Sometimes there are things that we just have to do. Well, if you ever need to tell someone what that something you have to do is in Spanish, then you'll need the expression tener que.
Tener by itself means "to have".
Tengo 21 años
I'm 21
Tengo dos coches
I have two cars
Add the word que after it and now it means to have to.
Tengo que lavar los trastes
I have to wash the dishes
Tengo que recoger mi madre del aeropuerto
I have to pick my mom up from the airport
You may be thinking "Doesn't que mean what?" Well you're right, it does. But combine it with the word tener and the meaning changes. Don't try and figure it out, it's an idiomatic expression and you just have to memorize it.
Tienes que memorizarlo
You have to memorize it
You'll hear tener que a lot, and if you actually use your Spanish in real life you'll end up using it a lot so commit this one to memory.
Here's a link to a free podcast on tener que. Be sure to go get your free lesson right away because it won't be free forever. It's a great podcast and it actually has even more great Spanish you need to know like the Spanish contraction al and the verb quedarse. You'll also learn about the word enamorados (people in love).
In fact, if you want to learn more about enamorados and how to talk about the different stages of romance, then take a look at this blog post:
Soy muy noviera
That's it for today, and be sure to follow or subscribe to this blog by email! Also be sure to check out my other blogs My Spanish Notes and No Seas Pelangoche.
¡Chao!
Friday, November 29, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tuve un buen tiempo
I love to help people with their Spanish. Every week I'm exposed to many beginners and people just starting their journey down the road to Spanish fluency. With that said, I hear a lot of the same errors over and over again. So this the first of a new series of posts called Spanish Blunders to help you identify and correct (and hopefully prevent) your mistakes.
I also do a lot of socializing with up and coming Spanish speakers, and it's not uncommon for me to get messages like this after a social event:
Tuve un buen tiempo
I had a good time
Bless their hearts, I'm so glad my friends are enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, that's not how you say I had a good time.
In their defense this is a very common mistake, so today I'm going to talk about the right way to say this.
The correct expression in Spanish to talk about having a good time is Pasarla bien.
The verb is pasar and if you want to know more about how to use the verb pasar, click here. Now let's look at a few examples of how to tell someone you had a good time.
La pasé bien anoche
I had a good time last night
¿La pasaste bien?
Did you have a good time?
¿La pasaron bien?
Did you all have a good time?
La pasamos super bien en el cine
We had a really good time at the movies
Que la pases bien
Have a good time
Que bien lo paso contigo
I'm having a good time with you
No la pasé bien
I didn't have a good time
Notice in some examples I used la and in others lo. So what I really should have said earlier is you can Pasarlo bien or Pasarla bien. What's the difference? In all honesty, I would just chalk this up to a regional difference. Based on my experience I would say Pasarla bien is used in Latin America and Pasarlo bien in Spain. The truth is you can use which ever version you like, because at the end of the day, nobody cares.
You'll see how fun it is when snows, they said. You'll have an amazing time, they said.
Pobrecito, looks like he's not having much fun at all.
Lastly, I'm going to point you to a book that will help you fix a lot of the common mistakes people make.
I have a copy of Correct Your Spanish Blunders myself. It's certainly helped me out a lot. While there are a lot of Spanish books out there, very few of them give you the return on your investment like this one will. If you're serious about learning Spanish, you need to have this book in your collection.
That's it! Be sure look to the top right-hand side of the page to follow or become an email subscriber to this blog to get more great lessons to help you learn Spanish. And be sure to follow us on Facebook:
Be sure to Like Helping You Learn Spanish on Facebook!
¡Chao!
I also do a lot of socializing with up and coming Spanish speakers, and it's not uncommon for me to get messages like this after a social event:
Tuve un buen tiempo
I had a good time
Bless their hearts, I'm so glad my friends are enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, that's not how you say I had a good time.
In their defense this is a very common mistake, so today I'm going to talk about the right way to say this.
The correct expression in Spanish to talk about having a good time is Pasarla bien.
The verb is pasar and if you want to know more about how to use the verb pasar, click here. Now let's look at a few examples of how to tell someone you had a good time.
La pasé bien anoche
I had a good time last night
¿La pasaste bien?
Did you have a good time?
¿La pasaron bien?
Did you all have a good time?
La pasamos super bien en el cine
We had a really good time at the movies
Que la pases bien
Have a good time
Que bien lo paso contigo
I'm having a good time with you
No la pasé bien
I didn't have a good time
Notice in some examples I used la and in others lo. So what I really should have said earlier is you can Pasarlo bien or Pasarla bien. What's the difference? In all honesty, I would just chalk this up to a regional difference. Based on my experience I would say Pasarla bien is used in Latin America and Pasarlo bien in Spain. The truth is you can use which ever version you like, because at the end of the day, nobody cares.
You'll see how fun it is when snows, they said. You'll have an amazing time, they said.
Pobrecito, looks like he's not having much fun at all.
Lastly, I'm going to point you to a book that will help you fix a lot of the common mistakes people make.
I have a copy of Correct Your Spanish Blunders myself. It's certainly helped me out a lot. While there are a lot of Spanish books out there, very few of them give you the return on your investment like this one will. If you're serious about learning Spanish, you need to have this book in your collection.
That's it! Be sure look to the top right-hand side of the page to follow or become an email subscriber to this blog to get more great lessons to help you learn Spanish. And be sure to follow us on Facebook:
Be sure to Like Helping You Learn Spanish on Facebook!
¡Chao!
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