Tell Me, Who Was Lucky?

Introduction

This post is about verb conjugation -the preterite tense, indicative mood of irregular verb tener.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague about someone having been lucky. The other person wants to know more about it and says: "tell me, who was lucky?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿quién tuvo suerte?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿quién tuvo suerte?

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OUR TIP

Making a sentence which answers that question should be straightforward -remember:

• Make sure that you conjugate your verb correctly
• Choose between formal or familiar options to suit the occasion -see examples below.

Typical answers could be:

• Yo tuve^* suerte ( I was lucky);
• Tú tuviste^* suerte, ¿no? (you -familiar were lucky, weren't you?);
• Usted tuvo^*suerte, ¿no? (you -formal, were lucky, weren't you?);
• Pedro tuvo^* suerte (Pedro was lucky);
• María tuvo^* suerte (Maria was lucky);
• Todos tuvimos^* suerte (we were all lucky);
• Vosotros tuvisteis^* suerte, ¿no? (you -familiar/ plural were lucky, weren't you?);
• Ustedes tuvieron^* suerte, ¿no? (you -formal/ plural were lucky, weren't you?);
• Pedro y María tuvieron^* suerte (Pedro and Maria were lucky);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿quién tuvo suerte?

*Please see grammar topic below, Verbs

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Verbs

A verb is a 'doing' word which conveys:

• What action takes place in a sentence
• Who does that action
• When that action occurs.

In addition, the verb may also convey the mood or feelings of the speaker toward the action which takes place. The verb may, for example, indicate whether the speaker is stating a fact, expressing a wish or indeed giving an order.

Irregular Verbs

Verb: tener

The Spanish verb tener is irregular^* in some tenses, as shown in the table below:

Tense	Mood	Regular	Irregular
Present	Indicative		✓
Imperfect	Indicative	✓
Preterite	Indicative		✓
Future	Indicative		✓
Conditional	Indicative		✓
Perfect	Indicative	✓
Pluperfect	Indicative	✓
Future Perfect	Indicative	✓
Conditional Perfect	Indicative	✓
Present	Subjunctive		✓
Imperfect	Subjunctive		✓
Perfect	Subjunctive	✓
Pluperfect	Subjunctive	✓

* NB:

• Conjugate tenses in the regular column the same as other regular verbs ending in -er
• The preterite tense conjugation/ indicative mood is shown below

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Indicative Mood/ Preterite Tense - Conjugation

Verb: tener

Subject		TENER (TO HAVE)
I	Yo	TUVE
You	Tú	TUVISTE
You	Usted*	TUVO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	TUVIMOS
You	Vosotros**	TUVISTEIS
You	Ustedes***	TUVIERON
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

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Verb Conjugation Notes

It is worth remembering once more that in its basic form (infinitive), a Spanish verb is just a general 'doing' word. In that form, a verb simply indicates an action and nothing else. If we want a verb to be more specific about the action in a sentence, we need to conjugate it. It is only when conjugated that the verb indicates:

• Who does the action
• When the action takes place
• The mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action

The conjugation tables above refer to using conjugation to establish who does the action. What follows below are some notes on establishing when the action takes place and the mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Subjunctive Mood

The use of subjunctive mood is disappearing English. Nowadays is often viewed as an old and unfashionable form of the language.

In contrast, the use of subjunctive mood is very much alive and in everyday use in Spanish. This widespread use of subjunctive mood tends to be the bane of many a learner of Spanish from the English speaking world.

The concept of subjunctive mood is perhaps best illustrated by contrasting its use against the use of indicative mood with examples in English. The following are a couple of examples which should serve that purpose:

• Indicative mood (“Peter eats an apple”).- Indicative mood is commonly used to make statements of facts or positive beliefs such as this one. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes above), the speaker makes a clear and unambiguous statement of a fact (Peter eats an apple).
• Subjunctive mood (“Peter would eat an apple if he were hungry”).- In contrast with indicative mood, subjunctive mood is commonly used to make statements indicating hypothetical or non-fact actions. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes), in this case the speaker sees the action of eating an apple as something hypothetical, something which may or may not happen (Peter would eat an apple... if he were hungry).

