Es necesario, es posible, es evidente

Es necesario
Es posible
Es evidente

These are 3 of the most popular expressions among students, but, unfortunately, they are not as popular among natives. It's important to give some variety to your conversation by using alternate expressions that convey a similar meaning. If you don't do it, your Spanish will sound like classroom Spanish.

Es necesario. It's necessary.
Se necesita = es necesario. Impersonal expression.
Haber de + verb. One must, I must, it's necessary. Not impersonal.
Hay que + verbo. One must, I must, it's necessary. Impersonal expression.
Necesitar + verbo. To need + verb. Less formal. Not impersonal.
Tener que + verbo. To have to + verb. Expresion of obligation. Not impersonal.

Some typical student, classroom Spanish sentences: Es necesario estudiar el domingo. Es necesario cambiar de día la lección. Es necesario escribir la palabra. Es necesario para mí ir al baño, momentito. Es preciso comprar otro café. Es necesario para mí ir a la boda. Es necesario... Es necesario...Es preciso... Es necesario...Es preciso A native would hardly say any of these.

Es necesario ir a la boda. It's necessary to go to the wedding. Impersonal. Not me, not you, in general.
Se necesita ir a la boda. Similar meaning, also impersonal. Too formal for a wedding though.
He de ir a la boda. Obligation. Formal. Sounds like you promised yourself you'd go.
Hay que ir a la boda. Similar meaning. Not formal. Everyday, impersonal expression. It could also mean, let's go to the wedding.
Necesito ir a la boda. I need to go to the wedding. Not impersonal.
Tengo que ir a la boda. I have to go to the wedding. Again, less formal. More realistic. More everyday Spanish. Not impersonal, clearly I am the subject.
Tenemos que ir a la boda. We have to go to the wedding.

you could also use the verb asistir a la boda, to attend the wedding.

Es posible. It's possible. Impersonal.
Se puede. It can be done, it's possible. Impersonal.
Poder. To be able to. Can + verb. Not impersonal.

Some typical student, classroom Spanish sentences: ¿Es posible comprar café en este restaurante?, ¿Es posible buscar el libro en esa librería?, ¿Es posible tener una lección el domingo?, ¿Es posible cambiar la lección a las 5 de la tarde? No, no es posible, este domingo no es posible.

¿Es posible fumar en este restaurante? Is it possible to smoke in this restaurant? Typical student's, classroom Spanish! Possible answers: Sí es posible. No es posible.
¿Se puede fumar en este restaurante?. Can one smoke in this restaurant? Is it possible to smoke in this restaurant?. More everyday Spanish. More realistic for the situation. Appropriate for asking a waiter or a restaurant host. Possible answers: Sí se puede. No se puede.
¿Puedo fumar en este restaurante?. Can I smoke in this restaurante? Informal. Everyday. Probably the way you would ask a family member or a friend sitting at the same table. Possible answers: Sí puede usted fumar. No puede usted fumar. Sí puedes fumar. No puedes fumar.

You can also use these two expressions, which are also formal: Estar permitido. Se permite. To be allowed. Impersonal.

Es evidente. It's evident. Impersonal. Formal.
Se ve. Evident is related to the Spanish verb ver, to see, to view. Impersonal. Less formal. More everyday Spanish.
Se nota. Different verb but similar meaning as se ve.

Es evidente que hoy hace mucho calor. It's evident that today is very hot. Too formal for the situation. Impersonal.
Se ve que hoy hace calor. Lit: One sees that today it's hot. Similar meaning as es evidente, but less formal. More everyday Spanish.
Se nota que hoy hace calor. Same meaning as the previous one. One notices that today it's hot. One can tell that today it's hot. More everyday Spanish.

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Marcianitos

Highly recommended. Marcianitos or Little Martians or HELLO, HOLA, HI. I got it from Chris, but there are already many copies on the internet. Spanish subtitles.

(by MOBY, TVSAT, SHCP) 20070709 (spanishNY.com) top

ar, er, ir words

STOP!

