PHRASES:
| A ver si usted me puede ayudar a abrocharme el vestido. | Let’s see if you can help me fasten this dress. |
| ¿Cuánto cuesta esta camisa? | How much is this shirt? |
| Nunca me pongo corbata para ir a la escuela. | I never wear a tie to go to school. |
| Para nadar me llevo un traje de baño y no uso nunca bikini. | I take a swimsuit with me to go swimming and I never wear a bikini. |
| No hay nadie que use guantes de verano en esta época. | No one wears gloves this time of year. |
| Ninguna persona quiere pagar el precio de ese traje tan caro. | No one wants to pay that much for that suit. |
| Ningún cliente compra los conjuntos de seda blancos en esta temporada. | No client is going to buy white silk outfits during this season. |
| Me pongo traje sólo para las entrevistas de trabajo. | I only wear suits for work interviews. |
| Prefiero los zapatos casuales porque son más cómodos para caminar. | I prefer casual shoes because they’re more comfortable for walking. |
| En invierno, le pongo suéter a mi perrito. | In the winter I dress my little dog in a sweater. |
VOCABULARY:
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GRAMMAR:
Double negatives
Many of the negative terms that are used in these sentences can be expressed in two ways in English. For example:
|
nadie | No one, anyone |
| ningún/a | Not one, no one, anyone | |
| nunca | never, ever | |
| nada | nothing, anything |
Unlike English, Spanish allows for the use of double, and sometimes even triple negatives. For example, whereas, “I don’t have nothing to do,” is improper English, its equivalent in Spanish (‘no tengo nada que hacer”) is proper grammar. Let’s look at some examples of sentences that use more than one negative expression:
|
Ese niño no se lleva bien con nadie. | That boy doesn’t get along well with anyone. |
| Gabriel nunca ha contribuido nada a la clase. | Gabriel has never contributed anything to the class. | |
| Nunca debes hablar con ningún extraño. | You should never speak to any stranger. | |
| No hay nadie en este mundo que me pueda hacer cambiar de opinión. | There is no one in this world that can make me change my opinion. | |
| ¿No tienes nada que decir? | Don’t you have anything to say? |
