Abroad in Spain: Travel Blog » Spanish Sunday

Spanish Sunday #3: Mira a ver

Chris — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:28:28 +0000

This Sunday I would like to tell you about another useful Spanish expression: mira a ver. In a nutshell, this expression equates to something like “look and see” in English. Let’s look at a sample dialogue:

Spanish husband: Cariño, ¿lo tienes todo? No quiero tener que volver a casa a por algún artículo olvidado como la última vez. (Honey, do you have everything? I don’t want to have to come back home looking for some forgotten item like the last time.)

Spanish wife: Sí, creo que sí… pero, ¿dónde tengo el móvil? (Yeah, I think so… but, where’s my cell phone?)

Spanish husband: Pues no sé, ¿no lo habías metido en tu bolso? Mira a ver…. (I don’t know, didn’t you put it in your purse? Look and see….)

Spanish wife: Sí, tienes razón, aquí está. (Yeah, you’re right, here it is.)

And that, my friends, is an explanation of this little “frase hecha.” If you’ve enjoyed this post, you may wish to check out prior Spanish Sunday posts or the Learn Spanish category. Don’t forget to keep checking back for more Spanish tidbits each week!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Spanish Sunday #2: ¡Qué va!

Chris — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:00:22 +0000

In this edition of Spanish Sunday, I would like to explain the meaning of an expression used constantly by Spaniards: qué va. It’s actually a really useful little expression used to strongly say “no” to something. Loosely translated, you could say that qué va means something along the lines of “no way.” Let’s look at this expression in a sample dialogue:

Random Spaniard: Chris, ¿tienes miedo de algo? (Chris, are you afraid of something?)

Me: ¿Miedo? ¡Qué va! Soy un hombre valiente y no tengo miedo de nada. (Afraid? No way! I’m a brave guy and I’m not afraid of anything.)

If you have enjoyed this little Spanish tidbit, you may be interested in checking out past editions of Spanish Sunday. You could also be interested in my Learn Spanish category. As always, be sure to check back to Abroad in Spain each week for future Spanish Sunday installments.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Spanish Sunday #1: The finger names

Chris — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:04:25 +0000

I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to a new feature of this site: Spanish Sunday. You see, when I started this blog I had two big goals — the first was to make my readers aware of Spanish Culture and the second was to teach my readers a little bit about the Spanish Language. Lately, I feel as though my blog has been heavy on the “culture” end of things and a little light on the “language” side, so that’s why I’m hoping to write one post a week –on Sundays– that has to do with teaching you some aspect of the Spanish language (hence the name “Spanish Sunday”). Here is the first edition of “Spanish Sunday” which has to do with the names of the fingers in Spanish.

Basically, the names of the fingers in the Spanish of Spain are as follows. Starting with the thumb, we have the pulgar, índice, corazón, anular, and meñique. All of these words are nouns and they are all masculine.

To make things a little more clear, here’s a diagram I put together.

The names of the fingers in Spanish.

Remember, these are the names used in Spain. Specifically, they are used in the region of Spain that I live in (Castilla y León). I’m pretty sure that other countries probably have other words for the names of the fingers. If any of my readers would like to provide input on that point, feel free to leave a comment on this post.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Spanish Sunday! Stay tuned next week for another little Spanish tidbit.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com