I. Tira cómica

You will follow Ana and Carlos as they discuss their favorite activities and spend time together.

II. ¿Te fijaste que…? Los pasatiempos en el mundo hispano

Las actividades de los jóvenes

Conexión cultural: Las actividades de los jóvenes

¿Tienes planes? Across the globe, young people everywhere ask each other a similar question and gather with their friends for shared activities. While the specific activities and locations might vary regionally (as you will see below), it is important to remember that the desire for social connections and an active social life are universal aspects of the human experience.

It shouldn’t be surprising, then, as you have previously read, that there are many cognates between Spanish and English when it comes to activities we engage in with friends. Even the word actividad is a cognate, as are música and televisión as well as the names of several sports. Since the words are new to you, you may not identify the cognates when you hear them at first. Take some time slowly reading, writing, and pronouncing the vocabulary words, and you will certainly see the connection between the words in both languages. Parque, restaurante, café, cartas…once you start to identify the cognates, you will see them everywhere!

Conexión cultural: El fútbol

When you hear the word fútbol, what image comes to mind? Carlos says, “En mi país, el fútbol es una pasión.” El fútbol es el deporte más popular en el mundo. También es el deporte más popular en los países hispanos.

In most English-speaking countries around the world (e.g., the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Jamaica, India, and to some extent, Australia) except North America (that is, in Canada and the United States), the term football means the same thing as it does with Spanish fútbol: American soccer.

Especially in Spanish-speaking countries—but also in many countries around the world—fútbol, or soccer, has a tremendously passionate following. In Spanish-speaking countries, soccer is more than just a sport; it is a cultural touchstone. It is a way to spend time and commune with family, friends, and neighbors. Playing soccer, talking about it, cheering on the local team, or disparaging the rival team occur frequently and create a sense of community. While, of course, every person and every family is different, this kind of passion for fútbol is quite widespread in the Spanish-speaking world. This doesn’t mean that soccer is the only professional sport with a following, but soccer’s popularity does eclipse other sports by a wide margin in these countries.

The closest equivalent to the popularity of soccer in the United States is American football or basketball. Take a moment to think about a friend or relative who hosts a party every Sunday when their (American) football team is playing or spends several weeks in marzo and abril glued to the televisión and comparing results of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament with their personal brackets. Perhaps you are one of these people who, because of personal experience, family ties, or hometown loyalty, live the passion for a particular sport with gusto and enthusiasm (when your team does well) or dismay and despair (when it doesn’t). For a variety of reasons, fútbol is gaining popularity in the United States as well. Even if American football may dominate soccer in terms of professional following, soccer is an extremely popular and widespread youth sport.

La medida de distancia, peso y temperatura

Conexión cultural: La medida de distancia, peso y temperatura

If you have ever tried to use a recipe from another country or figure out what temperature it was in a different place in the world, you probably have already realized that the units of measurement used in the United States are not the same as in other countries. In fact, the United States is only one of three countries in the entire world that do not use the metric system, though there are certainly some instances (for example, short running distances and scientific study generally) where you will also find metric measurements in the US.

Spanish-speaking countries—as well as most of the world—use the metric system to measure units. Where Americans say inches and feet, others say centimeters and meters. When Americans state our weight and buy our produce in pounds, others use kilograms (or generally, “kilos”). Where you are used to hearing the weather reported in degrees Fahrenheit, others say Celsius. And when it comes to distances and speed, where our speedometer says miles per hour, others say…you guessed it! Kilometers. One mile is approximately 1.6 kilometers. If Carlos runs around 42 kilometers in a marathon, how many miles does he usually run?

¿Por qué no vamos a pasear?

Conexión cultural: ¿Por qué no vamos a pasear?

In Spanish-speaking countries generally, but particularly in more urban environments, it is common for friends to meet up at a central landmark in town, such as a plaza. Plazas are similar to town squares and tend to be well-maintained open-air spaces near shops, restaurants, and important public buildings. There is often a fountain or a key monument or architectural focal point in the center.

Whether it’s a plaza, a park, or even a centro comercial, one of the key things these places have in common is that they represent important meeting places for friends and family. Year round, but of course especially in good weather, there is a strong tradition in Spanish-speaking countries to meet up in a public place and go for a stroll. Often the friends or the group will end up at a café, bar, or restaurant for some refreshments and then will continue on their stroll to potentially end up in another place.

