and TV star, Pablo Echarri, tells us about when he was a kid:
Y yo me recuerdo que de pendejo en la escuela me llamaban continuamente.
And I remember when I was a kid in school I was called constantly.
Captions 17-18, Biografía - Pablo Echarri - Part 4
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Here is another example. This time from the Argentinian telenovela Verano Eterno.
Mirá pendejo, no me jodas porque estoy de mal humor.
Look jerk, don't piss me off because I'm in a bad mood.
Captions 3-4, Verano Eterno - Fiesta Grande - Part 8
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A word of warning here: In Argentina and Uruguay, the word pendejo is a benign, if slangy, synonym for muchacho meaning "kid, youth or teen." But you couldn't use pendejo in the same way in Mexico or parts of Central America and get away with it. There, pendejo is a crude profanity that you should read about in Wikipedia's write-up under Spanish profanity or this etymology discussion.
Solo and sólo... Are you still confused about when to write this word with or without a graphic accent? If you still don't know how to go about it, we have some good news for you: the word solo doesn't need an accent... ever! Although the rule has already been in place for quite a few years, there are many people who are not aware of it.
Before the Real Academia Española (RAE) decided that the word solo didn't need a graphic accent, the old rule used to work like this:
Sólo is an adverb meaning "only," "solely" or "just" — the same as solamente. In fact, sólo and solamente can be used interchangeably. A speaker (or singer) can decide which sounds better in any given sentence.
On the other hand, solo without an accent mark is an adjective meaning "alone," "on one's own" or "sole." Solo describes a lone man or a masculine object--for example, un café solo is "a black coffee". For a woman, the adjective is sola. "¿Estás sola?" (are you alone?) is a simple, direct pick-up line.
Whether you are using solo as an adjective or as an adverb, the word solo doesn't need the graphic accent.
Muy raro que un agente, solo... solo, le caiga a un carro con placas diplomáticas.
Really weird that an agent, alone... alone, drops on a car with diplomatic plates.
Captions 33-34, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 3 - Part 2
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Solo yo sé lo que sufrí
Only I know what I suffered
Caption 2, Alejandra Guzmán - Porque no estás aquí
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That's it for this lesson. Keep in mind this "update" and don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Porque sabíamos que teníamos que ganar la batalla con la gente y tengo la satisfacción de que logramos cambiar la opinión.
Because we knew we had to win the battle along with people and I've got the satisfaction that we succeeded to change opinion.
Captions 31-32, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 3
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Did you have the feeling that former energy minister and presidential rival Felipe Calderón has accomplished a lot by watching this video? It might be the repetition of the verb lograr that left that impression. In this week's video from Calderón's publicity campaign, there are six--or is that seven?--appearances of the verb lograr--which means "to achieve," "to obtain" or "to succeed in."
In the quote sited above, we translate: "I've got the satisfaction that we succeeded to changing opinion..."
Here's another one:
Esa pasión por México tiene que sacarnos adelante, nos va a sacar adelante si logramos canalizarla bien.
That passion for Mexico has to make us prosper, it will make us prosper if we can channel it correctly.
Captions 82-83, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 3
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We'll know soon if Calderón succeeds in overcoming his biggest challenge yet.
¡Ahora nos toca a nosotros!
Now it's our turn!
Caption 12, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - Publicidad de TV
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The campaign ads running on Mexican TV reflect the candidates' different styles. In one ad supporting Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, a group of Mexicans say in unison: ¡Ahora nos toca a nosotros! ("Now it's our turn!").
The verb tocar means many things in Spanish. "To touch" and "to achieve by chance/fortune" are two definitions we discussed a few weeks ago. But here the verb has a different meaning. Tocar a alguien can mean "it's somebody's turn" or "it's up to somebody." So, me toca means "it's my turn" and nos toca means "it's our turn." And, for added emphasis and clarity, nos toca a nosotros also means "it's our turn".
Here's another example that's always appropriate for an election:
A ti te toca decidir.
It's up to you to decide.
The fact is: There are many more uses of the verb tocar than there are candidates in this hotly contested campaign. The authoritative dictionary from the Real Academia Española contains more than 30 entries for tocar. It's one of the few words that can fit any political purpose.
Vota por la opción que más te gusta, o por la menos culei.
Vote for the option you like the most, or for the least bad.