Not all Spanish words ending in ar, er, and ir, are verbs! Not too long ago one of my students told me that the name Pilar was odd, because it looked like a verb, and he even conjugated it! I told him it was a very common women's name; and still, he doesn't like it. There aren't that many words like these, but here are some: pilar, pillar (which besides being a proper noun, it has a verb meaning that no one uses), tapir, an animal, and dinar, a mediterranean currency . The "conjugated" words above: pinar, a pine tree forest, tóner comes from English and means toner, and elixir or elíxir, elixir. Ayer, means yesterday, anteayer or antier mean the day before yesterday, they are not verbs despite ending in -er. There is another one noun, muladar, a junk place, a dump. Yo muladoy, tú muladás, él muladá.....

20070708 (spanishNY.com) Last updated on 20081024 top

The New 7 Wonders of the World on 07.07.07

Now you can click to nominate your favorite nature wonder. I would think The Grand Canyon will be one of them.

In other countries this event is a major thing. It's like a Soccer World Cup game, like a Miss Universe pageant, or like the Super Bowl, except that this event will happen only once on 07.07.07. You had 7 years to vote, but now the voting is closed. In order to watch it, they'll have live streaming broadcast. In other latitudes you can watch it live on TV, or listen to it on the radio, but I haven't found any station in N.Y. that will broadcast the ceremony. You need to install a special plug-in and Java. I did already and it wasn't that difficult. The test video they provide, opened on Windows Media Player and it worked just fine.


Remember Neil Armstrong? The first person who walked on the Moon?

He will be a master of ceremonies

and Jennifer López will be one of the performers tonight.

www.new7wonders.com

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.

Show information
The event will take place at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. The international event will start at 21:30 (9:30 p.m.) local time, ending at 23 (11 p.m.). Your ticket also allows you to attend the national event which begins at 20:30 (8:30 p.m.) ( The stadium opens at 18:30 (6:30 p.m.). The international show, which will include award-presentation appearances by Hilary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Bipasha Basu, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neil Armstrong and Bertrand Piccard, and also will feature performances by Chaka Khan, Jennifer Lopez, Jose Carreras,  Alessandro Safina, Joaquín Cortés, and Dulce Pontes, among others.

The New7Wonders organization is happy to announce the following 7 candidates have been elected to represent global heritage throughout history. All candidates are listed alphabetically and their order is not a reflection of the number of votes they received. The results include worldwide online, SMS and telephone voting.

(From top to bottom: Chichen Itza, Mexico; Christ Redeemer, Brazil; The Great Wall, China; Machu Picchu, Peru; Petra, Jordan; The Roman Colosseum, Italy; The Taj Mahal, India.)

Since they also accepted post-1900 art and architecture, I think the U.S. should have nominated the Empire State building. I have been to Chichen Itza, but personally, I think the Sun pyramid in Teotihuacan is much more impressive, older, and bigger. Chichen Itza is great too, the pyramid has one step for each day of the year, and next to it there is an observatory that looks pretty much like a modern one.

U.S. astronaut Neil Amstrong (R) and British actor Bem Kingsley name the winners of the new seven wonders of the world in Lisbon's Luz stadium July 7, 2007. REUTERS/Nacho Doce (PORTUGAL)

Singer Jennifer Lopez performs during the New Seven Wonders of the World official declaration ceremony Saturday, July 7 2007 at Luz stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP Photo/Steven Governo)

Dancers perform during the show, where the new seven Wonders of the World will be announced, in Lisbon's Luz stadium, July 7, 2007. Peru's Machu Picchu, Jordan's Petra and the Acropolis were among the top contenders to be picked as the new seven Wonders of the World with just a few hours to go in a massive poll to pick the winners. Voting in what may be the biggest ever global online poll closes at midnight on Friday ahead of the announcement of the winners at a ceremony on Saturday in Lisbon. REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro (PORTUGAL)

Dancers perform during the show of the New 7 Wonders in Lisbon's Luz stadium July 7, 2007. REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro (PORTUGAL)

20070704 Happy 4th of July. Last update: 20070707(spanishNY.com) top

Frida Kahlo's 100th Birthday, today, July 6th, 2007

100 Años Frida Kahlo. Fan made YouTube video.

Somebody just uploaded the whole Frida movie, by Salma Hayek, in 18 parts. This is part 1. This movie may not last long.