While it depends on the resources and desires of individual families, it is even quite common for barbecues and other larger gatherings to take place in public spaces, such as a park. Whether it’s with one friend or many, socializing very often takes place in public.

El transporte y la urbanización

Conexión cultural: El transporte y la urbanización

It is no secret that in many places in the United States, the automobile is the most popular form of transportation. There are quite a few reasons for this—an abundance of space and the historical importance of Ford and other car factories to the region being two major reasons—and the end result is that many cities are more “drivable” than “walkable,” especially as one gets further out from urban centers.

As always, there is a great deal of variability among and within countries, but in many places in the Spanish-speaking world, the availability and use of public transportation is much more widespread. Many individuals are able to access places like markets, restaurants, and public services on foot or through a combination of public transport and walking. Furthermore, whereas many midwestern Americans might view using public transportation as an inconvenience, a novelty, or a last resort, for many individuals in the Hispanic world, it is convenient, affordable, and the best way to get from point A to point B. This is because many large cities in the Hispanic world have traffic and parking issues that are avoided when public transportation is taken. In addition, many countries like Mexico and Colombia have placed restrictions on the use of personal vehicles in order to alleviate pollution in certain cities. Programs like “Un día sin carro y sin moto” in Colombia prohibit the use of cars and motorcycles one day a month. In Mexico City, the program “Hoy no circula” limits the use of personal vehicles during certain days of the month and hours of the day.^[1] Therefore, most individuals are accustomed to using public transportation at one point or another.

These systems are incredibly varied and diverse and, as expected, are called by different names in different places. Some of the oldest and most innovative systems of public transportation are in Spain and Latin America. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first line of the subterráneo (“metro”; literally, “underground”), referred to as the subte, Línea A was established in 1913. It has undergone renovations since then, of course, but it is still in use.^[2] El Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia, was the world’s first cable car public transport system. Established in 2004, it offers a clean, sustainable, and economical public transport option in a mountainous area that would be difficult to navigate using other types of transportation.^[3] Spain’s high-speed rail system, the AVE, is a convenient choice for intercountry travel. The AVE boasts of the longest high-speed line in Europe, with 3,100 kilometers of rail, and can reach speeds of up to 310 kilometers per hour.^[4]

El transporte y la urbanización

III. Ampliación: La comunicación virtual

IV. Vocabulario

Actividad 2.15. ¿Qué hago y dónde lo hago?

Look at the following images and write down at least one activity that you can do there. Use number 1 as a model.

Modelo:

1. El café

__Estudiar __________Beber café _____

La plaza	El centro comercial
La tienda	El bar
El cine	El parque
El restaurante	9. La biblioteca

Los días de la semana

¡Hablemos de los días de la semana! In Spanish, the days of the week are masculine nouns: el lunes, un lunes. They are not capitalized like they are in English, so the correct way to write Thursday, for example, is jueves and not Jueves. In English, the preposition on is used to talk about the day of the week when something happens. In Spanish, you only use the article and do not need a preposition. For example, “I leave on Monday” will be “Salgo el lunes.” If you want to indicate that something is done regularly on a particular day of the week, use the plural form of the definite article: “Yo corro en el parque los martes” (I run in the park on Mondays).

Los meses del año

Now that we have learned the days of the week, let’s learn the months of the year and the seasons. In Spanish, the months of the year are generally not capitalized, just like the days of the week.

El tiempo

Spanish and English have different ways of describing the weather. In English, you can simply use the verb to be and say that it’s hot, cold, raining, and so on. In Spanish, most of the time an impersonal form of the verb hacer, hace, is used with a noun to describe the weather. Literally, this expression means “it makes,” as in “(The weather) makes cold, hot, and so on.”

See the examples below:

¿Qué tiempo hace?

 

Hace sol. It’s sunny. Sun by Pixabay, licensed under Pexel license	Hace calor. It’s hot. Orange Safety Ring on Man Shoulder Near Body of Water by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi, licensed under Pexel license	Hace frío. It’s cold. Woman pulling a kid on a sled by Yan Krukov, licensed under Pexel license
Hace viento. It’s windy. Coconut Trees on Brown Soil Under Blue Sky by Messala Ciulla, licensed under Pexel license	Hace buen tiempo. The weather is nice. Green Mountain Surrounded by Body of Water Photo by Bob Krustev, licensed under Pexel license	Hace mal tiempo. The weather is bad. Close Up Photo of Coconut Tree by Suparerg Suksai, licensed under Pexel license
Hace fresco. It’s cool. Woman Holding a Cup Near Body of Water by Vlada Karpovich, licensed under Pexel license

In addition to these, the verb estar is used to describe other weather occurrences that are considered to be in progress.

Está lloviendo. It’s raining. Person Standing Using Red Umbrella by Aline Nadai, licensed under Pexel license

Está nublado. It’s cloudy. Brown Mountain Under Cloudy Sky by Pixabay, licensed under Pexel license

Está nevando. It’s snowing. Photo of Snowy Field by Simon Berger, licensed under Pexel license

Please note that since llover, “to rain,” and nevar, “to snow,” are verbs, they can also be conjugated in the third person, llueve and nieva, to indicate that the action is also in progress.

In order to talk about the weather in degrees, you can use either the verb form hace or the form hay.

Examples:

Hace calor. Hay 42℃ para hoy.

Hace 5℃. Hace frío.

Finally, remember that the word tiempo refers to weather in Spanish. So when you say “Hace buen tiempo,” you are saying it’s nice out, not that it’s a “good time.” If you want to tell someone to have a good time, try “¡Pásalo bien!”

Las estaciones

¿Qué fiestas celebras? If you celebrate a holiday in November or December, like Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa, what kind of weather do you associate with it? Chances are, if you have lived in that same place your whole life, you have a very clear association with the month, the season, and the holiday. For example, American culture very heavily links the winxter holidays with cold and snow, even though there are many places in the United States that rarely, if ever, receive snowfall. Likewise, even though there is a generally agreed-upon set of four seasons experienced in the US, some places, like the Pacific Northwest or the South, experience more moderate variations of their typical climate rather than the large fluctuations experienced in the Northeast and Midwest.

Just like the regional variation in the US, not all countries experience four seasons, and if they do, they might follow a different calendar depending on their location. Central American and Caribbean countries (such as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic) and northern South American countries (such as Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northern Peru) tend to experience seasons differently given their proximity to the equator. These places experience an estación de lluvia (rainy season) and an estación seca (dry season). The estación de lluvia tends to take place from May to November, while the dryer months are typically December through April.

Meanwhile, the United States, being in the Northern Hemisphere, has the opposite seasons of those countries in the Southern Hemisphere that are farther from the equator. In the Spanish-speaking world, this includes southern Peru, Chile, and Argentina, most notably. For these regions, December through March is summertime, March through June is fall, June through September is winter, and spring takes place from September through December.

Similar to the Hoosier saying about Indiana weather (“If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes”), no matter what the climate, there is always a good deal of variability.

Las estaciones

La primavera	Spring
El verano	Summer
El otoño	Fall
El invierno	Winter
Temporada seca	Dry season
Temporada de lluvia	Rainy season

Actividad 2.24. ¿Cuándo hace este tiempo en tu ciudad?

Indicate the season(s) that normally have this type of weather in your city.

Modelo:

Hace buen tiempo en el verano.

1. Hace mucho frío _________________.
2. Hace sol ______________________.
3. Hace viento ____________________.
4. Hace fresco ____________________.
5. Está nublado ___________________.

Actividad 2.25. ¿Qué tiempo hace?

The United States is a large country whose weather varies from region to region. Look at the four images depicting average temperatures in the United States by season: https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/state-temperature-maps-seasonal.php. Then answer the questions below.

1. ¿En qué estado(s) de los Estados Unidos hace buen tiempo en invierno? ¿Hay estado(s) en que hace calor?
2. ¿En qué estado(s) de los Estados Unidos hace mucho frío en invierno? ¿Cuántos grados hay?
3. ¿En qué estado(s) hace calor extremo en el verano?
4. ¿Qué estado(s) te gusta visitar en el otoño? ¿Qué tiempo hace o qué temperatura hace?
5. ¿Qué tiempo hace generalmente en el norte del país en la primavera? ¿Y en el sur?

