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modal verbs

SMART GRAMMAR #12 MODAL VERBS.

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MODAL VERBS.

 

¡Hola a [email protected]! ¡Bienvenidos a Smart Grammar 12!

Hoy nos centraremos en explicar los verbos modales.

Hay un pequeño conjunto de once verbos que existen en la lengua Inglesa que son distintos a otros verbos. Estos se llaman “Modal Verbs”, o verbos modales.

Y son los siguientes:

  • Be able to
  • Can
  • Could
  • Shall
  • Should
  • Will
  • Would
  • May
  • Might
  • Must
  • Ought to
  • Used to

Estos verbos son diferentes a otros verbos y no podemos decir que sean “versatiles”.

Estas son las principales diferencias:

  • No tienen una forma infinitiva. No se puede decir: to can, to could, to would or to used to.
  • No tienen una forma pasada. No hay un verbo como: coulded, musted, woulded o oughted to.
  • No tienen la forma del gerundio, es decir no se le puede añadir “-ing” así que no pueden nunca ser usados como participio presente.
  • No tienen la forma del participio pasado.
  • Y por último, tampoco pueden actuar como verbos principales, siempre son verbos auxiliares, es decir tienen que ir acompañado por otro verbo. No se puede decir: “I can the piano” o “I ought to my mother” o “I will my girlfriend”.

Estos verbos son muy útiles y utilizamos la mayoría de ellos todo el tiempo.

A continuación os explico cuando se usa algunos de ellos.

CAN

Si queremos expresar que somos capaces de hacer algo o tenemos una particular habilidad, utilizamos el verbo modal Can. Mirad las siguientes frases y notad como el verbo modal precede al verbo principal:

  • I can play the piano.
  • I can do cards tricks.
  • I can ride a motorbike.

Must

Si queremos dar una orden o un imperativo a menudo utilizamos el verbo “Must”.

De nuevo podeis ver como el verbo modal precede el verbo principal, esto es así con todos:

  • You must wash your hands after using the bathroom.
  • You must not eat food in the classroom.
  • You must come to class on time.

Will

Podemos utilizar “Will” de distintas maneras. Podemos expresar certezas, predicciones, amenazas o promesas solo para mencionar algunas. Estas frases siempre iran en futuro.

  • I will be 28 on my next birthday.
  • I think it will rain next week.
  • I will hit you if you go near my car.
  • I will pay you 5$ if you clean my car.

Hay otros verbos en la lengua Inglesa que algunas veces actúan como verbos auxiliares modales. Al igual que los verbos modales estos van seguidos casi siempre por un verbo en forma infinitiva.

Observad las siguientes frases para ver cuales son, como son utilizados y cómo funcionan:

  • I dare you to ask the teacher.
  • I need to know what is happening next week.
  • I have to speak to my teacher about my project today.

“Dare” es algunas veces utilizado como verbo auxiliar con la función de desafiar alguien a hacer algo.

“Need” es algunas veces utilizado como verbo auxiliar con la función de expresar un deseo urgente de hacer o saber acerca de una cosa específica.

“Have” tiene una función similar a la de “Need” y expresa una responsabilidad por parte de la persona que habla.

Estos verbos no son verdaderamente verbos modales por las siguientes razones:

1) Pueden ser utilizados en la forma infinitiva.

  • To dare
  • To need
  • To have

2) Tienen la forma de tiempo pasado.

  • I dared him to do it.
  • I really needed you yesterday.
  • I had a great time last night.

3) Pueden ser utilizados en la forma del participio presente, aunque “Dare” y “Need”  no suenan del todo bien.

  • I am daring you to do it.
  • I am needing some sustenance right now.
  • I am having a great time.

4) Pueden ser utilizados en la forma del participio pasado, aunque no suenan del todo bien.

  • I have dared you to do it.
  • I have needed your help for many years.
  • I have had a great time.

5) Pueden a veces aparecer solos, sin otro verbo, si es en un texto o una conversación.

  • I dare you.
  • I need you.
  • I have many things to do.

¡Y por hoy es todo!

¡Hasta la proxima!

Smart Academy Staff.

Smart Grammar 12-English Version- Modal verbs.

Hello to everybody and welcome to Smart Grammar 12!

Today we are going to focus on modal verbs.

There is a small set of eleven verbs that exist in the English language and that are different from other verbs. These are called “Modal verbs”.

