My practice thread

[Esperar]

There's so much to remember. I've been studying for over an hour today, and I still struggle. It's just not registering in my brain.

There are just so many conjugations to the verbs, that my brain melts.

Can someone write down what the most important grammar terms mean, so I can study them? I have a book for them, but they don't explain them well by giving examples, and with there being so many, I forget so quickly.

I think I need to make some sort of a chart for each of the endings to the verbs. Seriously.

[Brandon]

Nouns - The subject to your sentences. They are almost always followed by a direct article (el, la, los, las) or an indirect article (un, una, unos, unas.)

el gato
las plumas

Adjectives - Modify or describe a noun. Can be a description, color, number, etc. Must match gender and number of noun.

el reloj verde
los relojs verdes
la foto vieja
las fotas viejas

Verbs - bring the sentence to life.

-- Present Tense - Actions occurring in the now.
AR - hablar - yo hablo, tú hablas, él habla, nosotros hablamos, vosotros habláis, ellos hablan.
ER - comer - yo como, tú comes, él come, nosotros comemos, vosotros coméis, ellos comen.
IR - vivir - yo vivo, tú vives, él vive, nosotros vivimos, vosotros viví, ellos viven.

-- Preterit Tense - Actions that have been COMPLETED in the past.
AR - hablar - yo hablé, tú hablaste, él habló, nosotros hablamos, vosotros hablasteis, ellos hablaron.
ER - comer - yo comí, tú comiste, él comió, nosotros comimos, vosotros comisteis, ellos comieron.
IR - vivir - yo viví, tú viviste, él vivió, nosotros vivimos, vosotros vivisteis, ellos vivieron.

-- Imperfect Tense - Actions in the past that are ON-GOING.
AR - hablar - yo hablaba, tú hablabas, él hablaba, nostoros hablabamos, vosotros hablabais, ellos hablaban
ER - comer - yo comía, tú comías, él comía, nosotros comíamos, vosotros comíais, ellos comían.
IR - vivir - yo vivía, tú vivías, él vivía, nosotros vivíamos, vosotros vivíais, ellos vivían.

It's a start.

[Esperar]

Oh lord, thank you so much. In plain English unlike these damned books!

[chileno]

Esperar:

At this point I will say this. I am not sure how old you are, but you have been all these years without knowing Spanish, and it seems to me that now you need to learn it by yesterday.

I have seen normal people go crazy over this.

Be careful not to be working against yourself, else you might end up quitting.

You are doing good. Take constant breaks from it, as this process of "learning" can be equated to when you are driving for a long time. One tends to fall asleep with the eyes open.

[Esperar]

Yo hablé a mi padre. - I spoke to my father
Yo comí una manzana. - I ate an apple
Yo vivía en España. - I lived in Spain.

Originally Posted by chileno

Esperar:

At this point I will say this. I am not sure how old you are, but you have been all these years without knowing Spanish, and it seems to me that now you need to learn it by yesterday.

I have seen normal people go crazy over this.

Be careful not to be working against yourself, else you might end up quitting.

You are doing good. Take constant breaks from it, as this process of "learning" can be equated to when you are driving for a long time. One tends to fall asleep with the eyes open.

Tengo 26 años, y tengo hacía aprendizaje desde último año.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Yo hablé a mi padre. - I spoke to my father
Yo comí una manzana. - I ate an apple
Yo vivía en España. - I lived in Spain.

¡Ojo!

I spoke = hablé/hablaba

I ate = comí/comía

I lived = viví/vivía

Usage is going to depend on context.

[Esperar]

Originally Posted by chileno

¡Ojo!

I spoke = hablé/hablaba

I ate = comí/comía

I lived = viví/vivía

Usage is going to depend on context.

This confuses me. Why are there so many 2 different ways?

Hubo cerveza en el bar. - There was beer in the bar.

Habrá gente española en Benidorm cuando yo vaya. - There will be Spanish people in Benidorm when I go.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Here I will be practicing my Spanish. I will probably use it almost every day, but we will see.

¿Puede tener un gráfico de Argentina, si?