Actividad 2.26. ¿Qué actividades quieres hacer?

Paso 1—Read the activity presented and check whether you like it a lot (me gusta mucho), you like it somewhat (me gusta), or you don’t like it (no me gusta). For the activities you like, select what months (los meses) and what kind of weather (el clima) are best for that activity.

Actividad	¿Te gusta?	¿En qué meses?	¿En qué climas?
Veo una película.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Corro.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Juego a las cartas.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Toco un instrumento.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Estudio para un examen.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Paseo en el parque.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Tomo una fotografía.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Voy al museo.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.
Como en un restaurante.	☐ ¡Sí, me gusta mucho! ☐ Sí, me gusta. ☐ ¡No, no me gusta!	☐ En enero ☐ En febrero ☐ En marzo ☐ En abril ☐ En mayo ☐ En junio ☐ En julio ☐ En agosto ☐ En septiembre ☐ En octubre ☐ En noviembre ☐ En diciembre ☐ En todos los meses	☐ Cuando hace frío. ☐ Cuando hace calor. ☐ Cuando hace buen tiempo. ☐ Cuando hace mal tiempo. ☐ Cuando llueve.

Paso 2—Now that you have reflected on your own preferences, ask a classmate about their preferred activities during different types of weather and take note of where you have similarities and where you are different. Be sure to discuss your activity preferences for the following types of weather.

Modelo:

Está lloviendo y hace fresco.

Jugar juegos de mesa con amigos

1. Hace mucho sol.
2. Hace viento y hace fresco.
3. Está nevando pero no hace mucho frío.
4. Hace buen tiempo.
5. Hace mal tiempo.

You may find the following phrases helpful for your conversation.

¿Qué te gusta hacer cuando…?—What do you like to do when…?

(Example: ¿Qué te gusta hacer cuando hace mucho sol?)

¡Yo también!—Me too

¡A mí tampoco!—Me neither

Actividad 2.27. ¿Qué estación es?

Use the information from the section Las estaciones to fill in the chart with the missing information to detail the seasons experienced in the given places during the given months.

Meses	Indiana, EEUU	Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá	Santiago, Chile
Diciembre, enero, febrero y marzo		Estación seca
	El verano
Septiembre, octubre, noviembre y diciembre
			El otoño

Actividad de investigación cultural 2.28. ¿Qué tiempo hace?

Use a world map or the internet to indicate what the weather is like in different cities on different dates. Use the first entry as a model.

	Michigan, EEUU	La Havana, Cuba	Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Buenos Aires, Argentina
El quince de abril	Es la primavera. Hace fresco. Llueve. Hace buen tiempo.
El veinte de diciembre
El dos de septiembre
El cuatro de junio
El trece de agosto
(Choose your own date.) __________ __________

Actividad de investigación cultural 2.29. Los husos horarios en los Estados Unidos y el mundo hispano

There are different husos horarios, or time zones, in the world. The United States has six different time zones. Research the following information.

1. ¿Cómo se llama el área horaria en la que está Indiana?
2. Escoge (choose) un estado de cada uno de los husos horarios que hay en los Estados Unidos.
3. ¿Cuál es la diferencia horaria entre Indiana y los estados que escogiste (that you chose)?
4. Busca (find) la diferencia horaria entre Indiana y cinco países en los que se habla español.
5. Busca un país hispano con más de un huso horario.
6. Resuelve estas situaciones:
   • Si (if) son las 5:00 de la tarde en la Ciudad de México, ¿qué hora es en Madrid, España?
   • Si son las 8:00 de la mañana en Buenos Aires, Argentina, ¿qué hora es en Tegucigalpa, Honduras?
   • Si son las tres de la tarde en Bogotá, Colombia, ¿qué hora es en Indianápolis, Indiana, EEUU?

Actividad de reflexión cultural 2.30. The connection with seasons

Choose one of the following questions to respond to. Be sure to elaborate fully in a response of several paragraphs.

