Lost in Spanish

[jamlech]

Im using Rosetta stone and am running into some words and small phrases that are confusing me. The pictures are not making it clear to me. Here they are:

son rubios
somos canosos
soy pelirroja
somos rubias
es canosa

I am also having trouble with estoy and tengo. I notice in RS they dont say estoy frio but tengo frio. Why is this? Estoy means I am...what does tengo mean.

Please help me anyone. Im confused.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by jamlech

Im using Rosetta stone and am running into some words and small phrases that are confusing me. The pictures are not making it clear to me. Here they are:

son rubios
somos canosos
soy pelirroja
somos rubias
es canosa

I am also having trouble with estoy and tengo. I notice in RS they dont say estoy frio but tengo frio. Why is this? Estoy means I am...what does tengo mean.

Please help me anyone. Im confused.

To be and to have are the verbs you'll have to get accustomed, just as we, Spanish speakers had to with the English counterpart. :-)

Don't worry, you are just picking it up, and already made the connection between "tengo frío" and "I am cold", you are doing fine!

[Rusty]

The verb ser (a linking verb in these sentences) means 'to be', but it appears in its conjugated form. If you don't already know these forms, the conjugations of verbs can be found in this site by typing in the infinitive (ser) in the box in the upper lefthand corner of the page, and selecting 'Conjugations'. You'll find that soy means I am; somos means we are.

The other word in the sentences is the 'predicate adjective' (or subjective complement). To find it in the dictionary, you need to convert the word into the normal 'dictionary entry' form. In the case of rubios, you should be able to see that the word has a plural ending. The dictionary entry will not be pluralized, so drop the final 's'. You'll find the word means blonde.
The dictionary entry is usually listed in a masculine form (ending in o), but not always. If you can't find the word pelirroja (which has a feminine ending), switch the ending to the masculine form.
Does that help you figure out the first several sentences?

Tener frío (note the accent) means 'to be cold'. These kinds of phrases need to be memorized, because they won't make sense otherwise. That is the way to say 'to be cold' in Spanish, and it won't transliterate back into English.

Estoy (from the infinitive estar) also means I am, but you must learn whether to use estar or ser. There is a great thread about when to use which one here in the forums.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by jamlech

Im using Rosetta stone and am running into some words and small phrases that are confusing me. The pictures are not making it clear to me. Here they are:

son rubios
somos canosos
soy pelirroja
somos rubias
es canosa

I am also having trouble with estoy and tengo. I notice in RS they dont say estoy frio but tengo frio. Why is this? Estoy means I am...what does tengo mean.

Please help me anyone. Im confused.

Hello.

Don't fret with your phrases.
Here I leave you an advises.

son rubios ( Son rubios, Soy rubio, Somos rubios.)
somos canosos ( Son canosos, Soy canoso, Somos canosos)
soy pelirroja
somos rubias
es canosa

With those examples you can finish the other phrases of your question.

[wafflestomp]

Originally Posted by jamlech

Im using Rosetta stone and am running into some words and small phrases that are confusing me. The pictures are not making it clear to me. Here they are:

son rubios = Ellos
somos canosos = Nosotros
soy pelirroja Yo
somos rubias Nosotras
es canosa Él/Ella/Usted

I am also having trouble with estoy and tengo. I notice in RS they dont say estoy frio but tengo frio. Why is this? Estoy means I am...what does tengo mean.

Please help me anyone. Im confused.

Hello
I use Rosetta Stone also. The tengo/estoy can be confusing. Trust me, once you go through Rosetta a lot and go through the random recall lessons you'll remember.
Making an estoy frío mistake is very embarrassing (I know from firsthand experience) because it takes a sexual meaning

I explained above in the quote by putting the subject pronouns, hopefully that helps you. I know Rosetta introduces the subject pronouns. Like rusty said, the subject pronoun is not necessary for a lot of the forms (yo,tú,nosotros,vosotros especially) because the meaning is already understood. You generally will need it for the él and ellos forms because you can't tell the gender of the person or what the object is.

[jamlech]

Now i know what my problem is. They are explaining the colors of the hair on people. Here is the kicker....Im color blind so I cant tell the different colors of hair lol. Hahahahaha...too funny.

[Rusty]

Pictures aren't always worth a thousand words.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by jamlech

Now i know what my problem is. They are explaining the colors of the hair on people. Here is the kicker....Im color blind so I cant tell the different colors of hair lol. Hahahahaha...too funny.

Exactly they are explaining the hair colour of the people who are walking near of to them.

[Tomisimo]

Others have already responded with correct information. In my opinion, too much overt study of grammar, especially in the initial stages of learning, can actually inhibit your learning the language (it will activate Krashen's affective filter, if you want the technical details).

Anyway, the point being that sometimes it's good to just learn what a word or phrase means without trying to wrap your head around exactly why it means that and how all the internal grammar and syntax work. You can slowly pick up the grammar as you go along and when you are ready for it.

So...

son rubios - They are blond (They have blond hair)
somos canosos - We are gray-haired (we have gray hair)
soy pelirroja - I am red-headed (I am a red-head / I have red hair) ["I" is a woman]
somos rubias - We are blonde (We have blonde hair) ["we" is a group of women]
es canosa - She has gray hair (She is gray-haired)

Side note-- son, somos, soy, and es are all conjugations of "ser" - "to be".

I am also having trouble with estoy and tengo. I notice in RS they dont say estoy frio but tengo frio. Why is this? Estoy means I am...what does tengo mean.

estoy = I am
tengo = I have

The tricky part here is that in Spanish you have to say "I have cold" instead of saying "I am cold".

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Just adding to what has been said, I hope it won't become more confusing:

When describing someone or something, "ser" talks about an inherent characteristic of a person. "Tener" talks about a characteristic, focused on something "external" to the subject.

Eres muy alto. - You're very tall.
Mis amigos son flacos. - My friends are thin.
Juan es calvo. - Juan is bald. -> Juan no tiene cabello. - Juan doesn't have any hair.
Soy morena. - I'm dark-skinned. -> Tengo piel morena. - I have dark skin.
Soy castaña. - I'm brown-haired. -> Tengo el cabello castaño. - I have dark hair.


As for being hungry, cold, etc., the difference is that in English this kind of expression needs an adjective and we use nouns in Spanish:

We're hungry. - Tenemos hambre.
Are you cold? - ¿Tienes frío?
The baby is sleepy. - El bebé tiene sueño.
I'm hot. - Tengo calor.