It seems that most movies and documentaries made about Frida Kahlo so far, became automatically outdated when they opened this exhibition displaying her new discoveries. Before this week, not many people knew that besides painting, she also made puppets!

AP. Today is Friday, July sixth, the 187th day of 2007. There are 178 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: Fifty years ago, on July sixth, 1957, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.

On this date: In 1535, Sir Thomas More was executed in England for treason.

In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga.

In 1907, 100 years ago, artist Frida Kahlo was born in Coyoacan, Mexico.

In 1917, during World War One, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba (AH'-kah-buh) from the Turks.

In 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came into existence as its constitution took effect.

Aeromexico's B777 "Frida Kahlo".

 
Photo by Juan Carlos Guerra. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1200257/L/  

In Spanish, an airplane, avión, is a masculine noun, so to me it sounds a little strange that this one was christened with a lady's name. On the other hand, there is also a feminine noun to call them, nave or aeronave, ship (related to navy).

Largest-ever Kahlo exhibition opens in Mexico

James Sturcke and agencies
Wednesday June 13, 2007
Guardian Unlimited


Detail from Frida Kahlo's Moses or Nuclear Sun, 1945. Image: courtesy Banco de México and INBAL, Mexico

The life of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist who graphically documented her pain and vulnerability, is revealed to the public today with the opening of the largest-ever exhibition of her work.

ABC News Frida Kahlo's 100 Year Birthday Gallery

One of Kahlo's pictures found recently:

Exhibition:

The New York Times article, which came out a day late on 07.07.07. The article includes a slide show.

Beyond the Myth, Art Endures

20070614. Last update: 20070707 (spanishNY.com) top

Frida Kahlo, the New York years

Frida kahlo lived in New York in the early 1930's when her husband, Diego Rivera, worked for John D. Rockefeller Jr., his wife, and their son Nelson. They lived in Manhattan at the old Barbizon Plaza Hotel (It's difficult to identify which one, since there are two hotels that claim to have had that name and they are both old, but the most likely is today's Trump Parc, at 106 Central Park South @ Sixth Avenue, which was built in 1930 as the Barbizon Plaza Hotel).

Frida Kahlo in her Barbizon Plaza Hotel room, her home for a while.
 

The next photograph was taken during a summer trip in Jones Beach, Long Island. She is sitting next to Diego Rivera. According to photographer Lucienne Bloch, who took this picture, they didn't quite enjoy the trip as it took them 4 hours to get there, and even longer to get back to Manhattan because they got lost in Brooklyn very late at night. Roads were not as they are today.


Photo by LUCIENNE BLOCH (1909-1999). Frida Kahlo with Ice-Cream Cone, Jones Beach, New York, 1933


The legendary picture below was taken by Ms. Bloch at the RCA building in Rockefeller Center, against Nelson Rockefeller's orders -and guards- by smuggling a camera under her skirt. She actually took many pictures of it moving the sliding scaffold up and down and across, so this must be a composite view of it.


"The Rockefeller mural will be 63 feet long and 17 feet high covering the east wall of the elevator bank and extending around on the north and south walls."

This unfinished mural painted by Rivera was destroyed at midnight (no witnesses wanted), February 9, 1933, by orders of the 24 year old Nelson Rockefeller; he didn't like having a portrait of Lenin on his family's wall, which occupied some 1% of the total mural surface. For a business oriented family, this was a questionable decision to make. Imagine how many millions this mural would be worth in today's dollars. They could have chosen to remove it, preserving it somewhere else. Leon Trotsky, who lived with the Rivera's in Mexico City, was at different stages of his life a mutual friend of Frida and Diego, and Lenin.

