Need some help!

[Jferstler]

Do you have any tips for a very beginner? The most in dept I can get in a spanish conversation is asking where there from, and what time it is. I'll start a conversation, and can someone reply to me? I'll keep going as long as I can and I'll ask for help a long the way.

I'll start:

Hola Senor/a. Como Estas Usted?

[tacuba]

Originally Posted by Jferstler

Do you have any tips for a very beginner? The most in dept I can get in a spanish conversation is asking where there from, and what time it is. I'll start a conversation, and can someone reply to me? I'll keep going as long as I can and I'll ask for help a long the way.

I'll start:

Hola Senor/a. Como Estas Usted?

You're opening remarks should read "Hola señor. ¿Cómo está usted?
If you're talking with a friend, you would say ¿Cómo estás?

I'll reply:

Buenas noches Jferstler. Estoy bien. ¿Y tú?

[Jferstler]

Bien gracias, ¿y usted?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

"¿Y usted?" is redundant... you've already asked that.

To continue the conversation:

Me da gusto, Jferstler.
(I'm glad -that you're fine.)
Yo vivo en la Ciudad de México. ¿Tú dónde vives?
(I live in Mexico City. Where do you live?)


*I'm using "tú", as we rarely use "usted" in the forums, but the question with formal speech would have been "¿Usted dónde vive?"

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by Jferstler

Do you have any tips for a very beginner? The most in dept I can get in a spanish conversation is asking where there from, and what time it is. I'll start a conversation, and can someone reply to me? I'll keep going as long as I can and I'll ask for help a long the way.

I'll start:

Hola Senor/a. Como Estas Usted?

I would start the conversation using this words and highlighting this points.

How are you Sr.?
Como esta seño?

I hope you are fine.
Espero que este bién.

How did you going these last few days?

Como le ha ido estos ultimos dias.?

I hope those instances can help you in something. I know, I'm not expert in English but I can reach a conversation with someone in English, then I would use that words inside of my conversation, I think that can result more nature in addiction you can resolve some translations in your brain before the other person finish with the new phrase for you.

[Jferstler]

Okay, My teacher has taught us a bit different. Tell me if these are right. Please excuse my lack of accents, I don't understand how to use them.

Hola Senor, Como Estas usted?
(Hello Sir, How are you doing?)

Hola!, Muy bien, gracias. Y Tu?
(Hello!, I'm Very well, thank you. And you?)

Me Bueno. Como Te llamos usted?
(I'm good. What is your name?)

Me llamo Jose, y tu?
(My name is Jose, and you?)

Me Llamo Carlos, tiene el lapiz, senor?
(My name is Carlos, do you have a pencil sir?)

Lo siento, no tengo el lapiz.
( I'm sorry. I don't have a pencil)

No me hableis ahora
(Don't speak to me now)

Por que no?
(Why not?)

Mi madre no me da ninguna lapizes, lo siento
(My mom did not give me any pencils, I'm sorry.

No te preocupes
(Don't worry)

Is any of that right? If not I have to reevaluate my schooling! haha.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Jferstler

Hola Senor, Como Estas usted?
(Hello Sir, How are you doing?)
Hola, señor. ¿Cómo está usted? This is a proper first-time greeting. Notice the correct verb conjugation for 'usted'.

Hola!, Muy bien, gracias. Y Tu?
(Hello!, I'm Very well, thank you. And you?)
¡Hola! Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y usted? It would be very unusual for someone to respond to you using 'tú' after you just addressed them using 'usted'.

Me Bueno. Como Te llamos usted?
(I'm good. What is your name?)
Estoy bien. ¿Cómo se llama? For 'usted', 'se llama' is used. You would use 'te llamas' if you were speaking to a child. Here in the forums, we treat each other on a familiar basis (tú), but you wouldn't use this form with an adult.

Me llamo Jose, y tu?
(My name is Jose, and you?)
Me llamo José. ¿Y usted?

Me Llamo Carlos, tiene el lapiz, senor?
(My name is Carlos, do you have a pencil sir?)
Me llamo Carlos. ¿Tiene un lápiz, señor?

Lo siento, no tengo el lapiz.
( I'm sorry. I don't have a pencil)
No, no tengo un lápiz. Lo siento.

