www.whyville.net Feb 8, 2009 Weekly Issue



Wicked777
Times Writer

Spanish for the Clueless

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Author's Note: This is the last article I'll be writing for "Spanish for the Clueless." Thanks for reading!

We're going to take everything we learned about regular verb conjugations to go just a beyond beginner's Spanish. We're going to try using the present progressive, a way of saying what is happening right now.

In English, we can add "ing" to a word to express the present progressive. Run + ing = Running. You get the idea. Spanish is similar - just follow the chart below:

ESTAR CONJUGATIONS

Yo estoy
Tu (accent over u) estas (accent over a)
El (accent over e), Ella, Usted esta (accent over a)
Nosotros estamos
Vosotros estais (accent over a)
Ellos, Ellas Ustedes estan (accent over a)

To say "I am singing" we use the verb cantar. Cantar is an AR verb, so in the present progressive, we replace the ending with "ando." For ER and IR verbs, we replace the ending with "iendo."

I am singing. = Yo estoy cantando.

To say "You are singing," simply change "yo estoy" to "tu (accent over u) estas (accent over a)."

Tu (accent over u) estas (accent over a) cantando.

For an ER verb such as comer (meaning "to eat") we do pretty much the same thing as before.

I am eating. = Yo estoy comiendo.

How would we say "we are eating"?

We are eating. = Nosotros estamos comiendo.

IR verbs? Same thing. Take a look at escribir, to write:

I am writing. = Yo estoy escribiendo.
You (plural formal) are writing. = Ustedes

That's all there is to it!

Now, que estas (accent over a) haciendo?

-Wicked777

 

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