Spanish So Simple

SOME FUNNY IDIOMS:

Let´s start by asking the question:

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? > ¿CUÁNTO CUESTA?

It costs a lot! > ¡CUESTA MUCHO!

It costs loads! > ¡CUESTA UN MONTÓN!

It costs an arm and a leg!
= It costs an eye of the face! > ¡CUESTA UN OJO DE LA CARA! 💃🕺

It costs a kidney! > ¡CUESTA UN RIÑÓN!

It costs an egg! > ¡CUESTA UN HUEVO! 😝

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A SPANISH GREETING: ¿QUÉ TAL? - How are you? How are things?

Let´s see just how versatile this greeting is!

Hello María? How are you? How are things?
- ¡HOLA MARÍA! ¿QUÉ TAL?

We can use a noun after ¿QUÉ TAL? either a singular or a plural noun but NO verb!! 😜

How is the family ? - ¿QUÉ TAL LA FAMILIA?
How is the new car? - ¿QUÉ TAL EL COCHE NUEVO?
How are the children? - ¿QUÉ TAL LOS NIÑOS?

We can even ask a question in the Past Tense and STILL with NO VERB whatsoever!!!!🥳

How was the weekend? - ¿QUÉ TAL EL FIN DE SEMANA?
How were the holidays? - ¿QUÉ TAL LAS VACACIONES?

And here is another possibility ... whenever we want to make a suggestion:

How about if ...... ? ¿QUÉ TAL SI ..........?

How about if we have another coffee?
A: - ¿QUÉ TAL SI TOMAMOS OTRO CAFÉ?
B: - ¡VALE!

How about if we arrange to meet again tomorrow?
A: - ¿QUÉ TAL SI QUEDAMOS OTRA VEZ MAÑANA?
B: - ¡BUENA IDEA!

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SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY: UN PIROPO

- "Un piropo" is a compliment than you might pay to a loved one or even to a complete stranger in fact, usually expressed to a female.

It can be a compliment as short as one word, the very popular "¡GUAPA!" - pretty one, springs to mind! Often understood by non speaking English girls on holiday in Spain as "Whopper!" , so definitely not interpreted as a compliment there, I´m afraid! 😝 Oops!

Or "UN PIROPO" can actually be very creative, almost poetry:

"UNA FLOR EN EL DESIERTO ES DIFÍCIL DE ENCONTRAR, Y UN AMOR COMO EL TUYO ES IMPOSIBLE DE OLVIDAR"

- A flower in the desert is difficult to find, and a love like yours is impossible to forget. (Ahhh!🥰 ) (It rhymes in Spanish 😍)

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SPANISH EXPRESSION OF THE DAY: MÁS O MENOS

MÁS O MENOS - More or Less

You can use the expression "MÁS O MENOS" just as in English
and when you want MORE of something ask for -MÁS
and less of something - MENOS .

More Bread = Más Pan 🥖
More Wine = Más Vino 🍾
More Books = Más Libros 📕📘
More Chairs = Más Sillas🪑🪑

When you want something:
BIGGER, just say MORE BIG = MÁS GRANDE
or SMALLER = MORE SMALL = MÁS PEQUEÑO

So use MÁS or MENOS with any adjective at all!
CHEAPER!!! = ¡MÁS BARATO!
LESS EXPENSIVE! = MENOS CARO.

From GOOD we go to BETTER in English and
in Spanish from BUENO to MEJOR.
Another irregular comparative is BAD going to WORSE,
also irregular in Spanish - MALO becomes PEOR.

