WITHOUT PLUS GERUND

Sin hacer 'WITHOUT DOING'. Sin que yo hiciera (Subj. Español) 'WITHOUT ME DOING'.

 

I did it without realising. …sin darme cuenta

I'll give you another examples:

They drove 700 kilometres without stopping. Condujeron…sin parar

Easy per easy!

Let’s look now at, our equivalent of 'Sin que algo o alguien hiciera algo' okay? En español por supuesto utilizáis el subjuntivo. Now in English we don't have a subjunctive as you know. Okay? So in this case 'Por ejemplo sin que me diera cuenta' in English we would say: They left without me realizing. Empleando el Pronombre Complemento después de 'Without' y justo antes del Gerundio; They left without me realizing. Ahora sí, hay otra posibilidad podemos decir también; they left without my realizing. Empleando el adjetivo posesivo: They left me realizing or they left my realizing.

She did it without him knowing or She did it without his knowing. Lo hizo sin que lo supiera.

We announced the changes without them complaining or We announced the changes without their complaining. Anunciamos los cambios sin que se quejasen

I have enough on my plate without you tell me what to do or I have enougt on my plate without your telling me what to do. Tengo bastante que hacer sin que tú me digas qué hacer.

Fully easy, isn't it? Which just remember you've or ought place the object pronoun between 'Without' and the Gerund. Okay? Sin hacer 'Without doing'. Sin que yo hiciera 'Without me doing'.

 

GIVE ME MINE

We now look, by way for review more than anything at, imperative, both in affirmative and the negative and when we combine indirect objects and personal pronouns, for example: Give me 'Me' is the Indirect Object and 'Mine' is the Personal Pronouns.

I’m gonna put you to the test, and I'm gonna push you on all sort of different combinations of Personal Pronouns and Indirect Objects just to see how well you fare, see how well you do.

Give him his. Give her hers. Give us ours. Give them theirs.

Show her his. Show them ours. Show us theirs. Show him mine.

Let’s move on then to the Negative or the Imperative. We simply say; Don’t + basic verb. Don’t do. Don’t run. Don’t jump. Don’t stop.

Don’t bring me hers. Don’t bring her ours. Don’t bring him theirs.

Siempre precede el C.I. al Pronombre personal: Give him theirs. Give him mine. Give me yours.

Don’t bring us his.

Don’t send her his. Don’t send him hers. Don’t send me theirs.   

 

EL ESTADO EMOCIONAL Y COMO NOS RESULTA O PARECE 'I'M BORED BECAUSE YOU'RE BORING'.

I know lots of and, lots of and, lots of and, lots of Spaniards who come out to me and say; I was really boring. Que en inglés significaría 'Yo era muy aburrido' cuando lo que querían decir es que estaban muy aburridos.

All these adjectives that ending 'ing' then, describe how something or someone appears to us. Okay? Whilst all the adjectives that ending 'ed' in these series, describe our emotional or physical state. Okay? For example: I’m bored. why? Becouse, your boring. Por ejemplo: I’m boring; significa 'Yo soy aburrido'. I'm bored; estoy aburrido.

Amanda is excited about the party. Amanda está emocionada con la fiesta.

Matthew thought the match was really exciting. …

Matthew was excited about the match was exciting.

Edith wasn’t amused. No le resulto gracioso a Edith

Nicky was disappointed by the result. Nicky estaba decepcionado con el resultado.

John’s so tiring! ...es tan cansino! Acaba en 'ing' porque es como nos resulta John

I'm was extremely tired so he went straight to bed. ...así que...

I’m worried about the kids. ...preocupado por los niños

You’re amazing! ¡Eres incredible!

I was amazed by his reaction. Estaba asombrado por…

I found the museum interesting. El museo me resultó interesante

 

WASN’T AND WEREN’T

How are you today? I'm fine and full of energy. Full of energy means; I'm full of energy.

Vamos a seguir con el pasado simple del verbo 'To be' p.ej. 'We were happy' pues vamos a convertirlo en 'We weren't happy'. I was tired would be: I wasn't tired.

They were in the swimming pool. They weren't in the swimming pool.

You were here. You weren't here.

Alan was with his wife. Alan wasn't with his wife. His wife was with William

That was nice! That wasn't nice! It was very cold! It wasn't very cold! My granfather was tall. My grandfather wasn't tall.

Helen and Rod were thirsty. Helen an Rod weren't thirsty. I wasn't with them yesterday. It wasn't easy. Yesterday wasn't thursday. Well done!