Captions 14-15, Tu Rock es Votar - Comercial de TV
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Tu Rock es Votar speaks directly to Mexico's youth in the language they understand. Problem is, Spanish dictionaries don't contain every example of youthful Mexican street slang. Case in point: culei. To understand this word, a native speaker from México is going to be more helpful than your average dictionary. So we asked our friends on the ground to translate, and we learned that culei is a Mexican variation of the slang word culero, which has many, colorful meanings--basically, malo ("bad") or gacho (Mexican for "nasty" or "ugly"). Trolling around the web, we also found culei linked to the brand name Kool-Aid -as in the Technicolored, artificial fruit beverage. Their pronunciations are almost identical--save the final "d." Without sweating the details of the origins of the slang too much, we bring you the translation:
"Vote for the option that you like most, or for the least bad."
Sounds like the U.S.'s last "Rock the Vote" campaign, which acknowledged the youth vote's antipathy or even disgust with available election candidates.
We begin this cortometraje ("short film") about the dangers of unventilated cooking in Peru with the basic needs of man.
Desde que el hombre apareció como tal sobre la faz de la Tierra... ha requerido, y por cierto, aún requiere, de diversas fuentes de energía que le sirvan de combustible.
Since man appeared as such on the surface of the Earth... he has required, and in fact, still requires, diverse sources of energy to be used as fuel.
Captions 1-5, Cocinas Peruanas - Short Film
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Above, the verb requerir ("to require" or "to need") is followed by the preposition de. This is common only in Latin America, notes HarperCollins' Spanish Unabridged Dictionary. Meanwhile, the Spanish spoken in Spain for the most part uses requerir as a transitive verb followed by a direct object, meaning no preposition is requerido ("required"). For example, in Spain you'd likely hear:
Esto requiere cierto cuidado.
This requires some care.
A little later in the short film, we encounter a verb that's always followed by de and then an indirect object:
...en especial la rural, los utiliza para cocinar en sus viviendas, las mismas que, en su mayoría, carecen de ventilación.
...especially rural population, use them to cook in their houses, houses which mostly lack ventilation.
Captions 11-12, Cocinas Peruanas - Short Film
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Carecer [de algo] means "to lack [something]." Above, the narrator is speaking of "their houses... which mostly lack ventilation." The use of the preposition de is required here, regardless of which continent the speaker is standing on. If it were missing, you would have to say the sentence lacks something (la frase carece de algo).
Did we mention Felipe Calderón is a politician? In Part 2 of the presidential candidate's promotional video, Calderón discusses his profound love for his family.
Y comparto con ella, pues, no solo el amor que nos tenemos, que es un amor sincero,
And I share with her, well, not only the love that we have for each other, that is a sincere love,
que es un amor profundo, que es un amor bello...
that is a deep love, that is a beautiful love...
sino también el amor que tenemos por nuestros tres magníficos hijos...
but also the love that we have for our three wonderful kids...
Captions 13-15, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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María... es... una niña muy linda...
Maria... is... a very pretty girl...
Luis Felipe... es un niño muy lindo...
Luis Felipe... is a very lovely child...
Juan Pablo... es una lindura...
Juan Pablo, two years old, is so beautiful...
Captions 19-24, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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He describes each one of his three kids -María, Luis Felipe and Juan Pablo- as lindo(a), meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." This synonym for bonito, hermoso or bello is an adjective that is used a lot in the Spanish-speaking world. See a baby on the street and "¡Qué lindo!" (or "¡Qué linda!") is a very common thing to say.
In the sentences quoted above, note that linda agrees with the feminine noun niña ("girl") and lindo agrees with the masculine noun niño ("boy"). Also note that Calderón employs the noun lindura ("a beauty") to describe his youngest son -a noun that's always feminine, despite his son's gender.
Another way the proud dad describes his tres magníficos hijos ("three magnificent children") appears in caption 18:
Bueno la verdad es que son tres chavos sensacionales.
Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids.
Caption 18, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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We translate this as: "Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids." But instead of repeating the standard word hijos ("kids" or "sons [and daughters]"), Calderón uses chavos, which is a colloquialism heard in Calderón's native Mexico as well as Honduras and Nicaragua, according to the authoritative Real Academia Española. Like hijos or niños, chavos means "kids," but not necessarily in the sense of sons and daughters. Got that, muchachos?