1. What events and systems do you participate in that might be scheduled around the seasons you experience in the Northern Hemisphere? Consider the impact of weather on school and vacation schedules as well as some national holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day, and American Independence Day. How might those schedules and celebrations be different if the US were in the Southern Hemisphere?
2. Consider how you celebrate your favorite holiday. Now imagine you are celebrating it in a country that is close to the equator. What different kinds of activities would you engage in? In the Southern Hemisphere?
3. What role, if any, do you think climate and geography might play in the kinds of activities that are popular in certain cultures? How might your favorite pastimes with friends change if you lived in Costa Rica? Or in the southern tip of Argentina?

V. Video entrevistas

Actividad interpretativa 2.31. Mi estación del año favorita

Watch and listen to the videos of individuals sharing their favorite seasons. Then indicate whether the statements are cierto (true) or falso (false).
Álvaro

Lisa

Manuela

Melissa

Nicky

Robin

https://youtu.be/3MrEY6Rv54w

Actividad interpretativa 2.32. El clima en Honduras, México y España

Watch the video to learn about the climate and popular activities for young people in Honduras, Mexico, and Spain:

Then answer the following questions.

Actividad 2.33. Y ahora en inglés

Watch the English version of the video about climate differences among the US, Mexico, and Spain and write a list of at least five facts you learned from this second video that you didn’t hear or pick up on the last time:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Actividad de reflexión cultural 2.34. Los pasatiempos normales

Paso 1—Watch the video in which Nicky, Melissa, and Álvaro discuss popular activities for young people and the times at which these things occur:

Use the chart to write some notes about what you hear.

	Actividades	Horas para desayunar	Horas para almorzar	Horas para cenar
Nicky (México)
Melissa (Honduras)
Álvaro (España)

Paso 2—Consider the same questions for you and your friends: What are popular activities for young people? What time do they do them? What times are typical for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Then write a paragraph-length reflection about cultural similarities (and potentially, differences) between you and your friends and the individuals in the video.

VI. Gramática

2-A. Regular verbs

What is a verb? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, verbs “are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist). Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive. The forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verb#note-1).

In Spanish, there are different types of verbs. Verbs that do not have a change in their roots and follow a regular pattern of endings when you conjugate them are regular verbs. There are three main types of regular verbs: -ar, -er, and -ir. You can tell what type of verb it is by looking at the ending of the verb in its infinitive form. For example, the verb tomar is an -ar verb, since it ends with -ar.

Why is it important to learn how to conjugate a verb? How do you conjugate regular verbs?

When you conjugate a verb, you make a change that communicates important information such as the person who is doing the action, the tense (when the action is taking place: present, past, future, etc.), and the mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative, infinitive).

In English, the subject pronoun at the beginning is the primary way to show who is doing the action: I jump, you jump, they jump, we jump. Notice that there is a change in the third-person singular, he or she jumps, since an s is added at the end of the verb.

In Spanish, you show who is doing the action by modifying the ending of the verb. This is called conjugating the verb. When you conjugate the verb, there is a specific ending for each person that indicates who is doing the action. For this reason, many times, the subject pronoun is not necessary and is left out entirely. It is usually only included when the speaker or writer needs to clarify or emphasize the subject.

Regular verbs in the present tense are conjugated by dropping the last two letters of the infinitive form of the verb (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding one of the endings below.

Regular verb endings

Pronoun	-ar	-er	-ir
Yo	-o	-o	-o
Tú	-as	-es	-es
Él/Ella/Usted	-a	-e	-e
Nosotros	-amos	-emos	-imos
Vosotros	-áis	-éis	-ís
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	-an	-en	-en

Let’s suppose that we wanted to conjugate the following verbs: trabajar, comer, and escribir.

Step 1. First, drop the last two letters of the ending.

Trabajar Comer Escribir

Step 2. Now, add the ending according to the person performing the action.

Pronoun	Trabajar	Comer	Escribir
Yo	trabajo	como	escribo
Tú	trabajas	comes	escribes
Él/Ella/Usted	trabaja	come	escribe
Nosotros	trabajamos	comemos	escribimos
Vosotros	trabajáis	coméis	escribís
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	trabajan	comen	escriben

Actividad 2.35. Traducciones

Modelo:

a. Trabajamos b. Trabajo c. Trabajas

Actividad 2.36. Conjugación simple

Modelo:

dibujar—yo:

dibujo

Actividad 2.37. Un día en la ciudad

Complete the sentences by choosing the correct verb form. Use number 1 as a model.