Here is a list of the most important ones

                            

  •  Be able to
  • Can
  • Could
  • Shall
  • Should
  • Will
  • Would
  • May
  • Might
  • Must
  • Ought to
  • Used to

These verbs are different to other verbs and are not as versatile. Here are the main differences:

  • Modal verbs don’t have an infinitive form. We can’t say: to can, to could, to would or to used to.
  • They don’t have a past tense. There is no such thing as: coulded, musted,woulded or oughted to.
  • They don’t have a gerund form, in other words, they are never followed by “-ing” form so they can never be used as a present participle verb. There is no such thing as: coulding, shalling, maying or oughting to.
  • They don’t have a past participle form.
  • And lastly, they can’t stand alone as main verbs.They are only used as supporting or auxiliary verbs.There is no such thing as: “I can the piano”, “I ought to my mother” or “I will my girlfriend”.You must have another verb after the modal verb for the structure to make sense.

These verbs are very useful and we use most of them all the time. Here are some examples.

Can

If we want to express that we are able to do something or have a particular skill we use the modal verb can. Look at the following sentences and notice that the modal verb precedes the main verb, this pattern as you can see repeats itself.

  • I can play the piano.
  • I can do cards tricks.
  • I can ride a motorbike.

Must

If we want to give a command or an imperative we often use the modal verb must.

  • You must wash your hands after using the bathroom.
  • You must not eat food in the classroom.
  • You must come to class on time.

Will

We can use will in many different ways. We can express certainties, predictions, threats, or promises to mention just a few. These sentences are always talking about the future.

  • I will be 28 on my next birthday.
  • I think it will rain next week.
  • I will thump you if you go near my car.
  • I will pay you 5$ if you clean my car.

There are other verbs in the English language that sometimes act as auxiliary modal verbs. As with the modal verbs they are generally followed by a verb in its infinitive form

Look at the following sentences and see which they are, how they are used and how they function:

  • I dare you to ask the teacher.
  • I need to know what is happening next week.
  • I have to speak to my teacher about my project today.

“Dare” is sometimes used as an auxiliary verb with the function of challenging someone to do something.

“Need” is sometimes used as an auxiliary verb with the function of expressing an urgent desire to do or know about a specific thing.

“Have” has a similar function to “Need” and expresses a responsibility on the part of the speaker.

These verbs are not true modal verbs for the following reasons:

1) They can be used in the infinitive form.

  • To dare
  • To need
  • To have

2) They have past tense forms.

  • I dared him to do it.
  • I really needed you yesterday.
  • I had a great time last night.

3) They can be used as present participle verbs, though “Dare” and “Need” may look and sound wrong.

  • I am daring you to do it.
  • I am needing some sustenance right now.
  • I am having a great time.

4) They can be used as past participle verbs, though “Dare” and “Need” may look and sound wrong.

  • I have dared you to do it.
  • I have needed your help for many years.
  • I have had a great time.

5) They can stand alone as main verbs though with “Dare” and “Need” the context would need to be established.

 

  • I dare you.
  • I need you.
  • I have many things to do.

And that is everything for today!

See you soon!

Smart Academy Staff.

grammar

SMART GRAMMAR #10 EL INFINITIVO Y EL INFINITIVO SIN ‘TO’

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SMART GRAMMAR 10 – El infinitivo y el infinitivo sin’to’.

¡Hola a [email protected] y bienvenidos a Smart grammar #10!

Hoy nos centraremos en la forma infinitiva de los verbos.

Hay dos formas principales de verbos infinitivos.

Se llaman:

El infinitivo con ‘To’ y el infinitivo sin ‘to’.

En esta sección veremos la estructura de frases más complicadas donde los verbos

infinitivos son usados después de un verbo principal.

También miraremos como las formas infinitivas que  son usadas después de determinados

verbos: Prefer (Preferir), ask (Preguntar) and let (Dejar).

Mirad las siguientes frases:

– Michael prefers to watch a film at the cinema, rather than to rent a DVD from the

video store.

(Michael prefiere mirar una película en el cine en lugar de alquilar un DVD en una tienda).

-Michael prefers to watch a film at the cinema, rather than rent a DVD from the video

store.

(Michael prefiere mirar una película en el cinema en lugar de alquilar un DVD en una

tienda).

No hay ninguna diferencia entre el significado de estas frases. Ambas son correctas.

Daros cuenta de que el verbo principal es ‘Preferir’ y está seguido por el infinitivo del verbo

‘Watch’

Naturalmente la primera frase utiliza el infinitivo con ‘To’ (‘To rent’) mientras que la segunda

frase utiliza el infinitivo sin ‘to’ (‘Rent’).

Hay algunos verbos y estructuras en la lengua inglesa que permiten hacer esto.

Miremos ahora un ejemplo más:

-Michael prefers to talk about his problems, rather than to keep silent about them.

(Michael prefiere hablar de sus problemas en lugar de mantenerse en silencio sobre ellos).

-Michael prefers to talk about his problems, rather than keep silent about them.

(Michael prefiere hablar de sus problemas en lugar de mantenerse en silencio sobre ellos).

