Ch 43 · Lesson 8Spanish · Chapter 43 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer

Set phrases with tener and dar

The fixed light-verb expressions that carry everyday Spanish: , , , , , - learned as chunks.

The short version

Learn the whole chunk, prepositions and all

I miss you a lot.

Why?

Five ordinary verbs, , , , and , hand their meaning over to the noun beside them and become pure scaffolding. has no throwing in it; it means to miss someone. Store the finished chunk with its little words attached: , , . Drop one preposition and the seam shows.

needs both its little words

I didn't realise the time.

Why?

To realise is : the reflexive pronoun and the are part of the phrase. . Drop the and the sentence sounds foreign at once. And do not reach for , which means to carry out.

Five ordinary verbs, , , , and , hand their meaning to the noun beside them in fixed phrases:

. - I miss you. ( is to throw)
. - I don't mind. ( is to give)

Learn each one as a whole chunk, little words included.

The light verbs on one screen

One everyday phrase per verb. The rest of the page takes them one verb at a time.

Verb	Phrase	English
		to feel like
		to realise
		to be needed
		to miss
		to agree

For , and your age, the A1 phrases, see tener expressions.

tener: states you have

With the noun is something you have in a loose sense, and English usually reaches for be, make or take rather than have.

the fixed little wordWhat do the colours mean?

Expression	Literal	Real meaning
	to have urges of	to feel like
	to have sense	to make sense
	to have place	to take place
	to have in account	to bear in mind
	to have care	to be careful
	to have to see with	to have to do with

. - I really want to see you.
. - That makes no sense.
. - The meeting will take place on Monday.
. - Bear the price in mind.
. - Be careful.
. - That has nothing to do with the subject.

English says make sense, but Spanish has it: , never .

dar: things that are given to you

With something is handed over, often a feeling. In and the person who feels it is the indirect object, as with :

Expression	Literal	Real meaning
	to give equal	not to matter
	to give oneself account	to realise
	to give fear	to frighten
	to give sorrow	to make one sad
	to give the thanks	to thank
	to give a walk	to take a walk
	to give the turn	to turn round

, . - I don't mind, you decide.
. - I didn't realise the time.
. - That film is frightening.
. - It makes me sad to see you like that.
. - We went for a walk in the park.

needs both its pieces: the reflexive pronoun and the .

Going further: hacer: actions you do or make and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.

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Lesson 8 of 27 in this chapter

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