No me hableis ahora
(Don't speak to me now)
No me hable ahora. Since there are four Spanish words for 'you' (and one more you may learn later), you need to decide which one fits. The ending I used is for 'usted'. If the subject were 'tú', the ending for the negated command would be 'es' (the ending for a normal command would be 'a'). If the plural 'ustedes' were meant, the ending would be 'en'. If the plural vosotros were meant, then you wouldn't have to change a thing, except adding the correct accent mark, because that ending is 'éis'. These are the endings for -ar verbs.

Por que no?
(Why not?)
¿Por qué no?

Mi madre no me da ninguna lapizes, lo siento
(My mom did not give me any pencils, I'm sorry.
Mi madre no me dio ningunos lápices. Lo siento. The past tense was used in your English sentence, so you need to use the correct past tense in Spanish. The demonstrative adjective (determiner) 'ninguno' must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. A final 'z' is changed to a 'c' when the word is pluralized.

No te preocupes.
(Don't worry.)

There's an 'Accents' drop-down menu just above where you type. It can be used for the all the special characters. But perhaps you're not using accents because you haven't been taught to use them.

I would venture a guess that your teacher is teaching you well, judging from how many things you got right. Focus on matching the subject to the verb and matching gender and number when using adjectives.

Learn how to use accent marks! They're not optional.

[Jferstler]

Thanks Alot!

Yeah, we haven't learned accents yet. So I don't know how to use them.

I seem to know a lot of words, I just have trouble with the technical singular and plural and subject and everything.... To complicated for me right now.

Mi madre no me dio ningunos lápices. Lo siento.

What is the "dio"?

[Rusty]

Ah, the technicalities. Those are the very important to master.

'Dio' is the past tense of 'da'. 'Da' is the 3rd-person singular, present indicative form of 'dar'. The 3rd-person singular, preterite indicative form is 'dio'.
Have you had a chance to look at a verb chart - one that shows ALL the conjugations of a verb? Have a look here or here. The first verb chart comes from this site. To get there in the future you can type in the infinitive form of the verb in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and select the 'Conjugations' tool.
The other website lets you type in the infinitive OR any conjugation of the verb, including the negative form.
Find the two different tenses I mentioned (present indicative and preterite indicative) in each chart. Familiarize yourself with all the various endings, in case you haven't been exposed to them.
Check out other verbs while you're studying, like hablar. Look at its imperative mood (command form). In the second link I provided, you can type in 'no hablar' to see the negated verb. Check out the negated imperative mood for the same verb and you'll see that it changes for the 2nd-person.

[ChilenoAlemanCanada]

Originally Posted by Jferstler

Thanks Alot!

Yeah, we haven't learned accents yet. So I don't know how to use them.

Accents are used to indicate where the stress is in the word. As an example, I'll use corazón (heart).

Now, normally, the stress on a word ending with an N would be on the second-to-last syllable. The accent on the O indicates that the stress is places on the last syllable instead. Basically, when the stress in a word goes somewhere that it wouldn't normally, an accent is placed. They're also used to differentiate between homonyms, like tú(you) and tu(your).

[Jferstler]

Thanks.

What can you tell me about the verbs tiene (tengo) and ser?

I'm sorry for asking so many qustions. I truly am a beginner.

[Rusty]

Tener and ser.
These verbs have definite meanings - to have and to be - but they are also used in idiomatic ways. For example, in English we say "I am fifteen years old," (using the 'to be' verb), but in Spanish you need to use "Tengo quince años."

Take my word for it. You'll want to use the 'ñ' when you write that!!! Look up the difference in a dictionary!

[Jferstler]

could you give me a sentence using ser?

[Rusty]

Soy estudiante de español.
This sentence begins with the 1st-person singular present indicative tense of the verb.

Ser o no ser, esa es la cuestión.
This sentence uses both the infinitive and the 3rd-person singular present indicative tense of the verb.

¿Cómo es ella?
In this sentence, ser is used to ask about someone's characteristics (it's translation is "What is she like?" The other 'to be' verb - estar - is used to ask how someone feels (is doing).
¿Cómo está ella? (How is she?)