Very first homework assignment

[spanishlearner]

Please, can you look through my very first homework assignment? I have to answer following 5 questions:

1/ ¿Quién es Cristiano Ronaldo y cómo es él?
Cristiano Ronaldo es un famoso futbolista portugués. Es un jugador del Real Madrid y de la selección de fútbol de Portugal. Es rápido y fuerte. Es considerado uno de los mejores jugadores del mundo.

2/ ¿De dónde es Carlos Santana?
Carlos Santana es de México.

3/ Cómo es Julia Roberts? Describela.
Julia Roberts es alta y delgada. Ella tiene el pelo largo y la sonrisa grande.

4/ ¿Es exigente tu profesora de español?
Mi profesora de español es muy exigente.

5/ Escribe 5 frases sobre tu vida.
Me llamo Grzesiek. Tengo treinta y tres años. Vivo en Olsztyn. Trabajo de secretario. Mi hobby es leer libres y aprender idiomas. (the last 2 sentences are supposed to mean: I work as a clerk. My hobbies are reading books and learning languages)


Thank you in advance.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

... the following five questions:

1/ ¿Quién es Cristiano Ronaldo y cómo es él?
Cristiano Ronaldo es un famoso futbolista portugués. Es un jugador del Real Madrid y de la selección de fútbol de Portugal. Es rápido y fuerte. Es considerado uno de los mejores jugadores del mundo.

2/ ¿De dónde es Carlos Santana?
Carlos Santana es de México.

3/ (missing punctuation)Cómo es Julia Roberts? Describela (spelling).
Julia Roberts es alta y delgada. Ella tiene el pelo largo y la (use the indefinite article) sonrisa grande.

4/ ¿Es exigente tu profesora de español?
(missing the interjection) Mi profesora de español es muy exigente.

5/ Escribe 5 frases sobre tu vida.
Me llamo Grzesiek. Tengo treinta y tres años. Vivo en Olsztyn. Trabajo de secretario (wrong word). Mi hobby es (watch agreement) leer libres (spelling) y aprender idiomas.

Pretty good.
I've marked mistakes in red and gave hints/suggestions in purple.
'Hobby' has a plural form that matches the English plural. You could also use another word.

[Awaken]

That was a lot more complicated than my very first homework assignment in Spanish. Ours was "Translate to Spanish: I am writing a letter" or something very simple like that. Heck we probably only used regular -ar verbs for the first one =)

Not bad at all for a first assignment.

[triciamcclintock]

¡muy bien!

great answers! for question #5 you can also say, "Soy secretario" for indicating your profession. Another word for "hobby" is "pasatiempo".

[ROBINDESBOIS]

We say ella tiene una gran sonrisa y no una sonrisa grande.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

...unless you want to emphasize that her mouth and teeth are big (as they are).

[spanishlearner]

Thank you, you've all been most helpful.

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

We say ella tiene una gran sonrisa y no una sonrisa grande.

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

...unless you want to emphasize that her mouth and teeth are big (as they are).

Ella tiene el pelo largo y una sonrisa grande una gran sonrisa.
This is because of the rule concerning the placement of adjectives either before or after the noun depending on whether they describe the reality objectively vs. subjectively.

Originally Posted by triciamcclintock

Another word for "hobby" is "pasatiempo".

The "pasatiempo" looks almost English. Are there many such examples in Spanish which make the language sound or look like English?

Originally Posted by Awaken

Heck we probably only used regular -ar verbs for the first one =)

So, what categories of verbs are there in Spanish?

Originally Posted by Rusty

'Hobby' has a plural form that matches the English plural. You could also use another word.

”Intereses”?


Let´s get back to characterizing my Spanish teacher:
¡Mi profesora de español es muy exigente! Es una excelente profesora, pero es una impatiente, irracional y loca chica.
Is it ok? And what about the rule on adjectives, which is mentioned above?

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

...
Ella tiene el pelo largo y una sonrisa grande una gran sonrisa.
This is because of the rule concerning the placement of adjectives either before or after the noun depending on whether they describe the reality objectively vs. subjectively.

Una gran sonrisa = "a big smile", much like "smiling ear-to-ear".
Una sonrisa grande = "a big smile": in comparison to other people, a smile that is large in proportion to the face, rather than average or small.

Some adjectives normally appear only before their noun; some adjectives normally appear only after their noun; and some adjectives may appear either before or after their noun, but usually there is a difference in meaning which is not necessarily predictable that you must learn individually for each verb.

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

The "pasatiempo" looks almost English. Are there many such examples in Spanish which make the language sound or look like English?

There are some, but they are arbitrary rather than predictable, so you'll have to learn them as you encounter them.

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

So, what categories of verbs are there in Spanish?

In the context in which the comment was made, there are 3 general classes of verbs: -ar, -er, and -ir (identified by the vowel in the inifinitive ending). There are also schemes for sub-classifying groups of verbs based on different types of irregularities; the goal is to identify groups of verbs that exhibit identical patterns of irregularity, much like English sing/sang/sung groups with ring/rang/rung.

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

”Intereses”?

That's a third possibility, alongside "pasatiempo" and "hobby". However, "pasatiempo" is probably the most-commonly used word to translate "hobby" or "pastime".

Originally Posted by spanishlearner

Let´s get back to characterizing my Spanish teacher:
¡Mi profesora de español es muy exigente! Es una excelente profesora, pero es una impatiente, irracional y loca chica.
Is it ok? And what about the rule on adjectives, which is mentioned above?

In this case the adjective sequence "impaciente, irracional y loca" should follow "chica".

[Don José]

Originally Posted by wrholt

That's a third possibility, alongside "pasatiempo" and "hobby". However, "pasatiempo" is probably the most-commonly used word to translate "hobby" or "pastime".

It is very common here to use the word "hobby". In fact I've found it is in the RAE dictionary. I would say that "hobby" is more frecuent that "pasatiempo". I think "pasatiempos" is mainly used nowdays for crosswords , sudokus and stuff life that.

In this case the adjective sequence "impaciente, irracional y loca" should follow "chica".

Yes, that's the common way. But mind you could also come across "impaciente, irracional y loca chica" in poetry or in some literary works.

The "pasatiempo" looks almost English. Are there many such examples in Spanish which make the language sound or look like English?

In case you don know it, many English words ending in "-tion" will end in "-ción" in Spanish.

Constitution: constitución; distribution: distribución; contribution: contribución; action: acción...