 

BESIDE vs. BESIDES

Are you excited? Yes. I'm too because today we’re gonna look at 'amongst other things (entre otras cosas)' the differents between 'Beside' and 'Besides' which is something that a load of Spaniards have problems with.

Let’s start with 'BESIDE' that’s very easy. 'BESIDE' means 'AL LADO DE' exactly the same as 'NEXT TO'.

Let’s look at some examples; I’m gonna give you an example as sentence in English using the term “next to” and I want you to say exactly the same thing substituting “next to” for “beside”. And I want you to say exactly the same thing substituting 'Next to' for 'Beide'. No empleamos una preposición después de 'Beside'. Okay? Porque 'Beside' en sí es una preposición.

The bank is next to the Post Office. The bank is beside the Post Office.

Jackie lives next to the motorway. Jackie lives beside the motorway

 

Let’s turn our attention now to 'BESIDES' which can mean one or two things; firstly as a preposition. Okay? 'Besides' means “APARTE DE” okay? Just like 'APART FROM'. So when it’s follow by a noun, it means 'APART FROM' 'Aparte de', p.ej.

Apart from the weather we had a good time. Besides the weather we had a good time.

Apart from the traffic in Madrid, the journey was ok. Besides the traffic in Madrid, the journey was ok.

Apart from the first twenty minutes, they played awfully! Besides the first twenty minutes, they played awfully.

Let’s look at 'BESIDES' now as an adverb. When you use 'Besides' on as own, followed by comma it means 'ADEMÁS'. So we’ll do a similar exercise, okay?

I’ll give you one way of saying something and I want you to express the same thing using 'BESIDES'.

I’m gonna give you this expression 'WHAT’S MORE' que también significa 'ADEMÁS'.

He’s not interested in going to the wine tasting and what’s more, he doesn’t drink.  'A wine tasting' by the way 'Una cata de vino'

He’s not interested in going to the wine tasting and besides, he doesn’t drink.

You can’t go to the party. What’s more, you’re underage. 'Underage' means; menor de edad. 'Besides' es una palabra bastante enfática. You can’t go to the party. Besides, you’re underage.

 

TO BE SUPPOSED TO DO

'TO BE SUPPOSED TO DO SOMETHING' is an expression we use when you in Spanish say something 'along the lines' of 'SE SUPONE QUE TENEMOS QUE HACER ALGO' and of course to be like 'TENER QUE HACER ALGO' and so, it's used when we’re talking about 'OBLIGATIONS'. And in fact we use this, most of the time when there's some sort of expectation, on the part of someone else regarding our behavior, for example; I’m supposed to be at the meeting at five o’clock 'SE SUPONE QUE DEBO...'. It's used always with the verb 'TO BE' which of course you can express in any tense you like, but usually IN THE PRESENT AND THE PAST SIMPLE, for example; I’m supposed to be at the airport by five o’clock. 'SE SUPONE QUE DEBO...'

Isn’t Henry supposed to be here? ¿No tiene que estar aquí Henry?

When is this thing supposed to start? ¿Cuándo se supone que esta cosa empieza?

He’s not supposed to know anything. Se supone que él no sabe nada

Are you supposed to give a speech? ¿Se supone que das un discurso?

What are we supposed to wear? ¿Qué tenemos que llevar puesto?

I’m not supposed to tell you this, but the company is about to be taken over by a Multinational. No debo decírtelo, pero la empresa está a punto de ser absorbida por una Multinacional.

Let’s have a look now at some examples IN THE PAST, of course with the verb 'To be' in the past.

Was I supposed to bring any food? ¿Se supone que debía trae comida?

What was I supposed to do about it? Qué se supone que debía hacer al respecto?

Wasn’t he supposed to send out the invitations? ¿No se supone que él debía enviar las invitaciones?

Who was supposed to bring the barbecue? ¿Quién se supone que debía traer la barbacoa?

You were supposed to finish that report last week. Se supone que debías terminar ese informe la semana pasada!

 

Esta forma impersonal se expresa en inglés de forma personal. También se puede aplicar con 'TO BE CONSIDERED', por ejemplo: Opera is still considered to be an elitist art form. Todavía se considera la ópera un género de arte elitista.

 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Presente Continuo y Presente Simple.

How is it going? I'm absolutely fine. Jolly good!

Jolly good!

