Download Unidad 1: Una ciudad española

Unidad 1: Una ciudad española
The goal of this unit is to learn how to manage through a Spanish city. You will
learn how to:

Talk about buildings in a city and the verb estar

Give directions and describe means of transportation

Talk about things you have with the verb tener
Vocabulario preliminar
Lugares (Places)
Indicaciones (Directions)
el aeropuerto airport
a la derecha to the right
el banco bank
a la izquierda to the left
el café café
en frente de in front of
el museo museum
aquí here
el hospital hospital
allí there
la escuela school
cerca close
el restaurante resturante
lejos far
el estadio stadium
Un viaje (Trip)
la estación station
el billete ticket
el cine movie theater
el mapa map
la iglesia church
la maleta suitcase
el hotel hotel
la mochila backpack
la calle street
Expresiones y preposiciones
(Expressions and prepositions)
Medios de transportación (Means of
Hay There is/are
transportation)
¿Dónde está…? Where is…?
el avión plane
a to
el bus bus
de from, of
el coche car
en in, on, at
la bicicleta bike
por along
la moto motorcycle; moped
hacia towards
el tren train
el metro subway
Actividad I. Match each person, place or thing in column A with the best match in
column B.
A
B
1. _____ el restaurante
a. un atleta
2. _____ el hospital
b. unos estudiantes
3. _____ el aeropuerto
c. una película
4. _____ la escuela
d. una paella
5. _____ la estación
e. un tren
6. _____ el estadio
f. un avión
7. _____ el cinema
g. un doctor
Actividad II. Write the place you associate with each of the following nouns.
8. dolares y euros ________________________________________
9. fútbol, béisbol _________________________________________
10. Mariott, Holiday Inn ___________________________________
11. Air Europa ___________________________________________
12. vitamines y antibióticos _________________________________
13. Picasso, Gaudí ________________________________________
14. profesores, estudiantes __________________________________
15. la Eucaristía __________________________________________
Gramática: Hay
The Spanish verb hay translates to “there is” or “there are” in English. It can be
used in questions like ¿Hay un restaurante por aquí? which means, “Is there a restaurant
around here?” You can also use hay in a statement like Hay dos bancos en esta calle
(There are two banks on this street).
Actividad III. Look at this simple map of a city and answer the questions whether or not
certain buildings are on each road using hay.
€
Calle San Juan
☠
Calle del
General Marvá
Calle del
Obispo Golfín
✈aeropuerto
✈
Calle del Rey Fernando
Calle del Cristo
F
✍
✝
Leyenda
✈aeropuerto
✝iglesia
☠hospital
€ banco
✍ escuela
F estadio
e.g. ¿Hay un estadio en la calle del Cristo? No, no hay un estadio en la calle del Cristo.
16. ¿Hay un banco en la calle San Juan? _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
17. ¿Dónde hay una iglesia? ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
18. ¿Hay un banco en la calle del Rey Fernando? ________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
19. ¿__________________________________________________________________?
Sí, hay un hospital en la calle del Rey Fernando.
20. ¿Hay un aeropuerto en la calle San Juan? ___________________________________.
Gramática: Estar
You should already recognize the verb estar from phrases like ¿Cómo estás?
(“How are you?”). This verb is also used to describe the location of people and places.
For example, ¿Dónde está la Estatua de la Libertad? (“Where is the Statue of Liberty?”)
and the response, La Estatua de la Libertad está en Nueva York (“The Statue of Liberty is
in New York”). Below is the conjugation of the verb.
Yo estoy
Tú estás
Él/Ella/Usted está
Nosotros/Nosotras estamos
Vosotros/Vosotras estáis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes están
Actividad IV. Look at this simple map of a city and answer the questions whether or not
certain buildings are on each road using estar.
€
Calle San Juan
☠
Calle del
General Marvá
Calle del
Obispo Golfín
✈aeropuerto
✈
Calle del Rey Fernando
Calle del Cristo
F
✍
✝
Leyenda
✈aeropuerto
✝iglesia
☠hospital
€ banco
✍ escuela
F estadio
e.g. ¿Dónde está el estadio? Está en la calle del General Marvá
21. ¿Dónde está la iglesia? ______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
22. ¿Dónde está el banco? ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
23. ¿___________________________________________________________________?
Está en la calle del Rey Fernando.
Observe the following dialogue between two strangers on the street:
A: Perdone, ¿dónde está la iglesia?
B: Está muy cerca; está a la izquierda de esta calle.
A: Excuse me, where is the church?
B: It’s very close; it’s on the left of this street.
Estar can also be used with adverbs and prepositions to describe the proximity
of places. For example, El banco está muy lejos de aquí, which means “the bank is very
far from here.” Here are some other examples of the vocabulary in context.
El estadio está a la derecha.
La iglesia está en frente de la escuela.
Allí hay un restaurante.
El aeropuerto está muy lejos.
The stadium is to the right.
The church is in front of the school.
There is a restaurant there.
The airport is very far.
Actividad V. Form sentences using the vocabulary from this unit and adverbs of
proximity.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Gramática: Sustantivos
As you may already know, all nouns in Spanish are either masculine or
