6/3/2012 * About 6 out of every 10 words in English come from Latin and Latinate languages, such as Spanish. These tend to be the longer words in English, whereas the shorter ones tend to come from the Anglo-Saxon/Germanic part of English roots. * "I have" (the past participle version, as in "I have done it") in Spanish is "he", but is pronounced like the Spanish letter "e" because the letter "h" is silent in Spanish. He visitado. = I have visited. He visitado Madrid. = I have visited Madrid. * The letter "v" sounds identical to the letter "b" in Spanish (which both sound like the English "b"). He visitado Chihuahua. = I have visited Chihuahua. He visitado Barcelona. = I have visited Barcelona. * The Cecilia rule states that the letter "c" in front of an "e" or "i" in Spanish is pronounced like an "s" in Latin America, but like a "th" in most of Spain. (Personal note: I prefer Castilian/Iberian/Spain Spanish to Latin American Spanish, but I prefer the "s" to the "th", so I am adapting Castilian Spanish but with an "s".) * "You have" (the past participle version, as in "You have done it") in Spanish is "ha", but is pronounced "a". Ha visitado Madrid. = You have visited Madrid. (f) ¿Ha visitado Madrid? = You've visited Madrid? / Have you visited Madrid? (f) ¿Ha visitado Barcelona? = You've visited Barcleona? / Have you visited Barcelona? (f) He preparado. = I have prepared. He preparado el café. = I have prepared the coffee. * To say "I have not" in Spanish, you say "No he". The "no" goes in front of "he". No he preparado el café. = I have not prepared the coffee. Ha preparado el café. = You have prepared the coffee. (f) No ha preparado el café. = You have not prepared the coffee. (f) ¿Ha preparado el café? = You have prepared the coffee? / Have you prepared the coffee? ¿No ha preparado el café? = You haven't prepared the coffee? / Haven't you prepared the coffee? * "For you" in Spanish is "para usted" (formal). "Para ti" is the informal version. The word for "for" is "para". He preparado el café para usted. = I've prepared the coffee for you. (f) He preparado la tortilla. = I've prepared the tortilla. * Two "ll"'s in Spanish are pronounced like an English "y". Alternatively, two "ll"'s can be pronounced as an English "j" like in South American Spanish dialects (e.g. Colombia). This is called the "tortilla pronunciation rule". :P He preparado la paella para usted. = I have prepared the paella for you. (f) No he preparado la paella para usted. = I haven't prepared the paella for you. (f) No ha preparado el café. = You haven't prepared the coffee. (f) * "For me" in Spanish is "para mí". No ha preparado el café para mí. = You haven't prepared the coffee for me. (f) ¿No ha preparado el café para mí? = You haven't prepared the coffee for me? / Haven't you prepared the coffee for me? (f) He preparado la paella para usted. ¿No ha preparado el café para mí? = I've preparede the paella for you. Haven't you prepared the coffee for me? (f) 6/9/2012 * Both "he has" and "she has" in Spanish are also "ha", just like "you have", which can be confusing at first, but it is usually obvious who is meant by the rest of the sentence. The Spanish also regularly omit the subject of the sentence (just as the Japanese do) because it too is understood from the context. In fact, specifying the subject when unnecessary can make you sound more odd than not saying it does many times. If you want to make it absolutely clear who is doing what, though, the subject can be included. When in doubt, include the subject. El café. = The coffee. * The word for "he" in Spanish is the same word for the masculine "the", except with an acute accent. Él ha. = He has. * The word for "she" is "ella", which follows the paella pronunciation rule. Ella ha. = She has. Ella ha preparado el café para mí. = -She- has prepared the coffee for me. Él ha preparado el café para mí. = -He- has prepared the coffee for me. Ha preparado el café para mí. = He has prepared the coffee for me. / She has prepared the coffee for me. / You have prepared the coffee for me. No ha preparado el café para mi. = He hasn't prepared the coffee for me. / She hasn't prepared the coffee for me. / You haven't prepared the coffee for me. Ella no ha preparado el café para mí. = -She- hasn't prepared the coffee for me. Su padre. = Your father. (f) Su padre no ha preparado el café para mí. = Your father hasn't prepared the coffee for me. (f) Su madre. = Your mother. (f) Su madre ha preparado el café para mí. = Your mother has prepared the coffee for me. (f) * English words ending in "-tion" end in "-ción" in Spanish. There are about 1250 English words ending in "-ion" that come from Latin; just changing the ending means you know all these words already in Spanish! * If you take the stem of these words in Spanish and drop the "-ación", adding an "ado" will give you the past participle of the word (e.g. preparación -> preparado -> "prepared"). He preparado. = I have prepared. He visitado. = I have visited. Su padre ha visitado. = Your father has visited. (f) Su madre ha visitado. = Your mother has visited. (f) He decorado. = I have decorated. He decorado la casa. = I have decorated the house. * The letter "c" in Spanish is normally pronounced like the English letter "k". It is only occasionally (in front of an "i" or an "e") that it is pronounced like an English "s" (the Cecilia rule). La casa. = The house. El café. = The coffee. He decorado la casa. = I have decorated the house. Ha decorado la casa. = You have decorated the house. (f) Ha decorado la casa. = He has decorated the house. Ha decorado la casa. = You have decorated the house. (f) Usted ha decorado la casa. = You have decorated the house. (f) Él ha decorado la casa. = He has decorated the house. Ella ha decorado la casa. = She has decorated the house. * The "r" at the beginning of a word in Spanish is usually rolled. He reservado. = I have reserved. He reservado una mesa. = I have reserved a table. Ha reservado una mesa. = She has reserved a table. Ha reservado una mesa para usted. = She has reserved a table for you. (f) Ella ha reservado una mesa para usted. = -She- has reserved a table for you. (f) * Instead of saying "for dinner" like we do in English, in Spanish you say "for the dinner" or "para la cena". He reservado una mesa para la cena. = I have reserved a table for (the) dinner. Ha reservado una mesa para la cena. = You have reserved a table for (the) dinner. (f) ¿Ha reservado una mesa para la cena? = Have you reserved a table for (the) dinner? (f) 6/12/2012 He invitado. = I have invited. * To say you have invited someone in Spanish, you say "I've invited to them" using "a", which means "to". This is called the "personal a". He invitado a Paul. = I have invited Paul. He invitado a Paul a Madrid. = I have invited Paul to Madrid. * The word for "I" in Spanish is "yo", which is normally pronounced "yo" but can also be pronounced "jo" like in some Colombian dialects. Yo he invitado a Paul a Madrid. = -I- have invited Paul to Madrid. Ha invitado a Paul a Madrid. = You have invited Paul to Madrid. (f) Usted ha invitado a Paul a Madrid. = -You- have invited Paul to Madrid. (f) Él ha invitado a su padre a Madrid. = -He- has invited your father to Madrid. (f) Ella ha invitado a su madre a Madrid. = -She- has invited your mother to Madrid. (f) Ha preparado el café para mí. = She has prepared the coffee for me.