Como el anterior ejemplo no hay diferencias en el significado de estas frases. Ambas son

correctas.

En ambas frases podemos utilizar ambas formas.

Naturalmente hay muchos casos en inglés donde puedes utilizar solamente uno de los dos.

Mirad los siguientes ejemplos:

-Michael prefers watch movies at the cinema.

(Michael prefiere ver películas en el cine).

-Michael prefers to watch movies at the cinema.

(Michael prefiere ver películas en el cine).

La primera frase, que utiliza la forma del infinitivo sin ‘to’ suena como algo que diría un

aprendiz de inglés no-nativo y en efecto muchos de nuestros estudiantes a menudo

cometen este error.

La segunda frase utiliza la forma verbal infinitiva ‘To’ y pronunciando esta frase en voz alta,

te das cuenta que suena correctamente.

Aquí tenemos otro ejemplo que muestra la importancia de decidir si utilizar la forma infinitiva

‘To’ o la forma verbal infinitiva sin ‘To’.

-Michael asked his son to put his toys away.

(Michael pidió a su hijo que recogiese sus juguetes).

-Michael asked his son put his toys away.

(Michael pidió a su hijo recogiese sus juguetes).

La primera frase, que utiliza la forma infinitivo con ‘To’ es la forma correcta.

La segunda frase que utiliza la forma verbal infinitiva sin ‘to’ no es la correcta.

Pronuncia las dos frase en voz alta… ¿Cuál te suena mejor?

Miremos otro ejemplo:

-The teacher let the students to leave school early today.

(El maestro dejó que lo estudiantes salieran temprano hoy).

-The teacher let the students leave school early today.

(El maestro dejó que lo estudiantes salieran temprano hoy).

La primera frase utiliza la forma infinitiva ‘To’ y no es la forma correcta. ¿Por qué?

¡Pronunciarla en voz alta! Suena mal para los habladores nativos. La segunda frase utiliza la

forma del verbo infinitiva sin ‘to’ y como puedes ver pronunciandola en voz alta, ¡es la forma

correcta!

¡Por hoy es todo!

Espero haberos ayudado,

¡Nos vemos en el próximo SMART GRAMMAR post!

Smart Academy Staff.

SMART GRAMMAR 10 – ‘To’ infinitive and ‘Bare’ infinitive.

Hello to everybody and welcome to Smart Grammar #10!

Today we are going to focus on the infinitive forms of the verbs!

There are two main types of infinitive verbs.

These are called:

The ‘To’ infinitive verb form and the ‘Bare’ infinitive form.

In this section we will look at more complicated sentence structures where infinitive verbs

are used following a main verb.

Also we will see how infinitive forms are used after the following verbs: Prefer, ask and let.

Look at the following examples:

-Michael prefers to watch a film at the cinema, rather than to rent a DVD from the

video store.

-Michael prefers to watch a film at the cinema, rather than rent a DVD from the video

store.

There is no difference in the meaning of these two sentences. They are both correct.

Notice that the main verb is ‘prefers’ and this is followed by the infinitive verb ‘Watch’.

However the first sentence uses the ‘To’ infinitive (‘To rent’) while the second sentence uses

the ‘Bare’ infinitive (‘Rent’). There are some verbs and structures in the English language

that allow to you to do this.

Let’s look at another example

-Michael prefers to talk about his problems, rather than to keep silent about them.

-Michael prefers to talk about his problems, rather than keep silent about them.

Just like the previous example there is no difference in the meaning of these sentences.

They are both correct. In both of these sentences you can use either the ‘To’ infinitive or the

‘Bare’ infinitive form of the verb. (‘Keep’).

However there are many occasions in English when you can use only one of the two.

Look at the examples again. Which can’t you say:

-Michael prefers watch movies at the cinema.

-Michael prefers to watch movies at the cinema.

The first sentence, which uses the ‘bare infinitive’ verb form sounds like something your

non-native English learner would say and indeed many of our students often make this

mistake.

The second sentence uses the ‘To infinitive’ verb form and by saying this sentence out loud,

you know it sounds correct.

Here is another example which shows that it is important to decide whether to use ‘To

infinitive’ form or the ‘Bare infinitive’ form of the verb:

-Michael asked his son to put his toys away.

-Michael asked his son put his toys away.

The first sentence, uses the ‘To infinitive’ verb form and this is the correct form.

The second sentence uses the ‘Bare infinitive’ verb form which is not correct.

Say the two sentences out loud… Which feels better for you?

Look at another example:

-The teacher let the students to leave school early today.

-The teacher let the students leave school early today.

The first sentence uses the ‘To infinitive’ verb form and this is not the correct form. Why?

Say it out loud! It sounds wrong to native speakers. The second sentence uses the ‘Bare

infinitive’ verb form and as you can see by reading it out loud, this the correct form!

That is everything for today!

I hope this has helped you,

See you in the next SMART GRAMMAR post!

Smart Academy Staff.

tongue twisters

SMART ACADEMY POST: TONGUE TWISTERS #9

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Hola a [email protected]!

Bienvenidos a este nuevo post sobre los “Tongue Twisters”, los trabalenguas en la lengua inglesa.

Hoy vamos a pronunciar uno cortito pero no muy facíl!

“Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle”

En español sería algo como:  “Las tijeras chisporrotean, los cardos chisporrotean”.

Espero os haya gustado, hasta el proxímo trabalenguas!

 

Smart Academy Staff.

 

 

la conjugación de los verbos

SMART GRAMMAR #9 LA CONJUGACIÓN DE LOS VERBOS

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La conjugación de los verbos -Participio presente

Hola a [email protected]!

Bienvenidos a Smart grammar 9!

Hoy vamos a ver el “Participio presente” y en el “Participio pasado”de los verbos.

 

Participio presente

 

Hasta aquí hemos estudiado el tiempo presente y el tiempo pasado.

Ahora estudiaremos otra forma de conjugar de los verbos.

Los verbos pueden tener una “-ing” al final. Muchas veces usamos estos verbos para describir una acción en marcha. Echad un vistazo a estas frases:

 

–I’m watching Lost al the moment. It’s so adictive!

-My friend was telling me the other day that I ought to see a doctor.

-They are building a new hotel in my street.

-My son is always failing his exams. He never studies!

-I was cooking spaghetti in the kitchen when the phone rang.

-The greenhouse gases are polluting the atmosphere.

-The book I’m reading now is about a girl who leaves her boyfriend for a married man.

-Look at that car over there. He’s driving  far too fast!

–I’m meeting someone for lunch.

-Why are you working so hard these days?

 

Fijaros en cómo los verbos en negrita de estas frases tienen dos cosas en común:

La primera es que todos tienen una “-ing” al final. Estos verbos son llamados “Participio presente”.

La segunda es que todos ellos tienen un verbo auxiliar delante. Este verbo auxiliar siempre es el verbo “to be”.

 

La conjugación de los verbos – Participio pasado.

 

Ahora vamos a ver otra forma a través de la cual se conjugan los verbos.

Se llama “Participio pasado”.

Algunas veces es dificil identificar el “Participio pasado” si el verbo es regular.

Echemos un vistazo a estas frases!

 

-I have watched all four seasons of Lost.

-She has failed all her exams.

-He has cooked many types of food.

-I have worked as a teacher for over twenty years.

-I have travelled all over the world.

-Mant EFL teachers have studied the English language.

-They have walked a long way today.

-We have ignored the problem for far too long now.

-I have begged my girlfriend many times to come back to me.

-Joe has wondered whether there is life on other planets.

 

Los ejemplos en negrita son todos verbos regulares y aparecen como verbos en su forma pasada, pero no lo son. Son todos verbos en “Participio pasado”.

Hay muchas maneras de diferenciarlos. Aquí tenemos un par:

 

-El verbo auxiliar “have”, “has” o “had” precede el verbo principal formando así el “Perfect tense”.

Miraremos esta forma más tarde.

-No se refieren a un evento específico en el pasado. Generalmente utilizamos el “Past simple” para decir cosas como: I visited Bob yesterday.

 

La forma pasada de los verbos regulares tiene una simple “-ed”  

Hay pocas excepciones como verbos como “Estudiar” que acaba con “y”, este es reemplazado por una “i”.Otra es la palabra “Travelled” que en el Inglés Británico recoge una “l” extra.

En el siguiente post veremos cuando y como se modifican los verbos regulares.

Identificar el participio pasado es fácil cuando el verbo es irregular. Echad un vistazo a las siguientes frases y fijaros en lo que le sucede al participio cuando el verbo auxiliar “have” o “has” se coloca delante del verbo.

 

-I have eaten Sushi.

-They have built a new hotel in my street.

-I have driven over the speed limit many times.

-Michael has read many books on the subject of love.

-We have already met our next door neighbour.

-He has been to Vietnam.

-They have run a marathon.

–She’s swum in the Olympics.

-My friend has done many things in her life.

-Joe has set up his own company.

 

Forma base del verbo     Pasado            Participio pasado

 

eat                                   ate                   (have) eaten

build                               built                (have) built

drive                               drove              (have) driven

read                                 read                (have) read

 

En los verbos irregulares el participio pasado puede ser formado de cuatro maneras:

 

1)El verbo irregular cambia desde el verbo base al pasado y desde el pasado al participio pasado.

  Buenos ejemplos podrían ser los verbos eat, drive, be, swim,do.