I was speaking to someone in Spanish over soccer, I'm gonna use this as my first entry.

I don't know if you are trying to say something like as trafico.

Traffic cars.
Or something seemed to the you are saying there.

In fact the phrase is correcting wrote.

Also you can say.

¿Podria tener un gráfica de Argentina?

Here another example.

¿Podria tener un estimación gráfica de Argentina?
In this last phrase sound more formal than the first ones.
Therefore in my own point of view is more suggested this last phrase.


Now refer to your question.

Hubo cerveza en un bar. - There was beer in the bar.

There was beer in a bar this phrase is correct ! Hubo cerveza en un bar! This part is important already that I drunk me all the beer available in the moment.
It was a joke my hummie.

I spoke during the conference.
Hable durante la conferencia.

This last phrase is wrote in past term.

The Chileno's suggestions are correct in the past tense.

But of course it's your choice!

Good start it.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Tengo 26 años, y tengo hacía aprendizaje desde último año.

I was 25 when I came to the US. Now, I am 56. But I got English, my level< in a year to be comfortable with it and say one more year to refine the way I speak now, my level.

I do not get what you said about your learning... State it in English and I'll help you.

Originally Posted by chileno

¡Ojo!

I spoke = hablé/hablaba

I ate = comí/comía

I lived = viví/vivía

Usage is going to depend on context.

Originally Posted by Esperar

This confuses me. Why are there so many 2 different ways?

For the past tense we have 2 way, I guess you do too? i do not know grammar, but here it goes the way I see it.

Originally Posted by Esperar

Hubo cerveza en un bar. - There was beer in the bar.

Haya españoles en Benidorm cuándo voy. - There will be Spanish people in Benidorm when I go.

There was beer in the bar. = Había/hubo cerveza en el bar.

There was beer in the bar - there was but not anymore = hubo
There was beer in the bar - while something was happening, but it also means that there isn't or it isn't happening anymore = había

There was beer on the floor and he slipped.

There was beer in the bar until the law did not allow it anymore. Había/hubo cerveza en el bar hasta que la ley no lo permitió más.

There will be Spanish people in Benidorm when I go - Habrá gente española en Benidorm cuando (yo) vaya.

[Esperar]

I meant, I'm 26, and I have been learning Spanish since last year, but as you can see, I am not so good yet.

Those last two sentences were my attempt at using different types of verbs..They failed

Can you explain your last sentence in more detail, please?

There was beer in the bar. = Había/hubo cerveza en el bar.

There was beer in the bar - there was but not anymore = hubo
There was beer in the bar - while something was happening, but it also means that there isn't or it isn't happening anymore = había

Perfect explanation. Thank you.

[wafflestomp]

That's the imperfect and the preterite. They are both different. Try these study Spanish lessons, they can help you to better understand it.

The imperfect generally means "used to". If I said "Yo vivía en españa" that means "I used to live in Spain". It is used when there is no definite beginning or end.

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp1.htm

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp2.htm

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp3.htm

Also, note to Brandon, just because the Spanish dict says encender is more appropriate, doesn't mean prender is wrong. I was taught to use Prender from a native speaker from Spain as well as a Native speaker from Venezuela.

[Esperar]

Originally Posted by wafflestomp

That's the imperfect and the preterite. They are both different. Try these study Spanish lessons, they can help you to better understand it.

The imperfect generally means "used to". If I said "Yo vivía en españa" that means "I used to live in Spain". It is used when there is no definite beginning or end.

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp1.htm

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp2.htm

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/pretimp3.htm

Also, note to Brandon, just because the Spanish dict says encender is more appropriate, doesn't mean prender is wrong. I was taught to use Prender from a native speaker from Spain as well as a Native speaker from Venezuela.

Isn't this a little advanced for me? Or should I start learning this now? Also, did you see the post I made trying to use your verbs I made earlier?

Also, the preterite, and imperfect, I'm confused. A preterite is something that has already happened, right? But what's an imperfect?

[wafflestomp]

Not really. Preterite and Imperfect are both beginner verbal tenses. You already mastered most regular verb conjugations in the Present tense. Read through those Study Spanish links on both of them, those will help you distinguish the difference.
We have an imperfect tense in English. It's for things like "I used to eat" or "I was eating when.."

