Las vacaciones (Holidays and vacations)

Para hablar de las vacaciones, the following vocabulario is very useful: 

Actividades:	Medios de transporte:	Alojamiento / Hospedaje:
ir de vacaciones (to go on vacation)	el avión (the plane)	el hotel (hotel)
ir al extranjero (to go abroad)	el tren (the train)	la habitación (room)
viajar dentro del país (to travel within the country)	el autobús, el bus (the bus)	el albergue, hospedaje (hostel)
volar (ue) (to fly)	el taxi (the taxi)	la casa de visita, de huéspedes (guesthouse)
comprar un boleto, billete (to buy a ticket)	la bicicleta (the bicycle)	la casa de amigos (friends house)
reservar (i) (to make a reservation)	el metro (the metro, subway)
hospedarse, alojarse (to stay at)	el transbordador, el ferry (the ferry)	Lugares:
visitar (to visit)	el barco (the boat)	parques nacionales (national parks)
arrendar (ie), alquilar (to rent)	la barca, el bote (small boat)	monumentos naturales (natural monuments)
viajar en/por auto, carro (to travel by car)	el crucero (the cruise)	sitios históricos (historic sities)
conocer gente, lugares (to know people, places)	el camión (the truck)	maravillas naturales (natural wonders)
tomar fotos (to take pictures)	el auto, carro (the car)	patrimonio de la humanidad (world heritage)
explorar (to explore)	a pie (by foot)	patrimonio cultural (cultural heritage)
mandar, enviar (ie) postales (to send postcards)
acampar (to camp)
ser un/una turista (to be a tourist)
hacer actividades:
deportivas (sport activities)
urbanas (urban activities)
ecológicas (eco activities)
gastronómicas (gastronomic activities)
de diversión (fun activities)

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Cómo usarlo
(How to use it)

When talking about transportation en español the following prepositions are used as follows:

por / en (by)	en (by)	a
avión	autobús	a pie (on foot)
tren	taxi
metro	bicicleta
ferry	bote
barco	crucero
auto	camión

Por ejemplo:

• Yo viajo al extranjero por/en avión.
• Me encanta explorar parques nacionales por/en auto.
• Cuando hago actividades urbanas me gusta conocer diferentes lugares a pie .
• Mis vacaciones favoritas son de tipo ecológicas y me gusta explorar la naturaleza en bicicleta.

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1. Preposiciones y adverbios de lugar
(Prepositions and adverbs of location)

Las preposiciones de lugar are used to tell where things are in relation to places, people, or things.

Por ejemplo:

• El museo está al lado de la iglesia. (The museum is next to the church)
• Mi casa está lejos del parque. (My house is far from the park)
• Las Cataratas de Iguazú están entre Argentina y Brasil. (Iguazú Fall are between Argentina and Brasil)

Los adverbios de lugar tell the exact place an action is taking place or an object is located.

Por ejemplo:

• El hotel está allí. (The hotel is there)
• Ellos están sentados allá. (They are seated over there)
• Yo voy a acampar aquí. (I´m going to camp here)

Haz clic en la lista de las presposiciones de lugar below to learn what they mean in English.

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Cómo usarlo
(How to use it)

You already know that el verbo estar followed by la preposition en are used to describe the location of places.

Por ejemplo:

• La montaña “Machu Picchu” está en Cuzco, Perú.
• La cordillera de “Los Andes” está en América del Sur.
• La universidad KPU está en Surrey, en Richmond, en Langley y en Cloverdale.

Entonces, el verbo estar followed by any of the new prepositions learned above are also used to tell where things are in relation to places, peoples, or things.

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2. Los mandatos^[1] en español (Commands in Spanish)

As in English, los mandatos en español are also used to tell a person or persons to do something whether it is a recommendation, advice, directions or an order.

Por ejemplo:

• ¡Repita la pregunta! (Repeat the question!)
• Doble a la derecha. (Turn right)
• No fumes aquí. (Don´t smoke here)
• Coma más verduras. (Eat more vegetables)
• ¡Lávate los dientes! (Brush your teeth!)

You already know that the structure of el español allows for tratamiento formal e informal (formal and informal treatment) through the use of usted vs tú when addressing a single person.

You also know that ustedes is used to address 2 or more people.

Since los mandatos are used to tell a group of people or a single person to do something, when addressing a single person it is important to be mindful of tratamiento formal vs informal as well as of plural forms when addressing 2 or more people.

Aunque there are some differences in relation to the use of formal vs informal treatment within the Spanish-speaking world, the chart below gives you a general rule when choosing between tratamiento formal vs informal:

 

1. Mandatos formales “usted” y plurales “ustedes”
(Formal “usted” and plural “ustedes” commands)

Mandato formal “usted”:

In order to form a mandato formal “usted” either in affirmative or negative the following steps are very useful:

Primero, take the infinitive verb and conjugate it in the yo form of simple present tense.

Por ejemplo: caminar – yo camino

Segundo, drop the -o and keep the root of the verb.