Actividad 2.38. En el parque

Ana and Carlos are at the park. They see people doing different activities. Indicate what the following people are doing based on the images. Be sure to conjugate the verbs correctly based on the given subject.

Modelo:	Los turistas toman fotos de la Mona Lisa.
1.	La estudiante ____________
2.	Yo ________________
3.	Tú __________________
4.	Ellos ____________
5.	Las chicas ____________

Actividad 2.39. Las actividades importantes en la universidad

Complete the sentence by first choosing the correct verb and then putting it in the correct form.

Modelo:

Los estudiantes practican (practicar, jugar, hacer) la natación todo el año.

Actividad 2.40. Firma verbos -ar

Using the activity in the “Actividad” column, write a question that you would ask a classmate to find out if they do that thing. See the example for the first activity as a model. Then come up with two more yes/no questions using -ar verbs for the last two rows. When your instructor says it’s time, stand up and ask various classmates that question. Write down the names of students who tell you yes, they do the activity. If they do not, you may not write down their name.

Actividad	Pregunta	Nombres
Hablar con amigos en español.	¿Hablas con amigos en español?	1. 2.
Estudiar por la mañana.		1. 2.
No practicar un deporte.		1. 2.
		1. 2.
		1. 2.

Actividad 2.41. Firma verbos -er e -ir

Using the activity in the “Actividad” column, write a question that you would ask a classmate to find out if they do that thing. See the example for the first activity as a model. When your instructor says it’s time, stand up and ask various classmates that question. Write down the names of students who tell you yes, they do the activity. If they do not, you may not write down their name.

Actividad	Pregunta	Nombres
Vivir en el campus.	¿Vives en el campus?	1. 2.
Escribir poesía.		1. 2.
No beber café.		1. 2.
Leer muchas novelas.		1. 2.
		1. 2.

Actividad 2.42. Firma actividades mezcladas

Using the activity in the “Actividad” column, write a question that you would ask a classmate to find out if they do that thing. See the example for the first activity as a model. When your instructor says it’s time, stand up and ask various classmates that question. Write down the names of students who tell you yes, they do the activity. If they do not, you may not write down their name.

Actividad	Pregunta	Nombres
Participar en un club.	¿Participas en un club?	1. 2.
Practicar un deporte.		1. 2.
Asistir a todas las clases.		1. 2.
No comer en la cafetería.		1. 2.
Estudiar los apuntes (notes).		1. 2.

2-B. ¿Qué hora es? Telling time

Telling time in Spanish is very similar to the way it is done in English. Both use the verb to be. In English, one can ask “What time is it?” In Spanish, it is “¿Qué hora es?” Spanish uses the verb ser to tell time. It uses the third-person singular form for 1:00, and for everything else, it uses the third-person plural form. The clock below shows how to tell the time when it is exactly on the hour. Just be careful not to confuse the notion of tiempo and hora. While in English, the word time is used for both concepts, in Spanish, tiempo means both the notion of time in general (as in, “Do you have time?”) and the weather. When you are talking about a specific time of day, hora is the word you want to use.

Useful vocabulary

Mediodía	Noon
Medianoche	Midnight
En punto	Exactly on the hour
Cuarto	Quarter
Media	Half
De la mañana	In the morning
De la tarde	In the afternoon
De la noche	At night

 

How do you then express time when it is not exactly on the hour? In order to express one to thirty minutes after the hour, add the time using y.

Note that fifteen minutes can be expressed with y cuarto (and a quarter) or y quince (and fifteen).

Thirty minutes can be expressed y media (and a half) or y treinta (and thirty).

See the following examples.

Son las dos…

There are some cultural differences in expressing time after thirty minutes have passed. In countries like Spain, you go up to the next hour and then subtract time using menos (minus) to indicate the time that you are subtracting from the hour.

Examples:

Consider the following times.

2:50 p.m. Son las tres menos diez de la tarde.

(You go up to the next hour, 3:00 p.m., and subtract ten.)

2:45 p.m. Son las tres menos cuarto de la tarde. / Son las tres menos quince de la tarde.

Son las tres…

Spain also uses military time to indicate the time. Military time is more precise and is used to avoid any confusion that you might have with a twelve-hour clock. The clock starts at midnight with 00:00 and continues until it reaches 23:59 hours. You will see time expressed this way in places like airports, hospitals, and TV guides.

