Introduction to the passive voice

The passive voice in English is not very different from Spanish. Compare the following sentences:

El pueblo fue abandonado en los años cuarenta. =  The village was abandoned in the forties.
Esos puentes no fueron construidos en el siglo II. = Those bridges were not built in the second century.
¿Ha sido atacada la ciudad alguna vez? = Has the city ever been attacked?

Basically, you need the verb TO BE, which acts as an auxiliary (notice the question and the negative above) and the past participle of the verb.

Sometimes you don't need to mention the agent (el complemento agente, que es por ejemplo: fue escrito por Cervantes) but if you do, the preposition you use in English is not FOR. It's BY:

The novel was written BY Cervantes.
It was invented BY an Italian.
Poland was invaded BY Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.

The passive is more common in English, because in Spanish we often use the "SE" passive or simply an active with the plural third person of the verb:

El templo se construyó / fue construido en el siglo I a.C. = The temple was built in the first century BC.
Cada año se publican miles de libros (menos frecuente: son publicados). = Thousands of books are published every year.
El queso se hace a partir de la leche (¿es hecho?). = Cheese is made from milk.
La entrevistaron ayer en la tele / Fue entrevistada ayer... = She was interviewed on TV yesterday.
Esta habitación se limpia todos los días (es limpiada todos los días, español correcto pero poco frecuente) = This room is cleaned every day.
Creo que el ajedrez lo inventaron los indios / Creo que el ajedrez fue inventado por los indios = I think chess was invented by the Indians.

DURING and FOR

Study the following sentences:

Hizo mucho calor durante el verano. = It was very hot during the summer.
Mis tíos vivieron allí durante cinco años.= My uncle and aunt lived there for five years.
Durante la última media hora ha llamado cuatro veces. = He's phoned four times during the last half hour.
  Trabajaré en Washington (durante) cinco años. = I'll work in Washington for five years. 

   These examples prove that it is NOT a good idea to say durante = during or durante = for. NO -- it depends on the sentence!
   So what is the rule? The easiest way to understand this is to think about the question:

• If you ask HOW LONG...?, then use FOR. 

               You can stay for a few days. (How long can I stay?)

                I've known her for a long time. (How long have you known her?)

                She lived here for five years. (How long did she live here?)

• If you ask WHEN?, then use DURING.

                They met and fell in love during the journey. (When did they meet?)

                He died during the night. (When did he die?)

                The village was abandoned during the war. (When was the village abandoned?)

                I worked in a pizza restaurant during the summer holidays last year. (When did you work in a ..?)

   Two more tips (consejos):

•  During can almost always be replaced (sustituido) by IN. 
• If you use a number + a period of time, (three years, five months, ten weeks), you almost certainly need for.

Time to relax

I'm not saying this is easy, because it wouldn't be true. You don't understand everything? Never mind! Just relax and enjoy the song! You can read the words below.


 

The truth, THE WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth!

Meaning: Whole means todo, entero, la totalidad. 

Pronunciation: The W is NOT pronounced, so it rhymes with soul (alma). If you get the wrong pronunciation, people will probably think you're talking about a pared: wall. Whole has exactly the same sound as the word HOLE (=agujero).

Usage: whole + countable nouns.

Examples: the whole day, the whole week, the whole morning, the whole school, the whole country, the whole world, the whole class, the whole family.

Advanced points: 

1.It is most often found with singulars. If it goes with a plural noun, the meaning is not the same as ALL:

All the villages were destroyed in the war. (todos los pueblos)

Whole villages were destroyed in the war. (pueblos enteros)

2.Before proper nouns (nombres propios), use the whole of:

The whole of Spain was in a state of shock.

Remember: ¡No suena como WALL ni parecido! 

Some tricky words, SUCH AS "ESPECIALLY" and "ACTUALLY"

To give examples, use SUCH AS, not AS:
In some European countries, such as Germany and Austria, people drink more beer than wine.
In some European countries, as Germany and Austria, ...

You can also use LIKE and FOR EXAMPLE:
Many young actresses, like Inge Traumann, started their career in television.
Many young actresses, for example Inge Traumann, started ...
Many young actresses, such as Inge Traumann, started...