EL PRESENTE CONTINUO: Pero cuando vosotros en español empleáis el Presente Simple, sobre todo en el interrogativo, por ejemplo: ¿Qué haces? What are you doing? Si aquí dices 'What do you do?' empleando el Presente Simple, lo que significa tu pregunta es ¿A qué te dedicas?. Where do you go? Que quiere saber a donde va esta persona habitualmente.

Who do you talking to?

Where are you going? ¿A dónde vas?

What are you saying? ¿Qué dices?

Who are you written to? ¿A quién escribes?

Where are you looking at? Are you looking at me?

What are you carrying? ¿Qué llevas?

I’m wearing a tie. Me pongo corbata

I’m going! I'm off!

 

CAN and BE ABLE TO

Quite of you Spaniards have problem at times, distinguishing between when to use 'Can' and when to use 'Be able to'. Okay? So, we’re gonna try and clear that up, for you over the next couple of minutes or so. Okay.

Let’s start with 'Can'. This is the verb with use when we’re talking about 'what we'd capable of doing' and also what circumstances allow us to do in the present. Okay? For example:

I can speak Spanish; me estoy refiriendo a una CAPACIDAD mía. Or I can come to the party; me estoy refiriendo a que las CIRCUNSTANCIAS me lo permiten.

I can speak English.

I can’t run 100 meters in 10 seconds.

By the way, when we say 'Yo puedo' 'I can' we tend to emphasize the Subject. Okay? I can speak Spanish. I can speak English. Okay? When we're using the negative, we tend to emphasize the verb. Okay? I can't run one hundred metres. I can't speak Russian. Okay? to simply for your intonation.

I can’t come on Thursday. No puedo venir el jueves

I can’t see. Y no decimos aquí 'I don't see' porque esto sería en el sentido metafórico, es decir; no entiendo, no veo lo que quieres decir 'I don't see what you mean'.

They can’t attend the meeting. No pueden asistir a la reunión

 

The most common way of saying 'QUIZÁS O A LO MEJOR' in English is, through to use an auxiliary verb; MIGHT. Okay?

I might do it. A lo major lo hago.

Como es un verbo auxiliar simplemente va con el verbo básico. I might go. He might go. 'Nunca cambia' It might rain tomorrow.

I might be late. Puede que llegue tarde.

You still might catch your train. 'Might' por cierto es un verbo que utilizamos todo el tiempo. I might go; I migth run; I might stop.

We might go to Ibiza for a weekend break. A lo mejor vamos a Ibiza un fin de semana.

City breaks: Viajes de 2 o 3 días a cualquier ciudad turística.

 

I might stop and get a pizza. A lo mejor paro y compro.../Puede que pare...

I might be late home tonight, honey. A lo mejor llego tarde.../Puede que llegue tarde...

Honey 'HUN': Cariño; entre pareja. Darling: coloquial como hermoso/a. Love: Palabra cariñosa pero no tiene nada pasional.

 

They might make you an offer you can’t refuse. A lo mejor te hacen una oferta que no puedes rechazar.

'To rejet' sinónimo de 'To refuse' y también rechazo social.

 

'I THINK I MIGHT' A lo mejor hago algo; I think I might do it. I think I might call her. I might go for a walk. Pero es muy idiomático para nosotros decir 'I think I might go for a walk'

I think I might write and complain. A lo mejor escribo para quejarme.

 

I’ll make the announcement over dinner, over breakfast, over lunch, over dinner 'durante un acto'

 

Cuando contestamos una pregunta 'Pues quizás', en vez de 'Perhaps' y en vez de 'May be': I MIGHT.

Are they going to come? They might.

Is it going to rain? It might.

NEGATIVE

You might not need your umbrella.

We might not sell our house after all. A lo major al final no...

It might not rain after all. A lo major al final no...

I might not apply for that job after all. Puede que al final no solicite...

I might not invite them after all. Puede que al final no...

INTERROGATIVE – MAY I..?

May I ask a question?

May I go to the bathroom? May I go to the loo? Of course you may! ¿Me permite ir al servicio?

May I come in? ¿Puedo entrar?

 

Another occasion when we use 'MAY' is when you can't remember exactly, what you said, for example;

I may have said that but I can’t remember. Puede que dijera eso...

I may have agreed at the time but I don’t any more. Puede que estuviera de acuerdo en ese momento, pero ya no lo estoy.

I may have told you that but I don’t believe it any more. Puede que te dijera eso, pero ya no me lo creo

I may have done that but I can’t remember. Puede que haya hecho eso pero no me acuerdo.

I may have sent that but I can’t remember.

