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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:
darédaremosleeréleeremosiréiremos
darásdaréisleerásleeréisirásiréis
darádaránleeráleerániráirán
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: caberhaberpoderquerersaber
poder > podr-podrépodremos
podráspodréis
podrápodrán
2. Verbs that drop two letters of the infinitive: decirhacer
decir > dir-dirédiremos
dirásdiréis
dirádirán
3. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive and insert a dponer, salir, tener, valer, venir
tener > tendr-tendrétendremos
tendrástendréis
tendrátendrán



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:
daríadaríamosleeríaleeríamosiríairíamos
daríasdaríaisleeríasleeríaisiríasiríais
daríadaríanleeríaleeríaniríairían
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: caberhaberpoderquerersaber
poder > podr-podríapodríamos
podríaspodríais
podríapodrían
2. Verbs that drop two letters of the infinitive: decirhacer
decir > dir-diríadiríamos
diríasdiríais
diríadirían
3. Verbs that drop the last vowel of the infinitive and insert a dponer, salir, tener, valer, venir
tener > tendr-tendríatendríamos
tendríastendríais
tendríatendrían


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







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