Ch 45 · Lesson 18Spanish · Chapter 45 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
False friends: colegio, pariente, en absoluto
is school, a relative, the countryside, lately, funny, and means not at all. Plus the mistakes.
The short version
The phrase that reverses what you meant
Why?Hide
looks like absolutely and means the exact opposite: not at all. Answer ¿ ? with and you have said not in the slightest. To agree emphatically you want , or . Get these the wrong way round and you cheerfully contradict yourself.
A is a school, not a college
.
Why?Hide
: my daughter goes to school. University is . is any relative (your parents are your ), is the countryside (a camp is a ), and is funny, not gracious.
Colegio, pariente, campo: the nouns
Four nouns from home and school, and what each one really is:
a school
a university
the countryside
a signature
| False friend | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
. | My daughter goes to school. | |
. | He's a distant relative. | |
. | We live in the country. | |
. | My favourite subject is history. |
Your parents are your ; a is any relative.
En absoluto, últimamente, gracioso
Three that reverse or twist what you meant:
| False friend | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
¿ ? . | Do you mind? Not at all. | |
. | I' been sleeping badly lately. | |
. | Your brother is very funny. |
answers no. To say absolutely in the sense of yes, of course:
¿? .- Are you coming? Absolutely.
Mistakes English speakers make
Each word in the middle column is real Spanish. It just says something else:
| To say | Not | But |
|---|---|---|
| I record it | | |
| he pretended | | |
| I support you | | |
| attend a wedding | | |
| my parents | | |
| absolutely (yes) | |
Going further: False friends at a glance and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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