Shortly afterwards, Diego Rivera painted some murals at what used to be the New Workers School, 51 West 14th street, top floor. Contradicting many reports that say that these moveable panels were destroyed, I was able to gather some information indicating that some of them still survive, for sure. One of them was traced down in 1997 at Mary-Anne Martin Fine Art, 23 E 73 St., New York, NY. According to the Mexican Proceso magazine (Issue: 1109, February 1st, 1998; Article: 4.6438136100769 ) and to the Mexican La Jornada newspaper, September 11, 1998, a Mexican ex-president (1970-76), Luis Echeverría Alvarez (1922-), keeps at home (his home) a few of these panels, which officially belong to the Mexican nation (Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación). The last time I checked, he was about to go on trial facing a prison sentence -at home, because of his age- for genocide, so hopefully he will voluntarily return these panels to improve his poor public image. According to the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, July 04, 2004, another panel is in the Fine Arts Palace (Palacio de Bellas Artes) in Mexico City since 1977.

These pictures were taken in 1933 at the New Workers school, 51 West 14th Street, Chelsea, New York, NY. The current 4 story commercial building at this address was completed on August 16, 1949, and modified again in 1986, which means the original building that housed this school was demolished. The current tenants at this address, some school of photography and a flower company, which by the way had no idea about the history of their address, were kind of unfriendly. Luckily, the New York City Department of Buildings staff were of a great help in gathering this information.

Do you know the famous 24x7 Gym? That very old building might have been part of the original 51 West 14th St. seventy years ago, since there has been some shifting in street numbering through the years, and also some larger buildings were partitioned but the entrance to the whole building complex might have been at 51 West 14th. For sure, that building was already there when Rivera painted those murals.

This is the finished mural behind Frida Kahlo; Rivera insisted stubbornly on painting Lenin and their mutual friend, and guest, Trostky. Reportedly, this is the panel seen in New York at an art dealer's gallery in 1997.

Another Panel that includes the portrait of his former patron John D. Rockefeller.

On her work, The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, Frida Kahlo painted the Hampshire House, a Central Park South, landmark building.

This ghost-clouded painting is based on a real tragedy that happened at this high-rise in 1938. The publisher of Vanity Fair commissioned the work for Dorothy's mother, but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. What a gift!

Something interesting is that the tower was brand-new when Kahlo painted it, so the copper roof still had its original color, which later became green.

Images of Frida, Diego, Trotsky (the one on the murals), etc.

With valuable information from virginia edu, luciennebloch com, pbs org, artnet com, fbuch com, time com, proceso com mx, jornada com mx, NYC Department of Buildings. All photos except the last 2 by Lucienne Bloch. Hamshire House and Barbizon Plaza Hotel by Tom Spencer.
(spanishNY.com) 20070114 (Last updated: 20081024) top

Don Carlos, the richest Spanish speaking person (3rd take)

This story has been going into all news wires this morning. The difference is big now, about $8.6 billion. Although Forbes are not in a hurry to acknowledge this news, they already reproduced the AP story on this matter on their website. Mr. Slim's spokesperson said that he is not in any kind of competition. This is a story that happens only once every 10 years or even longer. They needed to wait until the end of the second quarter (segundo trimestre) to be more certain about their calculations. This might be big news in the U.S., but in Mexico this wasn't in the newspapers.

Don Carlos has been the richest native Spanish speaking person for many years now. When I first wrote about him, because I thought the richest Spanish speaking person would be interesting for my Spanish web site, I didn't think he was about to become the richest person in all languages. It just became clear earlier this year.

Like Don Carlos said, (yes, with respect, he was the Linear Algebra teacher at my school) I didn't do anything special these past months. It's been the shares that have been going up. Shares can go down again at any time." To me, the way he says it sounds like when you are that rich, you just put the controls on autopilot mode, and the money multiplies itself. He is right, the stocks can go down, or can slow down, at any time.

