It’s time to talk about things we like. What do you like to eat, to drink, to do or to buy? This lesson will teach you to express your likes and dislikes and speak about your desires.
Vocabulary
In this lesson, we will practice the following vocabulary. Read the words, listen to the audio and remember them:
profesión
profession
trabajo
work
ingeniero / ingeniera
engineer
médico
doctor
economista
economist
colegio
school
hospital
hospital
empresa
firm, company
universidad
university
fábrica
factory
interesante
interesting
aburrido
boring
vago
lazy
bueno
good, nice
estudiar
to study, to learn
trabajar
to work
querer
to want
gustar
to like
un poco
a little bit
¡Qué pena!
What a pity!
Dialogues
Listen carefully to the following Spanish dialogues. They will help you understand this lesson’s vocabulary in the right context:
Dialogue 1
Hola. ¿Como te llamas?
Hello. What’s your name?
Me llamo Laura.
My name is Laura.
Encantado. ¿De qué trabajas, Laura?
Nice to meet you. What do you do, Laura?
Trabajo en una empresa pequeña. Soy economista.
I work in a small company. I’m an economist.
¿Te gusta tu trabajo?
Do you like your job?
Sí, mi trabajo es muy interesante.
Yes, my job is very interesting.
Dialogue 2
Antonio, ¿de qué trabajas?
Antonio, what’s your profession?
Soy ingeniero. Trabajo en una fábrica pero no me gusta mi trabajo.
I’m an engineer. I work at a factory, but I don’t like my job.
¿Por qué?
Why?
Mi trabajo es muy aburrido. Quiero ser futbolista. Y tú, ¿dónde trabajas?
My job is very boring. I want to be a football player. And you, where do you work?
Soy médico. Trabajo en un hospital. Me gusta mi trabajo.
I’m a doctor. I work at a hospital. I like my job.
Dialogue 3
María, ¿tus hijos trabajan?
Maria, do your children work?
Mi hija Alejandra estudia en la universidad. Quiere ser economista y trabajar en una empresa grande.
My daughter Alexandra studies at the university. She wants to be an economist and work for a big company.
¿Y tu hijo Ángel?
And your son Angel?
Ángel ahora no trabaja. No le gusta trabajar. Es muy vago.
Angel doesn’t work at the moment. He doesn’t like working. He is very lazy.
¡Qué pena!
What a pity!
Text
Read the following text in Spanish. You can check the English translation if you need help. Also, listen to the audio and try to understand everything:
Buenos días. Me llamo Roberto. Soy profesor. Trabajo en un colegio. Me gusta mi trabajo porque me gustan los niños.
Good afternoon. My name is Roberto. I’m a teacher. I work in a school. I like my job because I like children.
Esta es mi clase. Yo trabajo aquí. Este niño es Luis. Él quiere ser médico. Y esta es Lola. Quiere ser profesora y trabajar en la universidad.
This is my class. I work here. This boy is Luis. He wants to become a doctor. And this is Lola. She wants to become a teacher and work at a university.
Y estos niños son hermanos. Se llaman Juan y Pablo. Son un poco vagos pero son buenos niños. Ser profesor es un trabajo interesante.
And these boys are brothers. Their names are Juan and Pablo. They are a bit lazy but they are good children. Being a teacher is an interesting job.
Spanish grammar
We will now study the grammar used in this lesson:
The verbs “trabajar” (to work) and “estudiar” (to study)
As we move forward with our lessons, it’s going to be easier to remember the new verbs and their forms. The verbs “trabajar” and “estudiar” both belong to the 1st conjugation. Let’s have a look at their forms:
| trabajar (to work) | estudiar (to study) |
|---|---|
| yo trabajo | yo estudio |
| tú trabajas | tú estudias |
| él trabaja | él estudia |
| nosotros trabajamos | nosotros estudiamos |
| vosotros trabajáis | vosotros estudiáis |
| ellos trabajan | ellos estudian |
To add the place where you work or study, use the preposition “en”. Please note that when we say “I study at school / at university” we always have to use the definite article (el/la). This is one of several differences in the usage of article that we will discover during the course:
- Nuestros hijos estudian en el colegio. – Our children study at school.
- María estudia en la universidad. – Maria studies at university.
Also, pay attention to phrases like “I’m a doctor”. In Spanish, there is no article before the names of professions:
- Fran es ingeniero. – Fran is an engineer.
- Soy economista. – I’m an economist.
The verb “querer” (to want)
The verb “querer” has special forms that you will have to remember. Verbs that don’t follow the usual rules of conjugation are called irregular verbs.
| querer (to want) |
|---|
| yo quiero |
| tú quieres |
| él quiere |
| nosotros queremos |
| vosotros queréis |
| ellos quieren |
After the verb “querer” we can add an object or an infinitive. Have a look at the examples:
- Quiero una manzana. – I want an apple.
- Quiero agua. – I want water.
- Quiero ser médico. – I want to be a doctor.
- Quiero trabajar en una fábrica. – I want to work at a factory.
Attention!
The verb “querer” can also mean “to love somebody”.
It’s interesting that the verb “querer” can also mean “to love someone”. So, the most romantic phrase in the world (I love you) is translated into Spanish like this: Te quiero (it doesn’t mean “I want you” as you might have thought).
The verb “gustar” and the dative case
The verb “gustar” is a tricky one. In English, we say “I like chocolate” while in Spanish, we say something like “Chocolate pleases me”. As you can see, the doer of the action changes and the pronoun “I” changes to “me”. The same happens in Spanish with the verb “gustar”. We will have to use the pronouns in the dative case: Me gusta el chocolate (Chocolate pleases me):
| Spanish: | English: |
|---|---|
| Me gusta el chocolate. | I like chocolate / Chocolate pleases me. |
| Te gusta el chocolate. | You like chocolate / Chocolate pleases you. |
| Le gusta el chocolate. | He / She likes chocolate / Chocolate pleases him / her / you (usted). |
| Nos gusta el chocolate. | We like chocolate / Chocolate pleases us. |
| Os gusta el chocolate. | You like chocolate / Chocolate pleases you (vosotros). |
| Les gusta el chocolate. | They like chocolate / Chocolate pleases them / you (ustedes). |
The verb “gustar” belongs to the 1st conjugation: yo gusto, tú gustas. But now, we are interested only in two forms: gusta (singular) y gustan (plural). Look at the literal translation to understand the usage:
- Me gusta mi amigo. – I like my friend / My friend pleases me. (singular)
- Me gustan mis amigos. – I like my friends / My friends please me. (plural)
Test
Let’s check how well you know this lesson:
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