A: ¿LO HAS COMPRENDIDO?
B: ¡MÁS O MENOS! 😝

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SPANISH VERB OF THE DAY: QUEDAR

Wow! This verb has so many different meanings!! Let´s see one of them today!😜

QUEDAR - to arrange to meet

A: ¿Cuándo *quedamos otra vez?
B: ¿*Quedamos mañana?
A: ¿Dónde *quedamos?
B: ¿Qué tal si *quedamos aquí?
A: ¿A qué hora *quedamos?
B: A las 11:00, como todos los días 😝

A: When shall we arrange to meet again?
B: Shall we arrange to meet tomorrow?
A: Where shall we arrange to meet?
B: How about if we arrange to meet here?
A. At what time shall we arrange to meet?
B: At 11:00, like every day. 😝

* Notice how we use the Present Tense all the way through the conversation in Spanish 😜

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SWEARING IN SPANISH! 🤬

Of course Spanish is a very rich language and has some very

"colourful" ways of swearing at people or insulting them!

If you have to do it, why not do it with humour?

Instead of "sending someone to hell" 😈 for example, you

can send them to "FRY ASPARAGUS!"

¡VETE A FREÍR ESPÁRRAGOS! 🤣

¿Por qué? ....

Yes! Why? ... well according to those in the know it is a phrase taken from the Latin proverb "Citius quam asparagi coquantur" which means “As long as it takes for the asparagus to cook”. Frying asparagus takes a good time longer than actually boiling it of course. In this case it would seem that the longer it takes, the better!😝

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SPANISH VERBS OF THE DAY: QUERER, DECIR & SIGNIFICAR

If you want to ask:
"What do you mean?" (tú) - ¿QUÉ QUIERES DECIR?
or in the formal (usted) - ¿QUÉ QUIERE DECIR?

We are using the two verbs QUERER DECIR - to want, to say.
Literally: "What do you want to say?"

You also might use these verbs to express:"
What I mean is that...." - "LO QUE QUIERO DECIR ES QUE....."

On the other hand, if you want to ask:
"What does this word mean?" you have two options:
1. ¿QUÉ QUIERE DECIR ESTA PALABRA?
..... or using the verb SIGNIFICAR
2. ¿QUÉ SIGNIFICA ESTA PALABRA?

SO SIMPLE!!! 😝

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SPANISH EXPRESSION OF THE DAY:

Someone gives you an estimate: - UN PRESUPUESTO - but it turns out the estimate is SO high, the job is just not worth doing!!! -

¡EL COLLAR CUESTA MÁS QUE EL PERRO ! 🤣
- The collar costs more than the dog!!
¡EL COLLAR VALE MÁS QUE EL PERRO!
- The collar is worth more than the dog!!

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¿CALOR O CALIENTE?
In English, should you be talking about the Weather, How you feel, or the temperature of the Coffee you will notice that we always use the verb TO BE and the Adjective HOT

1. The Weather - IT IS HOT
2. How You Feel - I AM HOT,
3. Temperature of Coffee - THE COFFEE IS HOT

In Spanish, on the other hand we will use a different verb
in each case and will only use CALIENTE when describing
the hot temperature of an object, something that is hot to touch.

1.The Weather is Hot - HACE CALOR = It makes heat.
- Using HACER and the noun CALOR - heat.
2. I am hot! - TENGO CALOR = I have heat
- Using TENER and CALOR again
3. The Coffee is Hot - EL CAFÉ ESTÁ CALIENTE.
- USING ESTAR and the Adjective - CALIENTE

FAUX PAS ALERT! ⚠️ - ¡METEDURA DE PATA! ⚠️.... and if you make the mistake of trying to translate - I AM HOT! literally then you definitely need to know what you are really saying!! - ¡ESTOY CALIENTE! = I am hot! = I am sexy! Oops!💃😝

Spanish Not So Simple today! 🙃
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¿CÓMO ESTÁS ESTA NOCHE?

So many different ways to express how tired we are feeling!! :

- ESTOY HECHO / HECHA POLVO (I am made of dust - pulverised)

OR MORE SIMPLY:

- Estoy Cansado /a Exhausto /a Agotado /a / Fatigado /a

¡Me voy a la cama! / Me voy a acostar - I´m off to bed!

¡Buenas Noches! ¡Dulces sueños! - Goodnight! Sweet dreams!🥰