By the way, they keep making the same mistake with his name.

Mexican tycoon overtakes Bill Gates as world's richest man

Fiona Walsh
business editor
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Three months ago the cigar-chomping Mr Slim quietly slipped past legendary US investor Warren Buffett to take second place in the global wealth league.

Now, thanks to a surge in the shares of his America Movil group, Mr Slim has claimed pole position, according to the Mexican online financial publication, Sentido Común.

It was Sentido Común's founder, Eduardo Garcia, who highlighted Mr Slim's rapidly rising wealth in April, although by his calculations the Mexican had not only beaten Mr Buffett in the wealth stakes by then but also edged past Mr Gates.

Now, however, Mr Garcia says there is no doubt that the little-known Mexican has finally captured the coveted top slot, following a surge in America Movil's shares over the second quarter. This is estimated to have boosted his fortune to an estimated $67.8bn (£33.6bn) - equivalent to 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product - compared with $59.2bn for the Microsoft mogul, putting him in the lead by a decisive $8.6bn.

"When I put Slim ahead three months ago Forbes bumped him up to second place (in world rankings) a few days later," Mr Garcia told Reuters.

"Let's see if the same happens again."

Shares in Mr Slim's mobile phone empire surged by 27% over the second quarter, compared with a 5.7% rise for Microsoft. Mr Slim's bank, Inbursa, also saw its stock jump by 20%.

Mr Gates has headed the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest for more than a decade. But, like Mr Buffett, he is rapidly becoming as well known for giving his money away as he is for accumulating it. Both he and the "Sage of Omaha" have promised to give most of their money to charitable causes.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

Now they'll start again with their stereotypes and comparisons. It happened when he became the second richest person, but now it's going to be worse. In ABC News they said not too long ago that he eats tortillas, another newspaper called him tacoon, the Sunday Telegraph of the U.K. called him the biggest enchilada. They think it's funny. A Seattle newspaper says that Gates has donated much more money than "Fat" Slim. It's no wonder, Gates has been the richest man for 14 years, Slim just for a few weeks. What did they expect? And what does donating or not donating money have to do with being fat?

$EÑOR TOPPLES GATES They forgot to mention that every time somebody buys an iPhone or an iPod, he or she also contributes to his $106,000,000 a day income (currently 3.2 billion a month.) I haven't yet; I own neither.

20070705. I have started to see many non politically correct comments about Mexicans on the internet. More than usual. Some of them disguised as jokes. This story was totally rewritten in the past hours by the way; the previous version was totally racist. I am sure they were forced to change it.

'Damn Mexican' Surpasses Bill Gates as World's Richest Human Being

Comments like these are triggered by Mr. Slim's shocking news. Many people here are unhappy. Even some in the New York Times, which really surprises me. Time is the worst for him, they have been calling him all sorts of names. Many papers compare him with Bill Gates and say that Bill Gates has donated much more money, but Bill Gates has been the richest man for 14 years, and Slim only for 14 weeks. They cannot compare that. They say how come he doesn't help his own people. He doesn't? They don't do enough research. One of his approaches is creating jobs. One of the things he is doing is buying junk yards in Mexico, in areas where poor people live. Since he owns a big chunk of Sears, he is building malls on those ex-junk yards. Once the malls are completed, he will give jobs created at these malls to many of those people living nearby. Giving them a job is much more important than giving them cash. Like he said in his decalogue which I have read several times, "cash evaporates." I think it's a great approach. Mr. Slim's scope in this regards is not limited to Mexico, but to Latin America, region where he has most of his businesses. He doesn't need to further demonstrate he is a smart; nobody needs to tell him what to do. The thing is, Mr. Slim should improve his PR. He may need to tell everybody the next time he donates money. That's exactly what Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffet do. Every time they help, they tell the whole world. Clinton just convinced Mr. Slim to do so, at least once. Probably most people here think that's the right thing to do. There is definitely a big cultural difference. In Mexico, if you donate money or you help someone, it's very bad taste to brag about it.

