SPAN 100 AMU Week 7 lesson Spanish I American Military University assistance is available on Domyclass
Lesson Overview
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This week you will apply what has been learned through speaking and writing to demonstrate the ability to use thematic vocabulary and concepts in a meaningful way. Continue creating with the language using previously studied themes and adding to your knowledge of vocabulary for shopping, haves and needs, buying and selling, and using landmarks to provide directions.
Additional vocabulary will be presented and practiced for conversation dealing with leisure and preferred activities, quantity comparisons and differentiation, currency and cost.
Students will be able to:- Talk about haves and needs in Spanish
- Vocabulary for buying and selling
- Provide directions using landmarks
- Discuss leisure and preferred activities
- Compare quantities and differentiation, currency and cost
In this lesson, we will discuss:
- Common Pitfalls of Spanish students
- Introductions in Spanish
- Vocabulary for haves and needs
- Vocabulary and structure for buying and selling
- Vocabulary and structure to talk about leisure and preferred activities
- Quantity comparisons and differentiation
- Currency and cost
The following activities and assessments need to be completed this week:
- Assignment:
- Rosetta Stone Unit four, lessons one and two
- Week 7 Forums:
- Common Pitfalls
- “Introduction” (In Spanish)
- Journal Entry Seven
Introduction
Topics to be included in this lesson cover:
- Shopping: have and need
- Buying, selling, and shopping
- Using landmarks to provide directions
- Leisure and preferred activities
- Quantity comparisons and differentiation
- Currency and cost
We will begin this lesson by learning shopping terms relative to a number of different venues that one goes shopping in. We will then learn verbs that relate to shopping, use of the phrase ¿cuánto vale? and ¿cuánto cuesta? (how much does this cost?). We will also study the use of direction terms and how to give and follow directions using landmarks. We will then learn how to compare and contrast quantities. You will finish this lesson by learning how to negotiate the different currencies in the different Spanish-speaking nations.
Stating Preferences: I Would Like…
Only part of the shopping experience is to be asked how you can be helped. The other half of the conversation, however, has to do with stating one’s preferences, using the phrases: “I would like” or “I need” or “I want.”
In order to understand how to construct these phrases, it will be necessary to learn the verb GUSTARSE, which means to like. Again, this involves the indirect objects ‘me’ and ‘le’ which you will learn about in more detail in future lessons. For now, to understand this construction and to be able to speak it is paramount to being able to complete a shopping transaction.
Shopping Terms
The verb IR
In order to know how to say that you are going shopping, you must first learn the verb IR, which means “to go.” Now that you have learned enough verb constructs, you know that in order to conjugate a verb, the infinitive is removed. In this case, IR is the entire verb infinitive and root and is considered to be a completely irregular verb. It is called irregular, because it does not follow the conventional way in which verbs are conjugated in Spanish (obviously, because if you remove the infinitive – IR – you have nothing upon which to build!). Having explained that, let us look at IR, which means “to go.”
IR – to go
| Yo voy | I go | Nosotros vamos Nosotras vamos | We go |
| Tú vas | You go | ||
| Usted va | You go | Ustedes van | You all go |
| Él va | He goes | Ellos van | They go |
| Ella va | She goes | Ellas van | They go |
We are going to the movies on Friday.
Nosotros vamos al cine el Viernes.
Remember: the present tense in Spanish can have two meanings: Yo voy – I go, I am going
Example:
Paco: Hola, Ana. ¿Cómo estás?
Hi, Ana, how are you?
Ana: Bien, Paco, ¿y tú?
Well, Paco, and you?
Paco: Muy bien. ¿Vas al baile con Juan el sábado?
Very well. Are you going to the dance with Juan on Saturday?
Ana: Sí. ¿y tú? ¿Con quién vas?
Yes. And you, with whom are you going?
Paco: Voy con Lupe.
I am going with Lupe.
Phrases Using the Verb IR (to go)
Present Tense: Yo voy – I go, I am going.
IR de compras: To go shopping
EXAMPLES:
Yo voy de compras – I go shopping, I am going shopping.
Tú vas de compras – You go shopping, You are going shopping
¿Vas de compras los sábados? – Do you go shopping on Saturdays? OR Do you shop on Saturdays?
¿Qué día vas de compras durante la semana? – What day during the week do you go shopping? OR What day during the week do you shop?
IR + a + infinitive of a verb
EXAMPLES:
Voy a estudiar – I am going to study
Ella va a ir de compras con Lupe.
She is going to go shopping with Lupe.
¿Vas a ir al baile?
Are you going to go to the dance?
Other Useful Verbs for Shopping
Necesitar – to need (regular AR verb)
| Yo necesito | I need | Nosotros necesitamos Nosotras necesitamos | We need |
| Tú necesitas | You need | ||
| Usted necesita | You need | Ustedes necesitan | You all need |
| Él necesita | He needs | Ellos necesitan | They need |
| Ella necesita | She needs | Ellas necesitan | They need |
| Yo necesito | I need | Nostros necesitamos Nosotras necesitamos | We need |
How much?