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses relate to setting the time period (when) during which the action of the verb takes place. Basic times (periods) for Spanish verb actions are:

• The past (before now)
• The present (now)
• The future (after now)

Each Spanish verb tense corresponds to one of those basic time periods. In other words choosing a verb tense places the action of the verb in one of those basic periods and determines when the action takes place.

Now you should practise the use of the preterite tense of the irregular verb tener with some examples of your own.

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Cazo

Today's WOTD is: "cazo" = ladle

In Spanish, “cazo” is a masculine noun of uncertain Latin origin, the main meaning of which is ladle, as in:

• Usamos ese cazo para servir la sopa (we use that ladle to serve the soup);

The noun “cazo” may also mean a ladleful -a quantity or amount, as in:

• En ese plato caben más de cinco cazos de sopa (that plate is big enough to hold more than five ladles of soup)

In addition, the noun “cazo” is often used to refer to the bucket of a mechanical/ industrial digger or excavator, as in:

• Se vende cazo para máquina excavadora (digger/ excavator bucket for sale);

Some Spanish expressions with the word “cazo” are:

• Mano de cazo (left handed person -colloquial)
  • No sabía que eras mano de cazo (I didn't know you were left handed)
• Meter alguien el cazo (to put one's foot in it/ in one's mouth -colloquial)
  • Me parece que metí el cazo (I think I put my foot in it/ in my mouth)
• Poner alguien el cazo (to accept cash or other unearned rewards in a concealed and often obsequious or subservient manner^* -colloquial)
  • El amor propio no les permite poner el cazo (their self-esteem does not allow them to accept unearned rewards/ backhanders)

Notes

* NB The expression “poner el cazo” is often used to refer to the actions of people who slavishly accept rewards or backhanders and in doing so contribute to perpetuate an unequal and unfair situation.

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "cazo" in the YouTube clip: Cruz yraya - Parodia, pon el cazo

For more on the word "cazo", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Cazo

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Tell Me, What Is A “Quinto”?

Introduction

This post is about Spanish fractions^* in general, and fraction un quinto in particular.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are in a bar having a drink with with a relative, a friend or a work colleague.

Hearing someone order a “quinto de cerveza”, the other person says to you: tell me, what is a “quinto”?

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿qué es un quinto?

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿qué es un quinto?

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OUR TIP

The question is quite straightforward. You should be able to answer that question with relative ease.

Remember that the main meaning of the word “quinto” is, a fifth. As it happens, a fifth of a litre (20 cl.) is also a very common size of beer bottle. It is for that reason that in many parts “un quinto de cerveza”¹ is how people refer to a small-sized bottle of beer. In some parts a bottle of beer of that size is known as a “botellín” -literally, small bottle.

With that in mind, you could say:

• Un quinto es la fracción 1/5 (“un quinto” is the fraction 1/5);
• Un quinto de litro es la quinta parte de un litro (a “quinto de litro” is a fifth of a litre);
• Un quinto de cerveza es la quinta parte de un litro de cerveza ( a “quinto de cerveza” is a fifth of a litre of beer);
• Aquí, un quinto de cerveza es una botella pequeña de cerveza (here a “quinto de cerveza” is a small-sized bottle of beer);
• Aquí, a un quinto de cerveza se le llama un botellín (here a “quinto de cerveza” is called a small-sized bottle of beer);

Notes

1 – Please note that the terms used to refer to specific types and quantities of beer tend to vary from place to place. Although the 20cl bottle is pretty much standard, that bottle may well be better known by a name other than a “quinto” or a “botellín” in some places. The bar we refer to in this post is a place where “un quinto” is accepted terminology. The use of “aquí” (here) in some of the answers indicates that, whilst a “quinto de cerveza” is a locally accepted term, it might not be so somewhere else.

Now you should practise answering the question:

Dime, ¿qué es un quinto?

