Splitting Hairs!

Recently in the Dominican Republic, I drove by this word: pelotero.

I didn't immediately know what it meant, but assumed it had something to do with hair. As I contemplated the word, I thought to myself that it must be a person who has something to do with hair. I said to myself, "But a person who cuts hair is a peluquero."

Then I thought to myself that these two words might be two nuances of the same thing. I had almost convinced myself that pelotero was a barber whilst peluquero would be a hairdresser. I made a mental note to look it up when I got home.

As I typed 'pelotero' into the REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA online dictionary, I had a sneaking suspicion that I had got it wrong. I thought to myself, "pelota .... oh, no, I was way off."

And sure enough, I had.

Pelotero

1. m. y f. Persona que tiene por oficio hacer pelotas de jugar.

2. m. y f. Persona que las suministra en el juego.

3. m. Ant., Nic. y Ven. Jugador de béisbol.

afecto

I love the insinuation in this excerpt ...

No hubo, en el primer saludo entre la familia real española y sus huéspedes, genuflexiones ni reverencias como la que dispensó Carla Bruni a la reina de Inglaterra en el palacio de Buckingham, pero sí abrazos, besos en la mejilla y muestras de afecto.

Una Telenovela Sosa?

Monarquía amenazada por falta de audiencia

Son jóvenes, ricos, guapos, perfectos… y tediosamente sosos. los tabloides se esfuerzan en sacar jugo al príncipe Guillermo y a su novia kate. incapaces de continuar la telenovela perfecta de sus antepasados, el interés de los británicos por su familia real se apaga. - El País, 22/3/2009

2 palabras (o mejor dicho, frases) en el resumen me atraen la atención: 'sosos' y 'sacar jugo a'.

'Soso' es una palabra que me encanta pero lo olivido; 'soso' es una de esas palabras especiales sin tradución precisa en mi idioma. 'Bland' no tiene la misma chispa.

'Sacar jugo a' es una frase con una tradución bastante literal. Squeeze the last bit of juice out of that soap opera of the British monarchy. Come on, William / Kate, give us some juice!

Lesson 25: Irregular Words of Comparison

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Rule:

Some of the most common adjectives use an irregular form to express comparison.

bueno ====> mejor
malo =====> peor
mucho ====> más
poco =====> menos
grande ===> mayor*
pequeño ==> menor*

*Normally used with age rather than physical size.

Examples:

==> Este partido es mejor que el otro.

==> El biscocho de mi hermana es peor que la de mi madre.

==> Tengo menos interés en el asunto que él.

End Lesson.

Lesson 24: "More Than" Confusing

"más que" vs. "más de"

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Rule:

When the comparative is followed by a number AND is a positive statement, 'más de' is used instead of más que.

When the comparative is followed by a number, but is a negative statement, 'más que' is used.

Examples:

==> Tengo más de un hermano. Tengo dos.

==> Un viaje en el metro de Londres cuesta más de 5 Euros.

==> No tengo más que 15 Euros.

==> El taxista no te cobrará ás 15 Euros.

End Lesson.

Lesson 23: Let's Compare

There are three ways we can compare things:

• more than (superiority)
• less than (inferiority)
• as much as (equality)
  

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Rule:

We use más ... que to describe the idea of 'more than'.

Examples:

==> Mi marido es más guapo que el tuyo.

==> Mi culo es más grande que el de Jennifer López.

Rule:

We use menos . . . que to describe the idea of 'less than'.

Examples:

==> El día de acción de gracías es menos comercial que La Navidad.

==> Tu culo es menos grande que el mío.

Rule:

We use tan . . . como to describe the idea of 'as much as'.

NB: When th comparison refers to a quantity, the appropriate adjective form of 'tan' should be used (tanto, tanta, tantos, tantas)

Publish Post

Examples:

==> Londinenses son tan agradables como Madrileños.

==> No hay tantas personas en Madrid como en Londres.

End Lesson.

Lo averigué . . .

=======================================
I checked it out.

Mi hermano no sabe que tengo un blog.

End Lesson.

Vergüenza

Mi hermano no sabe nada sobre mi Blog.

Do you like my skillful avoidance of the possible use of the subjunctive?

My opening sentence was going to be:

Mi hermano no sabe que yo tengo un Blog.

But then I remembered about the subjunctive and it's annoying habit of cropping up during times of uncertainty.

"Should it be," I thought, "Mi hermano no sabe que yo tenga un Blog."

Your Spanish Class has not yet reached the advanced levels of the subjunctive so I rejig the sentence so that all possibility of the subjunctive is eliminated. Ha! Take that subjunctive!

My brother knows nothing about my blog.

Regardless, my curiosity gets the better of me. I look it up. Still, I do not know. It is not clear, and my resident Spanish speaker is not around to help me out.

What is clear is that my brother does not know I have a blog. He sees my Spanish grammar book on the table.

"You already speak Spanish. Why do you have this?"

"I like to practice."

"Dork."

Imagine his reaction if he knew about my Your Spanish Class!

Lesson 22: And More Accents ... (Part 4)

Finally (possibly) a couple more piddly rules about written accents.

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Rule:

"Question words" (Cómo, Dónde, Qué, Quién) take an accent when they are used to introduce a question - either direct or indirect.

Examples:

==> ¿Cómo estás?

==> Le pregunté quién era.

Rule:

Demonstrative pronouns usually take a written accent to distinguish them from demonstrative adjectives.

Examples:

==> este chico (this boy) / éste (this one)

==> Aquella mesa (that table) / aquélla (that one)

End Lesson.

Lesson 21 - More accents! (Part 3)

When words become plural, the stress must stay on the same syllable where it was when the word was singular. This means that a written accent might be required on the plural where it wasn't on the singular -- or that the accent might disappear where it existed on the plural. Yes, accents are a pain!

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Rule:

Words that end in ión, án, ín, ón, ún, and és lose their accent in the plural.

Examples:

==> montón ==> montones

==> dirección ==> direcciones

==> jardín ==> jardines

Rule:

Words that end in en place the accent on the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable when in the plural.

Examples:

==> imagen ==> imágenes

==> joven ==> jóvenes

==> examen ==> exámenes

Exceptions (because there have to be exceptions):

carácter and régimen are exceptional in that the stress falls on a different syllable when they are in the plural.

caracteres

regímenes

End Lesson.