Usted/ustedes - Why third person?

I often wondered why the 'usted' form of a verb is the same as the 'el' or 'ella' form, and likewise for the 'ustedes' and 'ellos' or 'ellas' forms. So the formal version of 'you' is referred to in the third person. This can be confusing to a student of Spanish because the pronoun (el, ella, usted etc.) is usually omitted, so it may be difficult to see who is doing the action. For example -

el habla = he talks
usted habla = you talk (formal, singular)
habla = he/she talks, you talk

ellas corren = they (female) run
ustedes corren = you run
corren = they/you run

This seemed a little strange to me until someone pointed out that 'usted' can be loosely translated as 'your honour'. Admittedly it wouldn't ever be translated that way in reality - the dictionary definition is 'you', but it helps to understand why the third person form is used. Imagine talking to a judge, or anyone else you might call 'your honour', compared to speaking to anyone else -

Your honour is too kind.
You are too kind
He is too kind

Your honour does well
You do well
She does well

Your honour talks
You talk
He talks

Notice that in each example the 'your honour' form is the same as the 'he/she' form, rather than the 'you' form. The 'usted' forms in Spanish work in just the same way.

Regional differences - words for car

There are many differences in vocabulary between different parts of the Spanish speaking world. One word with several regional variations is 'car' (as is 'automobile').

Spain - the car = el coche
Argentina, Chile - the car = el auto
Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America - the car = el carro

The more formal word 'automóvil' would be understood anywhere though. Note that all of these words are masculine nouns so would be preceded by 'el' or 'un'.

Mealtimes

Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I always think it is a good idea to try to learn or revise a few words each day, usually related ones. Following on from 'desayuno' for 'breakfast' a couple of days ago, here are the rest of the day's meals. Just like in English there are many regional variations on how these words are used.

desayuno = breakfast
almuerzo = lunch / brunch / mid-morning snack (late morning or mid-day)
comida = food / meal / lunch / dinner (mid-day meal in Spain and Mexico, may be evening meal elsewhere in Latin America)
cena = dinner / supper (evening meal)

Recommended website - Notes in Spanish

 

One of the websites I keep coming back to in my journey towards learning better Spanish is Notes in Spanish. The great thing about this site is that it caters for so many levels, and at the same time keeps the Spanish real. Their aim is to teach Spanish as it is spoken by real people in Spain. There is a wealth of free material on the site - podcasts, videos, blogs, free reports and useful forum. I particularly recommend the podcasts which come in three levels and which are great for listening to in the car.

The site is run by Ben and Marina who also narrate the podcasts, write the worksheets and make the videos. As you listen to the podcasts you start to feel as if you have known them for years. Ben is English but moved to Madrid several years ago where he met and eventually married Marina. This means we get to hear Marina's native Madrid accent as well as Ben's perspective on learning the language.

As well as the free material on the site there is also lots more available to buy and download in the shop section. If you sign up for the newsletter then they will occasionally email you with special offers.

It is hard to come up with any downsides to this site. The Spanish is generally that from Spain, so those wanting to learn Latin American Spanish need to bear in mind that some things may be a little different. Also, the starting point is a little beyond complete beginner, so it is best to learn a little of the very basics elsewhere before tackling the beginner material on this site. Overall this is a fantastic Spanish resource, with lots of material for free and even more to buy at a reasonable price.

Interesting words - (des)ayuno

Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I like it when Spanish words are logical, or when they relate to English words in ways that are not immediately obvious. One example is the word for 'breakfast' - 'desayuno' which on the face of it has little in common with the English equivalent. However 'ayuno' is the Spanish word for 'fast' in the not eating sense. So when you fast you 'ayunar' and when you break your fast you 'desayunar', just like in English.

ayuno = fast
ayunar = to fast
desayuno = breakfast
desayunar = to breakfast
estar en ayuno = to be fasting

The phrase 'en ayuno' is sometimes used in a medical appointment letter to mean 'don't eat beforehand'.

Note that ayunar and desayunar are both regular -ar verbs.

More slightly irregular -ar verbs

Yesterday's post looked at the conjugation of cerrar - another -ar verb that is slightly irregular, but in a pattern followed by many other -ar verbs. It is similar to last weeks verb, contar. In Spanish pronunciation, the stress falls on the last sylable, unless it ends in an 'n', an 's' or a vowel, or unless an accent changes the stress. A stressed 'e' or 'o' often does not sound good in Spanish, so these sounds often collapse to 'ie' and 'ue' respectively. This means that verbs with an 'e' in the second last sylable often follow a similar pattern where in the present tense only the 'nosotros' and 'vosotros' forms are regular and the rest add an 'i' before the 'e' in the stressed sylable.

A few verbs which follow this pattern are -

calentar = to heat up / to warm up
confesar = to confess
despertar = to wake
encerrar = to lock / to shut up / to contain
enterrar = to bury
gobernar = to govern / to rule
helar = to freeze
nevar = to snow
pensar = to think
recomendar = to recommend
sentar = to sit
temblar = to shake/to shiver/to tremble

And some examples -

siento aquí = I sit here
piensa demasiado = he/she thinks too much
¿lo recomiendas? = do you recommend it?
le enterramos = we bury him
nieve ahora = it is snowing now

Conjugation of the Week - 4. Cerrar - To close

 

This week another slightly irregular -ar verb. This time it is the forms with a stressed 'e' which change to 'ie'. Again this is quite common in Spanish, with many verbs containing an 'e' in the second last sylable transforming in the same way. See previous posts in this series for more about conjugations.

Cerrar = To close

cierro = I close

cierras = you close (sing. fam.)

cierre = he/she/you (sing. pol.) close(s)

cerramos = we close

cerráis = you close (pl. fam.)

cierran = they/you (pl. pol) close