5. Comands and requests Flashcards
Don’t touch that!
¡No toques eso!
Don’t be late!
¡No llegues tarde!
Don’t touch anything, boys!
No toquen nada, chicos.
Boys, don’t do that.
Chicos, no hagan eso.
You close the door!
¡Cierra la puerta, tú! (the use of the subject pronoun can express rudeness or to make a distinction)
(let’s) attack!
¡Ataquemos!
Let’s do it!
Hagánmoslo nosotros.
Let’s eat.
Vamos a comer.
Let’s see.
Vamos a ver.
Let’s talk.
Vamos a hablar.
Let’s not do it yet.
No lo hagamos todavía.
Let’s not go to the movies.
No vayamos al cine.
Let’s give them a surprise.
Vamos a darles una sorpresa.
Let/have them vinish their homework.
Que terminen (ellos) sus deberes.
Let/have Antonio carry the suitcases.
Que lleve Antonio las maletas.
Let/have Juan come at three.
Que Juan (él) venga a las tres.
They must finish this before Monday.
Deben terminar esto estés del lunes.
She is to know this.
Ella ha de saber esto.
They must wash the car.
Ellos tienen que lavar el auto.
No tener que can be ambiguous, since it can also express lack of obligation. When in doubt, use ____ or ___ ___ in the negative.
deber or haber de
They mustn’t run through the halls.
No deben correr por los pasillos.
She isn’t to read this letter.
Ella no ha de leer esta carta.
The students will go to bed at ten.
Los estudiantes se acostarán a las diez.
You will study from 5 to 9.
Estudiarás de cinco a nueve.
You will not play with the computer.
No jugarás con el ordenador.
You are to clean this before going to bed.
Has de limpiar esto antes de acostarte.
You mustn’t push your brother! (tener que)
¡No tienes que empujar a tu hermano!
You can’t smoke here. (poder)
No puedes fumar aquí.
She can’t come tomorrow. (poder)
Ella no puede venir mañana.
I don’t want you to mention that.
No quiero que (tú) menciona eso.
Am I allowed to use the computer?
¿Me está permitido usar el computadora?
Am I allowed to eat here?
¿Se me permite comer aquí?
May I come it?
¿Me permite (usted) entrar?
May I read your paper?
¿Me permites leer tu periódico.
Can I use the telephone? (permitir) (usted)
¿Me permite usted usar el teléfono?
____ is slightly more informal than permitir.
Dejar (let/allow)
Will you let me use your pen? (deber)
¿Me dejas usar tu bolígrafo?
I was wondering if I could use yours.
Me preguntaba si podía usar el tuyo.
I would like you to help me. (gustar)
Me gustaría que (tú) me ayudaras.
Would you be so kind as to let me come in? (ser) (usted)
¿Sería usted tan amable de dejarme entrar?
Would you be so kind as to pass me the water? (Ser, tú)
¿Serías tan amable de pasarme el agua?
If you would follow me . . . (querer, usted)
¿Si quisiera (usted) seguirme . . .
Can you repair this for me?
¿Me arreglas esto?
Do you repair this?
¿Arreglas esto?
Can you pass me the salt, please?
¿Me pasas la sal, por favor?
Lend me your newspaper, please.
Préstame tu periódico, por favor.
Waiter, please, give me the bill. (usted)
Camarero, por favor, deme la cuenta.
Instead of gustar, the conditional form of the verb ___ is very often used, especially when no infinitive follows.
querer
Would you pass me the bread, please?
I would like to see Mr. Gálvez.
I would like a coffee.
¿Querrías pasarme el pan, por favor?
Querría ver al señor Gálvez.
Querría un cáfe.
I would like/I wanted to talk with Mrs. Jackson.
Quería hablar con la señora Jackson.
____ in the present is used to translate the English verb ‘will’ in requests.
querer
Will you sit down, please?
¿Quieres sentarte, por favor?
Would you come with me? (usted)
¿Querría usted venir conmigo?
In english, ‘as’ is used when second action takes place before the first is finished. In spanish, ___ is used.
cuando
To give the impression the first action has just been completed, you can use ____ or ______
justo cuando; (justo) en el momento en que
As (or: just as) I entered the building, I heard the explosion.
Justo cuando entraba en el edificio, oí la explosión.
As I was entering the building . . .
Cuando estaba entrando el edificio. . .
She listened to the news while she cleaned.
Ella escuchaba las noticias mientras/cuando limpiaba.
For a parallel development, ‘as’ translates as: ___.
For example: ‘As time went by, she felt better.’
a medida que
‘A medida que pasaba el tiempo, ella se sentía mejor.
