These words will forever be remembered as what was very likely one of the most famous advertising campaigns of the 21st century.
¿Me escuchas ahora?
Can you hear me now?
Thank you Verizon Wireless.
Talking on the phone is really no big deal, unless you're doing it in a second language you're still struggling to learn. At that point it can become terrifying, but today we'll talk about some handy phrases that will surely be helpful when the day comes you have to speak Spanish over the phone.
Talking over a landline (teléfono fijo) isn't usually that bad, but cell phones are a completely different story. Let's discuss some common situations, starting with the most basic:
A cell phone is a celular, or simply cel. You'll probably hear móvil in Spain.
No te escucho
I can't hear you
OK, Oir actually means "to hear", but escuchar (to listen) is a colloquial usage and is very, very common. But if you want to be grammatically correct, you can say:
No te oigo
I can't hear you
And is there anyone who hasn't had these problems when talking on a cell phone?
No tengo recepcion
I don't have reception
No tengo señal
I don't have a signal
Se te escucha cortado
You're breaking up
You can't hear the other person because they're speaking too softly, like a whisper, or, not loud enough:
No te escucho porque tu voz suena muy baja
I can't hear you because your voice sounds low
Now let's talk about technical difficulties.
Se me acabó la batería / Se me terminó la batería / Me quedé sin batería
My battery is dead
Necesito recargar la batería
I need to recharge the battery
You can also use the verb cargar
Necesito cargar la batería
I need to recharge the battery
Ojalá que te sirva. I hope that helps.
¡Nos vemos!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Yo lo enchufo
Every week I have an intercambio with my amiga from Peru. Well, on this particular occassion while I was setting up my laptop she says:
Yo lo enchufo
Surprisingly, while I didn't understand what she said, my eyes didn't glaze over. I politely said "¿Cómo?", and she repeated it again. That's when my eyes glazed over, because my ears just weren't getting the job done.
Yo lo enchufo
I'll plug it in
She was referring to the power cord for my laptop. It's amazing how after 5 years of learning Spanish it never occurred to me learn how to talk about plugging things in, nor had any book ever bothered to mention it. Oh well.
Let's go into a little more detail.
Enchufar
to plug in
Dámelo para enchufarlo
Give it to me so I can plug it can
¿Puedes enchufarlo?
Can you plug it in?
Well, now we know how to talk about plugging a cord in, but we still don't know how to talk about what we plug the cord into. The word for socket, plug or outlet is enchufe. You can also say tomacorriente.
But this is where things get a little tricky. A search for enchufe fotos returns the following:
As well as:
It turns out enchufe can mean both the wall socket and the actual plug. The search also turned up one other photo:
I just thought that one was kinda funny. Let's get back on track.
If you want to talk about the actual plug without the ambiguity, then use the word clavija.
Now that we've got the thing plugged in, the verb desenchufar means to uplug.
Ya lo desenchufé
I already unplugged it
Está desenchufado
It's unplugged
Puedes desenchufarlo
You can unplug it
If you'd like a little more practice with enchufar, then check out this great free podcast.
Enchufar
Created by the good folks at Learning Spanish Like Crazy, this podcast will help you learn the correct usage and conjugation of the verb enchufar . But make yourself comfortable before you start listening, because it's 17 minutes long.
So there you go. Next time you need something plugged in or unplugged in Spanish, you'll know exactly what to say.
Lastly, if you enjoy the podcast, you may find the Learning Spanish Like Crazy downloadable audio courses a great way to learn Spanish. The learning method is exactly the same as the podcast. There are 3 levels, one for each stage of the learning process - Level 1 (beginners), Level 2 (intermediate) and level 3 (advanced).
¡Nos vemos!
Yo lo enchufo
Surprisingly, while I didn't understand what she said, my eyes didn't glaze over. I politely said "¿Cómo?", and she repeated it again. That's when my eyes glazed over, because my ears just weren't getting the job done.
Yo lo enchufo
I'll plug it in
She was referring to the power cord for my laptop. It's amazing how after 5 years of learning Spanish it never occurred to me learn how to talk about plugging things in, nor had any book ever bothered to mention it. Oh well.
Let's go into a little more detail.
Enchufar
to plug in
Dámelo para enchufarlo
Give it to me so I can plug it can
¿Puedes enchufarlo?
Can you plug it in?
Well, now we know how to talk about plugging a cord in, but we still don't know how to talk about what we plug the cord into. The word for socket, plug or outlet is enchufe. You can also say tomacorriente.
But this is where things get a little tricky. A search for enchufe fotos returns the following:
It turns out enchufe can mean both the wall socket and the actual plug. The search also turned up one other photo:
I just thought that one was kinda funny. Let's get back on track.
If you want to talk about the actual plug without the ambiguity, then use the word clavija.
