Culturealley.com/spanish : Learn Spanish for free using self-paced audio-visual lessons and interactive practice exercises - CultureAlley - master conversations, grammar, vocabulary and more! In this lesson we will learn something that is peculiar to Mandarin alone - 'measure words'! Let's see what they mean and how they're used! In English, we often have words defining the type of object being discussed. For example, a 'loaf' of bread, a 'flock' of sheep, a 'glass' of water etc...Mandarin uses a similar part of speech called 'Measure words' that may refer to the number, shape, or specification of an object.To study this at your own pace, take quizzes and explore more lessons go to www.culturealley.com. See you at the Alley!

1. How are you?
¿Cómo estás?
Lesson 13 | Meeting new friends
I am fine
Estoy bien

3. ¡Hola!
Lesson 13 on Basic Spanish!

4. Revision : Possessive adjectives
English Spanish
My Mi (s)
Your (informal) Tu (s)
His/ Her/ Your
(formal)/Their
Su (s)
Our Nuestro (-a, -os, -as)
Your (informal, pl) Vuestro (-a, -os, -as)

5. Revision : Family relations
English Spanish
Father Papá / Padre
Mother Mamá / Madre
Parents Padres
Brother (s) Hermano (s)
Sister (s) Hermana (s)
Siblings (mixed) Hermanos
Son Hijo
Daughter Hija

6. Revision : Family relations
English Spanish
Grandfather Abuelo
Grandmother Abuela
Grandparents Abuelos
Uncle Tío
Aunt Tía
Cousin (male) Primo
Cousin (female) Prima

7. Revision : Forms of irregular verb ‘To-have’
English Spanish
I have Yo tengo
We have Nosotros tenemos
You (informal) have Tú tienes
You (informal, pl) have Vosotros tenéis
You (formal) have/
He/ She has
Usted/ Él/ Ella tiene
You (formal, pl have)/
They have
Ustedes/ Ellos/ Ellas tienen
Not
tieno

8. Revision
English Spanish
Pet(s)
Mascotas (same for
singular/ plural)
Cat Gato
Dog Perro
Fish Pescado
Parrot Loro
Bird Pájaro

9. 1
2
To-be verb ‘estar’
Making small talk

10. Today we will learn the second form of the to-be verb
– ‘estar’ and then use it for conversations around
making small talk with people!
So let’s get started with the forms of Estar!
What’s in store today?

11. 1
2
To-be verb ‘estar’
Making small talk

12. Ser is used for permanent situations (eg: what something is ) while
Estar for temporary situations
(eg: what something does temporarily)
Example
Ser = Soy de America = I am from America (permanent)
Estar = Estoy en la oficina = I am at the office (temporary)
Soy and Estoy are forms of Ser and Estar when used
with 'Yo' or 'I'
Ser vs. Estar

13. English Spanish
I am Yo estoy
We are Nosotros estamos
You (informal) are Tú estás
You (informal, pl) are Vosotros estáis
He is / She is /
You (formal) are
Él / Ella / Usted está
They are/ You (formal, pl)
are
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes están
Forms of ‘Estar’

14. Examples
I am at the office
(Yo) estoy en la oficina
I am = Yo estoy

15. Examples
She is in the class
Ella está en la clase
She is = Ella está

16. Since we said 'la oficina' and 'la clase' we know that
office and class take up feminine forms in Spanish
Hence, we used the feminine form of 'the' or 'la'
Grammar tip

17. Examples
They are at the hospital
Ellos/as están en el hospital
They are = Ellos/as están

18. The = El when used with masculine nouns
The = La when used with feminine nouns
Hence, office (oficina) and class (clase) take
up feminine forms while hospital takes up
masculine form
Do you remember?

19. Examples
Where are you?
¿Dónde estás (tú)?

20. In all the examples we saw, we used estar as
they all referred to temporary situations like
being at a place
Why did we use 'Estar'?

21. 1 2 3
He is at the church
Church = Iglesia (takes up feminine gender)
Try yourself
Él está
en la
iglesia
Él estás
en la
iglesia
Él está
en el
iglesia

22. 1 2 3
He is at the church
Church = Iglesia (takes up feminine gender)
Solution
Él está
en la
iglesia
Él estás
en la
iglesia
Él está
en el
iglesia

23. English Spanish
I am Yo estoy
We are Nosotros estamos
You (informal) are Tú estás
You (informal, pl) are Vosotros estáis
He is / She is /
You (formal) are
El / Ella / Usted está
You are / They are
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes
están
Let's revise!

24. 1
2
To-be verb ‘estar’
Making small talk
Lesson objectives

25. Mark goes to a new coffee shop, Lisa is one of the
workers there
Mark : Hello! How are you?
Lisa : I am fine
Mark : Can I smoke?
Lisa : Yes
Mark : Where is the toilet?
Conversation

26. English Spanish
How? ¿Cómo?
Fine Bien
Smoke Fumar
Toilet Baño
Some new vocabulary!

27. Making small talk
How are you (informal)?
¿Cómo estás?

28. We used ‘estar’ and not ‘ser’ in the
last sentence (How are you = ¿Cómo estás?) as ‘How
are you’ refers to a temporary situation, meaning :
how are you right now?
Why did we use ‘Estar’?