*See some commonly used Spanish fractions below

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*Spanish Fractions

A list of commonly used Spanish fractions is shown in Table 1 below:

English	Noun	Adjective
one/ a half	un medio	medio media la mitad
one/ a third	un tercio	la tercera parte
one/ a quarter	un cuarto	la cuarta parte
one/ a fifth	un quinto	la quinta parte
one/ a sixth	un sexto	la sexta parte
one/ a seventh	un séptimo	la séptima parte
one/ a eight	un octavo	la octava parte
one/ a ninth	un noveno	la novena parte
one/a tenth	un décimo	la décima parte
one/a eleventh	un onceavo	la onceava parte la undécima parte
one/a twelfth	un doceavo	la doceava parte la duodécima parte
one/a thirteenth	un treceavo	la treceava parte
one/ a fourteenth	un catorceavo	la catorceava parte
one/ a fifteenth	un quinceavo	la quinceava parte
one/ a sixteenth	un dieciseisavo	la dieciseisava parte
one/a seventeenth	un diecisieteavo	la diecisieteava parte
one/ a eighteenth	un dieciochoavo	la dieciochoava parte
one/ a nineteenth	un diecinueveavo	la diecinueveava parte
one/ a twentieth	un veinteavo	la veinteava parte
one/ a hundredth	un centésimo una centésima	la centésima parte
one/ a thousandth	un milésimo una milésima	la milésima parte
one/ a millionth	un millonésimo una millonésima	la millonésima parte

Table 1 – Spanish Fractions

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Friday 20th Of February 2015

Question:

How do you say today's date in Spanish?

Answer:
Hoy es viernes veinte
de febrero de dos mil quince.






Vocabulary notes:

1. Today is = Hoy es
2. Friday = viernes
3. The 20th = veinte
4. Of February = de febrero
5. 2015 = de dos mil quince
6. In Spanish, we say "20" instead of "the 20th"
7. In Spanish we literally say: "of 2015"

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Is Anybody In A Hurry?

Introduction

This post deals with a typical use of the verb tener*.

See more practical examples of tener

SCENARIO

Imagine you are with a couple of work colleagues.

You are trying to complete some task before leaving when someone says: "is anybody in a hurry?"

In Spanish, the other person could say:

¿Alguien tiene prisa?

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OUR TIP

Answering this question should be straightforward. Naming someone who is in a hurry may be sufficient. However, you may use the expression tener prisa to make your answer more informative.

Here are some examples of how you could use that expression:

• Yo tengo prisa (I am in a hurry);
• Yo no tengo prisa (I am not in a hurry);
• Tú tienes prisa, ¿verdad? (you are in a hurry, aren't you -familiar);
• Tú no tienes prisa, ¿verdad? (you are not in a hurry, are you -familiar);
• Usted tiene prisa, ¿verdad? (you are in a hurry, aren't you -formal);
• Usted no tiene prisa, ¿verdad? (you are not in a hurry, are you -formal);
• Pedro tiene prisa (Pedro is in a hurry);
• Pedro no tiene prisa (Pedro is not in a hurry);
• María tiene prisa (Maria is in a hurry);
• Creo¹ que todos tenemos prisa (I think that we are all in a hurry);
• Vosotros tenéis prisa, ¿verdad? (you are in a hurry, aren't you -people/ plural familiar);
• Vosotros no tenéis prisa, ¿verdad? (you are not in a hurry, are you -people/ plural familiar);
• Ustedes tienen prisa, ¿verdad? (you are in a hurry, aren't you -people/ plural formal);
• Ustedes no tienen prisa, ¿verdad? (you are not in a hurry, are you -people/ plural formal);
• Pedro y María tienen prisa (Pedro and Maria are in a hurry);

Notes:

1.- Please note that subjunctive mood should be used with the negative “no creo”, as in:

• No creo que todos tengamos prisa (I don't believe we are all in a hurry)

See further practical examples of the use of subjunctive in expressions of belief

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Alguien tiene prisa?

*See uses of verb tener below

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*Verb Tener - Typical Uses/ Expressions

Tener calor	To feel hot
Tener celos	To feel jealousy/ to be jealous
Tener cuidado	To be careful
Tener dolor	To feel pain/ to have an ache
Tener envidia	To feel envy/ to be envious
Tener fiebre	To be feverish
Tener frío	To feel cold
Tener ganas de algo	To look forward to something
Tener hambre	To feel hungry
Tener la culpa	To be at fault
Tener miedo	To feel afraid
Tener pensado	To have in mind
Tener prisa	To be in hurry
Tener sed	To feel thirsty
Tener sueño	To feel sleepy
Tener suerte	To be lucky
Tener tos	To have a cough
Tener xx* años/ meses/ etc.	To be xx years/ months/ etc. old
Tenerle rabia a alguien	To have it in for someone

*NB Express ages by conjugating tener and replacing xx with a number. For example, I am 18 years old = tengo 18 años.

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