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Spanish Tutorial Lesson 5 Spanish Tutorial Lesson 5
In this lesson we'll be looking more closely at building sentences from examples. Click the headphones icon next to each sentence to hear a recording of it. There are exercises at the end of the lesson to help you practise what you've learnt.
Read and listen to the following sentence that we learnt in lesson 2:
- 'Todos los a�os van por coche a Espa�a'
(Every year they go by car to Spain)
Using the example of por coche (by car), we can change the word 'coche' for other forms of transport in a new sentence:
- 'Voy por tren/autob�s/avi�n el lunes al centro'
(I go by train/bus/plane on Monday to the town centre)
Building new sentences from examples as we learn helps to acquire correct grammar, just like a native speaker. Look at the following sentence:
- 'Otro ejemplo, por la tarde me gusta leer el peri�dico'
(Another example, in the afternoon/evening I like to read the newspaper)
The phrase por la tarde (in the evening) uses the word 'por' (literally 'by/for') where English uses 'in'. We saw an example of this word combination in lesson 2:
- 'El lunes por la noche voy por tren a Madrid'
(On Monday in the night I go by train to Madrid)
By learning such phrases by example we don't make the mistake of trying to mimic English constructions 'in the evening/in the night' that are expressed differently in Spanish. Using the word 'ma�ana' (morning) that we learnt in lesson 1, how would we say 'In the morning I go by plane to Paris'?
'Por la ma�ana voy por avi�n a Paris'
Now look at the following sentence from lesson 2:
- 'Quiero un poco de la carne para el desayuno'
(I want a bit of meat for (the) breakfast)
Compare it to this one:
- 'Quiero decir muchas gracias por el desayuno'
(I want to say many thanks for the breakfast)
Notice how the two sentences have two different ways of saying 'for the breakfast'. This is because the second sentence uses the word 'gracias' (thanks). In Spanish you always say gracias por (thanks for):
- 'Gracias por la ayuda'
(Thanks for the help)
How would we say: 'Thanks for the ham ('el jam�n' from lesson 2) for breakfast'?
'Gracias por el jam�n para el desayuno'
Here is another sentence, this one from lesson 1:
- '�D�nde est� Diego?'
(Where is Diego?)
You may have noticed that there are two ways of saying 'is' in Spanish: 'es' (el jam�n es para el desayuno) and 'est�' like in the sentence above. The verb 'estar' (to be) is used with certain words like 'd�nde' (where) and 'aqu�' (here), words that describe location, as in this sentence we saw in lesson 2:
- 'Aqu� est� tu habitaci�n'
(Here is your room)
'Estar' is also used with certain adjectives, such as 'abierto/abierta' (open) that describe temporary states:
- 'Nuestra iglesia est� abierta todos los d�as'
(Our church is open every day)
How would we say: 'Your room is big and ('y') the door is open'?
'Tu habitaci�n es grande y la puerta est� abierta'
Here is another sentence that uses 'estar':
- 'El gato negro y blanco est� cerca del jard�n'
(The black and white cat is near the garden)
The phrase cerca de (near to) becomes 'cerca del' before a masculine noun (de + el = del). How would we say: 'The newspaper is near the boy'?
El peri�dico est� cerca del chico
We finish this lesson with a sentence from lesson 3:
- 'Mi madre trabaja como enfermera'
(My mother works as (a) nurse)
Notice that in Spanish you say that you work como enfermera (literally: 'as nurse'). How would you say: 'The girl works as an actress'?
'La chica trabaja como actriz'
Exercise One
Write the following sentences in Spanish (click each sentence to reveal the answer):
- They always go by bus to Lisbon
Siempre van por autob�s a Lisboa - On Monday, in the evening, I like to be here
El lunes, por la tarde, me gusta estar aqu� - My friend works as a teacher
Mi amigo trabaja como profesor - Diego is near our church
Diego est� cerca de nuestra iglesia - Many thanks for the chocolate
Muchas gracias por el chocolate
