What can be better than a day by the sea? Let’s imagine that we are going to one of the sunny Spanish beaches. Vamos a la playa… ¡y estudiamos español!
Vocabulary
In this lesson, we will practice the following vocabulary. Read the words, listen to the audio and remember them:
playa
beach
cine
cinema, movies
televisión / tele
television
película
film, movie
hotel
hotel
turista
tourist
isla
island
mar
sea
hoy
today
mañana
tomorrow
cafetería
cafe
nos vemos
see you
entonces
then
genial
great, excellent
de acuerdo
fine, ok
importante
important
estar cansado
to be tired
¡Qué suerte!
Lucky you!
allí
there
Lo siento
I’m sorry
ya
already
ir
to go
ver
to see
tener
to have
descansar
to rest / to have a day off
saber
to know
Dialogues
Listen carefully to the following Spanish dialogues. They will help you understand this lesson’s vocabulary in the right context:
Dialogue 1
Hola, Mario. ¿A dónde vas?
Hi, Mario. Where are you going?
Voy a la playa con mis amigos. Ya sabes que me gusta mucho el mar.
I’m going to the beach with my friends. You know that I love the sea.
¡Qué suerte! Yo voy a la oficina. Tengo mucho trabajo.
Lucky you! I’m going to the office. I’ve got lot to do.
¿Mañana también trabajas?
Do you work tomorrow as well?
No, mañana descanso. ¿Quieres ir a la playa conmigo?
No, tomorrow I’m off. Do you want to go to the beach with me?
Por supuesto. Nos vemos.
Of course! See you.
Hasta mañana.
See you tomorrow.
Dialogue 2
Hola, Maria. ¿Quieres ir al cine con nosotros?
Hi, Maria. Do you want to go to the cinema with us?
Sí. ¿Qué película queréis ver?
Yes, I do. Which movie do you want to see?
Queremos ver una película que se llama “Amigos en la playa”. Es una comedia española.
We want to see a movie called “Friends on the beach”. It’s a Spanish comedy.
¡Qué bien! Me gustan las comedias.
How cool! I like comedies.
Entonces, nos vemos en el cine.
See you at the cinema then.
Genial. Hasta luego.
Great. See you soon.
Dialogue 3
¿A donde vas, Paco? ¿No quieres ir a la cafetería con nosotros?
Where are you going, Paco? Don’t you want to go to a cafe with us?
Lo siento. Estoy muy cansado. Voy a casa.
Sorry. I’m tired. I’m going home.
Pero ¿qué vas a hacer en casa? ¿Ver la televisión? ¡Qué aburrido eres!
But what are you going to do at home? Watch TV? How boring you are!
Pues no lo sé… ¿A qué cafetería vais?
Well, I don’t know… Which cafe are you going to?
Vamos a una cafetería nueva que se llama “El mar”. Es una cafetería muy grande y muy bonita.
We are going to a new cafe called “The Sea”. It’s a very big and pretty cafe.
De acuerdo, voy. Nos vemos allí.
Fine, I’m going. See you there.
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. Soy Victor. Vivo en Mallorca y trabajo en un hotel. ¿Sabéis dónde está Mallorca? Mallorca es una isla española que está en el mar Mediterráneo. Tiene muchas playas bonitas, y por supuesto, muchos hoteles.
Good afternoon. I’m Victor. I live in Mallorca, and I work at a hotel. Do you know where Mallorca is? Mallorca is a Spanish island which is situated in the Mediterranean sea. There, there are many beautiful beaches and, of course, many hotels.
En el trabajo hablo en español y en inglés. Saber inglés es muy importante, porque en nuestro hotel hay muchos turistas ingleses.
At work, I speak Spanish and English. To know English is very important because, at our hotel, there are many English tourists.
Me gusta vivir en Mallorca porque me gusta el mar y la playa. Pero a veces, trabajo mucho y estoy muy cansado. Entonces, voy a casa y no hago nada. Veo la tele o leo un libro. Mañana no trabajo. ¡Qué bien! Voy a la playa con mis amigos.
