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February 27, 2008

A short message in Spanish

This morning a Spanish friend sent me the following message:

Que todo irá bien contigo a partir de ahora. Tú has sido destinado para ser una persona exitosa y lograrás todos tus objetivos. En los días que quedan de este año se disiparán todas tus agonías y llegará la victoria. Esta mañana llamé a la puerta del cielo y DIOS me preguntó.... 'Hijo, ¿qué puedo hacer por ti?' Respondí: 'Padre, por favor protege y bendice a la persona que está leyendo este mensaje'. DIOS sonrió y contestó: 'Petición concedida.' Léelo en voz baja..... Señor Jesús: 'Perdona mis pecados. te amo mucho, te necesito siempre, estás en lo más profundo de mi corazón, cubre con tu sangre preciosa, a mi familia, mi casa, mi hogar, mi empleo, mis finanzas, mis sueños, mis proyectos y a mis amigos'. Pasa esta oración a 7 personas. Recibirás un milagro mañana. Solo cópialo y reenvíalo!

Can you read the message? Here is its English translation.

By the way, I reviewed the Visual Link Spanish program and I like it a lot.

Posted by lubw00 at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2007

Spanish Programs That I can Listen to in My Car

Following is a communication between me and a website visitor, regarding programs that is suitable for commuters driving cars.

Visitor John: I am looking for a Spanish language program that I can listen to in my car. Do your programs work for this or do you know of some other that will?

ESDICT Answer:

Regarding your situation, I think Comprehensive Pimsleur Spanish is the best program.

There are three levels for this program. Each level has 15 learning hours (or 30 lessons), either in CD or Cassette format. There are no textbooks accompanying this program.

Check them out here:
Pimsleur Spanish I
Pimsleur Spanish II
Pimsleur Spanish III

These comprehensive programs are costing roughly $220 for each level. You can also try the first 8 lessons for Level I first (to see if it fits your need and see if you can follow):
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Spanish

Besides Pimsleur Spanish, you might also try Learning Spanish Like Crazy. This program is quite similar to the Pimsleur Program. They have a download version for less then $100. This is a nice option if you know how to burn CDs from mp3 files.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level I
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level II

Posted by lubw00 at 06:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2007

English Spanish Cognates

The 'convertible' words between English and Spanish are known as cognates. English and Spanish Cognates are words in both languages that share the same Latin root and which are very similar. It is important to bear in mind that these cognates do not always translate from one language to another precisely. For example: "inferior" in Spanish may be used to refer to a subordinate in the work-place, without carrying any of the derogatory meaning in the English usage. In Spanish, "informal" means unreliable rather than casual. In spite of these 'false cognates', there are thousands of English words which can be converted into Spanish along with much of their English meaning (especially the literal meaning).

The cognates fall into suffix categories which, for clarity and convenience, have been grouped under the following terms:

  1. Nouns
  2. Adjectives

  3. Verbs

  4. Adverbs

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.


Nouns

Many Spanish nouns can easily be converted into English nouns.

English nouns and Spanish nouns ending in '-or' are very often identical.

#1. -or = -or
English Spanish
  • actor
  • color
  • doctor
  • director
  • horror
  • actor
  • color
  • doctor
  • director
  • horror

English nouns and Spanish nouns ending in '-al' are very common identical.

#2. -al = -al
English Spanish
  • animal
  • general
  • hospital
  • manual
  • moral
  • animal
  • general
  • hospital
  • manual
  • moral


Many English nouns ending with '-ist', can be converted into Spanish nouns by changing to '-ista'.

#3. -ist → -ista
English Spanish
  • artist
  • egoist
  • list
  • socialist
  • tourist
  • artista
  • egoista
  • lista
  • socialista
  • turista


#4. -ism → -ismo
English Spanish
  • idealism
  • despotism
  • mechanism
  • organism
  • optimism
  • idealismo
  • despotismo
  • mecanismo
  • organismo
  • optimismo


#5. -nce → -ncia
English Spanish
  • abundance
  • arrogance
  • experience
  • patience
  • intelligence
  • abundancia
  • arrogancia
  • experiencia
  • paciencia
  • inteligencia


#6. -ty → -dad
English Spanish
  • activity
  • curiosity
  • electricity
  • identity
  • university
  • actividad
  • curiosidad
  • electricidad
  • identidad
  • universidad


#7. -tion → -ción
English Spanish
  • association
  • combination
  • condition
  • exemption
  • instruction
  • asociación
  • combinación
  • condición
  • exempción
  • instrucción


English nouns ending with '-y' often corresponds to Spanish nouns ending with '-ía', '-ia', or '-io'.

#8. -y → '-ía', '-ia', or '-io'
English Spanish
  • agency
  • agony
  • battery
  • family
  • history
  • urgency
  • remedy
  • salary
  • testimony
  • dictionary
  • agencia
  • agonía
  • batería
  • familia
  • historia
  • urgencia
  • remedio
  • salario
  • testimonio
  • diccionario

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.


Adjectives

Like nouns, many English adjectives can be converted into Spanish simply by changing the word ending. Here are some useful rules.
 