 

PUEDE QUE HAYA HECHO, PUEDE QUE HAYA DICHO, PUEDE QUE HAYA SIDO.

When you want to express this idea of possibility in the past because we're talking about an auxiliary verb, we simply use 'MIGHT PLUS HAVE AND THEN THE PARTICIPLE'.

He might have come. Puede que haya venido o a lo mejor ha venido.

He might have gone. Quizás haya ido o a lo mejor ha ido. 'Might have' Nunca cambia.

I don’t know where my umbrella is. I think I might have left it on the bus.

Their wedding present still hasn’t arrived. I think I might have sent it to their old address.

Sorry, I think I might have got the wrong number. Creo que a lo mejor tengo el número equivocado

Do you think they might have got lost? ¿Crees que a lo mejor se han perdido?

Do you think they might have had an accident? Crees que puede que hayan…

Do you think they might have forgotten about the wedding? ¿Crees que puede que se hayan olvidado de la boda?

 

Okay, let’s move on now to “BE ABLE TO” but specifically IN THE PAST. Okay? When you’re talking about what circumstances allowed you to do in the past, we don’t use past of 'Can'. We don’t say 'I could'. Okay? We normally say 'I WAS ABLE TO'.

Last week I was able to study a lot. La semana pasada pude estudiar mucho

They were able to get front row seats for the concert. Pudieron conseguir entradas en primera fila para el concierto

I was able to speak all my son’s teachers at the meeting. Pude hablar con todos los profesores de mi hijo en la reunión.

Was she able to go to the party in the end? ¿Pudo ir ella a la fiesta al final? Y aquí una vez más no podríamos decir 'Could she go to the party in the end?' Porque no estamos hablando de sus capacidades, sino de la situación y lo que permitía o no.

 

CAN and BE ABLE TO

We’re gonna look at a few over occasions when in this case we just use 'BE ABLE TO' and at is with in the context of the PRESENT PERFECT.

I haven’t been able to study much lately. No he podido estudiar mucho últimamente

I’ve been able to do a lot of work this morning. He podido hacer mucho trabajo esta mañana

Have they been able to solve the problem yet? ¿Ya han podido resolver el problema?

Has she been able to find the flat yet? ¿Ya ha podido encontrar un piso ella?

Another occasions when we use 'BE ABLE TO' exclusively rather than 'Can' is when we're talking about 'PODER HACER ALGO EN EL FUTURO'. We can't say 'I will can' se dice 'I will be able to go'.

I’ll be able to help get things ready for the party if you like. Podré ayudar a preparer cosas para la fiesta si tú quieres

Will you be able to come? ¿Podrás venir?

Do you know if she’ll be able to explain it to me? ¿Sabe si ella podrá explicármelo?

He won’t last long. He won’t be able to stand the pressure. No durará mucho. Él no podrá soportar la presión. Soportar peso 'To bear-bore-borne'

 

EL SUBJUNTIVO EN INGLÉS 'TO RECOMMEND'

Today we're gonna look at our equivalent of the subjunctive. In reality there is not subjunctive in English. Okay? but there is a sort of verbal structure which gets very close to the subjunctive in Spanish. And we can say it, in expressions using the verb 'To recommend'. For example; I recommend that you be on time. Okay? 'I recommend that you' the second subject 'You' follow by the verb infinitive, the basic verb; I recommend that you be on time. Okay?

It’s interesting because suddenly you find the expressions like 'She recommended that he go to the doctor’s' 'He go' is not the verb expressed badly, it’s the verb infinitive. It's like a subjunctive 'I recommended you go. I recommended he go. I recommended he say what he thinks. Okay? Let’s have a look at then:

 

I recommend he speak to the managing director. Le recomiendo que hable con el director general.

What do you recommend I do? Okay. Good. We can omit 'That'

My mother recommends that he try again. Mi madre le recomienda que lo haga de nuevo

I don’t recommend you park there. No te recomiendo que aparques allí

Do you recommend that she phone back in the morning? ¿Le recomiendas que vueva a llamar por la mañana?

 

Do you recommend that we eat at that restaurant? ¿Nos recomiendas que comamos en aquel restaurant?

 

Do you recommend that we...? Do you recommend that she eat...?

