Learn Spanish: Word Of The Day: los pantalones

September 15, 2008Spanish Word Of The DayNo Comments

los pantalones

Today’s Learn Spanish: Word Of The Day is:

(m) los pantalones : pants

Note: (m) denotes a masculine noun, but this noun is commonly plural.

Follow along with this audio file:
Learn Spanish – Word Of The Day – los pantalones

Credits:

Kambrie Balser: pants picture.

Tags: Learn Spanish

Learn Spanish: Lesson 3

September 15, 2008Spanish LessonsNo Comments

In this lesson I will cover two areas: numbers and verb conjugation. Let’s learn Spanish!

Numbers

In Lesson 2 you learned how to count from eleven to twenty. Now that we’ve covered all of the basic numbers, we will learn to count from 21 to 100! Don’t worry, it is easy.

Follow along with the following audio files:
Learn Spanish – Lesson 3 – Numbers 21-30
Learn Spanish – Lesson 3 – Numbers 0-100

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

veinte

veinte y uno

veinte y dos

veinte y tres

veinte y cuatro

veinte y cinco

veinte y seis

veinte y siete

veinte y ocho

veinte y nueve

treinta

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

cero

diez

veinte

treinta

cuarenta

cincuenta

sesenta

setenta

ochenta

noventa

cien

Verb Conjugation

In Lesson 2 we covered the basics of Spanish verb conjugation; now we will dive in head first and conjugate each type of verb in the Presente Indicativo, called the Present Indicative tense in English. There are three types of regular verbs in Spanish: -ar verbs, -ir verbs, and -er verbs. Many verbs follow one of these regular formulas and so by knowing these you will be able to conjugate many verbs!

Regular -ar Verbs

We will start by conjugating ayudar; ayudar is a regular -ar verb meaning ‘to help’.

yo ayudo

tú ayudas

él ayuda

nosotros ayudamos

vosotros ayudáis

ellos/ustedes ayudan

I help, I do help, I am helping

You help, you do help, you are helping

He helps, he does help, he is helping

We help, we do help, we are helping

You-all help, you-all do help, you-all are helping

They help, they do help, they are helping

Because this verb is regular, we can conjugate every regular -ar verb in the same manner; while the beginning of the word changes, the endings will always be as shown above.

Regular -ir Verbs

Our first -ir verb will be insistir which means ‘to insist’.

yo insisto

tú insistes

él insiste

nosotros insistimos

vosotros insistís

ellos/ustedes insisten

I insist, I do insist, I am insisting

You insist, you do insist, you are insisting

He insists, he does insist, he is insisting

We insist, we do insist, we are insisting

You-all insist, you-all do insist, you-all are insisting

They insist, they do insist, they are insisting

Regular -er Verbs

For these verbs we will look at comer which means ‘to eat’.

yo como

tú comes

él come

nosotros comemos

vosotros coméis

ellos/ustedes comen

I eat, I do eat, I am eating

You eat, you do eat, you are eating

He eats, he does eat, he is eating

We eat, we do eat, we are eating

You-all eat, you-all do eat, you-all are eating

They eat, they do eat, they are eating

Now you can conjugate Spanish verbs in the Presente Indicativo. In the next lesson we will expound upon this; this will be the basis of every lesson from here on. Thank you for reading.

Tags: Learn Spanish

Learn French: Word Of The Day: les lunettes

September 14, 2008French Word Of The DayNo Comments

les lunettes

Today’s Learn French: Word Of The Day is:

(f) les lunettes : glasses

Note: (f) means that this is a feminine noun, but this noun is usually plural.

Follow along with this audio file:
Learn French – Word Of The Day – les lunettes

Credits:

Kambrie Balser: glasses picture.

Tags: Learn French

Learn Spanish: Word Of The Day: la camisa

September 13, 2008Spanish Word Of The DayNo Comments

la camisa

Today’s Learn Spanish: Word Of The Day is:

la camisa : shirt

Follow along with this audio file:
Learn Spanish – Word Of The Day – la camisa

Credits:

Kambrie Balser: shirt picture.

Tags: Learn Spanish

Learn French: Word Of The Day: la gare

September 12, 2008French Word Of The DayNo Comments

Today’s Learn French: Word Of The Day is:

la gare

la gare : train station

Follow along with this audio file:
Learn French – Word Of The Day – la gare

Credits:

dentonandrew: trainstation photo.

Tags: Learn French

Learn French: Dictionary and Verb Conjugation

September 12, 2008French ResourcesNo Comments

Purchasing a dictionary may seem like a small issue but it can turn into a world of trouble. When I started learning French years ago, I purchased a cheap dictionary and decided to make do; I had no idea how much trouble it would cause! Cheaper dictionaries tend to be ripe with mistakes and misinformation.

I found myself in a position where I didn’t know which product to purchase in order to get the truest definitions for Parisian French; my good friend and mentor told me exactly which book to get and it has served me well for many years. Today, I’m going to pass along two recommendations for you.

The first is for the Harper Collins Roberts French Dictionary; this is an amazing dictionary. It is bigger and quite heavy, and while it won’t win any ‘quick-reference’ awards, it will surely get you all the information you want in a very clear manner. The translations are perfect and you’ll never feel embarrassed because your cheap dictionary came up with the wrong phrase. If you want to feel more confident in your ability to learn french then you should definitely purchase this dictionary.

The second book I’d like to recommend is Bescherelle. Bescherelle is a verb conjugation book; it is incredibly thin and contains over 12,000 French verbs! A valuable tool for students and travelers, Bescherelles have been staples of learning french for many years. If you were skeptical about the dictionary purchase above, you owe it to yourself to purchase a Bescherelle. They are not very expensive and they are packed with information.