1 Demystifying Spanish Vocabulary A Contextual Spanish Dictionary, Learning Spanish Words (Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Prepositions) through Context with Clear Explanations, Examples, and Flowcharts Brandon Simpson Small Town Press Dry Ridge, Kentucky 2 Copyright Page © by Brandon Simpson 2012 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without written permission from the author except for the use of brief quotes written in critical articles and reviews. 3 Also by Brandon Simpson Both of these books are available in paperback and as Kindle e-books. Demystifying Spanish Grammar Clarifying the Written Accents, Ser/Estar, Imperfect/Preterit, and the Dreaded Spanish Subjunctive Spanish Verb Tenses How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs, Perfecting Your Mastery of Spanish Verbs in all the Moods and Tenses 4 DISCLAIMER Neither the author nor the publisher can be held liable for the misuse of this book. The explanations herein are merely here to help your comprehension of Spanish vocabulary. Every possible effort was taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this book. There may be, however, mistakes that neither the author nor the editors noticed. Some of the information in this book was provided by native speakers who are not necessarily experts of grammar. Reading this book will not guarantee mastery of the material nor will it guarantee a higher grade. This book is not endorsed by any company mentioned. The reader also should be aware that this book is not comprehensive. Readers should, and are also encouraged, to seek the advice of competent individuals. 5 Table of Contents Introduction 7 at 9 back 11 but 13 chair 15 change 16 cheap 17 cook 18 cup 19 deep 20 fan 21 feel 22 fly 24 free 25 game 27 get 28 glass 30 handle 31 hard 32 have 33 home 34 inside 35 just 36 key 38 last 40 law 42 leg 43 look 44 milk 46 moral 47 now 48 of course 49 outside 50 party 51 play 52 right 53 save 54 shirt 55 short 56 spend 57 table 58 television 59 time 60 used to 61 well 62 while 63 work 64 wrong 65 Conclusion 67 7 Introduction “Mr. Simpson, why did I get this wrong?” “Because you used the wrong word.” “But it’s the word I found in the dictionary.” “I know, but you didn’t take context into consideration.” “What does that mean?” That was a fairly common exchange between me and some of my students. When beginning Spanish students start to learn their ne w language, they often don’t use the right word. According to their dictionaries, they use the right word, but they never take context into consideration. This book will remedy this common problem. This book is by no means an exhaustive list of Spanish vocabulary. It should, however, open up your mind to the concept of context There are nearly fifty English words that I have chosen for this book. On each page you will see a flowchart. In the first column, you will see the English word, the context in the second column, and the correct Spanish word in the third column. I also explain in greater detail some of the more confusing words. In some entries I use only the flowchart and examples. By the end of this book, your mind should have, what I call, a context filter 9 Spanish Context English at expressing time a indicating location en The preposition at can be translated as a or sometimes en . It is translated as a when expressing time: Tengo una reunión a las dos de la tarde. I have a meeting at 2 in the afternoon. When expressing location in Spanish, you don’t use a Instead, you use en : Estoy en una fiesta. I’m at a party. It would be incorrect to say Estoy a una fiesta So how do you know when to use a or en ? As I said before, en is used for locations. For destinations, use a Voy a casa. I ’ m going home. 10 I should mention that during the first draft of this book, a British man asked me what my rule on at the weekend would be. I had not considered this since we say on the weekend in North America. But since he mentioned it, I decided to include it in this book. The preposition at/on does not translate at all: at the weekend (on the weekend) – el fin de semana Additional Vocabulary at night – por la noche 11 Spanish Context English back anatomy la espalda back (of room, of bus, etc.) la parte de atrás back (of envolopes, of photos) el dorso back (of chairs) el respaldo VERB + back VERB + de atrás The first word for back you learn is la espalda . This is the back in anatomy. Me duele la espalda. My back hurts. Other words for back are a bit more tricky as you can see from the chart above. The word for back in open spaces like classrooms and cars is la parte de atrás . According to many dictionaries, the words for back can also include el dorso , for envelopes, and el respaldo , for