 

EL SUBJUNTIVO EN INGLÉS 'IT’S IMPORTANT THAT'

Last week we looked at one occasion where we have a similar structure to your subjunctive in Spanish with the verb 'To Recommend': 'I recommend that you be on time' using the verb infinitive 'I recommend you be on time' 'It’s important that he go there'. Let’s look at a few examples then with It’s important that:

It’s important that you be there on time. Es importante que llegues a tiempo

It’s important that she tell the truth….que ella diga la verdad

 

Let’s look at some examples now with IT’S NECESSARY THAT...

It’s necessary that he understand the consequences. …Es necesario que él entienda las consecuencias

 

We also use the same structure with IT’S CRUCIAL THAT...

It’s crucial that we win. Es crucial que ganemos

 

Now an example with IT’S VITAL THAT...

It’s vital that the company change its policy. Es vital que la empresa cambie su política.

 

IT’S ESSENTIAL THAT...'También requiere el uso del verbo básico'

It’s essential that you not be late; this is the way we say the negative and NOT 'You don’t be late'.

 

OMISSION “THAT”

As you know there are occasions when we can omit the word “THAT”. One simple rule: If after the word that you find or you need to use a Subject of the verb like 'I, you, he etc.,' podemos omitir 'That'. Si después de 'That' viene directamente un verbo; no podemos omitir.

The apple I ate was tasty or I ate the apple you wanted.

The apple that felt was tasty. I ate the apple that felt on the ground.

The man I met was French. ...que conocí era Francés.

The computer I bought was faulty. ...que compré estaba defectuoso.

They didn’t have any seeds or The grapes I ate were seedless….que comí eran sin pepitas.

The cakes they brought were delicious. ...que trajeron eran deliciosas.

I saw the car you want. ...que tu quieres.

We bought the shares you recommended. ...que recomendaste. 

The man that made the speech fainted or the man that made the speech passed out. ...que dió el discurso se desmayó

The ship that sank was Irish….que se hundió era Irlandés

All the people that went to the meeting agreed….que fue a la reunión estaba de acuerdo

I know the author that won the prize or I know the author who won the prize.

We saw the dog that bit the postman. ...que mordió al cartero

 

TO CALL SOMEONE

Para llamar a alguien 'To call someone', no decimos NUNCA 'To call to someone'.

Are you calling your wife? Call James now! I’ll call him tomorrow. Who are you calling? She always calls her mother on Sunday.

 

'THE PAST PERFECT' NUESTRO PLUSPERF. ESPAÑOL

We’re gonna look at The Past Perfect today as you all know by now. The Past Perfect is the tense we use when we're describing an action which took place before another action in the past. Okay? for example: I realized I had made a mistake. Okay? So; I made a mistake and then I realized: 'Realized' in the Past Simple and 'Made a mistake' in the Past Perfect. I realized I had made a mistake.

HOW DO WE FORM THE PAST PERFECT? We would simple use the Past of the verb 'To have' 'Had' 'I had + Participle': I had done; he had done; they had done; I had gone; I had finish. Okay?

And we’re gonna look at different occasions when we use the 'PAST PERFECT'. We use it very often in conjunction WITH the word 'BEFORE'. For example:

Before we went to N.Y. I had never been outside of Europe. Antes de que fuésemos a N.Y. nunca había estado fuera de Europa

So, you give me a couple of examples then of the past perfect with before.

I had studied: Before I went to University, I had studied languages for ten years. Antes de que fuese...

I’d never imagined creatures like that existed before I went to Brazil. Nuna había imaginado que existieran criaturas así antes de que fuera a Brasil.

 

Now, another occasion when we can use The Past Perfect is in conjunction with 'ALREADY -WHEN', for example:

I’d already finished the report when the boss asked me for it. Ya había finalizado el informe cuando me lo pidió el jefe

They’d already escaped when the guards realised. Cuando se quisieron dar cuenta los guardias, ya se habían escapado.

 

Empleamos también el pasado perfecto con 'BY THE TIME' totalmente sinónimo con 'WHEN'

La única diferencia es que 'By the time' lleva implícito el matiz de 'Haber tardado tiempo' por ejemplo:

By the time we got there it had cleared up. Cuando llegamos allí se había despejado el tiempo

By the time we got there it had cleared up.

By the time she got to the important part, her boss had gone to sleep. Cuando por fin ella llego a la parte importante, su jefe se había quedado dormido

 

By the time I arrived at the restaurant, everyone else had finished eating. Cuando por fin llegué al restaurant, todos los demás habían terminado de comer.

Es más fácil decir: Everyone else, que; all the rest.

