Category: Odds & Ends

No es tan fiero el león como lo pintan (his bark is worse than his bite)

no-ser-tan-fiero-el-leonDo you know how to say “his bark is worse than his bite” in Spanish?

No es tan fiero el león como lo pintan

(the lion is not as fierce as he is painted)

 ……

 

Puedes hablar con el jefe, no es tan fiero el león como lo pintan (You can speak to the boss: his bark is worse than his bite).

Cuando la gente me conoce se da cuanta que no soy tan fiero como me pintan (When people get to know me they realize my bark is definitely worse than my bite).

 

Understanding and knowing how to use idiomatic expressions is very important. Why don’t you make a sentence and leave it in the comments? We will correct it for you. You can also contact your tutor with any questions you have about this idiom. Don’t you have a Spanish tutor yet?

Preterite tense, irregular verbs in third person (A2)

Here we are, speaking again about the PRETÉRITO INDEFINIDO   and more specifically about the irregular verbs in the preterite. Can you believe it? We have already seen when to use the preterite, the regular verbs, and the very irregular verbs. 

This time we are going to learn a new group of verbs, the last one I promise, that are irregulars just in the third person singular (él, ella, usted) and plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) of the preterite. The change is going to affect only one letter, not really difficult, and we can organise these verbs into three groups. Continue reading Preterite tense, irregular verbs in third person (A2)

What’s is new this week

In our new blog LEARN SPANISH ONLINE this week we are going to publish the following posts.

  • Spanish relative pronouns que and quien.
  • 12 different ways to say I am tired in Spanish.
  • A new Grammar quizzes colletion about el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Indicativo.
  • New flashcards about numbers from 0 to 19.

I hope you visit us and enjoy the new activities to learn Spanish Now.

 

 

What is going to be new this week?

Hola, a todos:

¿Cómo estáis? Espero que muy bien.

Esta semana vamos a aprender en nuestro blog  nuevo blog learn Spanish now(this week we are going to learn in our blog):

  • a conjugar el presente de subjuntivo (How to conjugate present subjunctive regular and irregular).
  • Las diferencias entre HAY, AHÍ y  AY, para que no los confundamos más (Differences between HAY, AHÍ and AY, so we don’t mistake them more).
  • Una selección de actividades interactives para practicar los pronombres reflexivos  (A selection of interactive activities to practice the reflexive verbs).
  • 20 flashcards con verbos con cambios vocálico e-ie (20 flashcards with stem changing verbs e-ie).

Espero que os gusten y hasta la próxima semana (I hope you like them and see you next week).

Un abrazo para todos, 

El equipo de Hablamos SLE

Semana de 4 de marzo, ¿qué hay nuevo?

Esta semana en nuestro nuevo blog https://www.learnspanishnow.online/, vamos a publicar:

  • Una unidad, mejorada y actualizada, sobre los verbos regulares en el presente de indicativo.
  • Una colección de 20 flashcards con adjetivos terminados en -o.
  • Un vídeo en el que se compara la vida antes y ahora, utilizando el pretérito imperfecto con muchas actividades.
  • Una colección de quizzes sobre el imperativo afirmativo, que será de libre acceso durante una semana.

This week in our new blog https://www.learnspanishnow.online/, we are going to publish:

  • An improved and updated unit on the regular verbs in the present tense.
  • A collection of 20 flashcards with adjectives ending in -o.
  • A video in which life is compared before and now, using the imperfect tense, with many activities.
  • A collection of quizzes about the affirmative imperative, which will be free access for a week. 

Great News! – ¡Grandes Noticias!

¡Buenas noticias! Ya está operativo nuestro nuevo blog para ayudarte a aprender español LEARN SPANISH NOW, su dirección  es …..

Todavía no está funcionando al 100%, pero las nuevas entradas se van a publicar allí directamente. Por ejemplo, las novedades para esta semana son:

  • Un artículo sobre los verbos transitivos, que nos va a ayudar a entender mejor el complemento directo y los pronombres de complemento directo.
  • Una nueva sección para aprender vocabulario con Flashcards, esta semana serán 22 verbos terminados en -AR.
  • Una colección de ejercicios interactivos sobre la concordancia entre el adjetivo y el nombre. Las colecciones de ejercicios serán de acceso libre durante una semana, luego pasarán a ser restringidas para los miembros del SERVICIO PREMIUM.