There are a few ways to ask how much something costs.
| Valer– to be worth | In terms of shopping, one only uses the third person singular and plural: EXAMPLE: ¿Cuánto vale? How much is it worth? ¿Cuánto valen? How much are they worth? |
| Costar – to cost | Costar is a stem-changing verb o to ue. Again, only the third person singular or plural are used: EXAMPLE: ¿Cuánto cuesta? How much does it cost? ¿Cuánto cuestan? How much do they cost? |
| Ser – to be | SER – using just the third person singular and plural: ¿Cuánto es …? How much is ¿Cuánto son …? How much are |
| Comprar – to buy | Comprar is a regular AR verb and follows the conjugation rules (drop AR, add endings) Yo compro I buy Nosotros compramos Nosotras compramos We buy Tú compras You buy Usted compra You buy Usted compran You buy Él compra He buys Ellos compran They buy Ella compra She buys Ellas compran They buy |
| Querer – to want, to love | The verb ‘QUERER’ is a stem-changing verb and is a boot verb. Outside the boot, the Nosotros and Nosotras forms do not change the stem and keep the root from the infinitive with the –emos ending to define that it is the “we” form of the verb. Yo quiero I want Nosotros queremos Nosotras queremos We want Tú quieres You want Usted quiere You want Usted quieren You want Él quiere He wants Ellos quieren They want Ella quiere She wants Ellas quieren They want Phrases with QUERER as relate to shopping are as follows: ¿Qué quiere Usted? What do you wish/want? (formal) ¿Qué quieres? What do you wish/want? ¿Qué quería Usted? What would you like? (formal) ¿Qué querías? What would you like?* This is a different tense other than the present tense, called the conditional tense. In the conditional tense, the verb form does not have stem changes and preserves the root ‘quer’ after the infinitive (the ER) in ‘querer’ is removed. |
Two Verbs Together
When two verbs occur together, the first verb is conjugated, but the second one remains in the infinitive. Here are some examples, as relates to shopping:
Necesito comprar una chaqueta. I need to buy a jacket.
If you will notice, “I need” is conjugated in the Yo form, where the AR was dropped and ‘o’ was added to take the verb out of the infinitive form and into a definitive meaning – I need.
Secondly, comprar, which means ‘to buy’ already, remains in its infinitive form.
When you walk into a shop, it is customary for someone to ask you one of two questions:
- Do you need help?
- Can I help (you)?
Do you need help?
Buen día, Señora. ¿Necesita ayuda?
Good day, Madame. Do you need help?
Note the verb AYUDAR – to help: ayudo, ayudas, ayuda, ayudamos, ayudan.
Note, also, that the word for ‘help’ – the noun – is the same as the third person singular conjugation – ayuda. How can you tell the difference?
When ‘ayuda’ is preceded by a definite article – in this case ‘la’ – you know it is a noun – la ayuda.
Challenge Question
In the example above, how do you know whether it is a noun or a verb?
ANSWER: Refer back to the rule where if there are two verbs together, the second remains in the infinitive. In the phrase, “¿necesita ayuda?” the second word does not appear in the infinitive and therefore must mean the noun form – help as opposed to ‘to help.’
We will look at “Can I help you?” in the next section.
Can I Help You?
Poder Ayudar (To ask for help)
This phrase might be asked when you walk into a store. It is necessary to know the two verbs involved in this phrase: PODER and AYUDAR. Following the rule that we just cited, where when two verbs are expressed together, the first one is conjugated, this would mean that PODER needs a conjugation in the “Yo” form.
The verb PODER is also a stem-changing boot verb, in which the ‘o’ changes to ‘ue’ inside the boot. The forms Nosotros and Nosotras, which remain outside the boot, remain in the original root form after the infinitive is removed. In this case, for all roots inside the boot, the root would be ‘pued’ before the endings are applied. Outside the boot, however, the root is “pod” after the ER is removed. The full conjugation of PODER is as follows:
| Yo puedo | Nosotros podemos Nosotras podemos |
| Tú puedes | |
| Usted puede | Ustedes pueden |
| Él puede | Ellos pueden |
| Ella puede | Ellas pueden |
Therefore, following the rule to say: Can I help? – would be constructed in the following manner:
¿Puedo ayudar?
In saying, “Can I help you? – the indirect object “le” is added (formal indirect object meaning ‘to you’), which you will learn at a later time. For now, it is useful to just know how to construct the question and to understand it, should someone say, “How can I help you?”
In a previous lesson, you learned the interrogative word “cómo” that means ‘how.’
- Using the formal form: ¿Cómo le puedo ayudar?
- Using the tú form: ¿Cómo te puedo ayudar? or ¿Puedo ayudarle? or ¿Puedo ayudarte?
The Case of Can and Able
You might be thinking that CAN is misspelled. This is not the story in the Bible, but rather, the story in the dictionary! The verb PODER means ‘to be able’ (to do something). In English, we do not ask, “Are you able to help me?” or “How am I able to help you?” We instead ask “Can I help you?” or “How can I help you?” This ‘CAN’ is not a can of beans or a can of peas – it is CAN as in CAN DO or ABLE TO DO – the verb, not the noun.
This is a cautionary tale, only in that if you use a translation website or program and write in ‘can’ you will most likely receive the translation for the noun – can of peas, can of beans, tin can, even though you might have written it in as a verb. Be cautious!