Spanish Lesson 4

España y América Latina en el mundo actual

Gramática

El futuro
(Future tense)

Spanish, like English, employs various constructions to talk about the future. For instance, it is common to use the present tense to talk about the near future: Mañana salgo para Madrid = Tomorrow I leave for Madrid Another common Spanish construction to express the future is ir + a + infinitive, which is parallel to English "to be going" + infinitive: Vamos a comer en casa esta noche = We are going to eat at home tonight. The ir + a + infinitive construction is the most common way of expressing the future in spoken Spanish. However, there is also a more formal way of talking about the future, somewhat equivalent to the English future with "will". While this more formal future construction is not as common in spoken Spanish, it is very common in written language, and in more formal speech. This form of the future is sometimes called the futuro simple because it is formed with one word rather than a sequence of words. The futuro simple of regular verbs is formed by adding the appropriate endings onto the infinitive; there is no difference between -ar, -er, and -ir endings: daré daremos leeré leeremos iré iremos darás daréis leerás leeréis irás iréis dará darán leerá leerán irá irán There are a dozen or so irregular verbs in the futuro simple; they fall into 3 principle categories: 1. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive: caber, haber, poder, querer, saber poder > podr- podré podremos podrás podréis podrá podrán 2. Verbs that drop two letters of the infinitive: decir, hacer decir > dir- diré diremos dirás diréis dirá dirán 3. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive and insert a d: poner, salir, tener, valer, venir tener > tendr- tendré tendremos tendrás tendréis tendrá tendrán

El condicional
(The conditional)

The Spanish conditional is used in most of the same contexts as the English conditional, which is formed using 'would' + verb. Yo no saldría a esta hora = I would not go out at this hour Te dije que el avión llegaría tarde = I told you that the plane would arrive late The only exception is that in English, the "would" construction is often used to talk about something one used to do in the past, often accompanied by the word "always", as in "When I was little, I would always play with my sister". This is expressed by the imperfect in Spanish: Cuando era niña, yo siempre jugaba con mi hermana. Like the future, the conditional of regular verbs is formed by adding the appropriate endings to the infinitive and there is no difference between -ar, -er, and -ir endings: daría daríamos leería leeríamos iría iríamos darías daríais leerías leeríais irías iríais daría darían leería leerían iría irían The verbs that are irregular in the futuro simple have the same irregular stems in the conditional; the 3 groups are repeated here: 1. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive: caber, haber, poder, querer, saber poder > podr- podría podríamos podrías podríais podría podrían 2. Verbs that drop two letters of the infinitive: decir, hacer decir > dir- diría diríamos dirías diríais diría dirían 3. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive and insert a d: poner, salir, tener, valer, venir tener > tendr- tendría tendríamos tendrías tendríais tendría tendrían Las cláusulas con 'si' (If clauses) Sentences with 'if' are given a separate section in descriptions of Spanish grammar because they follow a certain set of rules when it comes to the choice of verb form and tense. Actually, the same is true of English. Think about the difference between these two sentences: If I have time this summer, I will travel to Costa Rica. If I had time this summer, I would travel to Costa Rica. In the first sentence, the speaker is simply stating a fact - if he has time (he might), then he will travel. In the second sentence, the speaker is expressing what's called a contrary-to-fact condition - the speaker does not have time, but if he did, he would travel. Spanish forms if-clauses in a similar way, but uses the imperfect subjunctive for the second type of sentence. Here's how you would translate the two sentences above into Spanish: Si tengo tiempo este verano, viajaré a Costa Rica. Si tuviera tiempo este verano, viajaría a Costa Rica. Notice that the first sentence is very much parallel to to English, using the present and future tenses to express a simply fact. The second sentence, again a contrary-to-fact type of statement, is expressed in Spanish using the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional. While both English and Spanish use the conditional in this type of if clause, English normally uses a simple past tense (If I had time) while Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive (Si tuviera tiempo).

Vocabulario

La tecnología

Las computadoras
Sustantivos la base de datos - database la búsqueda - serach la contraseña - password el correo electrónico - email (also correo e.) el disco duro - hard drive el enlace - link la informática - computer science la impresora - printer el marcador - bookmark la pantalla - screen la red - network el sitio - site el teclado - keyboard el usuario - user	Verbos acceder - access actualizar - update bajar - download (also descargar) buscar - search guardar - save hacer clic (en) - click (on) imprimir - print navegar - surf (the internet) programar - program subir - upload (also cargar)

Otras tecnologías

Sustantivos la herramienta - tool la máquina - machine el microondas - microwave (teléfono) celular - cell phone (in Spain: teléfono móvil) Otras palabras útiles Sustantivos el crucero - cruise el recuerdo - souvenir la postal - postcard la tienda - store el vuelo - flight La política y la economía La política Sustantivos el alcalde - mayor la asamblea - assembly la campaña - campaign el/la candidato/a - candidate el cargo - post, position el comité - committee la constitución - constitution el debate - debate el delegado - delegate el distrito - district la ley - law el líder - leader la mayoría - majority la minoría - minority el partido - (political) party el/la presidente - president el/la senador/a - senator Verbos elegir - to choose juzgar - to judge presidir - to preside sobornar - to bribe votar - to vote ejercer el cargo de __ - to hold the position of __ Adjetivos conservador/a - conservative derechista - right-wing ejecutivo/a - executive izquierdista - left-wing legal - legal legislativo/a - legislative liberal - liberal Sistemas de gobierno democracia dictadura monarquía socialismo fascismo La economía y el dinero Sustantivos la Bolsa de valores - stock market la cuenta de ahorros - savings account la cuenta corriente - checking account la deuda - debt la factura - bill, receipt el gasto - expense el impuesto - tax (often plural - los impuestos) los ingresos - earnings la moneda - currency la tarjeta de crédito - credit card el valor - value Verbos cobrar - to charge ganar - to earn invertir - to invest pagar - to pay Adjetivos y frases financiero/a - financial fiscal - fiscal (el/la fiscal can also mean district attorney) en efectivo - in cash