LESSON NOTES

Gengo Spanish S1 #19

Latin American Downtime is in
Order!

CONTENTS
2 Informal Spanish
2 English
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
6 Cultural Insight

# 19
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 INFORMAL SPANISH

1. VALENTINA: Bueno, Jimmy, ¿qué tienes planeado para esta semana?

2. JIMMY: No estoy seguro. El lunes y martes me quedo con una familia

anfitriona. Después estaré libre para conocer. Pienso ir a Isla
Mujeres.

3. VALENTINA: Isla Mujeres es una maravilla. ¿Vas a nadar con los tiburones?

4. JIMMY: Tal vez sí. Tengo muchas ganas de ir.

5. VALENTINA: ¿Y Chichén Itzá?

6. JIMMY: Si quiero ir, pero no sé. Está un poco lejos.

7. VALENTINA: ¿Y Xcaret?

8. JIMMY: No creo.

9. JORGE: ¿Tulum?

10. JIMMY: ¿Qué es eso?

11. VALENTINA: Es un sitio con ruinas de los maya, y con una playa muy bonita.

12. JIMMY: Wow, ¿me escribes el nombre?

ENGLISH

1. VALENTINA: So Jimmy, what have you got planned for this week?

CONT'D OVER

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2. JIMMY: I’m not sure. Monday and Tuesday I'm staying with a host family.
Afterwards I’ll be free to sightsee. I want to go to Isla Mujeres.

3. VALENTINA: Isla Mujeres is marvelous. Are you going to swim with the sharks?

4. JIMMY: Maybe so. I really want to.

5. VALENTINA: What about Chichén Itzá?

6. JIMMY: I do want to go, but I don’t know. It’s a little far.

7. VALENTINA: What about Xcaret?

8. JIMMY: I don’t think so.

9. JORGE: Tulum?

10. JIMMY: What’s that?

11. VALENTINA: It’s a site with Mayan ruins, and with a very pretty beach.

12. JIMMY: Wow, can you write down the name for me?

VOCABULARY

Spanish English Class Gender

masculine and
lejos far adjective feminine

la ruina the ruins noun feminine

nadar to swim verb

la maravilla the wonder noun feminine

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 anfitrión host adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES

No lo puedo ver, está demasiado Ellos viven lejos de aquí.

lejos.
"They live far away from here."
"I can't see it, it's too far away."

Vamos a ver las ruinas Inca. Nado 3 veces a la semana.

"Let's go see the Incan ruins." "I swim three times a week."

Esta ciudad es una maravilla. Yo quiero ser el anfitrión de la

fiesta.
"This city is marvelous."
"I want to be the host of the
party."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

Key Vocabulary

lejos ("far")
This adverb indicates distance. The antonym is cerca ("near").

ruina ("ruins")
In today's dialogue, Valentina refers to las ruinas maya, the "Mayan ruins at Tulum."

nadar ("to swim")

We refer to the sport of "swimming" as la natación.

maravilla ("wonder")
The related adjective is maravilloso ("wonderful," "marvelous").

anfitrión ("host")
This adjective is, of course, related to the noun el anfitrión ("host"). The word for "guest" (of

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a party) is el invitado; for overnight guests (e.g., at a hotel, etc.), use huésped or alojado.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Expressing Desire and Intention.

Pienso ir a Isla Mujeres.
"I'm thinking about going to Isla Mujeres."

Expressing desire and intention for the future in Spanish usually involves use modal verbs
with infinitives.

Modal
Construction + "English
Spanish Example "English"
Infinitive Equivalent"

"I'm thinking about

"to think about Pienso ir a Isla going to Isla
pensar + infinitive
doing" Mujeres. Mujeres."

querer + infinitive "to want to do" Quiero ir. "I want to go."

"Are you going to

¿Vas a nadar con swim with the
ir a + infinitive "to be going to do"
los tiburones? sharks?"

tener ganas de + "to feel like doing Tengo muchas "I really want to
infinitive something" ganas de ir. go."

In these cases, the first modal verb is the one conjugated, and the verb in the infinitive
stays in the infinitive.

Out of these phrases, pensar + infinitive ("to think about doing") and tener ganas de +
infinitive ("to feel like doing") are the softest, with querer + infinitive ("to want to do")
coming next. The strongest is ir a + infinitive, since it means that you are
actually going to do the action you talked about in the sentence.

Examples from This Dialogue

1. Pienso ir a Isla Mujeres.

"I'm thinking about going to Isla Mujeres."

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2. Tengo muchas ganas de ir.
"I really want to go."

Sample Sentences

1. Pienso ir a China.
"I'm thinking of going to China."

2. Quiero ir a visitar a mi abuela la próxima semana.

"I want to visit my grandmother next week."

3. ¿Vas a ir a la fiesta de Claudia?

"Are you going to go to Claudia's party?"

4. No tengo ganas de comer.

"I don't feel like eating."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

What to Do at the Mayan Riviera

The Mayan Riviera is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. It offers
pristine water, white sands, beautiful ruins, the second largest coral reef in existence, and
mouth-watering cuisine. It can be a place to retreat from the bustle and hustle of city life in
Tulúm, or it's where you can get your dance on every night in Cancún. Explore the region's
natural beauty in Xcaret or Xel-há. Go snorkeling or scuba diving where the Mayans went to
fish. Perhaps even go surfing in the northern part of Cozumél island. Surf's up!

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