Now that we've got the thing plugged in, the verb desenchufar means to uplug.
Ya lo desenchufé
I already unplugged it
Está desenchufado
It's unplugged
Puedes desenchufarlo
You can unplug it
If you'd like a little more practice with enchufar, then check out this great free podcast.
Enchufar
Created by the good folks at Learning Spanish Like Crazy, this podcast will help you learn the correct usage and conjugation of the verb enchufar . But make yourself comfortable before you start listening, because it's 17 minutes long.
So there you go. Next time you need something plugged in or unplugged in Spanish, you'll know exactly what to say.
Lastly, if you enjoy the podcast, you may find the Learning Spanish Like Crazy downloadable audio courses a great way to learn Spanish. The learning method is exactly the same as the podcast. There are 3 levels, one for each stage of the learning process - Level 1 (beginners), Level 2 (intermediate) and level 3 (advanced).
¡Nos vemos!
Monday, October 11, 2010
¿Qué? ¿Quieres que sea tu chacha?
Aside from being a very popular dance, "chacha" is a shortened version of "la muchacha".
So if we translate our sentence we come up with something like:
What? You want me to be the girl?
Well, eso no tiene sentido - that doesn't make any sense. But it will after I give you this key piece of information.
"La muchacha" is way of referring to what we might call a nanny - someone who helps out with the kids and chores around the house (las tareas de la casa). So let's take a look at our sentence again.
¿Qué? ¿Quieres que sea tu chacha?
What? You want me to be your maid?
Although chacha, or la muchacha, is more accurately defined as nanny, in this context it's best translated as maid. This is something you might hear from a wife or girlfriend who is unhappy about having to constantly clean up after their significant other all the time, which is how I first heard it. I always get a good laugh when I hear the word chacha, because it reminds of my amiga ranting about her novio (boyfriend), who she affectionately calls "el gringo" or "cabrón".
Other terms you can use are empleada doméstica, sirvienta, mucama, or afanadora. I don't really recommend using sirvienta, because Spanish speakers seem to universally agree that it's a bit disrespectful.
Well, that's it for today. Hasta la próxima.
So if we translate our sentence we come up with something like:
What? You want me to be the girl?
Well, eso no tiene sentido - that doesn't make any sense. But it will after I give you this key piece of information.
"La muchacha" is way of referring to what we might call a nanny - someone who helps out with the kids and chores around the house (las tareas de la casa). So let's take a look at our sentence again.
¿Qué? ¿Quieres que sea tu chacha?
What? You want me to be your maid?
Although chacha, or la muchacha, is more accurately defined as nanny, in this context it's best translated as maid. This is something you might hear from a wife or girlfriend who is unhappy about having to constantly clean up after their significant other all the time, which is how I first heard it. I always get a good laugh when I hear the word chacha, because it reminds of my amiga ranting about her novio (boyfriend), who she affectionately calls "el gringo" or "cabrón".
Other terms you can use are empleada doméstica, sirvienta, mucama, or afanadora. I don't really recommend using sirvienta, because Spanish speakers seem to universally agree that it's a bit disrespectful.
Well, that's it for today. Hasta la próxima.
Monday, October 4, 2010
¡Me dejaste plantado!
You left me planted!
Admittedly, in English this doesn't make any sense. That's often the problem with literal translations, so let's get to the bottom of this.
First things first. If you don't know, dejar means to leave, as in leaving something behind. Here are some examples.
If someone is giving you a ride:
Déjame en la esquina
Let me out at the corner
You forgot something:
Dejo mis llaves en casa.
I left my keys at home
You don't want to be bothered:
Déjame en paz
Leave me alone
Great, now let's get back to our expression.
In this case, ¡Me dejaste plantado! is an idiomatic expression.
When you dejar alguien plantado that means you've stood them up.
No me dejes plantado
Don't stand me up
¡Me dejaste plantado!
You stood me up
This expression can be pretty useful and is nice to have in your toolbox, especially if one of your friends isn't exactly the reliable type.
¡Hasta la próxima!
Admittedly, in English this doesn't make any sense. That's often the problem with literal translations, so let's get to the bottom of this.
First things first. If you don't know, dejar means to leave, as in leaving something behind. Here are some examples.
If someone is giving you a ride:
Déjame en la esquina
Let me out at the corner
You forgot something:
Dejo mis llaves en casa.
I left my keys at home
You don't want to be bothered:
Déjame en paz
Leave me alone
Great, now let's get back to our expression.
In this case, ¡Me dejaste plantado! is an idiomatic expression.
When you dejar alguien plantado that means you've stood them up.
No me dejes plantado
Don't stand me up
¡Me dejaste plantado!
You stood me up
This expression can be pretty useful and is nice to have in your toolbox, especially if one of your friends isn't exactly the reliable type.
¡Hasta la próxima!
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