… before climbing aboard my L.A.-to-Madrid one way flight in 2016.<\/p>\n
Fourteen out of many, many more. I launched my personal vocabulary list in my Tracy<\/a> hotel room on the day I learned that I’d qualified for a Spain visa. The list is now seventy-two pages long, regularly updated, includes about 3,500 entries.<\/p>\n Of those 3,500, I have chosen only these fourteen.<\/p>\n Not because they’re more essential than others. 1A basics like ayuda<\/em><\/strong><\/span> and no entiendo<\/em><\/strong><\/span> matter far more. I picked these fourteen because I never learned them in a Spanish class, because Spaniards use them regularly and because they fill unusually large gaps in the language acquisition jigsaw puzzle. Medrar<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>is on my vocabulary list, too, but a trilingual native-born Madrile\u00f1a told me that she heard the word for the first time in her life while chatting with me. I might as well have not bothered.<\/p>\n You’ll hear these fourteen in Spain, at least if here for more than a visit.<\/p>\n tener que ver con<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n ‘Have to do with.’ Often said in the negative, and often with nada<\/em><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n “[But this book] no tiene nada que ver<\/em><\/strong><\/span> [with Spain].” Like that.\u00a0 Other examples<\/a>.<\/p>\n hacer caso<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n To pay attention, listen to, heed.<\/p>\n No les haga caso<\/em><\/strong>,<\/span> says the grandmother, at 1:01 in this clip<\/a>.\u00a0 [Don’t listen to them.]<\/p>\n Haz caso a tu madre<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span> [Listen to\/pay attention to your mother!]<\/p>\n Juana siempre le esta dando la lata, pero nunca le hace caso.<\/span>\u00a0<\/em> <\/strong>[Juana is always giving him a hard time, but he never listens to her.]<\/p>\n ponerse<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Regularly and appropriately grouped with other Spanish verbs of becoming, like hacerse, convertirse, volverse,<\/strong><\/em><\/span> and good ol’ llegar a ser<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. Still, my four and a half years in Madrid say that ponerse<\/strong><\/em> <\/span>rates special attention.<\/p>\n Por favor, no te pongas as\u00ed. <\/strong><\/span>[Please, don’t be like that.]<\/p>\n Se puso furioso.<\/strong><\/em> <\/span>[He became angry.]<\/p>\n Ponerse<\/strong><\/em><\/span> can have a sexual connotation if used without a modifier, as in this clip<\/a> (at 1:04):\u00a0\u00a0Me pone un poco, me pone much\u00edsimo. A los dos nos est\u00e1 poniendo.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>[It turns me on, it turns me on a lot.\u00a0 It’s turning us both on.]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Or, such use can merely indicate a strong emotional reaction, as in:<\/p>\n La m\u00fasica me pone.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0[The music turns me on | excites me | gets me going.]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ‘Que’ for emphasis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a1Qu\u00e9 hermoso d\u00eda! <\/strong><\/span>I knew that means ‘What a beautiful day!’ by B1. I wouldn’t have recognized descaro<\/span> <\/strong>in B1, but could have told you that \u00a1Qu\u00e9 descaro!<\/strong> <\/span>means ‘What gall!’ or ‘What nerve!’ after a minute with a dictionary.<\/p>\n What I wish I’d known is how often que<\/strong><\/em><\/span> — without an accent, in this case — is used for emphasis, a bit like ‘I said …’ in English.<\/p>\n Examples: Throughout this<\/a> clip, at the start of another<\/a> clip, and at 1:20 of a third<\/a>.<\/p>\n What’s the deal with the missing accent? I’ll punt to other web pages: here<\/a>, and here<\/a>. Important if you’re taking a test, less important otherwise.<\/p>\n de sobra<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Said when there is more than enough of something. Anthony Fauci may have conocimiento de sobra<\/strong><\/em><\/span> of infectious diseases; Elon Musk, dinero de sobra<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; a fraudster, miedo de sobra<\/em><\/strong><\/span> of the law. At 00:12 in this clip<\/a>, the soccer fan thinks he has tiempo de sobra<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n One is free to confabulate merrily with the related verb sobrar<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, but me thinks that de sobra<\/strong><\/em><\/span> is more widely used.<\/p>\n tocar a alguien<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n That it’s someone’s turn to do something …<\/p>\n A m\u00ed me toca pagar hoy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span> [It’s my turn to pay today.]<\/p>\n Le toca a los hermanos trabajar ma\u00f1ana.<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 [It’s the brothers’ turn to work tomorrow.]<\/p>\n … or that one gets or is entitled to something:<\/p>\n Parece que a nosotros nos toca todo el mal suerte del mundo.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00a0 [It seems that we get all the bad luck in the world.]<\/p>\n Como el primer hijo, a \u00e9l le toca toda la riqueza de su familia.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span> [As the first son, he gets all the wealth of his family.]<\/p>\n enterarse<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A dictionary word, used as the dictionary<\/a> says it is used. What place does it have in this post?<\/p>\n Because conversing Spaniards use it so often, and choose it over alternatives. One could swap in descubrir<\/strong><\/em><\/span> or another verb for enterarse<\/strong><\/em><\/span> in Por fin, me enter\u00e9 de que Juan me estaf\u00f3.<\/strong> <\/em><\/span>[Finally, I found out that Juan swindled me.] or Te enterar\u00e1s de que es as\u00ed.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> [You will discover that it is so.], but my eavesdropping ears say that enterarse<\/strong><\/em><\/span> gets more airtime.<\/p>\n Almost always used in the pronominal form, I believe: enterarse<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, rather than enterar<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 Example clip<\/a>, at 00:52.<\/p>\n pinta<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Can be a pint or a pinto bean, but the usage I regularly hear is for ‘appearance,’ or ‘look,’ often coupled with tener<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n No tiene pinta.<\/em><\/strong><\/span> [It doesn’t look like it.]<\/p>\n \u00bfQu\u00e9 m\u00e1s da?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘So what? What’s the difference?’\u00a0 Clip<\/a>, at 01:01.<\/p>\n \u00bfYo qu\u00e9 s\u00e9?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘What do I know?’\u00a0 The last words spoken in this clip<\/a>, at 02:14.<\/p>\n \u00a1Vaya!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n By itself, ‘wow,’ roughly. Vaya + ____: ‘What a …’<\/p>\n \u00a1Vaya trabajo!<\/strong><\/em><\/span> [What a job!]<\/p>\n \u00a1Vaya basurero!<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 [What a dump!]<\/p>\n \u00a1Vaya putiferio!<\/strong><\/em><\/span> [What a whorehouse!], says patrolling “officer” Torrente, at 00:41 in this clip<\/a> from a famously offensive movie.<\/p>\n irse de rositas | salirse con la suya<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Expressions 12 and 13, combined in the same entry to translate the common-as-inappropriate-resentment phrasal verb ‘get away with.’<\/p>\n Salirse con la suya<\/strong><\/em><\/span> is the translation offered by both DeepL<\/a> and Google Translate<\/a>. I think they’re wrong, and a Spanish prof agreed with me. WordReference will tell you true<\/a>: the translation should be irse de rositas<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n She was driving too fast, ran a red light, spent the rest of the trip worrying about photo radar and a hefty fine. But no ticket comes. Se fue de rositas.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>[She got away with it.]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Salirse de la suya<\/strong><\/em><\/span> is valuable, but different:<\/p>\n He goes to the store with a twelve-hours-out-of-warranty MP3 player, demands a refund. The manager says no; the customer argues, finally gets his money back. \n
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