Amusing Spanish Idioms
See also Spanish Slang, Spanish Words & Phrases An idiom is a phrase that is understood to have a meaning different from its literal meaning. For example, in English when we say “it’s raining cats and dogs” we mean it’s raining heavily, it’s a downpour. Like the cats and dogs example, idioms are fun, colorful expressions and the direct translation of an idiom from one language to another is often hilarious. Below are some of my favorite Spanish idioms. No tiene dos dedos de frente. Tiene más lana que un borrego. A otro perro con ese hueso. La carne de burro no es transparente. Cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas. Da un beso a la botella. El hijo de la gato, ratones mata. Antes que te cases mira lo que haces. Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando. Mientras que en mi casa estoy, rey soy. Yo tengo una tía que toca la guitarra.
Spanish Idioms
Webster's dictionary defines an idiom as: "1) the dialect of a people, region,etc., 2) the usual way in which words of a language are joined together to express thought; 3) a conventional phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal; 4) a characteristic style." Webster's New World Dictionary,Compact School & Office Edition - The World Publishing Company, 1967 The use of idioms allows you to expand your fluency in a language. Where in English we might use the common phrase "Can't hold a candle to" when discussing a person's ability, such as in the sentence "As far as her ability to use idioms, no one can hold a candle to her Return to Student's Page
Spain: Spanish Language
Welcome to our guide to Spain! This is useful for anyone researching Spanish culture, customs, manners, etiquette, values and wanting to understand the people better. You may be going to Spain on business, for a visit or even hosting Spanish colleagues or clients in your own country. Remember this is only a very basic level introduction and is not meant to stereotype all Spanish people you may meet! Facts and Statistics Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France Capital: Madrid Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast Population: 40,280,780 (July 2004 est.) Ethnic Make-up: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6% Government: parliamentary monarchy The Spanish Language Why not learn some useful Spanish phrases? Spanish Society & Culture
Spanish Pronouns
A Pronoun in Spanish as well as in English is like a shortcut to refer to a noun, a word that stands for or represents a noun or noun phrase, a pronoun is identified only in the context of the sentence in which they are used. So you must have a prior idea about who "he or she" "él or ella" is. In English we find "me, her, what, that, his", In Spanish they're used pretty much the same way, the main difference is that in Spanish most pronouns have a gender, masculine or feminine and rarely neuter to unknown objects or ideas. Types of pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts of sentences) and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on by verb's subject). This table below shows examples of all pronouns categories in Spanish: Subject pronouns: Spanish Possessive Pronouns: Mine= el mío / la mía /los míos / las mías.
Fiestas & Festivals in Spain | Spanish-Living.com
Spanish fiestas symbolise the very essence of Spain and the Spanish people. They're colourful, vibrant, usually extremely noisy, often chaotic and always great fun. The origins of many of the country's countless fiestas lie in religious feasts, often honouring a patron saint. But northern Europe simply can't compete with Spain when it comes to turning a religious celebration into a riotous round-the-clock knees up. Every day throughout the year there are fiestas taking place somewhere in Spain, either at a local, regional or national level. These may revolve around the major religious festivals such as Christmas, Easter and All Saints (Halloween) or they may be highly localised events, with their origins in obscure local folklore. The nature of each fiesta depends on its origin. The bigger towns and cities often organise a series of bullfights in the local 'plaza de toros' at fiesta time while smaller villages without a bull ring opt for bull running in the streets.
Formal & Plural commands in Spanish
The formal and commands are polite requests that you make of adults who are not close friends. This includes patients if you are a doctor (unless your patients are young children), clients for businessmen, even waiters since in most Hispanic countries you will not find a teenager bouncing over to your table with a "Hey! I'm Jim!" name-tag on. When in doubt, use the Ud. The Plural form represents commands or requests of more than one person. Let's make a Formal Command. We always start with the first person singular "Yo" form of the verb: hablo Now drop the "o" : habl- Now we attach the "opposite" vowel ending to our verb stem to form our command: ¡ Hable ! The Usted and Ustedes command forms are the Ud. and Uds. form of the Present Subjunctive. If the Yo form is irregular in the Present Tense, it will be irregular in the Formal & Plural command form. With verbs that end in "Y" in the Yo form as well as Saber are very irregular:
How to Teach Commands to First Year Spanish Language Students
written by: Heather Marie Kosur • edited by: Rebecca Scudder • updated: 3/2/2012 The following article describes a first year Spanish lesson plan for teaching basic commands in Spanish and includes examples to illustrate the Spanish imperative verb form. An optional refresher on the imperative mood in English is provided. Imperative Mood Lesson PlanThe following lesson plan can be used by Spanish teachers to introduce the imperative mood to English-speaking Spanish students.
Spanish Numbers
Home / Grammar / Topic Notes: The written lesson is below.Links to quizzes, tests, etc. are to the left. Here are the numbers 1-10: 1. uno 2. dos 3. tres 4. cuatro 5. cinco 6. seis 7. siete 8. ocho 9. nueve 10. diez The number "one" changes from "uno" to "un" before a masculine noun. un libro one book un perro one dog (male) un hombre one man The number "one" changes from "uno" to "una" before a feminine noun. una pluma one pen una gata one cat (female) una chica one girl When counting generically (one, two, three ...) use "uno" but when counting specifically (one cat, one dog), use "un" or "una." uno, dos, tres one, two, three
