www.whyville.net Dec 7, 2008 Weekly Issue



Wicked777
Times Writer

Spanish for the Clueless

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Spanish-speakers have serious issues with the days of the week. They don't like them. I mean, why else would they refuse to capitalize the first letter of each day?

Yes, we English-speakers give all seven of those days - Monday to Sunday - proper respect. It isn't thrusday - it's Thursday! Doesn't that sound so much more official?

Stop staring at me. I'm not crazy . . . okay, maybe just a little crazy. I think I'll stop blabbering and get to the point.

Monday = lunes - loo-nais
Tuesday = martes - mahr-tais
Wednesday = miercoles (accent over first e) - mee-EHR-cohl-ehs
Thursday = jueves - hoo-eh-vehs
Friday = viernes - vee-ehr-nais
Saturday = sabado (accent over first a) - SAH-bah-doh
Sunday = domingo - doh-meen-goh

Every day of the week is masculine.

"Hoy" (Pronounced: oy) means "today" and "es" (pronounced: ehss) means "is." To say, "Today is Sunday," we say "Hoy es domingo."

To say, "She draws on Fridays," we use the verb dibujar (to draw), "Ella dibuja los viernes."

Wait! You might be wondering why "los" or "the" is there. Wouldn't it mean "she draws the Fridays?"

Nope - it's an expression. If you say someone does something on a certain day, you just say what they do and put "the [day]." Take what you remember of the ER verb vender, meaning "to sell." How would we say, "I sell books on Tuesdays"?

I sell = Yo vendo
Books = libros
on Tuesdays = los martes

I sell books on Tusdays, "Yo vendo libros los martes."

What if selling books isn't really a permanent job? What if you're just going to sell some books this Tuesday, and then never look at a single book again?

Well, you'd be crazy. How could anybody go more than three minutes without reading the work of J.K. Rowling? Sorry. Harry Potter fangirl moment. Getting back to it . . .

I sell books on Tuesday, "Yo vendo libros el martes."

Notice that "los" - the plural version of "the" - became "el" - the singular.

How do we say, "You (plural formal) eat a taco on Wednesday."

You (plural formal) = Usted
Eat = comer, but the "you" form = come
a taco = un taco
on Wednesday = el miercoles (accent over first e)

You eat a taco on Wednesday, "Usted come un taco el miercoles" (accent over first e).

Congrats to 101chi for winning last week's contest! If you see her in a chatroom, make sure to say "Hola."

Yo escribo los lunes y los martes y los miercoles (accent over first e) y los jueves y los viernes y los sabados (accent over first a) y los domingos.

That was probably the worst run-on I've seen in a while.

-Wicked777

 

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