In Mexico, there is an annual, 24-hour event called Teletón, in which practically the whole country participates. It helps building hospitals for handicapped children. Every year, near the 23rd hour, right before the deadline, somebody starts pouring money, more and more and more. Nobody knows exactly who does it, but at the same time everybody knows. By that time, 11pm, the Telmex Foundation (Slim) has already made its donation. Each year, the Teletón breaks the previous year's record.

Papers like comparisons, so here is another one, more popular than Tom Cruise. Well, in Mexico City at least.:

20070703 (spanishNY.com) top

Ir y venir, location matters

Ir in Spanish means to go. Venir means to come. However, the way we use these verbs in Spanish is not the same as in English. The current locations of both, the person who speaks, and the person who listens, often defines which verb you need to use.

An example is when somebody knocks on the door. In English you shout I'm coming. In Spanish we say I'm going, ¡ya voy!. The reason is that in Spanish, if you are not at that location, you cannot come to that location, you can just go to that location.

Let's imagine a phone conversation, where each person is located at his/her own house.

In English
One: Hi, are you coming to my party?
Two: Yes, I'm coming to your party.

In Spanish
Uno: Hola, ¿vas a venir a mi fiesta?
Dos: Sí, voy a ir a tu fiesta.

Note how we switch verbs in Spanish. The person who speaks uses venir, to come, and the person who listens (replies) uses ir, to go. The party will take place at Uno's, One's, location. In English, usually the verb to come is used by both, the listener and the speaker.

The same applies to some other verbs, like llevar, to take (to transport something), and traer, to bring. Traer is used only when you bring something here, your current location. Llevar is to transport something from your current location, to a different location. The listener and the speaker would switch verbs if they are at two different locations.

20070702 (spanishNY.com) top

To be supposed to

I have heard a lot this Spanglish construction for to be supposed to.
(Tú) estás supuesto a llamarlos por teléfono. You are supposed to call them.
The correct way is: Se supone que los vas a llamar. Se supone que los tienes que llamar.
I am %99 sure that this is Spanglish; but perhaps it's used in some country. (definitely, it's used in New York.)

To indicate to be supposed to in the present and future:
Se supone que hoy voy a lavar la ropa. I'm supposed to do laundry today
Se supone que el domingo vamos a ir a la playa. We are supposed to go to the beach on Sunday.
Se supone que no te gusta comer carne. You are not supposed to like meat.
Se supone que hoy va a llover. It is supposed to rain today.(
(Some prefer the future: Se supone que hoy lloverá)

Literal translations: Se supone que ya es verano . It is supposed that it's summer already. (It's supposed to be summer already.) Se supone que estoy a dieta. It is supposed that I'm on a diet. (I'm supposed to be on a diet.)

Now, to indicate to be supposed to in the past, we use the imperfect tense:
Se suponía que hoy yo iba a lavar la ropa. I was supposed to do laundry today.
Se suponía que el domingo ibamos a ir a la playa. We were supposed to go to the beach on Sunday.
Se suponía que no te gustaba comer carne. You were not supposed to like meat.
Se suponía que hoy iba a llover. It was supposed to rain today.
(Some prefer the conditional: Se suponía que hoy llovería.)

Hay. There is, there are .
Se supone que hay. There is (are) supposed to be.
Se supone que en el verano hay mucha gente en la playa. There are supposed to be a lot of people on the beach in the summer.

A multiple example, hopefully it's clearer. Note the first part in the Spanish sentence doesn't change:

Se supone que (yo) trabajo mañana. I am supposed to work tomorrow.
Se supone que (tú) trabajas mañana. You are supposed to work tomorrow.
Se supone que (él) trabaja mañana. He is supposed to work tomorrow.
Se supone que (nosotros) trabajamos mañana. We are supposed to work tomorrow.
Se supone que ellos trabajan mañana. They are supposed to work tomorrow.
Se supone que ustedes trabajan mañana. You all are supposed to work tomorrow.