When ‘as’ has the same meaning as ‘while’: it translates as ___ or ___
mientras or cuando
My wife prepared dinner as I was showering.
Mi mujer preparó la cena cuando/mientras me duchaba. (in past narration, it’s preferable to use the imperfect or imperfect progressive.)
In informal spanish, _____ is often used instead of ‘a medida que’
‘a medida que’ translates as:
conforme
‘as’ for parallel development.
When the first clause with ‘as’ is followed by a verb that implies an action with a very short duration, is mientras or cuando preferred?
cuando
As I was going into the office, I saw Jorge.
Cuando entraba (or: estaba entrando) en Correos, vi a Jorge. (entraba is a verb with a very short time frame)
When ‘as’ has the same meaning as because/since, it translates as _____.
como (without an accent)
‘Because/since my wife was ill, we couldn’t go to the party.’
If the reason (i.e. my wife was ill) isn’t listed first, you must use ____ or _____ (because); use _____ or _____ (since).
Como mi mujer estaba enferma, no pudimos ir a la fiesta.
Porque/pues; ya que/puesto que
We couldn’t go to the party, since my wife was ill.
We couldn’t go to the party, because my wife was ill.
No pudimos ir a la fiesta, ya que/puesto que mi mujer estaba enferma.
No pudimos ir a la fiesta, porque mi mujer estaba enferma.
‘As’ translates as ___, with nouns in sentences referring to periods in a person’s life.
For example, ‘As a child I had a lot of health problems.’
de
De niño tuve muchos problems de salud.
‘Como’ is possible in sentences that talk about duty, responsibility, type of job, and so on.
For example: ‘As a married man, you can’t go out with your friends at night.’
Como hombre casado, no puedes salir con tus amigos de noche.
‘Como’ is possible in sentences that talk about duty, responsibility, type of job, and so on.
For example: ‘Maria works as a cashier in a big supermarket.’
Maria trabaja como cajera en un gran supermercado.
‘Como’ is possible in sentences that talk about duty, responsibility, type of job, and so on.
When talking about the type of job/activity, ‘de’ is also possible.
For example: Paco works as a secretary in an office.
Paco trabaja de secretario en un despacho.
She works as a nurse.
Ella trabaja de/como enfermera.
She works like a nurse.
Ella trabaja como una enfermera.
Sleepy ‘as’ he was . . .
‘as’ translates as ___ or ____
aunque or a pesar de que
Tired as he was, he went on running.
Aunque él estaba cansado, siguió corriendo.
or
A pesar de que él estaba cansado, siguió corriendo.
I don’t have time to go to that party; besides, I don’t like the guests.
No tengo tiempo para ir a esa fiesta; además, no me gustan algunos de los invitados.
I don’t want them to come; besides, there isn’t enough food.
No quiero que vengan; además, no hay suficiente comida.
Además can also be used as a preposition. when this is the case, the construction is además + ___
de
Besides being a good student, he works at the gas station.
Además de ser un buen estudiante, trabaja en una gasolinera
Además works for expressions such as: moreover, anyway, or ‘in any case.’
These expressions can be translated the following 4 ways:
de todas formas, de cualquier forma, de todos modos, o todo caso.
example: ‘no quiero que vengan; ____, no hay suficiente comida.
recall that these are ‘conjunctions’
The common translation of ‘both …. and’ is ___.
For example: ‘Both Maria and Luis passed the exam.’
tanto … como
Tanto Maria como Luis aprobaron el examen.
I visited both the museum and the palace.
Visité tanto el museo como el palacio.
However, in most everyday uses, the construction is:
Visité el museo y e palacio.
Estuvo en Londres, pero/sino no pudo ver a la reina.
Él es bajo pero/sino fuerte.
Ella no es enferma, pero/sino secretaria.
pero
pero
sino
In the last case, but is used to correct a possible misunderstanding, therefore sino is used.
They live either on this street or on that one.
Ellos viven o en esta calle o en ésa.
They live on this street or on that one.
Viven en esta calle o en ésa.
When the verb form is negative, ni is used instead of o.
For example: ‘She doesn’t speak English or French.’
Ella no habla inglés ni francés.
either New York or Orlando
o Nueva York u Orlando
She speaks neither English nor French.
Ella no habla ni inglés ni francés.
Note that a double negative is used (ella no habla ni inglés ni francés) except when ‘ni’ is placed before the verb.
For example, “She speaks neither English nor French”
Ella ni habla inglés ni francés.
If a verb takes a preposition (e.g. hablar con, ir a), the first component of the conjunction is always placed before the preposition:
For example, ‘You have to talk either with the principal or with your teacher.’