Tercero, add the following formal command endings:

• If it is an -ar verb add -e:
  • Caminar:      Camine dos cuadras (walk 2 blocks)
  • Andar:           Ande en bicicleta (ride a bike)
  • Cerrar (ie):   Cierre la puerta (close the door)
  • (no) Viajar:   No viaje en tren (don’t travel by train)

• If it is an -er or -ir verb add -a:
  • Correr:         Corra dos kilómetros (run 2 kilometres)
  • Seguir (i):     Siga derecho por 2 cuadras (go straight for 2 blocks)
  • Tener:          ¡Tenga un buen viaje! (have a good trip!)
  • (no) Beber:   No beba mucho (don’t drink much)

Mandato plural “ustedes”:

In order to form a mandato plural “ustedes” either in affirmative or negative you only need to add an “n” (ene) at the end of the formal command “usted” as in:

Mandato formal “usted”	Mandato plural “ustedes”
Camine dos cuadras	Caminen dos cuadras
Ande en bicicleta	Anden en bicicleta
Cierre la puerta	Cierren la puerta
No viaje en tren	No viajen en tren
Corra dos cuadras	Corran dos cuadras
Siga derecho	Sigan derecho
¡Tenga buen viaje!	¡Tengan buen viaje!
No beba mucho	No beban mucho
Almuerce temprano	Almuercen temprano
Busque un buen restaurante	Busquen un restaurante

2. Mandatos informales “tú” (Infomal “tú” command)

Mandato informal “tú” negativo:

In order to form a negative mandato informal “tú” you only need to add an “s” (ese) at the end of the formal command “usted” as in:

Mandato formal “usted”	Negative mandato informal “tú”
Camine dos cuadras	No camines dos cuadras
Ande en bicicleta	No andes en bicicleta
Cierre la puerta	No cierres la puerta
No viaje en tren	No viajes en tren
Corra dos cuadras	No corras dos cuadras
Siga derecho	No sigas derecho
No beba mucho	No bebas mucho
No tenga miedo	No tengas miedo

Mandato informal “tú” afirmativo:

In order to form an affirmative mandato informal “tú” the following steps are very useful:

Primero, take the infinitive verb and conjugate it in 3rd person singular form (él/ella/usted) in present simple tense.

Por ejemplo:

• caminar – ella camina

Segundo, keep the same 3rd person singular simple present tense conjugation as this becomes the informal command of that verb.

Por ejemplo:

Verbo infinitivo	3rd person singular en presente simple indicativo	Drop the 3rd person singular and keep the conjugation as this becomes el mandato informal “tú” afirmativo
Caminar	Ella camina	Camina dos cuadras
Cerrar (ie)	Usted cierra	Cierra la puerta
Viajar	Él viaja	Viaja en tren
Correr	Ella corre	Corre dos kilómetros
Seguir (i)	Usted sigue	Sigue derecho por 2 cuadras
Beber	Él bebe	Bebe mucha agua

3. Mandatos reflexivos (Reflexive commands)

You already know that los verbos reflexivos are conjugated the same way that non reflexive verbs but they carry a reflexive pronoun as in:

Pronombre sujeto	Pronombre reflexivo
Yo	me
Tú	te
Él Ella Usted	se
Nosotras Nosotros	nos
Ustedes Ellas Ellos	se

In order to form an affirmative command with a reflexive verb -ar, -er, -ir, you follow the same rules for non reflexive affirmative commands above but the reflexive pronoun attached to formal “usted” (se), plural “ustedes” (se) and informal “tú” (te) is always attached to the end of the command as in:

Verbo reflexivo	Mandato formal “usted” y “ustedes”	Mandato informal “tú”
Levantarse	levántese / levántense	levántate
Dormirse (ue)	duérmase / duérmanse	duérmete
Ducharse	dúchese / dúchense	dúchate
Prepararse	prepárese / prepárense	prepárate

Notice that for affirmative reflexive commands you also must add “a tilde” on the vowel in the third to last syllable where the “stress” or “tone” rises.

Escucha la pronunciación de los comandos en la tabla:

In order to form a negative command with a reflexive verb -ar, -er, -ir, you follow the same rules for non reflexive negative commands above but the reflexive pronoun attached to formal “usted” (se), plural “ustedes” (se) and informal “tú” (te) is always placed after the word “no”:

Verbo reflexivo	Mandato formal “usted” y “ustedes”	Mandato informal “tú”
Levantarse	no se levante / no se levanten	no te levantes
Dormirse (ue)	no se duerma / no se duerman	no te duermas
Ducharse	no se duche / no se duchen	no te duches
Prepararse	no se prepare / no se preparen	no te prepares

Idiosincrasias del lenguaje en el mundo hispanohablante
(Language idiosyncracies in the Spanish-speaking world)

Relación entre lengua y cultura (Language and culture relationship)

Las idiosincrasias del lenguage are ways of speaking or writing that are unique to an individual or group of people. En el mundo hispanohablante las idiosincracias del lenguaje include words, phrases, or expressions that may be commonly used by a country, countries or a region that sets them apart within the Spanish-speaking world.

En la unidad 1, you learned through the chart below that there are 5 different ways to say “YOU” in Spanish :

You also learned that el pronombre sujeto “vos” is used in Latin America only, a phenomenon called voseo^[2] with the following distribution:

The following imágenes are anuncios callejeros en Argentina, El Salvador y Honduras, 3 countries where “vos” is predominantly used. Entonces, los anuncios callejeros are using el mandato informal “vos” in their messages.

The following imágenes con texto are extracts from the Wikipedia article Voseo^[3]: