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Old August 21, 2010, 10:35 AM
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Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ayer View Post
Yo necesito practico hablo y escribo. Yo practico escribo ahora porque it helps(ayudar) mí understand hearing(oír) Español. Yo estudioso ahora uno hora y medio vocabulario, uno hora grammar y escribo, y treinta minutos listening to Español y leo.

I tried to use mí the right way this time. Unfortunately, it was still used incorrectly. In English, the word 'me' is a pronoun. It can be used as a direct object pronoun, an indirect object pronoun, an object pronoun in a prepositional phrase, and a subject pronoun (although this is considered a grammatical error). In Spanish, 'mí' can only be used as an object pronoun in a prepositional phrase. The direct object pronoun and the indirect object pronoun is 'me'. The subject pronoun is 'yo'.
I'll correct your sentences and explain my corrections below.

I need to practice speaking and writing.
Necesito practicar hablar y escribir.

There is only one verb in the English sentence, and it is conjugated ('I need'). The other words that look like verbs are actually nouns. The verb 'need' takes a direct object. An object is always a noun. The words 'to practice' is the direct object. 'To practice' is called an infinitive. It looks like a verb, but functions as a noun. It can't be conjugated. It would sound very strange in English to conjugate the infinitive. For example, "I need I practice." Yet this is what you wrote in Spanish. You conjugated the direct object.
'Speaking' and 'writing' are gerunds. A gerund looks like a verb, but functions as a noun. It can't be conjugated.
In Spanish, both the English infinitive and the gerund are translated as Spanish infinitivos.
Note that my translation of 'I need' doesn't begin with the subject pronoun yo. That's because it isn't needed. The ending of the conjugated verb (-o) conveys which person the subject is. While learning, many teachers and text books force this redundancy on you. It isn't necessary in normal conversation.

I practice writing now because it helps me understand speaking.
Ahora practico la escritura porque me ayuda a entender el habla.

The adverb ahora sounds better when it precedes the verb, to my ears.
The verb practicar takes a direct object. (You correctly conjugated it, except that there's no need for the emphatic yo.) Although it is OK to say, "Ahora practico escribir," I opted for another direct object (remember that the infinitive escribir is a noun, as is the English gerund writing). 'La escritura' means 'writing'. In like manner, I opted for 'el habla' at the end of the sentence.
'It helps me' contains a subject, a verb, and an indirect object. The subject is a pronoun. As already mentioned, the subject pronoun isn't always necessary in Spanish because the ending of the conjugated verb usually conveys all we need to know. However, the ending in the 3rd person is used for several different subject pronouns. It is often necessary to distinguish which person was meant if the subject is a personal pronoun (he, she, you). But, when the subject pronoun is 'it', we usually don't have to provide a pronoun for it. So, the conjugated verb ayuda means 'it helps'. The word me is the indirect object pronoun. Indirect object pronouns precede a conjugated verb in Spanish.
The verb ayudar is always followed by the preposition 'a' if its direct object is an infinitive.
Notice that your English sentence doesn't match what you wrote in your Spanish paragraph.
I practice writing now because it helps me understand hearing Spanish.
(rewritten)
Now I'm practicing writing because it helps me (to) understand what I'm hearing (in Spanish).
(translation)
Ahora practico escribir porque me ayuda a entender lo que escucho (en español).

Where I wrote 'lo que', Elaina wrote 'el español que'. Both of us are correct. I just chose to use the direct object pronoun lo instead.

Sorry about all the grammatical terms, but I just can't teach the difference between 'correcto' (the adjective 'correct') and the verb 'corregir' (the verb 'correct'), without pointing out what part of speech they play. If you don't know what role a word plays, you'll have trouble choosing the right translation.
That's enough grammar for today. Take the time to understand what I've written about the different parts of speech. It'll make Spanish grammar a lot easier to learn if you can 'translate' it back into English grammar.

I now spend an hour and a half doing vocabulary, 1 hour doing grammar and writing, and 30 minutes listening to Spanish and reading it.
(rewritten)
Now I study an hour and a half; 1 hour for vocabulary and a half hour for writing and reading.
(translation)
Ahora estudio una hora y media; una hora para el vocabulario y media hora para la escritura y la lectura.


I think you'll understand the corrections here, so I'll hush.

Last edited by Rusty; August 21, 2010 at 10:38 AM.
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