Tienes que hablar o con el director o con tu profesor.
When ‘for’ is used as a conjunction, it is commonly translated as pues.
For example, ‘She was worried, for her son hadn’t come back yet.’
Ella estaba preocupada, pues su hijo no había venido todavía.
Pues has the same limitations as ‘for in english. When in doubt, use porque. Both conjunctions (pues y porque) have nearly the same meaning.
For example, “She was worried because her son hadn’t returned yet.
Ella estaba preocupada porque su hijo no había venido todavía.
Another phrase for ‘sin embargo’
no obstante
As an adverb of degree, however is ‘no impotar lo’ and is followed by adverbs/adjectives and the subjunctive.
For example, ‘I never passed the math tests, however hard I studied.’
Nunca que aprobé los exámenes de matemáticas, no importaba lo mucho que estudiara.
In spite of having no time, Maria helped me with the boxes.
A pesar de no tener tiempo, Maria me ayudó con las cajas.
She helped me with the boxes in spite of the fact that she didn’t have any time.
Ella me ayudó con las cajas a pesar de que (ella) no tenía tiempo.
‘A pesar de’ can be followed by nouns:
‘In spite of my great effort, I couldn’t pass the exam.’
A pesar de mi gran esfuerzo, no pude aprobar el examen.
‘Not only . . . but also’ translates as ‘no sólo/solamente … sin también’
‘Not only adults but also children were arrested by the police.’
No sólo adultos, sino también niños fueron arrestados por la policia.
If the verb sequence is repeated, the relative pronoun must be used after the conjunction….
‘Elena not only bought the blouse but also (bought) the trousers.’
Elena no sólo compró la blusa, sino que compró los pantalones.
When the sentence is negative, ‘or’ can be used in English. However, in spanish, ‘ni’ must be used:
‘She doesn’t work or study.’
Ella no trabaja ni estudia.
‘Otherwise’
‘de lo contrario’
‘if not’
si no
We must hurry up; otherwise, we’ll miss the train.
Debemos darnos prisa; de lo contrario, perderemos el tren.
The conjunction ‘de lo contrario’ can be replaced by ‘o’.
‘We must hurry up or (else) miss the train.”
Debemos darnos prisa, o perderemos el tren.
As an adverb, ‘otherwise’ is translated as:
de otra forma
de otro modo
If you calculate it otherwise, you won’t obtain the correct result.
Si lo calculas de otra forma, no obtendrás el resultado correcto.
When it functions as a conjunction, ‘since’ is usually translated as ‘ya que’
‘Martin couldn’t pass the exam, since he hadn’t studied very hard.’
Martin no pudo aprobar el examen, ya que no había estudiado mucho.
At the beginning of a sentence that uses ‘since,’ it is better to use como than ya que.
‘Since we don’t have any money, we won’t go on a vacation this year.’
Como no tenemos dinero, no iremos de vacaciones este año.
As an adverb, ‘since’ translates as ‘desde (que):
‘I have had this watch since 1958.’
Tengo este reloj desde 1958.
As an adverb, ‘since’ translates as ‘desde (que):
‘I have known her since we were children.’
La conozco desde que éramos niños.
As a conjunction to explain something, ‘so’ translates as ‘así que’:
‘It was raining, so we stayed home.’
Estaba lloviendo, así que nos quedamos en casa.
She is so beautiful . . .
Ella es tan guapa …
She said it was too expensive; yet/nevertheless, she bought it.
Ella dijo que era demasiado caro; no obstante, lo compró.
Still and yet can function as adverbs. In this case, ‘still’ translates as aún o todavía; ‘yet’ translates as ‘ya’ in interrogative sentences and as ‘aún no’ or ‘todavía no’ in negative sentences.
‘Have you finished yet?’
No, I haven’t finished yet.
I’m still working on it.
‘Has terminado ya?’
No, aún no/todavía no he terminado.
Todavía/aún estoy trabajando en ello.
‘Therefore’ (2 ways)
por tanto; por consiguiente
‘Mientras’ can be used to emphasize a contrast.
‘She works hard while her brother wastes money.’
Ella trabaja duramente mientras su hermano malgasta dinero.
‘While:’ this conjunction normally translates as ____.
mientras
She works and studies while her brother doesn’t do anything.
Ella trajaba y estudia mientras que su hermano no hace nada.
‘Mientras’ cannot be used to mean ‘although/while’:
‘While I like your offer, I’m not going to change jobs.’
Aunque me gusta tu oferta, no voy a cambiar de trabajo.