I like living in Mallorca because I like the sea and the beach. But sometimes I work a lot and get very tired. Then I go home and do nothing. I watch TV or read a book. Tomorrow, I don’t work. ¡How nice! I will go to the beach with my friends.
Spanish Grammar
We will now study the grammar used in this lesson:
How to say where we are going: the verb “ir” (to go) and the preposition “a”
To say where we are going, we need to know the forms of the irregular verb “ir”. Let’s have a look at the table and memorise them:
| ir (to go) |
|---|
| yo voy |
| tú vas |
| él va |
| nosotros vamos |
| vosotros vais |
| ellos van |
And now let’s add the place where we are going. In Spanish, we use the preposition “a” to express direction. Please note that when this preposition precedes the article “el”, it turns into “al”. The feminine article “la” doesn’t change:
- Vamos a la playa. – We are going to the beach.
- Martín va a la escuela. – Martin is going to school.
- Voy al cine. – I’m going to the cinema.
- Los turistas van al hotel. – The tourists are going to the hotel.
Pay attention to these sentences and remember their correct translation into Spanish:
- ¿A dónde vas? – Where are you going?
- Voy a casa. – I’m going home.
Attention!
The verb “ir” to express future
When we speak about our future plans, we can use the verb “ir” (just like in English we use the verb “to go”). Have a look at the following examples:
- Mañana vamos a trabajar. – Tomorrow, we are going to work.
- ¿Qué vas a hacer mañana? – What are you going to do tomorrow?
New verbs: ver (to see), descansar (to rest), saber (to know)
Remember the forms of the verbs that we saw in this lesson:
| ver (to see) | descansar (to rest) | saber (to know) |
|---|---|---|
| yo veo | yo descanso | yo sé |
| tú ves | tú descansas | tú sabes |
| él ve | él descansa | él sabe |
| nosotros vemos | nosotros descansamos | nosotros sabemos |
| vosotros véis | vosotros descansáis | vosotros sabéis |
| ellos ven | ellos descansan | ellos saben |
Every time you see a new verb, try to come up with your own examples to illustrate its usage and remember it quicker. Here are some examples of the verbs from the table:
- A veces veo películas españolas. – Sometimes, I watch Spanish movies.
- Me gusta ver la tele. – I like watching TV.
- Los abuelos quieren descansar. – The grandparents want to rest.
- ¿Mañana descansas? – Are you off tomorrow?
- No sé qué vamos a hacer hoy. – I don’t know what we are going to do today.
- ¿Sábes cómo se llama este alumno? – Do you know this student’s name?
In a conversation, we sometimes have to answer “I don’t know”. Let’s learn how it say it in Spanish correctly:
- – ¿Quieres ir al cine con nosotros? – No lo sé.
- – Do you want to go to the cinema with us? – I don’t know. (in Spanish, we literally say “I don’t know it“)
Attention!
The verb “saber” can be used in the meaning of “to know a language”.
In English, we can say “She speaks French” or “She knows French”. In Spanish, this meaning is also possible:
- No sé inglés. – I don’t know English.
- Mi profesor sabe alemán. – My teacher knows German.
How to say “I have…” in Spanish?
The verb “tener” (to have) is irregular in Spanish. Let’s have a look at its forms:
| tener (to have) |
|---|
| yo tengo |
| tú tienes |
| él tiene |
| nosotros tenemos |
| vosotros tenéis |
| ellos tienen |
Just like in English, we can use the verb “tener” with animate nouns (people and animals) as well as inanimate (things and places):
- Mi hijo tiene muchos amigos. – My son has many friends.
- ¿Tienes un coche? – Do you have a car?
- España tiene playas muy bonitas. – Spain has very beautiful beaches.
- Estos libros tienen textos interesantes. – These books have interesting texts.
We can say “Spain has beautiful beaches” or “In Spain, there are beautiful beaches. In this lesson, we’ve come across the Spanish word for “there is/there are”. Let’s see how to use it:
- En nuestro hotel hay muchos turistas ingleses. – At our hotel, there are many English tourists.
- En mi ciudad no hay trabajo. – In my city, there is no work.
Test
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