Spanish word of the day

Quote: Nareed

If it were up to me I'd make up an article for things and make all nouns neutral. What's the use of gender in nouns?

I second that motion.

If it makes you feel any better, in German there are three variants for "the," masculine, feminine, and neutral.

The latin word for day was dies, the word we get diety from. The days are named after gods.

Ancient languages have a lot of grammar that we do not think are necessary today. Besides gender in nouns, and familiar and formal pronouns, the ancient Greeks had not only first, second, and third person I, you, he/she but they also had a verb form for "two people".

Spanish days are named after Roman gods (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus) while English days are named after Nordic Gods (Týr, 'W'Odin, Thor, Freyja ).

My guess is that the "ie" dipthong is never used at the end of a word, while the "ia" dipthong is frequently used at the end of a word. So one "dies" in Latin got turned into Spanish it changed vowels. But it kept it's inherent masculine root meaning.

I was told that you will never figure out a mnemonic device to remember the genders of all the nouns, and it is something that you just have to brute force memorize.

Proposed word(s) of the day:
The "yo-go" verbs, which are irregular in the first person singular present indicative (the "yo" person) are so critical to communication that they are worth learning early in the process.
caigo: I fall
digo: I say, tell
hago: I make
oigo: I hear
pongo: I put/place/set
salgo: I leave
tengo: I have
vengo: I come

The "imperitivo" mood of these verbs is very frequently used. Although you won't study the imperitive mood for many months, these words are so frequent that you will have trouble getting through a conversation without hearing one. To get imperitive simply change the "o" to and "a".

diga: Talk!
oiga: Listen!
venga: Come here!
salga: Leave! Get out of here!

digame: "Talk to me", is one of the most common expressions in Spansih

I worked with a guy from Puerto Rico, and when he wanted to get someone's attention he would call out something that sounded like "me da!" What was he saying, and how would that be spelled?

He taught us a whole bunch of rude words, so I wouldn't want to use that if he was calling out "listen up, slut!" because that would have struck him as funny.

He was more than likely saying "mirra" It means look. Mirrar= to watch or look at

Quote: FarFromVegas

I worked with a guy from Puerto Rico, and when he wanted to get someone's attention he would call out something that sounded like "me da!" What was he saying, and how would that be spelled?

He taught us a whole bunch of rude words, so I wouldn't want to use that if he was calling out "listen up, slut!" because that would have struck him as funny.

The word is mirar. It means look and you are pronouncing it correctly. It's commonly used to get someone's attention.

Quote: FarFromVegas

I worked with a guy from Puerto Rico, and when he wanted to get someone's attention he would call out something that sounded like "me da!" What was he saying, and how would that be spelled?

It would seem to me he was using a vulgar word for the common end result of the digestive process in most animals. BUt that would be incongrous with calling out for attention.

Quote: FarFromVegas

I worked with a guy from Puerto Rico, and when he wanted to get someone's attention he would call out something that sounded like "me da!" What was he saying, and how would that be spelled?

He taught us a whole bunch of rude words, so I wouldn't want to use that if he was calling out "listen up, slut!" because that would have struck him as funny.

He was saying ¡Mira! or basically Look! . If you are not shouting it means behold!.

The single Spanish r sounds a lot like the English "d." (The same isn't true of the Spanish rr sound, which is trilled.)

At the beginning of words it is trilled, but otherwise a single r is formed by hitting the tongue against the front of the palate. It is sometimes said that the Spanish r" sounds like the "tt" in "little," .

The exact pronunciation varies somewhat with the speaker, the region the person is from, and the placement of the letter in the word.

There is a list of list of Puerto Rican slang which may help you discern what the really dirty words are, but unfortunately you can't always figure out how a word is spelled because of the pronunciation differences.

Fecha: 14 de Mayo
Palabra del dia: GUSTAR


The word of the day, gustar, is a verb I think is best translated as "to please." If you look it up in a dictionary it will probably say "like," because that is how it usually gets translated, but can lead to errors for beginners, like me.

A mistake I've been making for 30 years is to say things like "Yo gusto la biblioteca." This is actually saying "I please the library." If I mean to say "The library pleases me" is should say it like Spanish Mike and say "Me gusta la biblioteca."

In the present tense, and used in this way, there are two ways only to conjugate gustar: gusta and gustan, depending on whether one item or multiple items is doing the pleasing. However, the pronoun before it has four possibilities, depending on who is getting pleased, as follows:

Me gusta/gustan = pleases me.
Te gusta/gustan = pleases you (informal).
Le gusta/gustan = pleases him, her, you (formal).
Les gusta/gustan = pleases them.
Nos gusta/gustan = pleases us.

Here are some ejemplos:

Me gusta vino = Wine pleases me.
Me gustan los libros = Books please me.
Te gustan zapatos = Shoes please you.
Le gusta bailar = Dancing pleases him.
Les gustan gatos = Cats please them.
Nos gustan películas italiano = Italian movies pleases us.

I'm still having a hard time breaking the "yo gusto" habbit. My Spanish teacher is so annoyed with my mistakes that I have to do ten push-ups every time I screw up gustar. Hopefully any mistakes above won't cost me too many.

Quote: Wizard

The word of the day, gustar, is a verb I think is best translated as "to please." If you look it up in a dictionary it will probably say "like," because that is how it usually gets translated, but can lead to errors for beginners, like me.

Actually like is closer in meaning than please. To please is better translated as "agradar." Examples:

Me gusta jugar ruleta = I like playing roulette
No me gusta mi trabajo = I don't like my job