 

AGGRESSIVE INTENT “AT”

We gonna look at how sometimes we use The Preposition At, to give the idea of the fact that we want to hurt someone. Okay? This happens with three verbs they're like them think of (les parece) 'TO SHOUT AT SOMEONE' 'TO LAUGH AT SOMEONE' and 'TO THROW SOMETHING AT SOMEONE'. So we look at each of the verbs one by one. Okay? And I’ll show you how by changing the preposition 'TO' 'AT' the meaning changes and suddenly things get really nasty, for example: let’s start with 'TO SHOUT TO' vs. 'TO SHOUT AT'. This is a clear different. Okay? Depending whether we use one preposition or the other:

 

I saw my friend Nicole and shouted to her. when you shout to someone you’re simply getting her attention. Eh! Nicole wave over here!

 

She shouted at her husband; she shouted at her husband for arriving late.

TO LAUGH

'TO LAUGH WITH SOMEONE' Reirnos con alguien or 'TO LAUGH AT SOMEONE' Reirnos a expensas de otro,

We laughed at Bob all evening. Nos reímos de Bob toda la tarde

TO THROW

TO THROW SOMETHING TO SOMEONE; I can throw it to you, However I say; I’m gonna throw the pen at you, it’s an aggressive.

I threw the pen to James or I threw James the pen. Le tiré el bolígrafo a James

I threw the pen at James. Tiré el bolígrafo a James

 

SOMETHING AS COMPLEMENT AND SUBJECT

SOMETHING as COMPLEMENT OF THE VERB

There’s always something. Siempre hay algo

I’m going to eat something –I have something in my eye –Our boss has something to tell us.

SOMETHING as SUBJECT OT THE VERB; require la 3ªp.s. del verbo

Something is happening –Something will happen

 

SOME AND ANY

Today we’re gonna look at something which is quite basic but nevertheless is important to review and that is the use of these words. 'SOME and ANY' when we’re talking about indeterminate amount and indeterminate amount of uncountable noun, for example wine: Some wine; I want some wine. There is some wine in the bottle. And as you’ve just seen as you probably know anyway that’s not necessary an equivalent in Spanish. You don’t say; there is wine in the bottle but 'There is some wine in the bottle'.

I managed to save some money last month. Conseguí ahorrar algo de dinero el mes pasado

There’s some sugar on the top shelf. Hay azucar en la estantería de arriba

I really feel like some wine with the dinner or I really fancy some wine with the dinner. Me apetece mucho tomar vino con la cena.

 

I’m feeling a bit dizzy or a bit faint. Me siento un poco mareado, débil, flojo

In the context of NEGATIVES SENTENCES. Okay?

'SOME' become 'ANY' as soon as the verb is expressed in the negative.

I want some sugar, I don’t want any sugar.

I don’t have any beer left in the fridge. No me queda cerveza en la nevera

We haven’t got any furniture in the flat yet or we don’t have any furniture in the flat yet. Okay? 'Furniture' don't forget is uncountable as a noun. Okay? 'Some furniture'.Todavía no tenemos muebles en el piso

I don’t want any ice in my gin. Y una vez más 'una palabra' las palabras 'Any' y 'Ice' 'Any ice' 'I don’t want any ice in my gin' No quiero hielo en my ginebra.

They didn’t give me any good advice. No me dieron ningún buen consejo.

 

I’m feeling on top of the world today. I'm feeling on top of the world too and I hop all of you at home or in your cars where ever you listen to this. I also feeling on top of the world because today we’re gonna look at something which really exciting and it’s The Use of SOME and ANY in the INTERROGATIVE. Okay? We looked at some and any in the affirmative and negative in the previous installment and now we’re gonna look at the same two words in the context of the interrogative when we use with questions. We basically use 'Any' when we’re asking about and I specify amount, over uncountable noun or a countable noun on the plural; do you have any water? Do you have any books?

Is there any honey in the cupboard? ¿Hay miel en el armario?

Did you eat any seafood when you were in Galicia? ¿Comiste marisco cuando estuviste en Galicia?

Was there any snow in the mountains? ¿Había nieve en la sierra?

Did you buy any mineral water? ¿Compraste agua mineral?

 

CON SUSTANTIVOS CONTABLES "Plurales"

Did you take any pictures? ¿Sacaste fotos?

Do you have any staples? ¿Tienes grapas?

 

SOME IN THE INTERROGATIVE

Would you like some water?

Would you like some tea? ¿Te apetece un té?

Would you like some caviar? or Would you care for some caviar? ¿Te apetece un poco de caviar? Would you care for some caviar?

