Present Participles

If you start to learn Spanish grammar it isn't long before  you come across participles, past and present. Whilst using big grammar terms like past participle and present participle can be daunting, they are not really that difficult to understand. Hopefully if I keep using the words enough times they will get less intimidating through repetition. They are words you will generally find at the top of verb tables in the dictionary.

The present participle is the one I find simpler. In English it always ends in 'ing'. In Spanish it usually ends in 'ando' for -ar verbs and 'iendo' for -ir or -er verbs. Here are a few examples (with the full Spanish verb in brackets).

talking = hablando (hablar)
eating = comiendo (comer)
running = corriendo (correr)
going = yendo (ir)
walking = andando (andar)
raining = lloviendo (llover)

These verb forms can often be used in the same way as in English.

estoy comiendo = I am eating
estaba hablando = I was talking
está lloviendo = it is raining

In English, 'ing' words are also used as adjectives and nouns, but these uses don't generally use the present participle in Spanish.

the walking man = el hombre que anda (literally 'the man that walks')
I like skiing = me gusta esqíar (lit. 'I like to ski')
all the living things = todas las cosas vivientes

Watch out for past participles in a future post.

Elections

The biggest stories in the Spanish press today, apart from Nadal's victory over Federer in the French open, are the results of elections in Portugal and Peru yesterday. Here is a little background to help you read the stories in the Spanish press.

In Peru the Nationalist candidate, Ollanta Humala defeated the Populist party's Keiko Fujimori by a very tight margin in the country's presidential elections. Humala is a left-wing ex-army commander who led an unsuccessful coup attempt supported in the 1990s. The right wing Fujimori is the daughter of ex-president Alberto Fujimori who is currently serving a 25 year jail sentence for corruption and human rights violations during his time in power. If you want to follow this story in Spanish you can read more in El País.

In Portugal, the political landscape has taken a turn to the right, as Pedro Passos Coelho's Social Democrats defeated the current prime minister, Jose Sócrates' Socialists. Again, you can read more, in Spanish, in El País.

Regular -ir verbs

Just a quick post today to give a few examples of regular -ir verbs which are all conjugated the same way as 'insistir' in yesterday's post.

abrir = to open
admitir = to admit
añadir = to add, join, increase
asistir = to attend
confundir = to confuse
cumplir = to complete, achieve, to have a birthday
decidir = to decide
escribir = to write
insistir = to insist
ocurrir = to occur
permitir = to permit, allow
recibir = to receive
subir = to go up, ascend
vivir = to live

Conjugation of the Week - 9. Insistir - to insist

After a few weeks of the most common irregular verbs, this week we have another regular verb. The second of the three families of regular verbs are the -ir verbs. This means that all regular -ir verbs are conjugated the same, and most irregular -ir verbs are conjugated in a similar manner. See previous posts in this series for more about conjugations.


insistir - to insist


insisto = I insist
insistes = you insist (sing. fam.)
insiste = he/she/it insists, you insist (sing. pol.)
insistimos = we insist
insistís = you insist (pl. fam.)
insisten = they insist, you insist (pl. pol.)

Following on from recent posts on 'ser' and 'estar', I thought I would add to the confusion by throwing in an example which completely threw me when I first heard it. I was standing at the bottom of a ski slope (a common place for me to be as readers of my other blog will know) talking to a Spanish friend who was trying to explain to me when to use 'ser' and when to use 'estar'.

He explained that 'ser' is for permanent things, and gave an example -

la nieve es blanca = the snow is white

He then explained that 'estar' is for more temporary things. The example was -

la nieve está fria = the snow is cold


Now this just added to my confusion, because I have seen snow that is pink from the sunset, red or orange with sand blown from the Sahara to Europe, brown from mud close to the surface, blue on a cold shady morning or grey on cloudy days. But I have never once come across snow that is not cold. I still don't understand why the above examples are correct, other than colours generally use 'ser' and temperatures 'estar'.

Using Chat

Image: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Conversing in Spanish can be difficult - you have to think fast both to phrase your own thoughts and to understand the other person, and it can be harder to work out new words without seeing how they are spelt. Writing to somebody in Spanish gives you time to think, but it can be tedious. There is less leeway to make gramatical errors, and the lack of interaction and feedback can be discouraging.

Halfway in between the two is chat. Whether it is Facebook, MSN or any other instant messaging service it doesn't matter. If you get the chance to chat to a Spanish speaking friend then take it. It really is the best of both worlds. You get interaction, feedback and corrections for your mistakes. The grammar is less critical than in a letter. You don't have to think as quickly as when speaking, and you can see what the words look like. There are still a couple of downsides though - one is that it can be hard to enter special characters - ¿ ¡ ñ á é ú í ó. There are ways around this which I plan to cover in a future post. Other downsides are that you might have to get used to the Spanish version of text speak - q for que etc. and that it won't help much with your pronunciation.

Regional diferences - be careful

Most of the time regional differences do not cause huge problems. A person from one region might sound a little odd, or overly formal to the ears of somebody from a different region, occasionally they might have to repeat themselves to be understood. Occasionally however, a perfectly inoccuous and common word in one region can be very offensive in another.

The most obvious example is the verb 'coger'. As a European who learnt the Spanish of Spain first, this is a common word meaning 'to take'. As such I shouldn't feel in the slightest bit uncomfortable writing it here. Phrases such as:-

coger el autobus = to catch the bus
¡cogelo! = take it!
cojo el tren = I take the train

are all perfectly common in Spain. In Argentina though, Spanish people quickly discover that 'coger' has quite a different meaning - one that I am not so comfortable discussing in a blog for a general audience. Because of this, the phrases above sound ridiculous or offensive in Argentina, and Argentinians have a perception that Spaniards are oversexed as they want to c***r everything - busses, trains, etc.