Yo sé que este país que me ha tocado conocer de cerca, palparlo de cerca...
I know that this country that I've had the fortune to know closely, to sense it closely...
Caption 2, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 1
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In addition to the well known meaning "to touch," there are many other uses of the verb tocar, one is to indicate chance or fortune.
Esta es la vida que me toca vivir.
This is the life that I have [fate has given me] to live.
Me tocó el boleto de la buena suerte.
I got [by chance] the lucky ticket [of all the ones distributed].
Le ha tocado la lotería.
She has won the lottery.
This is the sense that Felipe Calderón is using the verb in the phrase above:
"I know that this country that I have had the fortune to know closely, to sense closely..."
Keep your ears open for this use of tocar when you are listening to native Spanish.
Parece mentira que haya tanta vida en este lugar. ¡Qué felicidad!
It's unbelievable that there's so much life in this place. So much happiness!
Captions 11-12, Café Tacuba - Mediodía
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One of the first Spanish words we learn is hay, that odd but ever so useful incarnation of the verb haber that means both "there is" and "there are." Hay dos gatos ("there are two cats"), hay una casa ("there is a house"). Wow, what a simple language!
And then somewhere along the line they told us about the subjunctive, where, even though the there's usually no difference in English, the verb in Spanish is completely different if there exists any sense of uncertainty or doubt. Wow, this might be an impossible language!
Well, haya is where our friend hay meets our nemesis, the subjunctive. Like hay, haya also means "there is / there are", but it is used when the subjunctive is called for. Café Tacuba introduces doubt when it begins the lyric above with "It seems impossible" (Parece mentira- literally "It seems like a lie") so that the phrase that follows utilizes haya instead of hay.
"It seems impossible that there is so much life in this place. What happiness!"
In De consumidor a persona we find a discussion of "Fair Trade" commerce in which haya is used to express possibilities (not certainties):
Que no haya explotación infantil, que haya igualdad entre hombres y mujeres...
That there is no child exploitation, that there is equality between men and women...
Captions 36-37, De consumidor a persona - Short Film - Part 5
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Bueno, mi experiencia como profesor de matemáticas ha sido muy gratificante.
Well, my experience as a math teacher has been very gratifying.
Caption 7, Profesor de matemática - Entrevista
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In English the term "professor" is reserved for those with high level university faculty positions, but in Spanish profesor can be used for "school teacher" at any grade level, including university (profesor universitario). Andrés Valencia, who teaches secondary school, uses profesor in the phrase above when he says:
"Well, my experience as a math teacher has been very gratifying."
Note: The term catedrático, is only used at the university level and can refer to a "university professor," "full professor," "department chair" and other such things. Its use seems to vary some from country to country as to how lofty a height one has to reach in the ivy tower before gaining this title.
In this clip Venezuelan restaurant owner Emiro Graterol tells us a little bit about his father.
Mi papá fue maestro de escuela, director de las escuelas de las compañías petroleras Shell, en aquel entonces.
My dad was a school teacher, head of the schools of the Shell oil companies, in those days.
Captions 6-9, Emiro - La Historia de Emiro
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Emiro's father taught at the K-12 level, and Emiro uses the alternate term maestro, which can also be used to mean "teacher."
"My father was a school teacher."
El papel principal del gobierno es promover el desarrollo... y mejorar el nivel de vida.
The main role of the government is to promote development... and improve the standard of living.
Captions 21-22, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje - Part 3
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Most of us know that papel is "paper," not only do they sound alike but if you've ever taken Spanish class no doubt your teacher has often asked you to take out una hoja de papel, "a sheet of paper."
However, papel is also "role" (as in "the role of technology in education"). So, in the phrase above we have:
"The main role of the government is to promote development..."
El papel de la ONG ha sido un papel auxiliador.
The role of NGO has been an assisting role.
Caption 29, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje - Part 3
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Note: Organización No Gubernamental (ONG), Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
In this final clip we have Carlos explaining some of the functions that the myth of Bachué played in Muisca society.
Que además resalta el papel que la mujer tenía en la sociedad muisca
Which also highlights the role that women had in Muisca society
como la encargada de transmitir las tradiciones y valores de la cultura.
as the ones in charge of transmitting traditions and cultural values.
Captions 57-59, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bachué
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