Do you feel like some coffee ¿Te apetece un café?

Do you fancy some food? ¿Te apetece algo de comer?

Do you fancy some champagne? Or how about some champagne? Do you fancy some?

 

THE MORE...THE MORE 'Cuanto más…más'

In English this expression is totally symmetrical. We say 'The more Subject plus Verb' then 'The more Subject plus Verb'. And we're gonna just look at examples with verbs today. Okay? In a future adition we'll look at examples with compartives. Okey dokey then, for example:

The more you study, the more you learn. Cuanto más se estudia, más se aprende

The more you eat, the more you grow. Cuanto más se come, más se crece

The more you work, the more you earn. Cuanto más se...más se gana

The more you earn the more you pay. Cuanto más se gana, más se paga

The more you search, the more you find. Cuanto más se busca, más se encuentra

THE LESS...THE LESS...

The less you try, the less you achieve. Cuanto menos te esfuerzas, menos logras

The less you work, the less you earn. Cuanto menos trabajas, menos ganas

The less you have, the less you need. Cuanto menos tienes, menos necesitas

Okay, just like in Spanish of course you can mix the two 'THE LESS...THE MORE' or 'THE MORE...THE LESS'

The less you spend, the more you save. Cuanto menos gastas, más ahorras

 

'THE MORE...THE MORE' Con adjetivos y con adverbios. Básicamente todo depende si estamos hablando de un adjetivo o de un adverbio cortito de una sola sílaba o de un adverbio o adjetivo más largo.

'SHORT ADJECTIVE' The + Adj. + er: The faster, the sooner.

The faster you drive, the sooner you’ll arrive. Cuanto más rápido conduzcas, más pronto llegarás

The older you are, the bigger your ears are. Cuanto más mayor eres, más grandes son tus orejas

¿Cuando se trata de adjetivos más largos qué hacemos? The more + adj. or adv. for esample; The more intelligent you are, the more interesting you will find this course.

Por ejemplo: The more interesting, the more intelligent. Okay? The more beautiful.

The more important a meeting is, the more nervous I get. Cuanto más importante es una reunión, más nervioso me pongo

The more dangerous your job is, the more expensive your life insurance will be. Cuanto más peligroso es tu trabajo, más caro será tu seguro de vida

En este tipo de frases si el verbo es “to be” éste puede omitirse por completo; ...the more expensive your life insurance

MIXING

The fatter you are, the slower you walk.

The more calories you eat, the fatter you become. Cuanto más calorías comes, más gordo estarás

The more you work, the more tired you become. Cuanto más trabajas, más cansado estás.

The more you listen to the CD that accompanies this book, the better your English will become. Cuanto más escuchas el CD que acompaña a este libro, mayor será tu inglés.

 

The more you enjoy English, the more interesting it will seem to you. Cuanto más te divierta el inglés, más interesante te parecerá.

 

'NO SOONER HAD I...THAN' Apenas había o No había...cuando

How are you? Okay? Today we’re gonna start by looking at quite a complex expression and that is 'NO SONNER HAD I DONE SOMETHING THAN SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED' that basically means 'Apenas había hecho algo cuando ocurrió otra cosa'. It’s a strange expression because it requires an inversion. We invert the Auxiliary Verb Had with the Subject 'NO SOONER HAD I, NO SOONER HAD HE, NO SOONER HAD THEY' and then 'THE PARTICIPLE': No sooner had I done it than he called me. Y 'Than' básicamente aquí significa 'When' pero no podemos decir 'When'. This expression is TOTALLY SYNONYMOUS with the following 'AS SOON AS I did it he called me or NO SOONER HAD I done it than he called me'. So, always using the past perfect.

Let’s look at a few examples:

I’m gonna give you a sentence using the expression 'AS SOON AS'. Okay? And I want you to say exactly the same thing using our exciting expression of the day 'NO SOONER HAD I THAN SOMETHING', por ejemplo; 'As soon as we left, it started raining' sería 'No sooner had we left, than it starting raining'.

As soon as we left, it started raining. Sería; No sooner had we left, than it starting raining. Have you got it? I got it.

As soon as she started speaking, all the MPs walked out. Tan pronto como ella comenzó a hablar todos los parlamentarios salieron.

 

No sooner had she started speaking than all the MPs walked out. No había comenzado a hablar cuando los parlamentarios salieron.

