Monday, June 30, 2014

Spanish by Choice: Take a Picture

Poder, the verb for to be able, is irregular in many conjugationsPodría - the conditional could -  is one of them.   As discussed here and as seen below.

"But there is no address for the general here..." 
"I know, but we'll call the telephone number on this card." 

"Hello?  Is this 97.85.24?  Could I speak with Mr. Dubreuil? Who am I...?  A friend of the general Alcazar, and I...Hello?"

Friday, June 27, 2014

Spanish by Choice: She's Not Mexican

Spanish uses the reflexive verb llamar when discussing names.  As seen below and in this lesson.

"Very well, tell me madam Yamilah, what is this gentleman's name?" 
"Serafin."  

"Is that true, sir?" "It's true!"

"I would like to speak with Mr. Tintin." 

"For what?  Is your name Rackham the Red too?" 
"What's that?"

"I'm pleased to meet you.  My name is Sunflower.  Silvester Sunflower." 
"Ah!"

Meanwhile... 
"I have a retired horse for you..." 
"Oh...a nice horse!" 

"Look, it's very docile.  It's name is Beatriz." 
"Hello, Beatriz!"

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Spanish By Choice: At the Bar

Spanish has two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine.  All nouns fall into one of these two categories, and the gender of a given noun changes the ending of most adjectives that modify it.  This lesson discusses this topic, as well as how to order a beer in Spanish.


"Bring another beer, waiter." "Very well." 

"Dear Tintin, what a pleasure it is to see you again!" 

 "I would say even more:  what a pleasure it is to see you, dear Tintin!"  

"Here you are, sir." 

"To your health!" "To yours!" 

 "Ah, dear friends, what a pleasure it is to see you again!"


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Spanish by Choice: Birthday Party

As in many languages, ir - to go is an irregular verb in Spanish. 
As seen below and in this lesson.
"Where are you going?" 
"To find some scissors."


"With much pleasure, but before that, Irma!  Where is the...ahem...little something for Captain Kodack?" 
 "In the taxi, Ma'am.  I'll go get it."


"Now is the moment.  Let's go!"

"Arumbayas!  They're very bad!  I'm not going!" 
 "How brave!"

"Careful, the diamond!"  
"It's going to go in the water!"



Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Spanish by Choice: Are You Ready Yet?

With few exceptions, the command form (also known as the imperative) of verbs in Spanish is formed by dropping the final r of the infinitive.  Thus, as seen below and in this lesson, esperar - to wait becomes espera! - wait!

"Just wait a little until I find you, you lout!"

"Sir...sir...it's horrible...all of those foreigners have set up camp..." 
"Wait, Nestor, wait a moment..."

"Shut up!  Just a moment..."


"Wait, I'll turn on the light..."

Monday, June 23, 2014

I Don't Believe You

From La Garrapata:


"Err...Yes, I...I...I...suck blood all the time." 

"I don't believe you."

"I have a straw right here, pal!  Do you want a demonstration?"
Notes:  
The direct object form of is te.
straw is a word with lots of regional variation.  Besides sorbete - which is also the word for sorbet, and apparently comes from Arabic - you may also come across pajita, popote, or pitillo.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

I Suggested That We Get a Dog

Calvin's parents on the decision to have kids:


"The contractor says that the repair will cost $200." 
 "Oh, that boy!"  

"Well, it's what happens when you raise a kid, no?"  
"Mm."  

"You don't regret that we we had Calvin, right?" 
 "What about you?"  

"I asked first, besides, it wasn't just my decision."
 "I just know that I suggested that we buy a dog, but you said no and..."
Notes:
educar is to educate, but it can also mean more generally to raise or to teach manners, so it can be used for what parents do as well as what teachers do
arrepentirse -  to regret and negarse -  to refuse are reflexive in Spanish
proponer - to propose or to suggest conjugates like poner: propuso, propuse, propusimos, etc...

Friday, June 20, 2014

That Depends on Who's Asking

From a slightly disturbing Aliens comic featuring a mad scientest:



"Why don't we encode you in the bioscan now?" 

"How many members of the team have died in the course of your investigation?" 
"That depends on who's asking."

 "I'm asking."  

"None."
Notes:
morir has an irregular past participle: muerto
preguntar is in the subjunctive in the second panel because it's a hypothetical clause
the subject can be moved to the end of a sentence in order to emphasize it: se lo pregunto yo

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

You're Going to Leave Us to Burn?

Bobba Fett leaves two criminals handcuffed to a burning car:


"You're going to leave us to burn?" 
"Rolu?  What's happening?" 

"The owner of the sculpture is probably looking for you.  It may be that he catches you before the fire."
Notes:
Two new verbs for me: arder - to burn, pillar - to catch.  Notice that both are in the subjunctive in these panels.
os, as a direct object, can follow the gerund, resulting in a rare 'double o' spelling: os está buscando or está buscandoos.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

I Avoid Stepping on Bugs




"I think that 'good' and 'bad' are difficult to define..." 
"Of course, I have my opinion on the matter..." 
"For example, when I go in the street, I avoid stepping on bugs..."  
"Bravo! Bravo! Clap clap clap!"




Notes:
Costar - to cost or to cause effort - is a stem-changing verb.
The personal a is used even though bugs aren't people because Carlitos is treating them with respect.


Monday, June 16, 2014

You Saw Me Die

From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Return to New York:



"That's right." 

"Three years ago I saw you die.  How did you return?" 

"Does it matter to you? Yes...I suppose it does.  Long ago on that roof you saw Oroku Saki die...blown to pieces!  You saw me die!"


Notes:
Asi es is an extremely common expression used for general agreement.
The personal a is required in viste morir a Oroku Saki



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

I'm Going to Monster Island

Lots of simple future here:
 "I'm going to Monster Island...alone...and I will tell him that I don't intend to continue to pay." 
"You won't do it without me!" 
"And I don't intend to stay behind."

"Fine, we'll all go! At least we're still a team!"
Notes:
Verbs in the simple future tense typically have a stress on the last syllable, which requires an accent mark: iré, diré, harás etc.  Notice that the first person plural breaks this pattern by stressing the "normal" penultimate syllable: iremos.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

No One Will Harm You

La Cosa has inexplicably joined El Hombre Topo:


"Benjamin, I heard voices!  Who are you talking to?" 
 "The Moleman!" 

"My greatest enemies!" 
 "Easy, nothing's wrong!  You don't have to worry!  No one will do you harm while I'm here!"
Notes:
mayor could mean either great, or old.  I translated it as the former.
hacer daño is literally to make damage.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

We Didn't Say That

Spanish can distinguish between singular and plural with verbs only.  No subjects necessary:


"Are there monsters under my bed?" 
 "Maybe yes, maybe no." 

 "Is that a definite yes?" 
"We didn't say that."

 "We?" 
"I meant to say I."  

"Uh...If there were an I. Right." 
 "Shut up, Wilson." 
 "Fortunately, monsters aren't very bright when they're hungry."
Notes:
Quizá and quizás are both regional variations for the word maybe.
Listo means ready, but also bright or clever.

Monday, June 2, 2014

I Remember It As If It Were Yesterday

La Cosa ruminates in the rain:
"Nothing has changed.  Just like my life, nothing changes, nothing gets better. It was...years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday." 

"I'll never be able to forget it.  It seemed so simple.  We were going to be heroes."
Notes:
mejorar is derived from the adjective mejor - better.
poder has the irregular stem podr- in the simple future.