Los Alimentos: Foods
Travel to a Spanish-speaking country, and one thing you won't be able to avoid is buying food, whether in a restaurant or store. So this week's lesson gives you a chance to start becoming familiar with the names of some common foods as well as start using verbs in different ways.| Read, listen and learn in the About.com
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This week's lesson is the fourth preparatory lesson. Just one more such lesson and we'll be ready to start our formal study of the language.
Assignment
Again, review the pronunciation guide on pages xi-xii. This time, pay extra attention to the letter d.Next, complete Preparatory Lesson 4 on pages xx and xxi of the textbook. Be sure to do the final item, listing the names of as many foods as you know in Spanish..
Third, find your favorite Spanish-English dictionary and look up the names of your favorite foods.
Background
This preparatory lesson introduces two new concepts: the plural definite articles and verb conjugation.Unlike English, which has only one definite article, "the," Spanish has four — el, la, los, and las. We've already been introduced to the first two; here, you will note that the final two are used for plural nouns. Again, the choice depends on the gender of the noun; plural masculine nouns go with los, while plural feminine nouns go with las.
You may also notice in this lesson two different forms of comprar, the verb for "to buy." To say "i buy," we use the word compro; if you are doing the buying, the verb is compra. We do something similar in English. If you or I do the buying, the verb is "buy." But if he or she does, the verb is "buys." In Spanish you can often tell who is performing the verb action by the form of the verb. Thus, in the sentence Compro frutas (page xxi), which means "I buy fruit," is is not necessary to include the word for "I." The verb already tells us that.
Pronunciation tip
The consonant d has a softer sound in Spanish than in English. In fact, when it's between two vowels and in some other cases, it sounds like the "the" in words such as "this" and "that." In some countries, the sound is so soft it almost disappears in some cases. Listen to the sound.Coming up:
In the next lesson we'll get some more practice using verbs.
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