Countdown to Spanish : learn to communicate in 24 hours

337 Pages·2004·1.849 MB·English

by  Gail Stein

00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page i
GAIL STEIN
ebook_copyright 6x9.qxd 10/7/03 3:23 PM Page 1
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-HIll Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the
United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part
of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data-
base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-142864-X
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-141423-1
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after
every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit
of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations
appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales pro-
motions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George
Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or [phone].
TERMSOFUSE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors
reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted
under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not
decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon,
transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without
McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use;
any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you
fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. McGRAW-HILLAND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUAR-
ANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACYOR COMPLETENESS OF
OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANYINFORMA-
TION THATCAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIAHYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE,
AND EXPRESSLYDISCLAIM ANYWARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT
NOTLIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITYOR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the func-
tions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or
error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inac-
curacy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom.
McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work.
Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental,
special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the
work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of lia-
bility shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort
or otherwise.
DOI: 10.1036/007142864X
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page iii
This book is dedicated to:
My wonderfully patient and supportive husband, Douglas
My incredibly loving, understanding, and proud sons, Eric and Michael
My proud parents, Jack and Sara Bernstein
My creative sister and her family, Susan, Jay, and Zachary Opperman
My superior consultant and advisor, Roger H. Herz
My good friend and supporter, Christina Levy
This page intentionally left blank.
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page v
For more information about this title, click here.
Contents
Introduction
xiii
24:00
Focusing on Pronunciation
1
Master These Skills 1
Perfecting Your Pronunciation 2
Stress 2
Accents 2
Vowels 3
Diphthongs 4
Consonants 5
Having the Right Tools 9
A Final Suggestion 9
Time’s Up! 10
23:00
Recognizing and Using Nouns
11
Master These Skills 11
Gender 12
Noun Markers 12
Nouns 17
Cognates 22
Time’s Up! 26
22:00
Working with Present-Tense Verbs
27
Master These Skills 27
Subject Nouns and Pronouns 28
Regular Verbs 29
Shoe Verbs 35
Irregular Verbs 39
Uses of the Present Tense 43
The Present Progressive 44
Time’s Up! 45
v
Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use.
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page vi
CONTENTS
21:00
The Past Tense (The Preterit)
47
Master These Skills 47
Forming the Preterit 48
The Present Perfect Tense 51
The Preterit Perfect 53
The Imperfect 53
The Pluperfect 54
The Preterit Versus the Imperfect 54
Time’s Up! 57
20:00
Back to the Future:
Speaking Conditionally
59
Master These Skills 59
The Future 60
The Future Tense of Regular Verbs 60
The Future Tense of Irregular Verbs 61
The Future Perfect 62
The Conditional 63
The Perfect Conditional 64
Time’s Up! 65
19:00
Adding Adjectives and Adverbs
67
Master These Skills 67
Making Adjectives Feminine 68
Making Adjectives Plural 70
Position of Adjectives 71
Using Ser and Estar with Adjectives 74
Adverbs 77
Adjectives Versus Adverbs 77
Position of Adverbs 80
Time’s Up! 80
18:00
Making Acquaintances
81
Master These Skills 81
Greetings and Good-Byes 82
Reflexive Verbs 83
Origins 87
Nationalities 89
vi
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page vii
CONTENTS
The Family 90
Showing Possession 91
Time’s Up! 94
17:00
Fielding Invitations and Other Questions
95
Master These Skills 95
Verbs for Invitations 96
Prepositions 97
Places 100
Prepositional Pronouns 101
Extending an Invitation 102
Accepting an Invitation 103
Refusing an Invitation 103
Expressing Indecision and Indifference 104
No 104
Time’s Up! 106
16:00
Making Plans
107
Master These Skills 107
Cardinal Numbers 108
Ordinal Numbers 110
Days, Months, and Seasons 111
Dates 112
Telling Time 114
Time’s Up! 118
15:00
Using Spanish Around the Home
119
Master These Skills 119
House and Home 120
Chores 121
Stores 121
Deber (to Have to) 122
Tener Que 123
Hay Que + Infinitive 124
Understanding and Forming the Present Subjunctive 124
The Imperfect Subjunctive 129
The Perfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive 130
Offering Encouragement 131
Time’s Up! 132
vii
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page viii
CONTENTS
14:00
Offering Ideas and Issuing Commands
133
Master These Skills 133
Making Proposals 134
Commands 134
Getting There 139
Using Idioms 140
Positive Reinforcement 141
Complaints 142
Time’s Up! 142
13:00
Asking Questions
143
Master These Skills 143
Asking Yes/No Questions 144
Information Questions 145
Hay 149
Asking for Directions 149
Asking for a Price 150
Questioning New Acquaintances 150
Lack of Communication 151
Time’s Up! 152
12:00
Answering Questions
153
Master These Skills 153
Answering Yes 154
Answering No 154
Negative Expressions 157
Pero Versus Sino 158
Answering Information Questions 158
On the Phone 162
Time’s Up! 164
11:00
Seeking Help
165
Master These Skills 165
Getting Help Anywhere 166
At the Post Office 166
At the Hair Salon 167
At the Dry Cleaner’s 168
Repairs and More Repairs 168
viii
00 (i-xiv) front matter 8/1/03 10:32 AM Page ix
CONTENTS
At the Optician’s 169
At the Camera Shop 169
At the Jeweler’s 170
Special Services and Needs 171
Time’s Up! 172
10:00
Expressing Positive Opinions
173
Master These Skills 173
Making Suggestions 174
Leisure Activities 174
Demonstrative Pronouns 176
Object Pronouns 178
Using Accents 183
Positive Feelings 183
Using the Subjunctive to Express Emotions
and Feelings 184
Time’s Up! 185
09:00
Planning Outdoor Activities
187
Master These Skills 187
Sports 188
The Weather 190
Expressing Negative Opinions 191
Expressing Indifference 191
Using the Subjunctive with Expressions of Doubt 192
Using the Subjunctive After Impersonal Expressions 192
Contrary-to-Fact Conditions 194
Sequence of Tenses of the Subjunctive 194
Time’s Up! 195
08:00
Making Comparisons
197
Master These Skills 197
Animals 198
In the Classroom 198
Comparisons of Inequality 199
Comparisons of Equality 206
The Absolute Superlative 207
Comparative and Superlative Expressions 208
The Subjunctive After Superlative Expressions 208
Time’s Up! 209
ix