See the following examples:

10:00 p.m. is 22:00 (h)—Son las veintidós horas. / Son las diez de la noche.

1:00 p.m. is 13:00 (h)—Son las trece horas. / Es la una de la tarde.

9:00 a.m. is 09:00 (h)—Son las nueve horas. / Son las nueve de la mañana.

In Latin America, it is more common to continue adding time to the hour rather than subtracting from the next one.

Son las dos…

¿A qué hora?

So far, you have learned how to tell what time it is, but what about if you want to find out at what time something happens? In that case, use the following:

¿A qué hora es __________? At what time is _____________?

If you want to respond, use:

Es a la(s)___________. It is at _________________

Examples:

¿A qué hora es la clase de español?

La clase de español es a las ocho de la mañana.

¿A qué hora es la fiesta este fin de semana?

La fiesta es a las once de la noche.

Actividad 2.43.¿Qué hora es?

Write out what time it is.

Modelo:

8:00 a.m.

Son las ocho de la mañana.

 

Actividad interpersonal 2.44. ¿A qué hora?

With a partner, take turns asking and responding to the following questions. Be prepared to share some information about your partner’s schedule with the class. Do you have activities that you do at the same time?

Modelo:

¿A qué hora descansas?

Yo descanso a las once de la noche.

1. ¿A qué hora comes generalmente?
2. ¿A qué hora estudias?
3. ¿A qué hora trabajas?
4. ¿A qué hora pasas tiempo con amigos?
5. ¿A qué hora miras la tele?

 

2-C. El verbo ir

In Spanish there are verbs that do not follow the normal conjugation rules that you have learned. For this reason, these verbs are considered “irregular.” One of the most commonly used irregular verbs is ir, which means “to go.”

It is conjugated in the following manner.

Yo	voy	Nosotros	vamos
Tú	vas	Vosotros	váis
Él/Ella/Usted	va	Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	van

The verb ir is used in the same way that it is used in English: to indicate where one is going or where one is going to go.

In order to say where one is going, the verb ir is followed by the preposition a to indicate direction.

Examples:

	El hombre va a la plaza
	Tú vas a la biblioteca
	Yo voy al café (In this case, the preposition a turns into al, since a + el contracts to al.)

Actividad 2.45. ¿Adónde vas?

Indicate where the following people are going based on the image and the context.

Modelo:

Los estudiantes van al café.

1.	1. Nosotros ___________________.
2.	2. Ustedes ____________________.
3.	3. Ana y Carlos ________________.
4.	4. La Sra. Martínez ______________.
5.	5. Yo _________________________.

Actividad interpersonal 2.46. ¿Adónde vamos?

With a partner, take turns asking and responding to the following questions. Be prepared to share similarities and differences between you and your partner with the class.

Modelo:

¿Adónde vas para tomar un café?

Yo voy a Starbucks.

1. ¿Adónde vas para estudiar?
2. ¿Adónde vas para comer tu comida favorita (favorite food)?
3. ¿Adónde vas para pasar tiempo con tus amigos?
4. ¿Adónde vas para hacer ejercicio?
5. ¿Adónde vas para descansar?

2-D. El futuro inmediato: Ir + a + infinitive

In addition to being used to express where one is going, the verb ir is algo used to express what one is going to do. Therefore, it can be used to talk about actions that are going to happen in the near future.

Use the following formula to express what is going to happen:

Form of the verb ir + a + verb in the infinitive

	La estudiante va a leer un libro. The student is going to read a book.
	El hombre va a tomar un café en la plaza. The man is going to drink coffee in the plaza.
	Las personas van a ver una exposición de arte en el museo. The people are going to see an art exhibit in the museum.

 

Actividad 2.47. What are they going to do?

Use your imagination to indicate what the following people are going to do when they get to the places depicted in the images below. Use number 1 as a model.

1.	Yo voy a mirar una película en casa.
2.	Nosotros ____________________..
3.	Los turistas ________________..
4.	Los niños ______________..
5.	Tú _________________________..

 

Actividad interpersonal 2.48. ¿Qué va a hacer la clase?

