CAPÍTULO 3 - !Vamos a la ciudad!

In November we will work on Chapter 3 (Let's go to the city!), you can start working with the vocabulary on pages 90 and 91. By now you should be very proficient at using the Verbos Ser & Estar ("to be" in Spanish), using colors and adjectives in sentences, using definite and indefinite articles with nouns and converting singular nouns into plural nouns, and conjugating -AR verbs. If you need to review this material again, please do so. It is imperative that you remember and understand what you already learned; especially the verbs! Review the Verbo Ser on page 44 (LIBRO) and the Verbo Estar on page 76, if you have any questions, please see me. You can also check the links on these verbs under "Fave" links.

You have learned many question words in previous chapters (qué, cómo, dónde, de dónde, cuál), and you will learn more on this chapter, page 96. You will also learn how to use Indirect Object Pronouns when making introductions (presentaciones) - ME TE LE NOS OS LES (for introductions you only need to use TE LE and LES). You will learn new vocabulary on modes of transportation, page 100; on places to visit in the city (downtown), page 110; and foods and how to order in a restaurant, pages 116 & 117; and the Verbo Ir (to go), which is a very irregular verb that is widely used in Spanish. Also verbos -ER (like comer and beber).

Many of you have asked me what the word "hay" means in Spanish. Please check this video to understand this important Spanish word: HAY (click link) - we use it a lot! Pay special attention to the use of the following question words "cuántos, cuántas y qué" with "hay." 

These are some of the verbs you already know and verbos tener, comer and vivir that you will learn this month and next month. I will give you a handout with these verbs that you MUST keep in your notebooks (cuadernos). Please continue reviewing these verbs and practicing their uses. ¡GRACIAS CHICAS!

TEST: December 4 and QUIZ: December 10. Please check Edmodo. 

Capítulo 2 – Días de la Semana, Colores, Materias y Ropa

In this chapter you will learn the days of the week, colors, subjects and articles of clothing in Spanish. Please check some of the links under "Fave" Links to start learning this material really well. Also, study the PowerPoint I downloaded in Edmodo.

I found another silly video to learn the days of the week here: Días (click the word). You can find many others in YouTube. Another video here: Días2. To say "On Mondays" you say "los lunes." To say "On Tuesday" you say "el martes." "Lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves y viernes" don't change for singular or plural forms: el lunes, el martes, el miércoles, el jueves, el viernes; or, los lunes, los martes, los miércoles, los jueves, los viernes. But, for Saturday and Sunday (sábado y domingo) it changes. You say: el sábado, el domingo and los sábados, los domingos. Please write this down in your notebooks.

How do you say "yesterday"? Ayer. How about "the day before yesterday"? Anteayer or antier, both terms are acceptable. Some people prefer one or the other. They say that "antier" was first mostly used in rural areas, but now many people use this word. I say "antier" other people say "anteayer" and other people even say "el día antes de ayer."

How do you say "the day after tomorrow"? Pasado mañana. (Remember: "tomorrow" is mañana). To say weekend, you say: el fin de semana; and to say weekends, you say: los fines de semana.

Other vocab words and expressions to know: la hora, el horario, el día, la semana, hoy, mañana, ¿Qué día es hoy? ¿Qué día es mañana? ¿Qué día fue ayer? ("fue" is the preterite of the verbo ser, meaning "was" for the 3rd person singular) el almuerzo, nuevo(a), nuevos(as), la clase, las clases. Check all the vocab on pages 60 and 61 (LIBRO).

Spanish.about.com says that "like other adjectives, names of the common colors when used in Spanish must agree with the nouns they describe in both gender and number. However, names of some of the more unusual colors are treated differently in Spanish than they are in English. Also, in most cases, names of colors come after the nouns they describe, not before as in English." Check: Colores for more information on colors. Also: Colores2. There are some exceptions to the rules: the colors "violeta" (purple), café (brown), and "naranja" (orange) don't change. When you use these colors, the words remain the same for all genders and whether they are singular or plural. Another example of this is the color "crema" for cream. Please check the handout on "Colores" that I gave you.

These are some examples of how some colors change (like other adjectives, only the ones that end with "o" change to "a" for feminine forms): La blusa blanca... La camisa roja... La chaqueta amarilla... La falda rosada... La faja negra... La camiseta morada..., etc. or la camisa es roja, la falda es rosada, etc. You can also say: Ella tiene una blusa blanca or ella lleva una blusa blanca (she has a white blouse or she is wearing a white blouse); or la blusa de Marta es blanca (Marta's blouse is white).

If I ask: ¿De qué color es la blusa de Susana? You can respond: La blusa de Susana es blanca or la blusa de Susana es azul (or enter whatever color you want). If you answer with the words "de color," then the word for the original color remains: la blusa es de color blanco, la falda es de color morado (instead of la blusa es blanca and la falda es morada).

Colors like: verde, gris, marrón or café, azul -and others ending in "e" or a consonant- don't change with feminine nouns (colors like café and violeta can remain the same for plural forms). Examples: La falda gris. La camiseta azul (but if you want to say the "light blue T-Shirt," then you say la camiseta azul clara or la camiseta celeste), los pantalones  café, la blusas violeta. The words "claro" (for light) and "oscuro" (for dark) do change like regular adjectives (the "o" becomes "a" for feminine forms). To change to plural forms the rule for nouns applies: add "s" to colors that end in a vowel and add "es" to colors that end in a consonant. Practice how to make plural the singular forms of colors and days of the week. Check the most basic colors below, and remember that purple can also be morado, and marrón can also be café.

TEST: On November 13, 2014 you will have a test on Capítulo 2 - Lección A (Vocab II, pages 48-59, skip page 51) and Lección B (Vocab. I, pages 60-71, skip page 63), review the information on this blog, and workbook pages 31, 32, 33 (#5 only), 34, and 35. Study the PowerPoints in Edmodo (for this chapter). I will include Colors, Days of the Week, Subjects and Articles of Clothing. It is a lot of material, so I'm hoping that you are studying a little bit every day, please don't leave the studying for the day before the test. Create index cards, review the workbook and textbook, ask me questions, check the Spanish Blog links, etc. 

QUIZ: On the Quiz on November 18 I will ask the Present Tense of -AR verbs.