Notice the use of AS in these sentences:
He works as a waiter in the summer. (Trabajó DE... singular countable >>> article)
They worked as waiters last year. (Plural >>> no article)


ESPECIALLY means "sobre todo", and it's one of a small number of words that begin with ES + consonant instead of the usual S+ consonant (space, station, stop, small, sky, but especially):
In some areas, especially in the north, it rains a lot.
The car is quite small, especially if you have children.

              Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as this: there is also a word specially, but the meaning is different. It's not important now. For the time being (=por ahora), I recommend using the adverb ESPECIALLY  (ESP-)and the adjective SPECIAL (SPE-):

She's a very special friend.             They use a special instrument to fix it.
I love walking in the forest, especially in autumn.

Finally, the word actually. Be careful. It's a false friend (a word that is similar to one you have in your own language, but means something different: not a real friend at all!). Actually ≠ actualmente. Actually = en realidad. Some examples:
It is similar to "actualmente", but actually it means something very different! (parece... pero en realidad...)
You're Kev's sister, aren't you? No, I'm his wife actually!
Everyone thinks he's in his thirties, but actually he's 45!

So, how do you say "actualmente" in English? Well, the easiest translation is simply now. Other options are at the moment or at present:
He used to work (=trabajaba) as an interpreter, but at the moment he's unemployed.
At present there are only two schools for gifted children in the country.

Verb + verb

Listen!
When you have VERB 1 + VERB 2, in Spanish, usually verb + infinitive:
Quiero caminar.                            Me gustaría caminar
Odio caminar.                                Prefiero caminar.
Decidí caminar.                             Terminé de caminar.
Empecé a caminar.                       Intenté caminar.
Necesito caminar.                        No puedo caminar.        
 (Alguna excepción: disfruto caminando).

In English, three possibilities:
VERB 1 + TO-infinitive,
VERB 1 + bare infinitive (=infinitive without TO),
VERB 1 + -ING.
 Which one is right? It depends on VERB 1. There are no real rules. Examples:

VERB + TO-infinitive:
I promised to keep it. (=quedárselo)                          She would like to keep it.
She tried to keep it.                                                           I want to keep it.

VERB + BARE INFINITIVE:
You can't keep it.                                  Could I have some more?
I'll (will) leave it.                                  What time shall we meet?

VERB + -ING:
We enjoy swimming.                                   They all love travelling.
I hate cooking.                                               Stop laughing!
I finished doing the washing-up.           I hate being late.
Do you like dancing?

Learn one at a time!

Three useful websites

Here are three websites you might want to check out. You can spend hours and hours practising!

This one is from Argentina, and as you will see, it contains videos too.

This one is a classic. Lots and lots of activities.

This one is mostly about exams. The PET level is the closest to what you are doing now.

Como a todo no os va a dar tiempo, yo me centraría en ejercicios de "listening", de los que veréis algunos con la transcripción, además de las respuestas.

Do you know the best way to find out about interesting websites? Word of mouth (=el boca a boca): tell each other about the cool things you find on these sites!

Vocabulary page 158

Listen to the word lists on page 158.

What do you say...?

I am going to give you some situations. See if you know what to say. The answers are at the end of the post.

QUÉ HAY QUE DECIR PARA…

1.       Ofrecerme más té.

2.       Preguntarme cómo se va a la estación de autobuses.

3.       Preguntarme dónde está la comisaría más cercana.

4.       Proponer jugar al fútbol el sábado por la mañana.

5.       Invitarme a ir al cine contigo.

6.       Preguntarme mi talla.

7.       Preguntarme que dónde quedamos.

8.       Preguntarme que a qué hora quedamos.

9.       Preguntarme si lo tengo en verde.

10.   Anunciar que te marchas.

11.   Desearme un buen día.

12.   Desarme lo mismo (que yo os haya deseado).

13.   Pedirme que os hable de mis padres.

14.   Desearme que me divierta.

15.   Contestar a “thank you”.

DECIDME QUE…

a.       -Os los lleváis (al comprar algo: o sea, estáis conformes con el precio y los queréis).

b.      -Los dejáis.

c.       -Me vaya y os deje en paz.

d.      -Ted no está muerto.

e.      -Me prepare.

f.        -Os toca a vosotros.

g.       -Le toca a Janet.

h.      -Me monte en el coche.

i.         -Depende de la estación (época del año).

j.        -Deje de reírme / de caminar.

k.       -Me los ponga.

l.         -Me los quite.

      And here are the answers. Listen.