In today’s subject we
will to talk about 4 main questions that mostly foreign students have when they
use the Spanish Language. The first one is “ESTE”. The main question is about the accent, if
it’s at the beginning or the end of the word.
In both cases, the
word will have another meaning.
The second mistake is
to look at any Spanish-Korean dictionary because you will find these
verbs/words as synonyms and they’re not, like “Cobrar and Pagar” (Collect and
Pay) are antonyms, and in the case of “Nombrar and Llamar” (Call and Name) the
difference is how you do it (hacer), however with “Tomar and Sacar” (Take out
and Grab) implies the place you do it.
Let’s
see some examples!!💪
Question No. 1
WORD “ESTE”: with no accent, it has three different
meanings:
The first one, with no accent, is a “DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE” and it
refers to something close to the other person, it helps to mention this person,
some place in time or space and it’s a word for male nouns. It’s also used to say
something positive or negative about someone, or something happening near the
person who is talking to you. In grammar this is a demonstrative adjective.
It
has no accent.
Examples:
1. Toma este vaso de leche/ Take this
glass of milk.
2. Me
encantaron todos los suéteres, pero este suéter es el más abrigado.
I loved all the sweaters, but this one is the most suited for cold
weather.
3. En este
mes del año se celebra Halloween.
On this month, we celebrate
Halloween.
4. Este
día es triste para mí, porque murió mi padre.
5. This is a sad day
because my father passed out.
6. De
todos los restaurantes que he visitado, este es el más limpio. Of all the restaurants I’ve been in, this one is the cleanest of them
all.
It also refers to a
known interlocutor, and in this case, it’s scornful:
Examples:
7. Este se
cree el más guapo de la fiesta.
This one thinks he’s gorgeous.
8. No
puedo llevar todos los libros, sostén este por mí.
I can’t carry all the books, please hold this one for me
On the other hand, it
can also refer to a masculine noun that is a cardinal point “Este” (East), where
the sun comes out everyday.
Examples:
1. En el
lado este del parque, pueden verse hermosos pájaros posados sobre el césped.
You can see beautiful birds on the Grass on the East side of the park..
2. El sol
sale por el este y se esconde por el oeste.
The Sunrise begins on
the East, and Dawns on the West.
ÉSTE
ÉSTE (This one)
(It has an accent on the first E) is a demonstrative pronoun that was written
without accent and this made people confuse. Nowadays RAE (Royal Academy of
Spanish Language) says it’s not necessary to accent it either there’s confusion
or not. In grammar, “ÉSTE” (This one) shouldn’t have accent because it’s a
tonic word and it belongs to the group that shouldn’t have accent because this
word is grave or llana and according
to grammar rules these words only have accent if it ends in something different
to vowel, N or S.
Example:
1. Éste perro ganará el premio.
This dog will win the prize.
Este perro ganará el premio.
This dog will win the prize.
ESTÉ: This word
belongs to verb “ESTAR” as something or someone in a certain place. In present
subjective it can be applied to the pronouns: yo (I/Me), él (He), ella (She),
usted (You). For Usted (You) it’s used in an imperative mode.
QUESTION # 2:
COBRAR – PAGAR (Collect – Pay)
1. Cobrar (Collect):
I
collected from Mr. Peterson the money for cutting his Grass.
Yo cobré al señor Peterson el dinero para cortar
su césped.
Pagar (Pay): Mr
Peterson payed me for cutting his Grass.
El señor Peterson me pagó por cortar su césped.
Both verbs mean an
Exchange. But the main difference is that "Cobrar" (collect) is receiving and " Pagar" (pay) is
giving. A give and take relationship.
Both “cobrar”
(collect) and “pagar” (pay) come from Latin. Collect comes from “recobrare or
“recuperāre” as in recover, and Pagar (pay) comes from “Pacare” and it means
soothe, calm.
So. If you think in the
verb " Cobrar" (Collect) immediately should come to your head the verb " Pagar" (Pay) and get into
action.
Examples:
1. Marina le
cobra al panadero las 3 botellas de leche que rompió. Marina collects from the Baker the three bottles of milk he broke.
El panadero paga las 3 botellas de leche que rompió, de
su sueldo mensual.
The Baker payed the 3 bottles of
milk from his monthly salary.
2. Este año
la universidad me cobró la matricula por 3 millones de pesos.
This year School collected from me 3 million pesos.
Mañana pagaré la matrícula de la universidad por 3
millones de pesos.
Tomorrow i will pay the enrollment fee for 3 million pesos.
QUESTION # 3: LLAMAR-
NOMBRAR (Call – Name)
The main mistake some
students make is because both of these words are used to talk or appoint
something about something or someone. A native speaker understands each term,
but for a foreign student both words are practically the same.
According to the
dictionary, the definition of these terms is:
LLAMAR (Call): Say an
animal´s or a person’s name, yell, make any gesture, noise or signal so they
can tell you are calling them or indicating them some direction.
To appoint with a
word, a name or last name someone, or an animal or a thing.
NOMBRAR (Name): When
you choose someone to fill a position. When
you give a name to someone or something.
Example 1:
Compré un perro y lo llamé Toby.
I bought a dog and I called it Toby)
Compré un perro y lo nombré Toby.
I bought a dog and named it Toby)
In Colombia, these
words can be replaced with “poner” (put) a name to someone or something. Its
isn’t very common tos ay you named a dog “Toby”. Naming
is more for honor, for hiring someone.
Example 2:
Llamé a mi padre muerto, en sueños.
I called my late father in dreams.
Here we see action. Not
that this person called on the pone his dad, but like if this person invoked
his dad with his (or her) mind. Llamar becomes an
action.
Nombré a mí padre muerto, en sueños.
I named my late father in dreams.
In this example, the
verb "Nombrar" doesn’t necessarily means an action. So, the fact this person
names his (or her) father is something that comes from sadness and desire.
However, "Llamar" is an
oral action, either with sound or noise, to get someone’s attention. This
communication needs the two people have will. This verb comes from Latin “Clamare” that means Yelling. In the other hand,
“Nombrar” is like mentioning someone, a reference, a memory of someone or
something. This term comes from the noun“nombre” (name)and the suffix “ar” that
shows the verb in its indicative form. It comes from latin “nomināre” or “
Nomen”.
QUESTION # 4: SACAR – TOMAR (Take – Grab)
Example:
- Él sacó una fruta de la nevera.
He took a fruit from the fridge.
“Sacar” implies something
is kept somewhere. So, if I take it, it will be outside. Inside the fridge, and then outside the
fridge.
- Él tomó una manzana
de la nevera.
He grabbed an apple from the fridge.
Here, “tomar” (grab) means
he took the fruit somewhere from the fridge: inside, under, on top, etc.
“Sacar y tomar” (Take and Grab) both come from
German people, leaded by Gothic and Ostrogoths and the late influence of Latin
in the Late Roman Empire where the main Language was Gothic Latin. This is why
the origin of “sacar” comes from Goth “sakan”. And the verb “tomar” comes from
the German root “tômjan” or the onomatopoeia (imitation) of the sound of
something falling.
Some scholars affirm
this could also have a Latin root coming from “autumare”, that means que
significa 'afirmar' (affirm), 'creer' (believe), but this theory isn’t valid at
all.
I hope this was
useful!!👀
See you soon!😊
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| Written by Adriana Martinez Castro. Literary Studies Proffesional. Especialized in Pedagogy. Master in Writing. Spanish as a Second Language Teacher |
