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Hola! Lesson 4 on Basic Spanish!

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Revision

Singular (I) I/We Yo

Plural (We) Nosotros/as

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Revision

Singular You(Informal) You(Formal) T Usted

Plural Vosotros/as Ustedes

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Revision

Singular He/ They (male/mixed) She/ They (female) Ella l

Plural Ellos

Ellas

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Lesson objectives

To-be verb and its usage

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'To-be' verb
Before we move on to topics like conversations and introductions, it is essential to cover the most basic aspect of Spanish : the to-be verb Just like in English, where almost every sentence has a form of the 'to-be' verb like 'is/ am/ are' Spanish also has several forms of the 'to-be' verb

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'To-be' verb
'To-be verb can be translated to ser and estar in Spanish Here are the forms of to-be verb in English: to be I am you are he/she is we are you-all are they are
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'To-be' verb

'To-be verb can be translated to ser and estar in Spanish

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Ser vs. Estar

Ser is used for permanent situations (eg: what something is) while Estar for temporary situations (eg: what something does temporarily) Ser : Soy de America = I am from America (permanent) Estar : Estoy en la oficina = I am at the office (temporary) Spanish uses derived forms of verbs like in this case Ser-> Soy and Ester-> Estoy
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Ser vs. Estar

Ser and Estar are both translations of the to-be verb However, they differ in their usage This lesson will focus on Ser and we will take up Estar in a later lesson

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Ser
Ser = to-be verb (I am, he is, you are); is used to describe: - Physical characteristics - Personality traits - A country/city/place of origin - Time - Ownership - Professions

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Ser

Just like the 'to-be' verb in English, Ser also has several forms depending on the subject So, let's look at Ser and its forms in Spanish

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Forms of Ser

Pronoun Yo (I) Nosotros / Nosotras (We, male / female group)

Corresponding form of Ser soy somos

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Forms of Ser
Pronoun T (You informal) Vosotros (You, plural informal) Usted (You formal) Ustedes (You, plural formal) Corresponding form of Ser Eres sois es son

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Forms of Ser

Pronoun l / Ella (He/ She) Ellos/ Ellas (They, male / female group)

Corresponding form of Ser es son

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Alright...let's revise!

I am You are (informal) You are (formal) He / She is

Yo soy T eres Usted es l / Ella es

We are You are (plural) You are (plural, formal) They are

Nosotros somos Vosotros sois Ustedes son Ellos / Ellas son

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Grammar Tip

As you may have noticed, just like in English, the form of 'to-be' verb or Ser does not depend on the gender of the subject Eg: l es and Ella es

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Grammar Tip

The verbs for Usted/Ustedes work the same as for l/Ellos For singular : we use 'es' For plural : we use 'son'

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Ser - examples
English I (female) am Mexican You (inf.) are Argentinean He is Colombian She is Costa Rican We are Peruvians You (inf, pl.) are Spanish You are Venezuelans Spanish Yo soy mexicana T eres argentino l es colombiano Ella es costarricense Nosotros somos peruanos Vosotros sois espaoles Ustedes son venezolanos

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Do you remember?

Do you remember that nationalities are not capitalized in Spanish? In Spanish, although names of countries and cities are capitalized, words derived from them (eg: nationalities) are not!

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Exercise : Pick the right form of 'Ser'

I am = Yo __

1
soy

2
es

3
sois

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Solution

I am = Yo soy

1
soy

2
es

3
sois

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Exercise : Pick the right form of 'Ser'

Carlos and you are = Carlos y t __

1
soy

2
somos

3
sois

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Solution

Carlos and you are = Carlos y t sois

1
soy

2
somos

3
sois

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Exercise : Pick the right form of 'Ser'

You (inf, sing.) are = T ___

1
es

2
eres

3
son

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Solution

You (inf, sing.) are = T eres

1
es

2
eres

3
son

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Exercise : Pick the right form of 'Ser'

Carlos and I are (We are) = Carlos y Yo __

1
es

2
somos

3
son

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Solution

Carlos and I are (We are) = Carlos y Yo somos

1
es

2
somos

3
son

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Exercise : Pick the right form of 'Ser'

Carlos and Jos are = Carlos y Jos __

1
sois

2
somos

3
son

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Solution

Carlos and Jos are = Carlos y Jos son

1
sois

2
somos

3
son

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Try yourself

I am American American = americano

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Solution

I am American

Yo soy americano

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Grammar Tip : Omitting pronouns

The verb forms often make some pronouns (like Yo) unnecessary Hence, Yo soy americano can also be translated as Soy americano

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Revision

I am You are (informal) You are (formal) He / She is

Yo soy T eres

We are You are (plural)

Nosotros somos Vosotros sois

Usted es l / Ella es

You are (plural, formal) They are

Ustedes son Ellos / Ellas son

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Culture leaf

An important Spanish holiday is 'Semana Santa' (Holy Week) It is celebrated a week before Easter

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Culture leaf

People honour local patron saints People decorate the streets, build bonfires, set off fireworks and hold large parades, bullfights, and beauty contests

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Whats next?

In the next lesson we move on to conversations with a focus on introductions!

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Credits
Content Team CultureAlley, Okairy Zuiga, Tomasa Merino Martn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semana_Santa Voice over Jorge Garcia Rey Pictures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_173v__The_Entr y_into_Jerusalem.jpg
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See you at the Alley!

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Practice Game: Just type what you hear

Start Game

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