2)El verbo irregular al pasado no cambia cuando es participio, por ejemplo los verbos build, meet.

3)El verbo irregular no cambia para nada.Por ejemplo read, set.

 

4)El verbo irregular cambia desde su base al pasado y conserva su forma pasada para formar el participio pasado, por ejemplo el verbo run.

 

No ha sido tan dificil verdad?

Espero haberos ayudado,

Nos vemos en el proxímo post!

 

Smart Academy Staff.

LA CONJUGACIÓN DE LOS VERBOS

ENGLISH VERSION.

 

Hello everybody!

Welcome to Smart Grammar 9!

Today we are going to focus on the “Present participle” and the “Past participle”.

 

So far we have looked at the present tense verbs and the past tense verbs. Now we are going to look at other ways that verbs inflect.

Verbs can also have an “-ing” on the end of them. We often use these verbs to describe an ongoing action. Look at the following sentences:

 

–I’m watching Lost at the moment. It’s so addictive!

-My friend was telling me the other day that I ought to see a doctor.

-They are building a new hotel in my street.

-My son is always failing his exams. He never studies!

-I was cooking spaghetti in the kitchen when the phone rang.

-The greenhouse gases are polluting the atmopsphere.

-The book I’m reading now is about a girl who leaves her boyfriend for a married man.

-Look at that car over there. He’s driving  far too fast!

–I’m meeting someone for lunch dinner.

-Why are you working so hard these days?

 

Notice that the verbs highlighted in these sentences all have two things in common:

The first is that they all have an “-ing” at the end of the verb. These verbs are called the “Present participle”.

The second is that they all have an “Auxiliary verb” in front of them. This auxiliary verb is always the verb “to be”.

 

Past Participle

 

Now we are going to look at another way the verbs inflect. This is called the past participle form of the verb.

It is sometimes difficult to identify the past participle form if the verb is regular.

Look at the following sentences:

 

-I have watched the four seasons of Lost.

-She has failed all her exams.

-He has cooked many types of food.

-I have worked as a teacher for over twenty years.

-I have travelled all over the world.

-Mant EFL teachers have studied the English language.

-They have walked a long way today.

-We have ignored the problem far too long now.

-I have begged my girlfriend many times to come back to me.

-Joe has wondered whether there is life on other planets.

 

The examples highlighted are all regular verbs and they all look like past tense forms, except they are not. They are “Past participle” forms.

 

There are many ways to tell them apart. Here are a couple:

 

-The auxiliary verb have, has or had precedes the main verb making these sentences perfect tenses.

We will look at the perfect tenses later.

-They don’t refer to a specific past event. We usually use the simple past tense to do this, for example: I visited Bob yesterday.

The past tense forms of regular verbs have a simple “-ed” tagged onto the end of them.

There are a few exceptions such as verbs like “study” that ends with a “y”, which is replaced with an “i”. Another one is the word “Travelled” which in British English picks up an extra “l”.

In the next post we will see how and when we modify regular verbs.

It is easier to identify the past participle forms when the verbs we use are irregular. Look at the following sentences and notice what happens to the verb when the auxiliary verb “have” or “has” is placed in front of it:

 

-I have eaten Sushi.

-They have built a new hotel in my street.

-I have driven over the speed limit many times.

-Michael has read many books on the subject of love.

-We have already met our next door neighbour.

-He has been to Vietnam.

-They have run a marathon.

–She’s swum in the Olympics.

-My friend has done many things in her life.

-Joe has set up his own company.

 

Base form of the verb             Past tense of the verb      Past participle

 

eat                                            ate                                   (have) eaten

build                                         built                                (have) built

drive                                         drove                              (have) driven

read                                           read                                (have) read

 

With irregular verbs the past participle form can be formed in four different ways:

 

1) The irregular verb changes from the base form to the past tense than to the past participle form.

    Good examples of this would be the verbs eat, drive, be, swim, do.

2)  The irregular past tense verb doesn’t change when it becomes a past participle form.

     Good examples of this would be the verbs build and meet.

3)  The irregular verb doesn’t change at all. Good examples of this would be the verbs read and set.

4)   The irregular verb changes from the base form to the past tense and then changes back to  its original  structure for the past participle form. A good example of this is run.

 

It hasn’t been so difficult, right?

I hope this has helped you,

See you in the next post!
Smart Academy Staff.

cazadores de sombras

SMART READING #5 Cazadores de Sombras.

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Hola a todos!

Hoy vamos a hablar de una saga que puede que conozcáis porque han hecho una película (sin éxito) y una serie (mucho mejor).

Hablo de Cazadores de Sombras por Cassandra Clare. Esta serie es genial, lo tiene todo, magia, demonios, vampiros, relaciones con amigos, amores y familia, drama etc.

