Spanish by Choice/SpanishPod newbie lesson A0019/Print version


A0019: How Do You Spell ‘Beige?’ edit

Introduction edit

You have a question? Liliana and JP tell us how to ask it. Specifically, they talk about a spelling question; thus, the keyword is be de burro – b as in donkey (b as in Bob).

 

Dialogue edit

hombre: Tengo una pregunta.
mujer: ¡Dime!
hombre: ¿Cómo se escribe beige?
mujer: ¿El color? Se escribe con be de burro, e, i, ge, e.
hombre: Gracias.
 

Dialogue with Translation edit

hombre: Tengo una pregunta.
(I) have a question
man: I have a question.
mujer: ¡Dime!
tell me
woman: Tell me!
hombre: ¿Cómo se escribe beige?
how itself/one writes beige
man: How do you write beige?
mujer: ¿El color? Se escribe con be de burro, e, i, ge, e.
the color itself/one writes with b of donkey, e, i, g, e
woman: The color? You write it with b as in Bob, e, i, g, e.
hombre: Gracias.
thanks
man: Thanks.
 
escribir – to write
 
el color – the color
 
el burro – the donkey

Vocabulary for Dialogue edit

el hombre noun (masculine) the man
la mujer noun (feminine) the woman
tener verb (infinitive) to have
(yo) tengo verb (present tense) I have
un/una article (m./f.) a
la pregunta noun (feminine) the question
decir verb (infinitive) to say
¡(tú) di! verb (imperative) (you) say! (informal, singular)
me indirect object pronoun (to) me
¡dime! phrase tell me!
¿cómo? adverb how?
se reflexive pronoun itself, one, you
escribir verb (infinitive) to write
(él/ella) escribe verb (present tense) he/she(/it) writes
beige adjective (m./f.) beige
el color noun (masculine) the color
con preposition with
de preposition of
el burro noun (masculine) the donkey
la be de burro phrase the b as in donkey
la e noun (feminine) the e
la i noun (feminine) the i
la ge noun (feminine) the g
gracias phrase thanks

Vocabulary for Audio Lesson edit

¿Cómo se escribe? phrase How do you write?
la a noun (feminine) the a
la ce noun (feminine) the c
la ere noun (feminine) the r
la ese noun (feminine) the s
Parangaricutirimícuaro noun (masculine) a tongue twister
 

 

More Vocabulary edit

This section includes grammatically related words. Some of them are required by the exercise Dialogue Recast.

tener infinitive to have
(yo) tengo present tense I have
(tú) tienes you have (informal, singular)
(él/ella) tiene he/she(/it) has
(usted) tiene you have (formal, singular)
(nosotros/-as) tenemos we have (m./f.)
(vosotros/-as) tenéis you have (informal, plural, m./f.)
(ellos/ellas) tienen they have (m./f.)
(ustedes) tienen you have (formal, plural)
 
decir infinitive to say
¡(tú) di! imperative (you) say! (informal, singular)
¡(usted) diga! (you) say! (formal, singular)
¡(nosotros/-as) digamos! (let's) say! (m./f.)
¡(vosotros/-as) decid! (you) say! (informal, plural, m./f.)
¡(ustedes) digan! (you) say! (formal, plural)
 
me indirect object pronoun (to) me
te (to) you (informal, singular)
le (to) him/her(/it)
le (to) you (formal, singular)
nos (to) us
os (to) you (informal, plural)
les (to) them
les (to) you (formal, plural)
 
escribir infinitive to write
(yo) escribo present tense I write
(tú) escribes you write (informal, singular)
(él/ella) escribe he/she(/it) writes
(usted) escribe you write (formal, singular)
(nosotros/-as) escribimos we write (m./f.)
(vosotros/-as) escribís you write (informal, plural, m./f.)
(ellos/ellas) escriben they write (m./f.)
(ustedes) escriben you write (formal, plural)


a, be, ce, che, de, e, noun (feminine) letters from a to z
efe, ge, hache, i, jota,
    ka, ele, elle, eme, ene, eñe,
o, pe, cu, ere, ese, te,
u, ve, doble ve,
equis, i griega, zeta
 

Exercises

Dialogue Translation

Cover the right column, translate from Spanish to English and uncover the right column line by line to check your answers. If possible, read the Spanish sentences aloud.

Tengo una pregunta. I have a question.
¡Dime! Tell me!
¿Cómo se escribe beige? How do you write beige?
¿El color? Se escribe con be de burro, e, i, ge, e. The color? You write it with b as in Bob, e, i, g, e.
Gracias. Thanks.

Dialogue Recall

Now translate from English to Spanish. Remember to say the Spanish sentences aloud.

I have a question. Tengo una pregunta.
Tell me! ¡Dime!
How do you write beige? ¿Cómo se escribe beige?
The color? You write it with b as in Bob, e, i, g, e. ¿El color? Se escribe con be de burro, e, i, ge, e.
Thanks. Gracias.

Dialogue Remix

Translate this variant of the dialogue from English to Spanish.

Tell me a question! ¡Dime una pregunta!
I have one. Tengo una.
Tell me! ¡Dime!
How do you write escribir? ¿Cómo se escribe escribir?
One writes e, s, c, r, i, b, i, r. Se escribe e, ese, ce, ere, i, be de burro, i, ere.
Thanks. Gracias.

Dialogue Recast

This translation exercise requires some of the words from the More Vocabulary section.

We have a question. Tenemos una pregunta.
You tell me! (formal, plural) ¡Díganme!
How do you write beige? ¿Cómo se escribe beige?
The color? You write it with b as in Bob, e, i, g, e. ¿El color? Se escribe con be de burro, e, i, ge, e.
Thanks. Gracias.

Image Credits

  • “Image:Gandhi writing 1942.jpg” by an unknown photographer (Public Domain)
  • “Image:Brush and watercolours.jpg” by Jennifer R. (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License)
  • “Image:Donkey Catalan race.jpg” by David Gaya (GNU Free Documentation License)