29. Let's now learn how would we ask the same question
to someone in a formal situation?
Moving on...

30. Making small talk
How are you (formal)?
¿Cómo está usted?

31. Making small talk
I am fine
(Yo) estoy bien

32. Again, I am fine (Yo estoy bien) also refers
to a temporary situation, meaning, I am fine
right now
Why did we use ‘Estar’?

33. Let’s revise the conversation we learnt!
English Spanish
How are you (inf.)? ¿Cómo estás?
How are you (formal)? ¿Cómo está usted?
I am fine Estoy bien

34. Making small talk
Can I smoke?
¿Puedo fumar?

35. Did you notice that in the last sentence, the verb
‘To smoke’ = ‘Fumar’ did not change its form?
This is because we already conjugated (changed
form) the verb ‘Can’ = ‘Poder (o->ue)’
I can = Puedo
I can smoke = Puedo fumar
Hence, Can I smoke = ¿Puedo fumar?
Grammar tip

36. Making small talk
Where is the toilet?
¿Dónde está el baño?

37. Since we said 'el baño' we know that toilet or baño
takes up masculine form in Spanish
Grammar tip

38. Let’s revise the conversation we learnt!
English Spanish
How are you (inf.)? ¿Cómo estás?
I am fine Estoy bien
Can I smoke? ¿Puedo fumar?
Yes Sí
Where is the toilet? ¿Dónde está el baño?

39. 1 2 3
Where is the bar?
Bar = Bar (takes up masculine form)
Try yourself
¿Dónde
estás
el bar?
¿Dónde
está
la bar?
¿Dónde
está
el bar?

40. 1 2 3
Where is the bar?
Bar = Bar (takes up masculine form)
Solution
¿Dónde
estás
el bar?
¿Dónde
está
la bar?
¿Dónde
está
el bar?

41. 1 2 3
How are you (informal)?
Try yourself
¿Cómo
es?
¿Cómo
eres?
¿Cómo
estás?

42. 1 2 3
How are you (informal)?
Solution
¿Cómo
es?
¿Cómo
eres?
¿Cómo
estás?

43. 1 2 3
How are you (formal)?
Try yourself
¿Cómo
estás?
¿Cómo
eres
usted?
¿Cómo
está
usted?

44. 1 2 3
How are you (formal)?
Solution
¿Cómo
estás?
¿Cómo
eres
usted?
¿Cómo
está
usted?

45. Another common question which we can ask while
making small talk is asking someone's birthday
Moving on...

46. Some new vocabulary!
English Spanish
When? ¿Cuándo?
Birthday Cumpleaños

47. Birthday = Cumpleaños is loosely derived from
Cumple (koompl-e) = meet/ comply
Años (aa-ny-osh) = years old
Loosely meaning to comply with being another year
old
Grammar tip

48. Making small talk
When is your birthday?
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
Your (informal) = Tu

49. To respond to questions like 'When is your birthday?'
- you would need to understand how to say dates in
Spanish
We will cover this in future lessons...
For now, let's revise what we saw today and then
learn about Tango dancing!
Responding to : When is your birthday?

50. Revision
English Spanish
How are you (inf.)? ¿Cómo estás?
I am fine Estoy bien
Can I smoke? ¿Puedo fumar?
Yes Sí
Where is the toilet? ¿Dónde está el baño?

51. Culture Leaf

52. Culture leaf : Tango dance!
Tango dance originated in Rio
de la Plata (Argentina-
Uruguay border), and spread
to the rest of the world
soon after
A couple dances Argentine Tango

53. Tango was inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible
Cultural Heritage Lists in Oct, 2009
Culture leaf : Tango dance!

54. Don't hang around the dance floor if you're
not dancing
Don't stay in a high-traffic dance area if you are
trying to show someone a new step
Don't stop in the outer lane while dancing. Those are
the faster lanes on the dance floor and the slower lane
in the middle
Culture leaf : Tango dance – Do(s) and Don’t(s)!

55. Don't talk too much while dancing
Do bring a towel if you sweat a lot
Do dress nicely, don't wear jeans, sneakers or other
casual attire
Culture leaf : Tango dance – Do(s) and Don’t(s)!

56. In the next lesson, we will learn some
common expressions of time!
What’s next?

57. Content
Team CultureAlley, Okairy Zuñiga, Tomasa Merino
Voice over
Jorge Garcia Rey
Images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TangoCouple.jpg
User: Raphael Koerich
Credits

58. See you at the Alley!

59. Lesson 14 |Some more common
expressions of time!