The city – SER / ESTAR / HAY

In this post you are going to learn the difference between SERESTAR and HAYtaking as an example the description 

of a city  

It is very simple!  

 

As you might remember we use SER when we describe the characteristics of the citywhen we answer the question 

¿Cómo es? Thereforewe will be using adjectivesFor example: Roma esuna ciudad grande y es muy turística.  

 

We use ESTAR to talk about the location.  ¿Dónde está Roma? Roma está en Italia, lejos de Milán.  

 

We use HAY (Remember that it is invariable: Hay un coche, hay tres coches) to talk about existence and quantity. ¿En Roma hay metro?, ¿cuántas personas viven en Roma? En Roma hay mucha gente en verano.  

 

¿Cómo es tu ciudad? 

Greetings and farewells

If you do not want to be stuck on the simple “hola” and “adiós” in this post you will find many other expressions that we use in Spanish. And rememberwhen we are asked “¿Cómo estás?” There are many more answers besides “Bien.” 😉

¡HASTA PRONTO! 🙂

Christmas Time in Spain

If you love Spain and Christmas time … You’re in luck!

In this post you are going to learn the traditions that we live in these dates.

¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

DECEMBER 22TH

La lotería de Navidad

We buy tickets (décimos) of lottery with the hope of winning the first prize: “El Gordo”.

DECEMBER 24TH

Nochebuena

Spanish families gather for dinner, eat typical sweets (Turrón, mazapán, polvorones…) and sing Christmas carols.

At 00:00 many people go to the church to “La Misa del Gallo”.

DECEMBER 25TH

Navidad

The visit of Santa Claus (Papá Noel) is not a Spanish tradition but it does visit some houses and leaves gifts.

DECEMBER 28TH

El día de los Santos Inocentes

Day in which we play pranks or “inocentadas” to family and friends. (Similar to April Fools’)

DECEMBER 31ST

Nochevieja / Fin de Año

We say goodbye to the year eating 12 grapes to the rhythm of the 12 bells that sound from La Puerta del Sol in Madrid.

JANUARY 1ST

Año Nuevo

JANUARY 5TH

La cabalgata de los 3 Reyes Magos

Children and adults receive a visit from The 3 Wise Men upon arrival in towns and cities.

JANUARY 6TH

El día de Reyes

It’s time to open presents and eat Roscón de Reyes. If you have been bad you will receive coal.

Do you need to know more? Click here to learn more vocabulary about Christmas.

TENER /TO HAVE

We are going to study one of the most important verbs in Spanish: The verb TENER. We will see its uses and its conjugation in presente de indicativo.

We use the verb TENER to talk about:

 

  1. THE POSSESSION

Yo tengo dos perros. /I have two dogs.

Mis padres tienen una casa en La Rioja. /My parents have a house in La Rioja.

 

  1. THE AGE

Tengo veintisiete años. /I am twenty-seven years old.

¿Cuántos años tiene Jorge? /How old is Jorge?

 

  1. MUST

Tienes que venir conmigo a la fiesta. /You have to come with me to the party.

Tengo que decirte la verdad. /I have to tell you the truth.

 

  1. THE SENSATIONS / STATES USING DIFFERENT IDIOMS:

Carmen tiene frío, pero Manuel tiene calor. /Carmen is cold, but Manuel is hot.

Tengo tos, fiebre y dolor de cabeza. /I have a cough, fever and headache.

Here we review its conjugation in presente de indicativo:

How do you feel? Practice using the verb TENER!

In this video you can have an explanation of some of this words 

What time is it? What day is today?

Don’t you know  how to ask and say the time in Spanish yet? How about saying a date?

Don’t worry! We’ll teach you in this week’s post! We also want to teach you to talk about the routine, that is, to say at what time you do things on a daily basis. What time do you get up? What time do you eat? What time do you go to sleep? What time is your Spanish class?

Remember that when we talk about the routine we use Presente de indicativo so check its conjugation and also los Verbos reflexivos.

If you don’t know yet how to say a date in Spanish, here you will find basic and important vocabulary: the months of the year, the days of the week, the seasons …

¿Qué día es hoy y qué hora es? Answer in the comments!

Don’t forget to check the numbers in Spanish from 1 to 31 😉

Adjectives that change meaning with SER and ESTAR

Once the uses and differences of SER and ESTAR have been studied, it is time to learn some vocabulary.

In Spanish there are adjectives that depending if used with SER or with ESTAR change their meaning. Do you know them?

Here you are a list with the most common adjectives. Remember that any adjective changes its meaning if we use it with the verb SER (it means that it is a permanent and defining characteristic of the person, animal or thing) or with the verb ESTAR (it means that this characteristic is temporary and refers at that exact moment).

For example, what is the difference between these two sentences?

  1. Andrea es nerviosa.
  2. Andrea está nerviosa.

In the first sentence we say that Andrea is a nervous person, always. It is a part of her personality, if we think of Andrea we define her as nervous.

In the second sentence we say that now and in this very moment for some reason Andrea is nervous. She is usually a calm person but not today, today she is nervous.

Check the list of the most common adjectives, do you know any other adjective?

Do you need an explanation of the adjectives which change their meaning if we use them with SER or ESTAR? Rocío explains it to you in this video! 

SER o no SER, ¡esa es la cuestión!

One of the most difficult questions in Spanish is to be able to understand when we have to use SER and when ESTAR… Here you have a brief scheme to make it easier.  

Practice answering these questions: ¿Cómo estás?, ¿Cómo eres?

Do not forget to study the adjectives that change their meaning depending on whether we use the verb SER or the verb ESTAR!

Do you need an explanation of the uses of SER and ESTAR? Rocío explains it to you in this video!