Wednesday, 10 September 2008

questions

it is acceptable for you becomes es aceptable para usted

however, to make it a question, simply add an inflection to the end of the statement, as you would in english, so

is it acceptable for you? becomes ¿es aceptable para usted?

why becomes por qué

why isn't it acceptable for you? becomes ¿por qué no es aceptable para usted?

because the question begins with "why", you may or may not end the question with an inflection - it actually depends on what you want to emphasize within the question. In the example above you may be asking why it isn't acceptable in general or why specifically that person doesn't find it acceptable, just as in English

in Spanish writing, you will find variances of the phrase por qué. Look at Abouts description for more details.

like that or that way becomes a•
the is pronounced like see or sea

it is like that becomes es a•

it is not like that becomes no es a•

it is not possible that way becomes no es posible a•

it is not acceptable for me that way becomes no es aceptable para mi a•

why isn't acceptable for you that way? becomes ¿no es aceptable para usted a•?

i'm sorry becomes lo si•en•to (it i feel)

I becomes yo so I feel (with the emphasis on the I) is yo siento but simply I feel is si•en•to

but becomes pe•ro

I'm sorry but... becomes lo si•en•to pe•ro... 

I'm sorry but it isn't acceptable for me that way becomes lo si•en•to pe•ro no es aceptable para mi a•

I'm sorry but it is not possible that way becomes lo si•en•to pe•ro no es posible a•

Thursday, 21 August 2008

for me and you

for me is pa•ra mi with the mi sounding like the english me

for you is pa•ra us•ted with a very soft d
in actual fact this is becoming more and more of an archaic way of speaking in Spanish as the more modern tu grammar is used. more on this later.

it is for me becomes es pa•ra mi

it is not becomes no es. 
it would be easy to pronounce the no as the english no but it is more like the no~ in nothing.

it is not for you, it is for me becomes no es pa•ra us•ted, es pa•ra mi

it is not possible for me becomes no es pos•i•ble pa•ra mi

it is possible for you becomes es pos•i•ble pa•ra us•ted

it is acceptable for me becomes es a•cep•ta•ble pa•ra mi

it is ~ible and ~able

it is possible becomes es pos•i•ble

it is probable becomes es prob•a•ble

it is terrible becomes es terr•i•ble

it is acceptable becomes es a•cept•a•ble

it is

the word for it is is es

it is actually 1 of 2 words for it is but more about that later

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

words ending in -able and -ible

words ending in -able are mostly the same in english as in spanish but are pronounced differently.

for words ending in -able the syllables are pronounced able with the a as in apple and the ble as in bled. (emphasis is placed on the syllable in bold, in this case, a)

for words ending in -ible the syllables are pronounced eeble (but still spelt -ible) with the ee as in eel and the ble as in bled.

so possible would be pos•i•ble and probable would be prob•a•ble

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

in the beginning...

...i knew no spanish. 

i have tried various techniques and (paid for) learning packs but i always seemed to get so far then hit a brick wall. as it stands, i still can't think in spanish (yet) but i have a good knowledge of the language so i look for your input as well as your attention through this blog.

as a blog, i am not going to discuss pronounciation. michel thomas made a big thing of this which is ok but he didn't take into account regional dialects in english or spanish. anytime i refer to a pronounciation, it is based on how someone from merseyside would say it (because thats where i am from :) )

so, lets begin.