Paso 1—First, write down the three most important activities that you are going to do during the week. Be sure to specify what day you are going to do each one.

Modelo:

1. El lunes voy a estudiar en la biblioteca para un examen.
2. El miércoles voy a practicar el fútbol en el estadio.
3. El jueves voy a cenar con mi familia en un restaurante.

Paso 2—Ask five different people in the class what they are going to do during the week. Write down their responses.

¿Qué vas a hacer durante la semana?

Estudiante 1:

Estudiante 2:

Estudiante 3:

Estudiante 4:

Estudiante 5:

Paso 3—Analyze the responses you obtained. Are there any commonalities? Be ready to report to the class.

2-E. Expressing likes and dislikes: The verb gustar

The verb gustar is used to express what one likes or dislikes. It is different than other verbs because only the third-person singular form, gusta, and the third-person plural form, gustan, are used to indicate what one likes or dislikes. The reason for this is that a more literal translation of gustar is “to be pleasant to.” For example, if we wanted to say “I like dogs,” in Spanish, we would have to say something like “Dogs are pleasant to me.”

Consider the following examples:

1. I like dogs. Me gustan los perros.

A mí me gustan los perros.

2. You like Spanish. Te gusta el español.

A ti te gusta el español.

3. He doesn’t like to run. No le gusta correr.

A él no le gusta correr.

4. Joe likes to eat pizza. A Joe le gusta comer pizza.

In the first example, it can be seen that if what you like is plural, such as dogs, then the third-person plural gustan is used. The object and its corresponding article, los perros, are then placed directly after the form of gustar.

The beginning of the sentence indicates who likes the object or two whom it is pleasing. In this case, it is “to me.” Dogs are liked by me or dogs are pleasant to me. Therefore, there is the option of adding the prepositional phrase a mí for more emphasis. Both forms—me gustan los perros and a mí me gustan los perros—are correct.

The second example uses the third-person singular form because el español is singular. There is the option again to add the prepositional phrase a ti for more emphasis.

Notice that to indicate what one likes to do, like in the third and fourth examples, the verb gustar always goes in the third-person singular form, gusta, and the action that one likes to do goes in its infinitive form.

The third example is used to express a dislike, something that the person doesn’t like to do. In the case of a dislike, the word no is placed before the indirect object pronoun le. The prepositional phrase is added before the no to clarify who the le is, since le can also be used for ella or usted.

The fourth example is referring to the likes of a specific person, Joe. In this case, it is not an option to add the preposition a before the name; it is required.

Use the following formula to express likes and dislikes:

Prepositional phrase	Indirect object pronoun	Form of the verb gustar	Noun including article or verb in the infinitive
(A mí) (A ti) (A usted) (A él, ella) (A nosotros/as) (A vosotros/as) (A ustedes) (A ellos, ellas)	me te le le nos os les les	gusta (singular)       gustan (plural)	el/la singular noun verb in the infinitive     los/las plural noun

2-F. Making plans: Accepting and declining invitations

Many of the activities that people do are done with other people. In the Hispanic world, it is very common for people to make plans to have coffee, have dinner, or just spend time together. The table below will help you accept, reject, or modify an invitation to suit your interests.

Estrategia de lectura 1: Finding cognates

Cognates are words in different languages that have similar spelling and meaning. You probably have already seen some cognates like televisión/television, maternal/maternal, and final/final.

When we read a text in a different language for the first time, it is important to look for cognates, since they will help us get the gist of what we are reading. It is not essential to understand every single word, but it is important to get a general idea about the text. Read the text about the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo and list all the cognates you can find.

Estrategia de lectura 2: Guessing the meaning from context

There are probably many words that are not cognates and that you don’t recognize. However, you can probably guess their meaning from the context in which they appear.

Read the text a second time and see if you can guess the meaning in English of the following words based on the context.

1. Secuestradas
2. Sede
3. Unen
4. Nacen
5. Forzosas

You can now probably get the general idea of the text. Answer the following questions in Spanish:

1. ¿Quiénes son las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo?
2. ¿Por qué tienen ese nombre?
3. ¿Qué piden estas madres?
4. ¿Cuándo y dónde marchan?
5. ¿Cómo “marchan” las madres durante la pandemia?

Main idea: Write a brief summary of the article, in English.