feminine in gender. Masculine nouns are preceded by the prefix el and usually end in –o
like el estadio. Feminine nouns are usually preceded by the prefix la and often end in –a
like la maleta. However, there are exceptions to this rule like el mapa or la moto. Other
nouns end in a different vowel like –e and many others end in a consonant. While there
are patterns to determine a noun’s gender, learning them with their article is a good way
to start memorizing nouns as masculine or feminine.1
Actividad VI. Sort this unit’s vocabulary words into two charts: masculine and feminine.
You should have eight words in each group.
Masculine
Feminine
Making a noun plural works just like English, you add an –s to the end of
words that end in a vowel. So a word like coche becomes coches in the plural. Words that
end in a consonant add –es in the plural form: tren becomes trenes. The definite articles
el/la also change in the plural: el becomes los and la becomes las. Some words like avión
lose the accent in the plural: aviones.
el bus
los buses
the bus
the buses
la moto
las motos
the moped
the mopeds
Actividad VII. Determine whether the following nouns are singular or plural and
masculine or feminine.
e.g. trenes masculine, plural
24. plazas ______________________________________________
25. museo ______________________________________________
26. escuelas _____________________________________________
27. coche _______________________________________________
28. restaurante ___________________________________________
1
For inquisitive students, an in-depth guide on Spanish nouns can be found under the Chuletas section of
TeacherWeb.
29. estaciones ____________________________________________
30. euro _________________________________________________
31. maletas ______________________________________________
32. negocios _____________________________________________
33. mapa _______________________________________________
34. cine ________________________________________________
35. iglesias _____________________________________________
Actividad VIII. Change the number of each noun; make singular nouns plural and plural
nouns singular. Also add the correct article (el, la, los, las) to your answer.
e.g. lugar los lugares
36. estación __________________________________________________
37. museos ___________________________________________________
38. banco ____________________________________________________
39. mochilas __________________________________________________
40. billete ____________________________________________________
41. calles _____________________________________________________
42. estadio ____________________________________________________
43. trenes _____________________________________________________
44. maleta _____________________________________________________
45. hotel _____________________________________________________
46. hospitales _________________________________________________
47. café ______________________________________________________
While the definite articles el, la, los and las are used to describe specific objects
there are also indefinite articles un and una used in a general sense. You may have
noticed un and una look like the Spanish word for “one” uno. That’s because these words
translate to the English words “a” or “an.” Notice the difference between “There is a
bank,” and “That is the bank.”
A: Perdone, ¿hay un banco por aquí?
B: Sí, el banco está en frente del hospital.
A: Excuse me, is there a bank around here?
B: Yes, the bank is in front of the hospital.
The indefinite article also has plural forms: unos (masculine) and unas (feminine).
These words translate to “some” or “a few.” For example, Hay unos estudiantes en la
clase which means “There are a few students in the class.”
Actividad IX. Write questions using hay un/una and responding with the noun in the
plural.
e.g.
¿Hay un banco en Madrid?
No, hay dos bancos en Madrid.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Gramática: Pronombres y verbos
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. For example, Saint Martin was born
in Lima, Peru. Saint Martin became a Dominican brother at age 24. Saint Martin took
care of the sick. Saint Martin also took care of animals. Saint Martin set up a school for
orphans. Saint Martin has a parish named after him in Poughkeepsie.
Instead of repeating the same name over and over, we use the pronoun “he” to make our
sentences shorter and to make them sound better. Modern Standard English has seven
personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we and they. Spanish, however, has twelve personal
pronouns, making distinctions for gender and honorary titles. They are as follows:
Yo : I. Unlike in English, the Spanish yo is only capitalized when at the beginning of a
sentence.
Tú : You. Tú is only used when talking to one person; it is the singular “you.” In most
Spanish speaking countries, tú is informal, meaning that people use this word when
talking to friends, family members and anyone else around your age whom you consider
an equal.
Él : He. Always remember to place the accent mark on the e.
Ella : She.
Usted : You. Usted also means “you” yet it is reserved for a single individual for whom
the speaker has respect. It could be translated as “you sir” or “you madam” and is used in
professional situations, especially towards people you don’t know very well or who are
much older and in a position of authority.
Nosotros : We. Unlike English, Spanish specifies the word “we” to mean either a male