 

As soon as I walked in through the front door, my boss rang. Apenas entraba por la puerta, me llamó el jefe

 

No sooner had I walked in through the front door than my boss rang. No había entrado por la puerta cuando me llamó el jefe

 

As soon as the final whistle was blown the crowd, run onto the pitch. Apenas se pitó el final del partido, el público saltó al campo.

 

No sooner had the final whistle been blown than the crowd run onto the pitch. No se había pitado el final cuando el público saltó al campo

 

As soon as the sun came out, the ice started melted. A penas salió el sol, el helado comenzó a derretirse.

 

No sooner had the sun come out than the ice started melted. No había salido el sol cuando el helado comenzó a derretirse.

 

Quite a difficult expression this is not? It's difficult to get the hang of it. 'NO SOONER HAD' and then the subject. 'No sooner had' 'had' nunca casmbia: No sooner had I; No sooner had he; No sooner had the sun; No sooner had they + THAN. No sooner had I finished than...

As soon as I parked the car, the car in front reversed into me. En cuanto aparqué el coche, el coche de delante retrocedío contra mí.

 

No sooner had I parked the car than the car in front reversed into me. No había aparcado el coche cuando el coche de delante retrocedío contra mí. 'To revese into someone'

 

As soon as she called me I rushed to the hospital. En cuando me llamó, corrí para el hospital

To rush: Corriendo.

No sooner had she called me than I rushed to the hospital. No había llamado ella cuando corrí para el hospital

 

As soon as the meeting finished I rushed to the airport. En cuanto terminó la reunión, corrí para el aeropuerto.

 

No sooner had the meeting finished than I rushed to the airport. No había terminado la reunión cuando salí corriendo para el aeropuerto.

 

'WITH' INSTEAD OF 'HOW' on account of the circumstances

'With English being easy' We’re gonna look now The Proposition 'With'. Okay? And That is 'WITH plus a SUBJECT (y si empleamos un pronombre, siempre ha de ser un Pronombre Complemento; me, you, him, her. Nunca; I, you, he she) plus the verb in the geround'. Okay?

With me being English you may not understand me. Como yo soy inglés igual no me entiendes. With me being English you may not understand me.

Let’s look at some examples, that’s probably the best way to view to get to grips with this expression:

With Pierre being French is difficult for me to communicate with him. Cómo Pierre es Francés is difícil comunicarme con él.

Do you understand? Do you follow? You got it, good staff.

 

Como están subiendo los tipos de interés, que son los 'interest rates' es cada vez mas...

With interest rates rising it becoming more and more expensive to live in London. También podría decir 'Due to the fact that interest rates are rising' pero esta forma resulta aun más concisa 'With interest rates rising it becoming more and more expensive to live in London'.

 

Tener la oportunidad de ver a alguien es 'To get to see someone' de la expresión 'To get to do something' poder hacer algo, en el sentido de tener ocasión u oportunidad.

With Rebecca living in Sweden we hardly ever get to see her. Como Rebeca vive en Suecia, casi nunca tenemos oportunidad de verla.

Se emplea a menudo con la expresión “hardly ever” (casi nunca)

With me being a Liverpool supporter and my brother being a Man United fan, we always argue on Sunday evenings. Como yo soy un seguidor del Liverpol y como mi hermano es un fan del Manchester, siempre discutimos los domingos por la tarde.

 

Let’s look at the same IN NEGATIVE

With me not knowing anything about it, I couldn’t react.

WITH + S + NOT + GERUND…(Como no…) 

With me not speaking any German and him not speaking any English, we didn’t say a word to each other all evening. Como yo no hablo alemán y él no hablaba inglés, no nos dijimos una palabra en toda noche.

 

With them no coming now, there’ll be a lot more room in the back of the car. Como ellos ya no vienen, habrá mucho más espacio detrás en el coche

 

We can also say; WHAT WITH + S + GERUND / COMO QUE, DEBIDO A QUE

What with me being tired and you being exhausted, let’s go at bed.

 

We can also say; WHAT WITH + S + GERUND, and it means exactly the same thing, excepted we only use it when we are GIVING MORE THAT ONE REASON, for example:  

What with me getting up early every this week and not sleeping at all, I’m extremely tired.

What with my son crying all night and the workmen starting first thing in the morning, I didn’t sleep a wink. Como que mi hijo llorando toda la noche, los obreros empezando a primerísima hora de la mañana, no pegué ojo en toda la noche

Two important expressions in at this example as well; first thing in the morning, means; a primerísima hora de la mañana 'First thing in the morning' and the expression 'I didn’t sleep a wink' which means 'No pegué ojo'.