chairs. However, when I speak with my friends from Mexico, I never hear them say 12 these words. These words are probably technically correct, but they don’t seem to be used often. In fact, one of my Spanish-speaking friends had never even heard the word el respaldo . When they want to say back , they say they use either la espalda or la parte de atrás When the word back follows a verb like to go or to come , you can use the Spanish equivalent of these verbs and add de atrás ¿Cuándo te vas para México de atrás? When are you going back to Mexico? ¡Ven de atrás! Come back! Additional Vocabulary estar de vuelta – to be back 13 The first word for but that students learn is pero . This word is used when the context of but has the same meaning as however Me gusta la sopa de tomate, pero no me gustan mucho los tomates crudos. I like tomato soup, but (however) I don’t like raw tomatoes much. If you can replace but with but rather without changing the meaning, use sino . This is used when two things are true, when the first sentence is in the negative, and when there is a direct contrast. El chocolate no es agrio, sino dulce. Chocoalte isn’t sour, but (rather) sweet. Sino que is used when there is a contrast of cause and effect between two sentences. It often translates to but because in English. 14 Los estudiantes no estudian español porque es obligatorio, sino que lo estudian porque quieren. The students don’t study Spanish because they have to, but they do study it because they want to. When but has the same meaning as except , you can use excepto, salvo, or menos . However, menos seems to be the most common. Me gustan todas las frutas menos (excepto, salvo) las peras. I like all fruits but pears. 15 Spanish Context English chair/seat removable chair silla attatched/stationary chair asiento/pupi tre The first word that most students learn for chair/seat is probably silla . However, there is another word: asiento . The biggest difference is that a silla is removable. An asiento is usually attached to something. So a chair at the dining room table, and anything similar, is a silla . The seats in cars, trucks, planes, trains, restaurant booths, and school desks are asientos . Most textbooks call student desks pupitres , which is probably more correct, but many speakers call them asientos 16 Change that means alteration is cambio or cambiar (as a verb). The change that you receive after paying a cashier is also called cambio . The change in your pocket (coins) are called monedas Aquí está tu cambio. Here’s your change. No nos gustan los cambios en la escuela. We don’t like the changes in the school. Tengo tres jarras de monedas. I have three jars of change. Additional Vocabulary a coin – una moneda 17 If something is inexpensive , it is barato(a) . If someone is stingy or tight with their money, he/she is tacaño(a) Estos zapatos son baratos. These shoes are cheap. Mi jefe es muy tacaño. My boss is really cheap (stingy). Spanish Context English cheap inexpensive barato(a) stingy tacaño(a) codo(a) (Mex.) 18 A person who cooks is called a cocinero/cocinera . When you prepare food, use the verb cocinar . However, when you prepare food with heat, use the verb cocer Nos faltan dos cocineros. We need two cooks. No me gusta cocinar. I don’t like to cook. Esta carne no está muy cocida. This steak isn’t cooked very well. In the last example, cocer is used as a past participle. 19 The word cup can be translated as taza, vaso, and copa . A taza has a handle and is generally used for coffee and tea. Vaso usually means glass (glass of water), but the Styrofoam carry-out cups you get at restaurants are also called vasos . I learned this at a local Mexican restaurant. I used to ask for a taza para llevar (to go cup) , but the employees corrected me and said it was called a vaso para llevar . It appears that a vaso is cylindrical in shape. A copa can be one of two things: a wine glass or a trophy. If you think about it, wine glasses and trophies have a similar shape. This is why the Spanish word for the World Cup is called La Copa Mondial 20 In English we use the word deep in both a literal and figurative sense. We can say that a river (or lake, pond, etc.) is deep. In this case it is used in a literal sense. But we can also say that a thought is deep. This is the figurative sense. If we use the word deep in a figurative sense, we can very well replace it with the word profound . By knowing this, you should be able to choose the right word in Spanish: El río es hondo. The river is deep Ella tuvo un pensamiento profundo. She had a deep thought. It is possible to use profundo in both cases. Spanish Context English deep literal meaning (rivers, lakes, etc.) hondo(a) figurative meaning (deep thought) profundo(a)