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Spanish 1/School

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Chapter 4 (School)

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Schedule

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  • el horario - schedule
  • almuerzo - lunch
  • clase - class
  • clase de ... - ... class
  • matemáticas - math (mathematics)
  • ciencias sociales - social studies
  • banda - band
  • educación física - PE (physical education)
  • inglés - English
  • arte - art
  • tecnología - (technology)
  • computación - computers (technology)
  • drama - drama
  • ciencias naturales - science
  • español - spanish
  • historia - history
  • álgebra - algebra
  • horario - schedule
  • en la ... hora - in the ... hour (class period) e.g.: in the fourth hour
  • tarea - homework

School verbs

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  • enseñar - to teach
  • estudiar - to study
  • hablar - to talk

Words to talk about order

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  • primero(a) - first
  • segundo(a) - second
  • tercero(a) - third
  • cuarto(a) - fourth
  • quinto(a) - fifth
  • sexto(a) - sixth
  • séptimo(a) - seventh
  • octavo(a) - eighth
  • noveno(a) - ninth
  • décimo(a) - tenth

School supplies

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  • calculadora - calculator
  • carpeta de argollas - three-ring binder
  • diccionario - dictionary
  • necesito - I need
  • necesitas - you need
  • bolsa/bolso - bag
  • mochila - backpack
  • morral - backpack
  • sacapuntas - sharpener
  • papel - paper
  • cuaderno - notebook
  • computadora - computer
  • ordenador - computer (Spain)
  • audífonos - headphones
  • marcador(es) - marker

Words to describe classes

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  • aburrido(a) - boring
  • difícil - difficult
  • divertido(a) - amusing/fun
  • fácil - easy
  • favorite(a) - favorite
  • Interesante - interesting
  • práctico(a) - practical
  • más ... que - more ... than
  • alegre - joyful

Other words

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  • a ver ... - Let's see ...
  • ¿Quién? - Who?
  • para - for
  • mucho - a lot, much
  • tengo - I have
  • tienes - you have

Pronouns

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Pronouns are essential to the Spanish language and mastering them will be very useful in the language. In Spanish, these are the SUBJECT PRONOUNS. Pronouns have "person" (First, Second or Third) and "number (singular or plural)."


First I (singular) we (plural) Second you (singular) you (you all - plural) Third he, she, it (singular) they (plural)

The Spanish equivalents of the English subject pronouns are

  • yo - I
  • tú - you (familiar)
  • usted (Ud.) - you (formal)
  • él - he (*Note there is no subject pronoun in Spanish for the English "it" because all nouns are either "he" or "she" and have gender.)
  • ella - she
  • nosotros - we (masculine)
  • nosotras - we (feminine)
  • vosotros - you (plural, familiar, masculine)
  • vosotras - you (plural, familiar, feminine)
  • ustedes (Uds.) - you (plural, formal)
  • ellos - they (masculine)
  • ellas - they (feminine)

There are two forms for "we" - nosotros and nosotras, if all guys or guys and gals then "we" would be "nosotros." If "we" refers to all women or females, then "nosotras" is used. The same is true for "vosotros" and "vosotras."

1st person singular: yo

2nd person singular: tú, usted (Ud.) (*Note the familiar and formal, different from English)

3rd person singular: él, ella

1st person plural: nosotros, nosotras

2nd person plural: vosotros, vosotras, ustedes (Uds.) (*Note that in English the plural of "you" is "you.")

3rd person plural: ellos, ellas

Notes

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  • The masculine form of the plural pronouns is always used if there is a masculine object, for example, even if there are 100 females and only 1 male, ellos is still used when talking about the crowd.
  • Vosotros and Vosotras, the English equivalent of "y'all" are mainly used in Spain, but they are also used in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay at a lesser extent and rarely in the United States. For the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, use Ustedes (Uds.), which is the formal way of saying you (plural) in all Spanish-speaking countries.

Conjugating -ar verbs

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The majority of verbs in Spanish end in -ar, such as bailar, cantar, and hablar. Conjugating verbs replaces the to part of the word and adds the pronouns in.

Below is the list of endings for conjugating -ar verbs. You "chop off" the -ar and add the appropriate ending. At the end of each Spanish verb the subject is "built-in," and in fact, in communication, many times the subject pronoun is omitted because of these specific endings.

  • yo: -o
  • tú: -as
  • usted (Ud.), él, ella: -a
  • nosotros, nosotras: -amos
  • vosotros, vosotras: -áis
  • ustedes (Uds.), ellos, ellas: - an

Note: Usted and ustedes use the 3rd person form of conjugation.

An example of conjugating -ar verbs, using hablar:

  • hablo - I talk
  • hablas - you talk (singular)
  • habla - he/she talks
  • hablamos - we talk
  • habláis - you talk (plural)
  • hablan - they talk

Remember that when talking to a person you don't know well or a respected person, use the usted (Ud.) form and ustedes (Uds.) form when talking to a group of people where there is at least one person you call usted individually.

Vocabulario adicional

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  • griego - Greek
  • biología - biology
  • geografía - geography
  • geometría - geometry
  • química - chemistry
  • trigonometría - trigonometry
  • francés - French
  • cálculo - calculus
  • economía - economics
  • alemán - German
  • latín - Latin
  • anuario - yearbook
  • fotografía - photography

Cultural Insight (School life in Spanish-speaking countries)

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In Spanish-speaking countries, school life is very different from that in North American English-speaking countries. Schools in Spanish-speaking countries require students to wear uniforms and teachers usually lecture more than having students participate in the classroom. Also, children in Spanish-speaking countries go to school more often than those in North - American English-speaking countries, children in Spain attend school for 190 days, Argentina for 185 days, while the United States school year lasts 180 days. School days in Spanish-speaking countries also last longer than those in other countries, usually having at least 6-7 periods a day, the former common in the USA as well.

Country focus (República Dominicana)

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The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a nation located in the Caribbean region's island of Hispaniola. Part of the Greater Antilles archipelago, Hispaniola lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. Its western third is the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are occupied by two countries, Saint Martin being the other.

The Dominican Republic is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, its capital Santo Domingo, which was also the first colonial capital in the Americas. It is the site of the first cathedral, university, European-built road, European-built fortress, and more.

For most of its independent history, the nation experienced political turmoil and unrest, suffering through many non-representative and tyrannical governments. Since the death of military dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina in 1961, the Dominican Republic has moved toward a liberal economic model which has made it the largest economy in the region and a representative democracy.

 
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The culture of the Dominican Republic, like its Caribbean neighbors, is a blend of the European colonists, Taínos and Africans, and their cultural legacies and like nearby Cuba, it's culture is usually expressed through music and cuisine.

Factbox:

-Official Language: Spanish

-Other Languages: French, Haitian Creole, English

-Capital: Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo de Guzmán)

-Government: Democracy

-Area: 48,730 sq km (18,815 sq mi) (130th)

-Population: 10,090,000 (2009) (82nd)

-Religion: Christianity (mostly Catholic) 96%, Animism 2.18%, Buddhism 0.1%, other (Bahá'í, Islam, Judaism, Non-religious) 1.72%

-Human Development: 0.777 (90th, MEDIUM)

 
View of rural Dominican Republic.

-Independence: February 27, 1844

-Currency: Dominican Peso

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