And yes, I saw your trials with my verbs. Brandon helped you correct them already though. Here are some more if you would like to try some more conjugating. Conjugate past and present for all three of them. Try to make a sentence with each too, that will help you out a lot.

Hablar (not irregular, to talk)

Correr (not irregular, to run)

Abrir (not irregular, to open)

[Esperar]

I'll try this tomorrow. Thanks very much for your help.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Isn't this a little advanced for me? Or should I start learning this now? Also, did you see the post I made trying to use your verbs I made earlier?

Also, the preterite, and imperfect, I'm confused. A preterite is something that has already happened, right? But what's an imperfect?

Ok, although I am a beginner, I think I might be able to help you with knowing the difference between preterite and imperfect.

PRETERITE - is used for past tense actions that seem COMPLETED.
-He went.
-They slept.
-Carlos won.
-He bought.

IMPERFECT - is used for past tense actions that do not have a definite beginning/end.
-I used to go.
-The birds were singing.
-Carlos was six.
-Carlos used to go.

Hope that helps!

[Esperar]

I've been busy today, but did a little studying, so will be posting some more Spanish later on!. Thank you very much.

[wafflestomp]

Very good explanation Dustin. I would however change one thing.

"Carlos was six"

Although that's how we would say it in English, you can translate it better, as an imperfect word, to "Carlos used to be six".

[Esperar]

Anduviste por parque. - You walked in the park. - Preterite
Ella anduvo al hotel. She walked to the hotel. - Past
Wafflestomp estuvo muy servicial conmigo. - Past

A question, if I use a present, do all of the verbs have to be in the present in that sentence? If so, does that go for all of the other verbs?

[Brandon]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Anduviste en el parque. - You walked in the park. - Preterite
Ella andaba a el hotel. She walked to the hotel. - Past
Wafflestomp estuvo muy servicial por mi. - Imperfect

Not sure if I'm just misunderstanding you, but when describing the past, there are only two main tenses: preterite and imperfect. There is no "past tense" by itself.

I had a lot of trouble learning to use the two tenses. Here is a couple of tips my teacher told us:

Preterite: Has a specific start and end time/date. If you were telling a story, this would be, usually, the characters action.

Imperfect: Is ongoing, unfinished, or habitual. If you were telling a story, this would be the setting. What happened while the main action was occurring. Use this for emotions, physical appearance, age, etc.

Cuándo era niño, yo recibí un perro.
When I was a child <--- Setting/Age
I received a dog <--- A specific, completed action.

Yo lo amaba. Él me abandanó.
I loved him. <-- A habitual action.
He abandoned me. <-- A specific action, which could be timestamped.

Cuándo me cortó el pelo, yo tenía cinco años.
When I cut my hair <-- A specific, finished actions
I was five years old <-- Setting, age.

[wafflestomp]

Originally Posted by Esperar

Anduviste por el parque. - You walked in the park. - Preterite
Ella anduvo al hotel. She walked to the hotel. - Past
Wafflestomp estuvo muy servicial conmigo. - Past

A question, if I use a present, do all of the verbs have to be in the present in that sentence? If so, does that go for all of the other verbs?

I changed "en" to "por" here because it sounds a lot better. Por has a lot of meanings, it means for in some cases, and also it means "through" like "Andamos por la calle" -- We walk through the street.

Andaba would be the imperfect tense. Anduvo would be used here, as it's a passed event. Also, remember that "a + el" becomes "al".

Remember, estuvo is the past tense. Estaba would be the imperfect here, however, the preterite is going to be used here. You can actually use the verb "estar" or "ser" here, both would be correct. Also, por mi doesn't really convey the right meaning.. I would say "conmigo" -- meaning "with me" in English, but sounding more correct in Spanish than por mi or even "a mi".

Brandon, he means the preterite when he says past tense I'm pretty sure. I say it like that also, although I should say it the right way :P

Also, be wary that there is another verb for to walk in Spanish, "caminar". They are both totally interchangeable though.