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Accents

Having an accent does not mean you are not smart.

20070626 (spanishNY.com) top

To look forward to

There are expressions that are very hard to translate to Spanish. One of them is to look forward to. This English expression maps to several expressions in Spanish, so the equivalent expression depends on what you are looking forward to.

Tener ansias de/por. That means to be anxious, but not as in worried, but as in to be eager. Este vuelo es muy largo, ya tengo ansias de llegar. This flight is too long, I'm already looking forward to getting there.

Anhelar. to yearn for, to long for. Anhelo viajar en un crucero. I'm looking forward to traveling on a cruice. However, to me this sounds more like a longer term goal.

Esperar, but this verb also means to expect, to wait for, and to hope. Espero recibir las noticias. I look forward to receiving the news. In a more formal context, Esperando su respuesta, le envío un cordial saludo or A la espera de su respuesta, le envío un cordial saludo. Looking forward to your answer, please receive my regards.

Tener ganas de. Tengo ganas de ir a la playa este domingo. I look forward to going to the beach this Sunday. The problem with this expression is that we also use it for more mundane situations like to need to go to the restroom! Tengo ganas de ir al baño. This implies urgency, and you would never translate it as I look forward to using the restroom! Tener ganas also means to feel like, to crave, as in tengo ganas de comer fruta, I feel like eating fruit. (In Spain and at the Cervantes Institute they would say me apetece comer fruta.)

In a formal document you wouldn't say tengo ganas or tengo ansias. Play it safe in that case, use esperar alone. Espero con ansiedad and espero con ganas, in a formal situation, sound like you are a desperate person. Espero con interés sounds like you are really interested, this one might be good.

 20070624 (spanishNY.com) top

Cachondo

Somebody put me in trouble trying to explain what the word cachondo means. Merriam Webster doesn't have the translation, neither does WordReference.

This is the Royal Academy's definition. They say cachondo comes from the Latin word for a puppy! It seems to me that in Mexico just number 2 is valid. Number 1 is too strong. Primarily in Spain, they use also similar words like cachondeo and cachondez.

These are some videos that explain what cachondo means. They are versions of the opening of a soap opera called Código Postal (Zip Code), currently airing on UNIVISION at 3pm. These ones on YouTube are the Mexican versions. The UNIVISION version is edited, I guess it was too much for their taste. They were filmed in the Pacific resort of Acapulco. I don't know if this is good or bad, but you'll notice that these Mexicans don't look like the typical hard working people identified as Mexicans in New York. They rather look like the Mexicans I met at Columbia University, who only other Mexicans know they are Mexicans, because of their accents.

So watch them so that I don't have to explain what cachondo is:

An extra CP video put together by a fan, just in case the previous ones were not clear. in Mexico, Spain, and many other countries, it's OK on a M-F 6pm show for kids and teens, but not here. Imanol, the actor, wasn't even 18 on that show. We just say it's cachondo. Univisión sometimes edits them and beeps them out, I guess otherwise they would get a fine.

The lyrics transcript above has at least 11 minor typos. They also say yo sola y tú vino tinto, it should be yo soda y tú vino tinto. In Mexico, people call soda refresco, so soda didn't make much sense to them. But sola, alone, makes even less sense. It should be me soda and you red wine. They are using the subjunctive mood a lot. Can you tell why? Another mistake, God, in this context, should be capitalized both in English and Spanish, Dios. That's a rule indicated in most dictionaries.

I just talked to Francisco Ponce, Carlos' brother, and he confirmed those were mistakes, and he'll contact Televisa to have them fixed. Unfortunately, I think the soundtrack was recorded with the sola mistake. Francisco said Televisa commissioned Carlos the song based on the soap's synopsis and its name, Código Postal. Hanna and Ashley were selected to sing it. 20070625 By Francisco's suggestion: Ja! ja! Te recomiendo entrar en la pagina de www.myspace.com/cponcemusic. escucha el tema musical de la telenovela Dame Chocolate. Muy bueno. Francisco.

