Sunday, April 28, 2013

Object Pronouns / Pronombres Objetos



“When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped.”
 Sun Tsu The Art of War

  (If you are in a long battle people will lose motivation. Learning English is a very long and bloody battle. Try not to lose motivation!)


Un pronombre objeto funciona como el sujeto de un verbo o preposición.
I               me    a mi
you        you       a ti, os, usted, ustedes, vosotros
he           him      él
she         her       ella
it             it         ello (cosas)
they       them     ellos, ellas
we          us        nos, nosotros 
who       whom   

    Después de un verbo:
    I call her every day.
    Le llamo (a ella) todos los días.
    Después de una preposición:
    The present is for her.
    El regalo es para ella.
1.  I write letters to Mark. I write letters to him.
2.  I have a birthday present for the children. I have a birthday gift for them.
3.  Call Sandra and me tomorrow.  Call us tomorrow.
4.  I send my family a letter every week.  I send them a letter every week.
5.  He rides his bike to school.  He rides it to school.
6.  I talk to Henry every day.  I talk to him every day.
7.  I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith yesterday.  I saw them yesterday.
8.  I put the cook books on the table last night.  I put them on the table last night.

El Pronombre "it" en Inglés


En inglés usamos el pronombre "it" para referirnos a cosas o animales.  Este pronombre no existe en español y puede causar muchos problemas para estudiantes latinos. 
INCORRECT- In my country is very cold in the winter.
CORRECT- In my country it is very cold in the winter.
En inglés el verbo "is" nunca puede estar solo.  Siempre tiene que tener un sujeto.  En la oración arriba "it" se refiere al tiempo.  Como el tiempo es una cosa, usamos el pronombre "it".   
Es confuso para los estudiantes latinos porque en español no es obligatorio poner un sujeto a cada verbo.  En las oraciones abajo en español no se usa un sujeto (Está solo "es") pero en inglés "is" no puede estar solo.  Como estamos hablando de una cosa que es interesante (y no una persona) usamos "it" como el sujeto.
Es interesante.
It is interesting. 
 
Práctica
 

1. We went with John to the cinema last night.  We went with him to the cinema last night.
2. He left the party without his wife. He left the party without her.
3. He saw Margaret at the library. He saw her at the library.
4. Robert gave the book to Mary and me. He gave the book to us.
5. I gave you the book. I gave the book to you.

They saw me.
Ellos me vieron.

She understood us.
Ella nos comprendió.

We heard them.
Nosotros les escuchamos.

They are speaking to her.
Ellos están hablando con ella.

She talked to them.
Elle habló con ellos.
Don’t go without me. 
No te vayas sin mi.


He gave me the book yesterday. He gave it to me yesterday
Me dio el libro ayer.  Él me lo dio ayer. 

I will send you a letter from London. I will send it to you.

Te mandaré una carta desde Londres. Te la mandaré. 

He can't do it without us.

Él no lo puede hacer sin nosotros.

I told her I couldn't speak French.
Le dije que no podía hablar francés. (A María)

I will give him the flowers tomorrow. I will give them to him tomorrow.
Le daré las flores mañana. Se las daré mañana. (A Mike)

I can't make the paella without it. I can't make it without it.
No puedo preparar la paella sin ello. No puedo prepararla sin ello. (El arroz)
{Recuerda que con el imperativo en inglés no hace falta un pronombre}

Open them all, please.
Ábrelas todas, por favor. (Las ventanas)

Show them your paintings.  Show them to them. (Show them them también se puede decir)
Enséñalos tus cuadros. Enséñaselos. (A los chicos)

Tell me it. Tell it to me.
Cuéntamelo.  (El chiste)
Tell me what Marco told you.
Dígame lo que Marco le dijo a usted. 

To whom did you tell the joke.
¿A quién contaste el chiste? 

 To whom are you going to send the package.
¿A quién vas a mandar el paquete?

Thursday, April 18, 2013

More Questions



 Present Continuous and Present Simple (Now versus Habitual)

Who is looking after the children?
Who looks after your children?

What are you doing?
What do you do?

When are you going to the market? When will you go? When are you going to go?
When do you go to the market?

Where are you going this weekend?
Where do you go in the summer?

What are you reading?
What do you read?

What are you cooking?
What do you cook?

Are you studying English?
Do you study English?  (These two questions can mean the same thing)

What are you wearing to school today?
What do you wear when you go to school?

Friday, April 12, 2013

Funny, Fun, Entertaining



"Fun" is something enjoyable, and "funny" is something that makes people laugh.  Games and sports are "fun" but not normally "funny".

"Fun" es algo que es como "agradable", y "funny" es algo que hace personas reir.  Juegos y deportes son "fun" pero no normalemente "funny".

Airbag is a funny movie. It made me laugh a lot. (Divertido solo se puede traducir por funny si nos hace reír)
The circus is very fun for children. Studying English is fun!
I like playing hide and seek. It's great fun. Me gusta jugar al escondite. Es muy divertido
The concert at the Palau de la Música was very entertaining. The French movie Amour was very depressing but it was entertaining. Schindler’s List was entertaining.


funny adj
(amusing)
gracioso adj


chistoso adj

Let me tell you a funny story.

Te voy a contar una anécdota graciosa.
funny adj
(strange, odd)
raro adj

It's funny that we bumped into them on holiday.

Es raro que nos tropezáramos con ellos en las vacaciones.
funny adj
(person: funny) persona
divertido adj


chistoso adj

He is so funny. We were laughing the whole time.

Nos reímos sin parar, él es muy divertido.

fun adj
(enjoyable)
divertido adj


entretenido adj

We played a fun game.

Jugamos un juego divertido.

entertaining adj
(interesting)
entretenido adj


divertido adj