La protagonista es Clarissa Fray, una chica de 15 años que descubre el submundo, y que todas las historias y los monstruos son reales (excepto las momias nadie cree en momias) y que también hay personas que protegen a los mundanos (personas normales) de los monstruos, estos son los Nephilim o Cazadores de Sombras.

La saga se compone de 6 libros: Ciudad de Hueso, Ciudad de Ceniza, Ciudad de Cristal, Ciudad de los Ángeles Caídos, Ciudad de las Almas Perdidas y Ciudad del Fuego Celestial.

Además de eso la autora tiene dos sagas mas de la misma temática: Los Orígenes (pasado) y Los Artificios Oscuros (futuro cercano) hay personajes que aparecen en más de una parte y también apellidos; aparte de dos series de historias cortas: Las crónicas de Bane, e Historias de la Academia de los Cazadores de Sombras.

Yo personalmente os la recomiendo si os gustan los libros fantasía paranormal.

Nivel: B1 alto/B2.

 

SMART READING #5 Cazadores de Sombras(English Version).

 

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to speak about a series that you may have heard of, as they made a film (unsuccessfully) and a TV series (much better).

I am talking about Shadowhunters, by Cassandra Clare.

This series has it all, magic,demons, vampires, family, friendship, love, drama…

The main character is Clarissa Fray, a fifteen year old girl who one day discovers the downworld, and that all the stories and monsters are real (except for mummies no one believes in mummies) there are also people whose job is to protect mundanes (normal people) from the monsters, these are the Nephilim or Shadowhunters.

The series consists of 6 books: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass,City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire.

Besides these the author has another to series of the same theme: The Infernal Devices (set in the past) and the Dark Artifices (set in the near future) these have common characters and surnames; as well as two series of short stories: The Bane Chronicles and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.

I personally recommend them if you enjoy fantasy and paranormal books.

Level: High B1/B2.

english sayings

ENGLISH SAYINGS 7 : SMART ACADEMY POST

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SMART ACADEMY POST: ENGLISH SAYINGS 7

Bienvenidos a un nuevo post sobre los dichos en inglés!English Sayings 7!

Hoy tenemos unos de mis favoritos:

“Fortune favors the bold”

Traducido al castellano es algo como:

“la suerte favorece a los valientes”.

Esta expresión llega directamente del latín:

“Audentes fortuna iuuat”, “la suerte favorece a los valientes” como antes decía.

 

SMART ACADEMY POST: ENGLISH SAYINGS 7 , explicación historica.

En la mitología romana la “Fortuna” era la diosa y la personificación de la suerte y solía vestir con un velo.

Representaba lo imprevisible que podía llegar a ser la vida y supuestamente favorecía más a aquellos quienes tomaban más riesgos.

Se estima que la primera vez que se utilizó fue en el segundo siglo BC.

Y con esto es todo por hoy, espero os haya gustado, hasta la proxíma!

Smart Academy.

 

 

English Sayings

Smart Academy post: English Sayings 6

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Hola a [email protected]!

Bienvenidos a otro post sobre los dichos en la lengua inglesa.

Hoy explicaremos un dicho muy bonito y con historia:

‘The pen is mightier than the sword’

Traducido al castellano es:

‘La pluma es más poderosa que la espada’

Este dicho fué acuñado por Edward Bulwer Lytton en su obra Richelieu; O la conspiración, del 1839:

“True, This! –
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! – itself a nothing! –
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Caesars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! – Take away the sword –
States can be saved without it!”


“Cierto, esto!

Bajo el dominio de los hombres enteramente grandes,

La pluma es mas poderosa que la espada. Mirad

¡La varita del sumo-encantador! – ¡En si solo es nada!

Pero tomando brujería de la mano maestra

para paralizar los Césares, y para golpear¡

¡La alta tierra sin aliento! – Quite la espada

¡Los estados pueden ser salvados sin él! “

Sin embargo, otros ya habian expresado con otras palabras la misma idea:

George Whetstone en el 1852, escribió “The dashe of a Pen, is more greevous than the counterbuse of a Launce.”

Shakespeare en el 1602 en su Hamlet “… many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare scarce come thither.”

En 1621 Robert Burton : “From this it is clear how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword.”

En 1761 Thomas Jefferson envía una carta a Thomas Paine donde escribe: “Go on doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword.”

Por hoy es todo!

Hasta la proxíma!

Smart Grammar 6

Smart Grammar 6

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Smart Grammar 6

El verbo “Ser o Estar” en la lengua inglesa.
Hola a [email protected],

Bienvenidos a Smart Grammar 6, hoy toca el verbo “Ser o Estar”!

El verbo “Ser o estar” (To be) en la lengua inglesa es por regla general el primero que estudiamos.Ya que se puede usar para muchas cosas.