And in Israel, apparently cachondo TV programs are popular too. It's amazing that some of them don't have subtitles and they watch them in Spanish; they learn Spanish by watching them.(One of my students who is currently in Tel-Aviv, told me this show has subtitles and its name there is "Sea of Secrets" (in Hebrew.) The way it works is as follows: They have these two channels Viva and Viva Platina. Viva broadcasts the show Sunday to Thursday, and Viva Platina Thursday to Sunday, for people who don't observe Sabbath. )

They obviously copied some ideas from Luis Miguel's Cuando Calienta el Sol, also filmed in Acapulco. (Medium quality video, dark picture, trailing commercials.)

Remember that González Iñarritú and Guillermo del Toro worked in Televisa before making Babel and Pan's Labyrinth. In fact, I can recognize some of González Iñarritú's buddies, like Jorge Van Rankin, working as actors in this video, above.

And now that I think of it, I also know someone else from this gang: Aracely, Luis Miguel's wife. Luis Miguel is the most famous Mexican pop singer. This picture was taken one day when she and Leonardo, her brother, invited us to to hang out, and later we all headed to the theater to see her performance. We accompanied her during the whole process backstage, before and after the play. Very nice and attentive people. This was a couple of years ago.

It is said that ¡Hola!, the Spanish magazine, paid the couple over 10 million USD for this cover with their baby.

20070619 (spanishNY.com) Last updated on 20070704 top

What race is your dog?

Some people think it's very funny, but in Spanish, races are not just for humans, races are also for animals. (No, I don't mean race as in the Kentucky Derby race.) So raza translates as race or breed.

La raza pastor alemán. German shepherd breed.

La raza salchicha. (Lit: sausage race). Basset hound breed.

Most other razas are known by their original language name: La raza collie, la raza poodle, la raza bulldog, la boxer, la cocker spaniel, la dálmata

Un perro de raza Chihuahua.
Un perro Chihuahua.

Dogs in Spanish don't bark bau-wow, or woof, they say guau-guau.

20070620 (spanishNY.com) top

P?tamadral

I apologize for writing a word of this kind. In Mexico and the U.S., this word would never be allowed on TV, on a radio show, and never at home, at least not in mine. The reason I feature this, is because the Royal Academy in Spain incredibly included this word in their dictionary. In Spain, they have a similar expression "está de p?ta madre," and maybe to them it's OK, maybe even on TV, I don't know. But in Mexico, this word, depending on the way you say it, might lead you to a very embarrassing situation. When some of my colleagues and I who are interested on the language heard that this word had been accepted in the RAE, we couldn't believe it. In fact, we laughed for hours when we verified it. The reason is that the RAE was a very conservative institution, before, but now it's becoming extremely liberal, and this word in their dictionary confirms it. Words that make more sense to be included in the dictionary, usually are not included***, and words that we don't expect to be included, are being included.

It means a huge amount, but in a very, very, very street Mexican Spanish. Barbaridad? Barbaridad what they did. At the end of the day, I think it is better that they included it, because the word does exist. Maybe they should include a warning somewhere next to the definition. They also included many more words like this, but with the malson tag (malsonante, foul language) next to it. By the way, they say it's a femenine word, but it's actually masculine.

*** One example. The word motivacional, motivational. For the Royal Academy this word doesn't exist. You can find motivación, motivador, but not motivacional. But if you do an advanced search on Google selecting only Spanish language pages, you'll find 317,000 matches. Even if it may come from corporate English, it's more useful than ?utamadral.

And yet, Merriam Webster recognizes it:

Main Entry: motivación
Function: feminine noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ciones
Usage: Spanish word
: motivation
- motivacional adjective

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