#1. -ive → ivo
English Spanish
  • active
  • decisive
  • festive
  • effective
  • indicative
  • activo
  • decisivo
  • festivo
  • efectivo
  • indicativo


#2. -al = -al
English Spanish
  • brutal
  • usual
  • local
  • criminal
  • natural
  • brutal
  • usual
  • local
  • criminal
  • natural


#3. -ous → -oso
English Spanish
  • ambitious
  • gracious
  • delicious
  • generous
  • venomous
  • ambicioso
  • gracioso
  • delicioso
  • generoso
  • venenoso


#4. -ic → -ico
English Spanish
  • magnetic
  • fantastic
  • electric
  • artistic
  • automatic
  • magnético
  • fantastico
  • eléctrico
  • artistico
  • automatico


#5. -ble = -ble
English Spanish
  • admirable
  • impossible
  • terrible
  • favorable
  • notable
  • admirable
  • imposible
  • terrible
  • favorable
  • notable


#6. -nt → -nte
English Spanish
  • ignorant
  • convenient
  • prudent
  • important
  • triumphant
  • ignorante
  • conveniente
  • prudente
  • importante
  • triunfante


#7. -id → -ido
English Spanish
  • stupid
  • lucid
  • splendid
  • candid
  • solid
  • estupido
  • lúcido
  • esplendido
  • cándido
  • solido


#8. -ile → -il
English Spanish
  • agile
  • fragile
  • mobile
  • juvenile
  • automobile
  • ágil
  • frágil
  • movil
  • juvenil
  • automóvil


#9. -ary → -ario
English Spanish
  • actuary
  • arbitrary
  • ordinary
  • imaginary
  • ordinary
  • actuario
  • arbitrario
  • ordinario
  • imaginario
  • ordinario

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.


Verbs

There are many English verbs that can be converted into Spanish, usually by changing the ending of the English verb and adding the Spanish verb suffices 'ar', 'er' or 'ir'.

Almost every English verb ending in '-ate' can be coverted into a Spanish infinitive by replacing the final '-ate' with '-ar'.

#1. -ate → -ar
EnglishSpanish
accelerateacelerar
accentuateacentuar
aggregateagregar
associateasociar
demonstratedemostrar
estimateestimar
exaggerateexagerar
negotiatenegociar
operateoperar
participateparticipar
terminateterminar


Many English verbs ending in VOWEL + CONSONANT + T can be converted into Spanish verbs by adding '-ar' or '-ir' to the end of the English verb.

#2. VOWEL + CONSONANT + T → '-tar' or '-tir'
EnglishSpanish
insultinsultar
consultconsultar
exaltexaltar
presentpresentar
representrepresentar
commentcomentar
fermentfermentar
lamentlamentar
importimportar
comportcomportar
insertinsertar
supportsoportar
exportexportar
convertconvertir
insistinsistir


Many English infinitive verbs ending VOWEL + CONSONANT + E can be converted into Spanish infinitive verbs by dropping the final E and adding '-ar'.

#3. VOWEL + CONSONANT + E → VOWEL + CONSONANT + 'AR'
EnglishSpanish
abuseabusar
accuseacusar
causecausar
excuseexcusar
admireadmirar
adoreadorar
comparecomparar
declaredeclarar
imploreimplorar
analyzeanalizar
authorizeautorizar
civilizecivilizar
paralyzeparalizar
completecompletar
converseconversar
escapeescapar
ignoreignorar
inviteinvitar
imagineimaginar
preparepreparar
organizeorganizar
utilizeutilizar


Almost every English infinitive verb ending with '-ify' can be converted into a Spanish verb by replacing the final '-ify' with '-ificar'.

#3. '-ify' → '-ificar'
EnglishSpanish
unifyunificar
simplifysimplificar
solidifysolidificar
classifyclasificar
notifynotificar
modifymodificar
gratifygratificar
justifyjustificar
pacifypacificar
verifyverificar

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.


Adverbs

In English, "-ly" combines with many adjectives to form adverbs.

In Spanish, "-mente" combines with (feminine) adjectives to form Spanish adverbs.

English Spanish
absolutelyabsolutamente
normallynormalmente
naturallynaturalmente
finallyfinalmente
correctlycorrectamente
exactlyexactamente
evidentlyevidentemente
difficultlydifícilmente

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.


PDF download: English Spanish Cognates

 

Posted by lubw00 at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

Common Spanish Nouns

I collected the most common 1001 Spanish nouns and put them into this "Common Spanish Nouns" database. You can practice to translate these common Spanish nouns to see if you can translate them right.

Note:

  • f. female noun;

  • m. male noun;

Please follow this link: The most common Spanish nouns

Posted by lubw00 at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2007

Table of Spanish Personal Pronouns

The following table gives summary of Spanish personal pronouns.

Subject Prepositional Indirect Object Direct Object Reflexive Object
yo me me me
ti te te te
él él le le, lo se
ella ella le la se
usted usted le le, la se
nosotros nosotros nos nos nos
vosotros vosotros os os os
ellos ellos les los se
ellas ellas les las se
ustedes ustedes les los, las se

PDF download: Table of Spanish Personal Pronouns

Posted by lubw00 at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)