Estamos trabajando en nuevas secciones, así que os agradeceremos mucho si tenéis alguna sugerencia para mejorar nuestro/vuestro blog. No olvidéis que EASY SPANISH continuará a vuestra disposición al menos hasta el próximo año.

Un saludo para todos y no dudéis en escribirnos si tenéis alguna duda.Os mantendremos informados.

Good news! Our new blog to help you to learn Spanish LEARN SPANISH NOW is now operational, the address is …

It is still not working 100%, but the new entries will be published there directly. For example, the novelties for this week are:

  • A post on “transitive verbs”, which will help us to better understand the direct object and direct object pronouns.
  • A new section to learn vocabulary with Flashcards, this week the topic will “22 verbs ending in -AR”.
  • A collection of interactive exercises about “agreement between the adjective and the name”. The collections of exercises will be of free access for a week, then they will be restricted for members of the PREMIUM SERVICE.

We are working on new sections, so we would be very grateful if you have any suggestions to improve our / your blog. Do not forget that EASY SPANISH will continue operative at least until next year.

Regards to all of you and do not hesitate to write us if you have any questions. We will keep you posted.

12 ways to say “I love you” in Spanish (A2)

12 ways to say I love you in SpanishToday is Valentine’s Day and everything is full of love, but you are sure to know how to say “I love you” in Spanish? Here you have 12 different ways from all our heart.

Hoy es San Valentín y todo se llena de amor pero, ¿estás seguro de saber como decir “I love you” in Spanish? Aquí tienes 12 maneras diferentes de hacerlo de todo corazón.

Continue reading 12 ways to say “I love you” in Spanish (A2)

Spanish conditional quizzes (B1)

Spanish conditional quizzesLet’s see how much you know about the Spanish conditional tense –el condicional simple. Today we propose to you eight quizzes to check if you can form and understand how to use the conditional tense in Spanish. Click on this link if you want to review the grammar points or here to download the pdf sheet.

Don´t forget you can contact your personal tutor with any question you have about the conditional tense in Spanish. Don’t you have a Spanish personal tutor yet?

Continue reading Spanish conditional quizzes (B1)

Diphthongs -diptongos en español- (A2)

DiphthongsDiphthongs (diptongos en español) are a combination of one strong (a, e, o) and one weak vowel (i, u), or of two weak vowels. Diphthongs are counted as one syllable. It may not be separated unless the weak vowel bears a written accent called “tilde”:

   ai, ay aire, hay pronounce like “eye”
    ei, ey reino, ley pronounce like “may”
   oi, oy oigo, hoy pronounce like “toy”
   iu triunfo, ciudad pronounce like “you”
   ui, uy cuidar, muy pronounce like “Louie”
   ue hueso, muerte pronounce like “west”
   au jaula, Paula pronounce like “now”
   eu feudal, reuma pronounce like “eh + oo”
   ia estudiamos pronounce like “yacht”
   ie miel, quiero pronounce like “ye”
   ua cuatro, mensual pronounce like “watt”
   uo cuota, antiguo pronounce like “quota”

The combination of a stressed strong vowel between two weak vowels that forms a single syllable is a triphthong. In Spanish, only four exist.

   iai estudiáis pronounce like “yipe”
   iei estudiéis pronounce like “yea”
   uai (uay) continuáis, Paraguay pronounce like “wine”
   uei (uey) continuéis, buey pronounce like “wade”

 

If the weak vowel is stressed, there is a separation called hiato, these are not diphthongs: ca-í-da, dí-a, rí-en, Ma-rí-a, tí-os, re-í-mos, re-ú-ne…

It also an hiato when the combination of two strong vowels is separated: ca-e-mos,re-a-li-dad, le-en, em-ple-o, a-e-ro-pla-no..

Diphthongs and hiatosLearning about diphthongs and hiatos will help you to pronounce better.

Remember you can contact your tutor with any question you have about diphthongs. Don’t you have a Spanish personal tutor yet? Just click on the link to practice the diphthongs with our quizzes.