Vamos a echarle un vistazo a las siguientes expresiones:

 

-Hola, Como te llamas?

-Yo soy Carl.

 

El verbo que se está utilizando aquí es el verbo ser.

Todos los verbos cambian o se conjugan dependiendo de cómo los utilizas. Algunas veces puedes crear el tiempo pasado simplemente añadiendo “-ed” al final, otras veces puedes poner “-ing” al final para formar el tiempo continuo.

El verbo to be es un verbo peculiar.Esto es por qué cambia o se conjuga dependiendo de cómo lo uses. De hecho el verbo To be puede ser utilizado de ocho maneras diferentes.

 

1)I‘m an English teacher.

Yo soy un profesor de inglés.

 

2)She is my best friend, She is beautiful, The bear is a big animal.

Ella es mi mejor amiga, Ella es estupenda, El oso es un animal grande.

 

3)They are my students, We are in the same class, You are an interesting person.

Ellos son mis estudiantes, Estamos en la misma clase, Eres una persona interesante.

 

4)I was sad last week, He was in a difficult situation, She was a quiet child.

Yo estaba triste la semana pasada, El estaba en una situación difícil, Ella era una niña callada.

 

5)They were in the chess club, We were well matched, You were in love

Ellos estaban en la misma clase, Estábamos bien emparejados, Estuviste enamorado una vez.

 

6)The man is being stupid.

El hombre está siendo estúpido.

 

En este último caso la construcción es : verbo auxiliar “to Be” más el participio presente “being”

Recordaros que “Is” es una forma del verbo “Ser” (Be).

 

7)Dave has been to Italy

 

Aquí la construcción es: verbo auxiliar “Haber” más participio pasado “Been”.

Hablaremos de este caso más adelante.

 

8)I have always wanted to be an English Teacher.

Siempre he querido ser un profesor de inglés.

 

En este caso podemos ver el verbo “Ser” (Be) en su forma infinitiva, en este último caso el verbo “Ser” funciona como un sustantivo.
Para hacerlo todo más fácil miremos este diagrama!

 

Smart Grammar 6 – English Version.

 

El verbo “Ser” en la lengua inglesa

 

Hello everybody,

Welcome to Smart Grammar 6, today we are going to speak about the verb “To be”

 

The verb “To be” is normally the first verb we study in English as it can be used for many things.

Let’s take a look at the expressions below:

 

-Hello, What is your name?

-I am Carl.

 

The verb that we are using is the verb “To Be”

All the verbs change or infict depending on the way we use them.

Sometimes we can create past tenses by simply adding “-ed” at the end of the word, other times by adding “-ing” at the end of a verb we form a continuous tense.

The verb “To be” is an unusual verb.That’s because it changes or inflicts depending on the way you use it.

In fact, the verb “To be” can be used in 8 different ways!

 

1)I‘m an English teacher.

 

2)She is my best friend, She is beautiful, The bear is a big animal.

 

3)They are my students, We are in the same class, You are an interesting person.

 

4)I was sad last week, He was in a difficult situation, She was a quiet child.

 

5)They were in the chess club, We were well matched, You were in love once.

 

6)The man is being stupid.

 

In this last case, the construction is: auxiliary verb “To be” plus the present participle “being”

Don’t forget that “Is” is actually a form of the verb “To be”

 

But we will talk about the auxiliary verbs further on in the lessons.

 

7)Dave has been to Italy

 

Here the construction is: auxiliary verb “To have” plus the past participle “Been”

Again we will look at this later!

 

8)I have always wanted to be an English Teacher.
In this example we can see the verb “To be” in its infinitive form, in this sentence the verb “to be” acts as a noun.

 

 

La Reina Victoria

La reina victoria

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Hola a todos de nuevo!

Y bienvenidos, espero que lo hayais pasado bien estas vacaciones.

Como dije anteriormente hoy vamos a ver quien fue la Reina Victoria y porque se la conoce.

Primero cabe decir que la Reina Victoria reinó durante más de 63 años, récord solo superado por Isabel II que con este año lleva 65 años reinando.

Además de tener el título de monarca, era Emperatriz de India.

Como resultado de su largo reinado esta época es conocida como la Era Victoriana y se caracterizó por la Revolución Industrial.

Se casó con su primo Alberto y tuvieron 9 hijos, 40 nietos y 37 bisnietos.

Muchos de ellos se casaron con miembros de la realeza y como resultado es conocida también como “La Abuela de Europa”.

Además de esto, fue ella quien empezó la tradición de casarse completamente de blanco, y fue ella quien le propuso matrimonio a su marido y no al revés.

Desafortunadamente su marido murió a los 42 años, y como consecuencia la Reina vistió desde entonces en todo momento de negro.