“we” or a female “we.” Use nosotros if the group is either all masculine, or has at least
one male in it.
Nosotras : We. This “we” is used only when the group consists of all women, no
exceptions.
Vosotros : You. Unlike tú and usted that are used when speaking to a single individual,
vosotros is used when speaking to two or more individuals. Like tú, vosotros is often
used informally when talking to groups of friends and family, but can be used when
talking to any multitude of people. Vosotros is only used in European Spanish.
Vosotras : You. Like nosotras, vosotras is used when speaking to two or more women.
There cannot be a single man in the group to use this pronoun. Vosotras is only used in
European Spanish.
Ellos : They. Ellos can refer to either a group of all men or to a mixed group of men and
women.
Ellas : They. Ellas is only used when speaking about a group of girls.
Ustedes : You. In Spanish America, ustedes is both a formal and informal “you,” used
when speaking to at least two individuals. In Spain, ustedes is falling into disuse and is
only used politely in very formal situations.
To review, Spanish has four words that translate to “you” in English: tú, usted, vosotros
and ustedes. Additionally, the plural “you,” “we” and “they” have gender specific
pronouns: nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras, ellos/ellas. It’s important to understand
Spanish pronouns because they are the first step in sentence formation.
Below is a chart that will continuously be used in your studies as you advance in Spanish
courses. A quick review on person: first person refers to the self, second person is the
person to whom you are speaking and third person is used to reference someone who is
not present.
Person
First
Singular
Yo (I)
Plural
Nosotros (We, masculine/mixed)
Nosotras (We, feminine)
Tú (You, informal)
Vosotros (You, masculine/mixed)
Vosotras (You, feminine)
Él (He)
Ella (She)
Usted (You, formal)
Ellos (They, masculine/mixed)
Ellas (They feminine)
Ustedes (You, formal)
Second
Third
Actividad X. Determine which pronouns would be used to speak to the following people.
48. un doctor ______________________________________________________
49. María y Lucía ___________________________________________________
50. yo y un estudiante ________________________________________________
51. Señor Alonso y Señora Jiménez _____________________________________
52. Tía Claudia _____________________________________________________
53. tú, Diego y Manuel _______________________________________________
Conjugation is the joining together of a subject pronoun with a verb. You may not have
noticed, but in English we conjugate by making a distinction between “I eat” and “He
eats.” The verb changes depending on who the subject is. A better example is the verb “to
be,” which conjugates as: “I am,” “you are,” “he is.” In this case, the conjugation is much
more noticeable as each pronoun has a distinct verb. While Modern Standard English’s
conjugations are subtle, Spanish is much more complex.
To begin, we’ll start with the verb tener, which means “to have.” Here is the verb’s
conjugation in the present tense.
tener = to have
Yo tengo
(I have)
Tú tienes
(You have)
Él/Ella/Usted tiene
(He/She/You(f) has)
Nosotros/Nosotras tenemos
(We have)
Vosotros/Vosotras tenéis
(You all have)
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes tienen
(They/You all(f) have)
Below are some examples of the verb tener with vocabulary from this unit.
1)
2)
3)
¿Tenéis los billetes?
No, no tenemos los billetes.
Do you have the tickets?
No, we don’t have the tickets.
¿Tienes bicicleta o moto?
Tengo bicicleta.
Do you have a bicycle or a moped?
I have a bicycle.
Él tiene dos maletas y ella tiene una mochila.
He has two suitcases and she has one backpack.
In examples 1 and 2, you notice there is no word for “do” in Spanish to ask a question. In
Spanish, the tone of one’s voice will raise at the end of the sentence to signify an
interrogative; in writing an upside-down question mark ¿ is placed at the beginning of the
sentence.
In example 2, you notice there is no word for “a” in the response Tengo bicicleta. Unlike
in English, in Spanish the indefinite article (un/una) is not used with the verb “to have”
unless it is used to specify ownership of one numerical unit of that object.
In the first two examples, the subject pronouns are not used to ask a question. The person
is understood from the distinct conjugation of the verb. However, in cases of ambiguity
the pronouns are used to clarify like in example 3.
There are also many expressions in Spanish that use tener when in English, the verb “to
be” is used instead. Here is a list of examples:
tener hambre
tener sed
tener sueño
tener ___ años
tener razón
tener frío/calor
tener prisa
to be hungry
to be thirsty
to be sleepy
to be ____ years old
to be right
to be cold/hot
to be in a hurry
Actividad XI. Fill in the blank with the correct conjugation of tener.
54. Tú _____________________ hambre.
55. Señores, ¿______________________ ustedes los billetes?
56. Vosotros _________________________ once años.
57. Él no ____________________ razón. No hay un estadio en esta ciudad.
58. Nosotros ______________________ prisa. ¿Dónde está la estación de tren?
59. Yo ___________________________ mucho frío.
Actividad XII. With a partner, translate the following questions into Spanish and answer
them.

How old are you?

Do you have a bike?

Are you tired?

Is your friend hungry?

Do you have a dog?

How old is your dog?