h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Right

Spanish (like most languages) has the distinction between masculine and feminine nouns. As a rule of thumb, masculine words end in 'o' and feminine words end in 'a'. Plurals are formed using 's'.

If talking about a non-specific object(s), ie. when you'd use 'a' or 'some' in English, use 'un/una' as follows:

A dog: un perro
Some dogs: unos perros
A table: una mesa
Some tables: unas mesas

If talking about a specific object(s), ie. when you'd use 'the' in English, use 'el/la' as follows:

The dog: el perro
The dogs: los perros
The table: la mesa
The tables: las mesas

Still with me?

Absolutely.

Go ahead, please.

OK, some verbs then.

In English, we put a pronoun in front of a verb to indicate the subject. For example:

---I talk
---You talk
---He/she/it talks

---We talk
---They talk

In Spanish it's slightly different. The pronouns usually aren't required, because the verb changes to indicate the subject. Example:

---Yo hablo
---Tú hablas
---Él/ella/usted* habla

---Nosotros hablamos
---Vosotros* habláis
---Ellos/ellas/ustedes* hablan

*These forms are different from English - full explanation to follow!

So, in practise, you wouldn't say "Yo hablo" but just "Hablo" because the person is implied. The pronouns _are_ used for emphasis (if you want to stress that HE did something, but THEY didn't, for example), and also in the usted/usteded forms, to distinguish them from él/ella/ellos/ellas - and it's these that I'm going to explain now.

In English, when talking directly to a person or people, we always use "you". In Spanish, there are four forms:

---tú - you (singular, familiar)
---usted - you (singular, formal)
---vosotros - you (plural, familiar)
---ustedes - you (plural, formal)

The singular forms are used when talking to one person, the plurals when talking to many. The familiar forms are used when talking to friends, people you know well, and younger people or those with lower status than you (for example, used by a teacher to a pupil). The formal forms are used when talking to strangers, people you don't know, and older people of those with higher status than you (for example, used by a pupil to a teacher). This is slightly complicated - still with me?

Joe

Oh, by the way, you'll find that the 'vosotros' form doesn't exist in Latin American Spanish - it is always replaced with 'ustedes' and the appropriate 'ustedes' verb ending

I am still with you.

Would Latin Spanish still distinguish between formal and informal singular you?

Yes, tú and usted are both used - only vosotros is non-existent

ah ok!

Hablo Inglais.

non hablo Espanol. ?

Usted hablas Espanol.

English - inglés
(note that, while there's a capital 'E' in English, the Spanish word uses a small 'i')

For a negative, stick a 'no' in front of the verb
I don't speak English - no hablo inglés

And remember that the 'usted' form always always ALWAYS takes the third person ending:
You (formal) speak Spanish - Usted habla español

(Oh, and ***please*** remember to translate everything you say into English - the italics only let us do this on that condition )

Oh, and before I carry on - I said that the Spanish pronouns are rarely used (because the person is implied from the verb ending) but when talking to a person as 'usted', you should usually say 'usted' so that they know you're talking about them. Compare:

¿Habla español? - Does he speak Spanish?
¿Usted habla español? - Do you (polite, formal etc) speak Spanish?

I also forgot to mention about ellos/ellas: these both mean 'they', but vary according to the gender of the thing you're referring to. If it's a group of males, use 'ellos'. A group of females - use 'ellas'. For a mixed group, use 'ellos' (sexist, isn't it?). This also applies to objects - the use of 'ellos' or 'ellas' depends on whether the objects are masculine or feminine.

**********

Right, onto the verbs themselves. There are three main verb types in Spanish: those that end in -ar, those that end in -er, and those that end in -ir. The -ar verbs are the ones that everyone likes because they're nice and easy, and I think they're the most common. In the present tense, the verbs look like this:

-ar: hablar, to talk

Yo hablo
Tú hablas
Él/ella/usted habla
Nosotros hablamos
Vosotros habláis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes hablan

-er: comer, to eat

Yo como
Tú comes
Él/ella/usted come
Nosotros comemos
Vosotros coméis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes comen

-ir: vivir, to live

Yo vivo
Tú vives
Él/ella/usted vive
Nosotros vivimos
Vosotros vivís
Ellos/ellas/ustedes

ALL regular verbs will fit into one of these three patterns. The -er and -ir patterns are actually quite similar, which is helpful. However, as is always the case () there are lots of very common verbs which are either slightly or very irregular; but we won't do those just yet. OK with the regular verbs?

Well, I think I got it... sorry for having been away, but I was gone for a trip.

No como chillies?

No como = I don't eat?

(Is that what you meant to say?)

Oh, by the way, in a standalone sentence like that one, it might be better to use the pronoun (ie. "yo no como...") just to emphasise that you mean yourself - but if it's part of a discussion, conversation etc, you wouldn't need to because you'd already have been talking about yourself. It seems very complicated but when you begin to speak Spanish you pick it up fairly quickly. Just remember that you still need to use pronouns for emphasis, and you'll be fine

it's seemingly difficult... but I'm determined to try. You're doing a great job so far.

Right, let's see. Fancy doing some irregular verbs?

Sorry for being a no show... been away.

yep bring them on.

Actually, before we do that, there are some semi-irregular verbs to deal with. They're called radical changing, because the root of the verb changes slightly in some forms (they can also be called stem changing verbs, for obvious reasons). Witness:

EMPEZAR - to begin

Yo empiezo
tú empiezas
él empieza
nosotros empezamos
vosotros empezáis
ellos empiezan

Radical changing verbs have a small spelling change in the present tense, but NOT in the nosotros/vosotros forms; these forms stay regular. It's complicated to explain; basically, the idea is that the vowel on its own is not strong enough, and so changes to a stronger sound. There are three types of radical change:

e>ie (as in empezar, above)
e>i (as in pedir, to ask for - pido, pides etc)
o>ue (as in mostrar, to show - muestro, muestras etc)

Unfortunately there is no way of telling whether a verb changes its stem or not - you just have to learn 'em!

Litterally, "Tengo _ años" means "I have _ years." This is why it does not begin with 'soy.'

*Saunters in in an executive way*

Might be a good idea to set five sentences using whatever you last taught? Or something, depending on the learner level? That way they can see how to use them, start using words and learning them etc.

*Saunters back out in an executive way*

Fuathas doesn't seem to be around any more... is there anyone else here who'd like some exercises to do? Johnny?

I'll have a go

OK I'll come up with something by this afternoon.