Durante su reinado El Reino Unido fue el país más poderoso y más grande del mundo.

Hubo al menos 6 intentos de asesinato contra ella (la mayoría cuando iba en carruaje) pero a pesar de esto vivió hasta 1901.

Eso es todo por hoy!

Hasta la proxima!

 

LA REINA VICTORIA-VERSION EN INGLÉS.

Hello again everyone!

Welcome back, I hope you had a nice holiday.

As I said in a previous post, today we are going to take a look at Queen Victoria and why she is so well known.

Her reign lasted 63 years (record that has only been surpassed by Elizabeth the II who this year celebrates 65 years on the throne) as well as being the reigning monarch, she had the title of Empress of India.

Her Reigning period is known as the Victorian Era and was characterized by the Industrial Revolution.

She married her cousin Albert and with him had 9 children, 40 grandchildren and 37 great grandchildren.

A lot of whom went on to marry monarchs or nobility, as a result she is nicknamed “Europe’s grandmother”

Besides these things, she also started the tradition of getting married in white, and she was the one that proposed to her husband, not the other way round.

Unfortunately, her husband died at the age of 42 and as a consequence, and from then onwards Victoria always wore black.

During her reign The United Kingdom became the biggest and most powerful empire in the world.

Six attempts were made against her life (most of them happened when she was in her carriage) but despite this she lived until 1901.

And that’s all for today.

See you next time!

 

 

La historia de papa Noel. #7

La historia de papa Noel. #7

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papa-noelHola a todos!

En mi último post dije que hoy hablaríamos sobre la Reina Victoria, pero ya que a finales de esta semana va a ser navidad vamos a echar un vistazo a eso.

La Reina Victoria lo veremos después de las vacaciones.

Hoy vamos a ver el personaje de Papá Noel y de dónde viene este personaje mitológico.

En realidad hay diferentes versiones: unos dicen que viene de la antigua Roma, otros de Grecia…

Pero nosotros vamos a ver la ver la versión más extendida en Inglaterra.

San Nicolás fue un hombre que vivió en lo que hoy es Turquía.

Era muy rico ya que sus padres murieron cuando era pequeño, era también un hombre muy bueno que ayudaba a los pobres y daba regalos en secreto.

La leyenda del regalo más conocido es la que le dio a un hombre pobre que tenía 3 hijas en edad de casarse, pero no tenía una dote para ellas. Dice la leyenda que Nicolás dejó una bolsa de oro para cada hija.

Así que no es hasta 1823 cuando se publica el poema: “Una visita de San Nicolás” o “Era la noche antes de Navidad” donde se describe al Papa Noel de hoy en dia con sus ocho renos.

Así que en el Reino Unido los regalos se entregan el dia 25 por la mañana, los niños se acuestan temprano la noche del 24 y dejan a Papa Noel galletas con leche y una zanahoria para los renos.

Cuando se levantan al dia siguiente tienen los regalos bajo el árbol!

Normalmente se deja también un calcetín de Navidad en la chimenea, en las escaleras o al final de tu cama para que Papá Noel te deje pequeños regalos de su parte (los demás vienen de parte de tu familia y amigos Papá Noel solo reparte)

Y esa es la tradición inglesa de Papá Noel y Navidad!

Felices fiestas!

Smart Academy.

 

La historia de papa Noel. #7  Versión en inglés.

Hello everyone!

In my last post I said that today we would talk about Queen Victoria.

But as Christmas is happening at the end of this week, we will take a look at that instead.

We will look at Queen Victoria after the holidays.

Today we are going to look at the mythical character of Father Christmas or Saint Nicholas.

There are many different versions of this character, some say he comes from Ancient Rome, others say Ancient Greece… But we are going to take a look at the best known version in England.

Saint Nicholas was a man who lived in the region known today as Turkey.

He was very rich as his parents died when he was young.

He was also a good man who helped the poor and secretly gave gifts.

The most known legendary gift was the one he gave to a poor man who had 3 daughters who were at an age where they would get married.

But the man didn’t have the dowery necessary for them.

Legend says that Nicholas left a bag of gold for each daughter.

It wasn’t until 1823 when the poem “A visit from Saint Nicholas” or “Twas the Night before Christmas” was published that we meet the modern version of Father Christmas with his eight reindeer.

In the UK the children receive their presents on the morning of the 25th of December.

They go to bed early on the 24th and leave milk and biscuits for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

When the children wake up the next morning the gifts are under the tree!

Normally they also leave a stocking on the chimney, the stairs or at the foot of their beds, where Santa can leave small gifts from him (the rest are from their family and friends, delivered by Santa)

And that is the English tradition of Father Christmas (or Santa) and Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Smart Academy.

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